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Contested election rule not in city's informational brochure
Citizen says his discovery makes any election challenge “null and void.”
By WAYNE AYERS
Article published on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005 |
MADEIRA BEACH – A provision added to the city charter requiring qualified candidates for public office to give written acceptance of their nomination was apparently not included in a charter amendment referendum last year, according to citizen Dick Lewis.
The provision is missing from an informational brochure containing the proposed charter changes that was provided to citizens by the city prior to the referendum vote last March. The omission was discovered by Lewis, a longtime resident who was chosen by the commission as Citizen of the Year in 2003.
City Clerk Denise Schlegel said that copies of the referendum brochure were available at City Hall for citizens who wanted more information on the charter amendments. Copies of the ordinance passed by the commission, which authorized the referendum, were also available on demand. The ordinance did contain the acceptance letter provision.
City Manager Jill Silverboard also said the provision is included in the ordinance passed by the commission.
The provision has been at the center of a controversy surrounding this year’s municipal elections after it was revealed that only two of the five candidates qualifying for seats on the commission submitted the required acceptance letter. Among those who failed to comply were Mayor Charles Parker and Commissioner Martha Boos, both of whom said they were unaware of the requirement.
Mayoral candidate Doreen Moore, who submitted her letter of acceptance, said in an interview last month that the city should follow the law and disallow any candidate from appearing on the ballot who failed to meet the requirement. District 3 commission candidate and former City Manager James Madden also submitted a letter of acceptance.
Lewis’ discovery was announced by Vice Mayor John Wolbert at the Feb. 8 Board of Commissioners meeting. Wolbert said that the finding “settles the issue once and for all.”
Lewis said in comments made after the meeting that the omission of the provision in the brochure’s referendum wording means that the requirement “does not exist” and should therefore “make any possible challenge to this year’s elections null and void.”
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Article published on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005
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