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Something's missing in ballot flap: a clause

The contention of Mayor Charles Parker and commissioner hopeful Art Thomas gains support.

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published February 13, 2005

MADEIRA BEACH - The ballot mess just won't go away. The city had planned to waive a controversial provision, approved last year by referendum, that could have knocked out two of the four candidates running for mayor or commissioner.

City Attorney Donald O'Leary then decided that the law allows cities to handle such matters on their own, and said the candidates, Mayor Charles Parker and commissioner hopeful Art Thomas, had "substantially complied" by turning over their acceptance letters after the deadline.

At Tuesday's commission meeting, a new wrinkle surfaced, one brought on by supporters of Parker and Thomas' position.

"We have found that the clause that we're talking about never did exist," city Commissioner John Wolbert said. "It was never there. I'm totally satisfied it was not ever presented to the voters."

The clause in Section 3.2 of the city charter gives candidates five days after qualifying to submit written acceptance of their nominations to the city clerk. Otherwise their names can't be placed on the ballot.

Mayoral candidate Doreen Moore and Jim Madden, running for a commission seat against Thomas, filed on time. Parker and Thomas did not.

Wolbert later said he was basing his statement on the referendum questions brochure prepared by the city. Resident Richard Lewis produced his copy after the meeting. The added two sentences about writing an acceptance letter do not appear.

City Clerk Denise Schlegel called the omission a clerical error.

Resident Ken Jacobsen compared the ballot language to a computer virus. "It sits there doing nothing until it is activated or used by people who know it is there and know how to use it."

Five commissioners reviewed each of the six amendments three times, said Jan Sturgis, who served on the City Commission at the time. She remembers the requirement about writing an acceptance letter.

"We never discussed it at length," Sturgis said. "Why would we?"

Moreover, she said, a brochure mailed by the city invited residents to review the proposed changes in more detail by going to City Hall and the Gulf Beaches Public Library and by visiting the city's Web site. They could view the complete amendment text in all of those places, although the abbreviated brochure Lewis brought to the commission meeting was also at City Hall.

Wolbert later said "never did exist" referred to the missing language in the handout. "It appears to me that the voters who voted for that amendment did not realize that that pair of sentences were in it," he said.

To commissioners, resident Steve Kochick noted that Parker and Thomas have blamed city staffers for not keeping them informed.

"I would have felt much better if the people that were being interviewed would have just accepted responsibility themselves," Kochick said, "and not try to place the blame upon the city employees."

[Last modified February 13, 2005, 01:07:16]