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Recall effort grows

A petition to get Sam Maniotes out of office has 219 signatures.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published July 12, 2006

REDINGTON BEACH - Unless Commissioner Sam Maniotes resigns, it appears he will face voters here in a recall election within the next three months.

A special recall committee formed earlier this year turned in 219 voter signatures to Acting Town Clerk Marie Hamilton on Tuesday.

This was the last step in a process spelled out in state law that gives voters a way to remove an elected official from office.

Maniotes has served as a commissioner in this small beach community since March 2005, and his term normally would not be up until March 2007. He could not be reached for comment.

A group of town residents blames Maniotes for contributing to a continuing political controversy that has led to the resignations of several town clerks, assistant clerks and even an elected mayor. The town has been sued and has been threatened with additional lawsuits.

The residents filed the initial recall petition in May against Maniotes and Commissioner Leslie Peck-Epstein. The petition, signed by 166 voters, charged the commissioners with neglect of duty, malfeasance and creating a hostile work environment for town employees.

The recall group dropped its effort against Peck-Epstein after learning she could not be recalled from office until she served one-quarter of her elected term. Since she was just re-elected last March, she cannot be recalled until the fall.

State law required that a second recall petition against Maniotes contain both the original charges and Maniotes' "defense." That petition, turned in Tuesday, contained 49 more signatures than the 170 needed to force a special election.

Now the county has 30 days to validate the signatures. Once that is done, a Circuit Court judge must schedule the recall election within 60 days of the petition certification.

The recall election could cost the town more than $2,500 if it cannot be scheduled at the same time as the countywide primary on Sept. 5.

The recall committee also has the right to offer alternative candidates to fill Maniotes' seat if a majority votes to recall him from office. The winning candidate would fill out the balance of Maniotes' term.

"We will vote Mr. Maniotes out," said committee spokeswoman Anna Wiggers, who is confident that the extra signatures gathered will ensure validation of the recall petition by the Pinellas County supervisor of elections.

Wiggers said the recall committee actually "hopes" Maniotes will "show personal dignity and respect for this town" by resigning instead of facing the "embarrassment" of a special election, months before his term would normally be up.

"We need the town to move forward, especially in the area of finance," said Wiggers.

Mayor Linda Wilson strongly criticized Maniotes, the town's finance commissioner, during a commission meeting last week for "not doing your job."

Wilson said she was "very frustrated" that Maniotes repeatedly canceled meetings of a special finance committee tasked with helping the town prepare its budget for next year. The town's tax rate is largely determined by the amount of money needed to run the town and pay for special projects.

"How are we going to set the millage if we don't have a budget?" asked Wilson.

The town faces a July 25 deadline to tell the Pinellas County tax collector how much it tentatively intends to charge property owners. That number can be reduced in the final budget, but cannot be increased. The final budget must be approved by the end of September.

Maniotes sharply defended his actions, calling Wilson's comments "hostile" and protesting her attempt to take over preparing the 2006-2007 budget.

"I am trying my best with the finances," said Maniotes, calling Wilson a "dictator."

He said he wanted a consultant hired by the commission earlier this year to prepare the town's budget rather than the commission or citizen volunteers.

"I want her to crunch the numbers, to give us real data. I don't want assumptions anymore," said Maniotes.

Ironically, that consultant, Linda Mahnke, had refused to continue working for the town because of slow payments. Later in the meeting the commission voted on a new contract with Mahnke that included a $2,000 retainer, a higher hourly rate, and a requirement that she be paid within 15 days of submitting an invoice.

Wilson, who supported hiring Mahnke, was also upset that the town's longtime auditor, John Houser, has refused to continue auditing the town's books, largely because of the town's lack of stability and high turnover of clerks and assistant clerks.

Wilson said Houser was also "concerned" about how his firm was portrayed in articles dealing with Maniotes' complaints about the town's finances.

The commission also learned last week that former Town Clerk Beverly Brown was granted unemployment compensation because she "established that the working conditions (in the town) were such as to constitute good cause for leaving the job."

Brown resigned after returning from an extended paid administrative leave that resulted from performance complaints made against her by Maniotes and Peck-Epstein. At one point, Maniotes called for Brown to be fired.

Brown dropped a lawsuit against the town when the commission pledged to "start over," but she resigned several weeks later when Peck-Epstein renewed many of the complaints against her during a commission meeting.

[Last modified July 11, 2006, 23:06:52]