City Council President Richard Clark, left, addressed the City’s Charter Revision Commission Thursday to discuss possible changes to the City’s election schedule. Council Vice President Jack Webb and Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland also discussed the issue with the commission Thursday.
Charter Revision endorses combined elections
10/23/2009
by Joe Wilhelm Jr. Staff Writer
The future of the local election cycle was the topic of discussion at the latest City Charter Revision Commission meeting Thursday.
Two bills are currently being sponsored and will be debated at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, during which perceived problems with the current election schedule will be discussed. If one of the Jacksonville Bills, or J-Bills, is eventually signed by Gov. Charlie Crist it will change the City’s Charter. This possibility caused Commission Chair Wyman Duggan to schedule the issue of the City election schedule for the Thursday meeting.
“I do think it is appropriate for us to take a position on this issue,” said Duggan, “given that there may be a vote on this issue Tuesday night.”
Bill J-1 is sponsored by Council member Don Redman and it presents an idea that has been discussed in City Council Chambers for many years: moving the spring elections of City officials and local Constitutional officers to coincide with the gubernatorial election in November. The idea is looked at as a way to save money by combining the two elections and City Council President Richard Clark stated the move would save the City about $3 million.
“This was year one of multiyear issues with our budget,” said Clark. “If you tell me today that, on top of doing what I believe is the right thing to do anyway, I can immediately take away 10 percent of a number that I am going to be forced to find in (2010-2011 budget year), then that’s a huge win. Some people say, ‘That’s only $3 million every four years.’ We were looking at $4,000 line items in this year’s budget.”
Clark informed the commission that conservative estimates have the City trying to find money to fill a $30 million budget hole next year.
Redman’s bill would have candidates elected in November 2010 taking office after terms of the current office holders expire June 20, 2011. Newly elected officials would serve a term ending Dec. 31, 2014, shortening their normal four-year term to three and-a-half years.
Council Vice President Jack Webb is sponsoring J-2, which calls for a change to the City’s Charter to move the election of the mayor, City Council and Constitutional officers, excluding the Clerk of the Courts, to the fall of odd-numbered years, beginning in 2011. The officers elected in November 2011 would take office Jan. 1, 2012 and serve through Dec. 31, 2015. Incumbents serving at the time of the bill’s passage will have their terms extended six months beyond the scheduled completion of their terms June 30, 2011.
The bill would keep local elections separate from state elections, and a companion bill would provide the Council with extra time to review the budget.
“The inefficiency that results from the current election cycle reveals that if the mayor were to present us with a tentative budget on May 1, then the new City Council president would come in on July 1 and he or she would name a new Finance Committee at that point,” said Webb. “You would have the prior Finance Committee wrestling with the budget May to June and you would have a whole new Finance Committee come in on July 1 and start all over.”
Commissioner Teresa Eichner supported the idea presented in Webb’s bill of keeping local elections separate from state elections.
“I think spending $3 million on keeping our local elections separate is worth the money,” said Eichner. “We just had a special interest group spend $2.5 million in 25 precincts in our county on television and direct mail. So for a candidate who is going to run in a district citywide election and be competitive with $60,000 in the bank is not feasible. The power of incumbency becomes that much more important when you are putting that many people on the ballot, regardless if you are on the front or the back.”
The Commission voted 13-1 in favor of supporting J-1 sponsored by Redman and the support will be presented to the Council in a resolution.
The next meeting of the Charter Revision Commission is Oct. 29 at 9 a.m. in Council Chambers.
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