by Anthony DeMatteo
Staff Writer
Dave Baldwin met Tuesday’s deadline for submitting a petition that would make him a District 2 candidate for City Council in the spring election. Whether he appears on the ballot will likely be decided by a circuit court judge.
A complaint Baldwin filed Dec. 29, which alleges the city of Jacksonville and Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland are violating equal protection laws, will be heard Friday by Fourth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Bernard Nachman.
The case stems from the implementation of a 2005 ordinance passed by the Jacksonville City Council requiring Council candidates to collect signatures from 3 percent of the electorate in their district.
“I am confident we will have at least the 1 percent that we say we need,” said Baldwin. “I will not have the 3 percent.”
Three percent of voters in District 2 would represent 1,079 signatures, according to Baldwin.
He will ask Nachman to overturn the ordinance if the judge finds it violates equal protection. Baldwin’s attorneys have also requested an emergency temporary injunction.
Baldwin said it is much easier for at-large candidates to collect signatures than those running for district seats.
“The candidate for the at-large seat is required to gather signatures from 1 percent or more of the voters in Jacksonville,” said Baldwin. “As a candidate for a district seat, I have to find signatures from 3 percent of voters in my district.”
According to Leslie Goller, Baldwin’s lead attorney, the requirement violates equal protection because at-large candidates for city office must obtain just 1 percent of voters’ signatures – the percentage required by the state.
“When the City Council ordinance was amended, the purpose of it was to bring it into alignment with the new state law, which was a 1 percent qualifying percentage, whether it was a district or an at-large seat,” said Goller. “To require a different percentage denies equal protection for candidates.”
The ordinance was written to match the city’s requirement to the state’s, but it was amended by the City Council’s Rules Committee to include the 3 percent threshold.
In a phone interview on Wednesday, Holland said he could not say whether he thought the ordinance violated equal protection because of the lawsuit.
“That would be getting into what a judge would decide,” said Holland.
Candidates can also be placed on the ballot by paying a dollar amount equaling 7.5 percent of a council member’s salary - about $2,700. According to Holland, the state requires a 6 percent fee.
Goller’s assistant counsel, Jimmy Midyette Jr., said the team’s goal is to have Baldwin and other potential candidates in his position placed on the March 20 primary ballot.
“We’re pretty confident the judge will hear our arguments and will favor a less restrictive scheme that enables more candidates on the ballot rather than less,” said Midyette, who is also running for City Council.
Jason Teal, assistant general counsel for the city, said he thinks the City Council acted legally in amending the ordinance.
“As far as equal protection, I don’t see any issues in the law with what the City Council did,” said Teal. “With equal protection, the issue of having no rational reason comes into play. One reason the Council cited in raising the requirement from 1 percent was that leaving it would create an opportunity for people who weren’t very serious to get on the ballot.”