by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
If City Council member Jay Jabour loses his appeal and Wednesday’s decision by Circuit Court Judge Bernard Nachman to invalidate the election Jabour won in May is upheld, there may be more questions than answers.
One thing is true: only two people — Democrat Bob Harms and Republican Theresa Graham — can legally run for Jabour’s at-large Group 2 seat. After that, things get hazy and virtually every question requires an answer from an attorney.
When will the election be?
How much will it cost?
Can anyone else run?
What happens to the votes he has cast since being sworn in?
Does he owe the City for the salary he’s been paid since July 1?
Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland sat in on Jabour’s entire hearing, which was spurred by a lawsuit filed by Harms, who lost to Jabour in a run-off in May. Harms contended that Jabour lives in the San Jose area, not the beach. Local elections laws require the at-large Group 2 representative to live either at the beach or in parts of Arlington.
Jabour — who is chair of the Council’s Rules Committee — has a home in San Jose and a condominium in Jacksonville Beach. Property records indicate Jabour filed his homestead exemption through the condominium, but he testified he spent a majority of his time leading up to the election at the San Jose home. Harms contended the San Jose house was Jabour’s full-time residence and produced electric bills that supported his accusation.
Holland said Jabour has 10 days to file an appeal.
“I talked to him this morning and he said he was going forward with the appeal,” said Holland Thursday morning.
Holland needs the court to make its decision by Nov. 30 so he can place the election on the Jan. 29 presidential preference ballot. Anything after Nov. 30 will be expensive.
“If it’s not on the Jan. 29 ballot, it will cost over $1 million to hold a special election,” said Holland. “I will really push an appellate decision by the end of November.”
Holland said his office does not have an extra million dollars in its budget to hold a special city-wide election. He said the funding would have to come from Council — likely its “rainy day fund” — and Council would have to approve of the funding.
Also at issue are votes Jabour has cast since taking office. In most cases, Jabour was one of 19 who voted the same. However, he was one of the 10 who voted in favor of Mayor John Peyton’s stormwater fee that was publicly criticized by many, including most of the churches in town. If Jabour’s vote is deemed ineligible, the stormwater fee vote would result in a 9-9 tie, which is a defeat.
“Two groups called this morning and said they were going to bring a legal challenge on the vote,” said Holland, declining to identify the groups. “Both were against the fees.”
Tracey Arpen of the Office of General Counsel said those groups can protest the vote, however case law shows Jabour’s vote will stand.
“There is no impact. I have already looked into it,” said Arpen, explaining that Jabour is recognized as a “de facto” member of Council due to his current legal status.
Since both Harms and Graham qualified for the seat earlier this year, both will be on the ballot if they still want the job. However, according to Holland, there will not be another qualifying period regardless when the election is held, and anyone else wanting to run would have to file suit for the right to run.
“The election was deemed null and void, not the qualification of candidates,” said Holland.
Duval County Republican Party Chairman John Falconetti said he and the party will consult with its legal advisors about the facts as they currently stand. However, he said, it’s unlikely the party will make any public comments, take a stance or even consider filing suit to get another Republican candidate on the ballot.
“I don’t want to address any hypotheticals right now,” said Falconetti. “My understanding is Council member Jabour will file an appeal. Pending the outcome, I don’t want to begin to think about options.”
Arpen said before Nachman ruled in favor of Harms Wednesday, he ruled that only Graham and Harms could run in a special election.
“The judge said the election would be head-to-head between the two (candidates) the voters had not yet selected between,” he said.
Arpen also said he had not looked into whether or not Jabour may have to reimburse the City for wages he’s earned as a Council member.