By Joel Addington
Staff Writer
Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said Rules Committee members at Thursday’s special meeting lost sight of the real issue: letting voters decide whether to move elections from the Spring to the Fall to coincide with the national and gubernatorial cycles.
“The bill in front of them was not to move the elections, but whether to allow voters to decide if they wanted to move the elections,” Holland said Friday. “It sounds like the same thing but it’s not.”
For years Holland has been calling to change elections to the Fall. This year, with impending budget reductions from property tax reform, he’s been advocating it yet again, saying it could save the taxpayers millions.
For that same reason, City Council member Ray Holt sponsored a bill to put a referendum on the January presidential primary ballot and let the public decide the issue.
“We saw over one hundred people that night begging us not to raise taxes,” said Holt, referring to recent hearings on the city’s budget. “After that, I started trying to find ways to save dollars.”
He said the city could save $2.8 million in the next election cycle.
Despite the projected savings, the Rules Committee recommended against the bill, fearing a move to the Fall ballot would mean local issues and candidates would be lost in the fray of state and national issues.
“Jacksonville is unique in quality of government because people can focus on their (local) elected officials,” said former interim elections supervisor Bill Scheu.
Scheu also said the savings would only amount to about $2 per taxpayer.
“Those numbers are not significant when talking about the quality of government,” he said.
The referendum could still make it on the ballot, however, if City Council members grant approval next month.
Resident Jim Minion, who opposed Fall elections, likened the issue to airing a high school football game right after a Jaguars game.
“More people will see it, but less people will understand what’s going on,” he said.
The move to fall elections in 2012 would also extend the terms of City Council members, the mayor and constitutional officers an extra 18 months.
That’s something no one at Thursday’s meeting agreed with.
“I’m not going to vote for something that extends my term or the mayor’s term or anybody else’s,” said City Council member Clay Yarborough.
Holland did not take a position on moving the elections Thursday, simply saying he favored a referendum.
“Voters are a lot smarter than we give them credit for,” he said.