By REID TUCKER
With the imminent arrival of the April 14 city general elections close at hand, DeFuniak Springs Mayor Bob Campbell wanted to clear the air about the ballot’s sole voter referendum, one that could eliminate the mayor’s right to vote.
The referendum’s exact language – “Should the mayor’s right to vote in cases of a tie vote by the City Council be abolished?” – doesn’t go far enough to explain the purpose behind the referendum, Campbell said. Specifically, he wanted to ensure the public understands his and the Council’s view that the referendum, if passed, wouldn’t take away the mayor’s rights, but would instead gives holders of the office more freedom to conduct city business.
It all comes down to the frequency, or really the infrequency, of tie votes the DeFuniak Springs City Council has actually returned over the years and the restrictions placed on voting board members by Florida’s “Sunshine Law,” which deals with freedom of information and public records requests.
“It’s an extremely rare occasion for there to be a tie vote,” Campbell said. “The Sunshine Law makes it so that – as long as the mayor can vote – the only time information about city business I receive or gather on my own can be shared with the Council is at a public meeting. In that respect, I think the trade-off we’ll get [from passing the referendum] is much more valuable since it’ll give me the ability to have candid conversations with individual Council members.”
That last part is especially important to note, as state law prohibits more than one voting member from holding group meetings. However, if the referendum passes and the mayor’s right to vote is abolished, holders of that office would be allowed to meet with one board member at a time without violating the Sunshine Law.
Campbell’s support for the referendum on the basis of greater communication between board members was shared by former Mayor Harold Carpenter, who first proposed such a referendum two years ago, though at that time the referendum failed to pass with only 44 percent of the vote. Campbell’s stance on the referendum is backed up by the fact that Carpenter only had to use the power to cast a tie-breaking vote on a few occasions during his eight-year tenure as mayor. The same is true of Harley Henderson, who served as mayor during the ‘80s and ‘90s, Campbell said.
The referendum itself was unanimously approved earlier this month by the City Council after a Feb. 23 public hearing and numerous discussions during Council meetings, which Campbell said indicates strong support for the referendum by the board and some members of the public. However, numerous calls from concerned citizens started coming in to City Hall last week as absentee ballots began mailing out, leading to Campbell’s decision to set the record straight once and for all.
“I think this will be a good thing for our Council,” Campbell said. “I’d hate for people to go to the polls without having more of an explanation as to what they’ll be voting on. I want them to have all the information so they can make the most informed decision possible.”
