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With No Candidates, How Will Century Fill Two Council Seats?
June 22, 2022
It appears two Century town council seats will be empty come January because the incumbents are not running again, and no one else qualified as candidates for the seats.
No one qualified by the state-mandated noon deadline on June 17 to run for Seat 3, currently held by Leonard White, and Seat 4, currently held by James Smith, Jr.
Century’s attorney, Matt Dannheisser, has offered a “preliminary thought” on how the seats can be filled, according to a council agenda. He said the seats will simply become vacant at the first council meeting in January. At that meeting, incumbent Sandra McMurray Jackson will be sworn in for another term; she was the only candidate to qualify for her seat and was automatically elected.
Then, at that January meeting, the three sitting council members will appoint two people to the vacant seats, as allowed by the town charter. The charter then specifies a special election will be set for 60 to 90 days later for the two seats.
Dannheisser is expected to provide a formal written recommendation to the town in about two weeks.
Escambia County Supervisor of Elections David Stafford told NorthEscambia.com Tuesday afternoon that it will be up to the town to follow their charter to fill the seats. He said the town will be responsible for the cost of the special election.
Comments
15 Responses to “With No Candidates, How Will Century Fill Two Council Seats?”
one problem with all this is there are not a lot of qualified people in century. i assume you have to be able to read, write, and speak english in an audible fashion. that will eliminate a good portion of the people in the city limits.
REGARDING:
“So, if they appoint someone why have an election if there’s nobody to run against?”
The election is to see if the candidate is acceptable and to let others think, “I’m better than he is,” and run for the office instead if they actually think so.
David for incentives
So, if they appoint someone why have an election if there’s nobody to run against? I smell something fishy….as usual
The main challenge of finding quality candidates for a town council in Century Florida, is that one must first live in Century Florida.
Does the ToC need to change their “good ole boy” politics and actually begin to act like they are competent?
I agree with this, that “good ole boy” mentality is part of the issue. It’s discouraging.
WHAT are the “qualifiers” that must be met?
The qualifiers are set in the charter
WHY does no one want to be a public figure in Century?
The majority of people vote for their “friends” without determining if the friends can actually do the job.
Oversight,
I can give a round about figure, and don’t call me Shirley!!!
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Oversight on June 22nd, 2022 4:35 am
And what will be the cost of a special election, Mr Supervisor of Elections? Surely you can give a round about figure, so the town’s folk can see how they are about to be feleased by their own ineptitude.
” the Town Charter and the Town Code of Ordinances all appear to be silent ”
It literally says the solution is in the town charter in the article.
@Oversight, I am going to guess $10k minimum. The 2020 census shows 1,713 people living in Century, Since I doubt it would cost anything extra, perhaps they should add a binding referendum asking if the City should vacate the Charter and return rule to the county.
I figure the cost to be between 5-10 thousand.
The Town Council should direct the Town Attorney to seek an Advisory Legal Opinion from the Florida Attorney General. State law, the Town Charter and the Town Code of Ordinances all appear to be silent on this very unusual matter.
WHY are there no candidates that “qualify”?
Does the ToC need to change their “good ole boy” politics and actually begin to act like they are competent?
WHAT are the “qualifiers” that must be met?
WHY does no one want to be a public figure in Century?
WHAT is the pay, and how many hours does one “work” for the money?
WHY does nobody want to even TRY to clean up the town or merge with Pensacola?
Why not just shut it down?
Seems as if no one wants to play anymore.
I wonder who they would appoint if Noone was interested to begin with.
Just go around the corner and get a couple trustees from the prison to stand in during meetings.
And what will be the cost of a special election, Mr Supervisor of Elections? Surely you can give a round about figure, so the town’s folk can see how they are about to be feleased by their own ineptitude.