Gomez, Cunningham Elected By Default, No One Else Qualifies For Century Mayor, Council

September 28, 2023

The interim mayor and an interim council member will keep their seats because no one else qualified for a special election.

Luis Gomez, Jr. was elected as the only candidate for the office of mayor, and Henry Cunningham was elected for town council without opposition.

Gomez was recently appointed interim mayor after the resignation of Ben Boutwell, and Cunningham was appointed on an interim basis to the council seat vacated by Gomez.

Wednesday was the final day of a qualification week the town council shortened to just three days.

The special election was set for November 1 with the oaths of office 10 days later on November 11. It was not immediately clear if Gomez and Cunningham will be sworn in November 11 or sooner.  In the meantime, they will continue to hold their interim seats.

Pictured top: Luis Gomez, Jr. (left) and Henry Cunningham. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

20 Responses to “Gomez, Cunningham Elected By Default, No One Else Qualifies For Century Mayor, Council”

  1. Green Mountain Boys on October 1st, 2023 9:15 am

    Century has joined the ranks of Detroit, Camden, NJ; St Louis and other centers of urban degradation and poor governance.

  2. dave lamb on October 1st, 2023 1:00 am

    Ed, I meant my question as sarcasm. This whole Centry saga is ajoke. Allthey need now is Barney Fife as Police Chief!

  3. David Huie Green on September 29th, 2023 12:51 pm

    When you are clearly the best no one wants to run against you.
    I assume that’s what happened here.

  4. BIG JOHN on September 28th, 2023 8:05 pm

    YET, LIKE I SAID STAY TURN FOR YOU DON,T WONT TO MISS THE NEXT SHOW . CENTURY IS A BIG AND I SAY A BIG BIG JOKE FOR ALL ON ESCAMBIA COUNTY. WHY CAN,T THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS STEP IN AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT CENTURY? NOR ARE THEY IN BED WITH THEM TOO!!! AS YOUR SELF THAT QUESTION

  5. Bull on September 28th, 2023 1:50 pm

    Disgusted — I call bull.

    If you submitted your paperwork to run for either office, it would have been time stamped and recorded. Let’s pull the security camera footage and see. What day and about what time did you qualify? Where are your time stamped copies?

  6. JJ on September 28th, 2023 12:36 pm

    @disgusted:
    Surely wish you file complaint with state on your paperwork lost. Untill people stand up to POLITICAL CORRECT,Century will stay as a CRAP pool
    IN OUR COUNTY.

  7. C.S on September 28th, 2023 12:20 pm

    I dont live in Century but I have many friends and I know many of the residents there that are of high intelligence and would make very capable political leaders yet we see at every election the same ones who demonstrate the Peter principle being left in the position to further erode the town. With that stated I find it hard to muster sympathy for the residents who apparently condone the ineptness and possibly the corruption of the town governing body. What you allow to happen will continue to happen.

  8. Kane on September 28th, 2023 11:49 am

    Well, it’s a good thing they voted down the tax increase because they just got a new mayor without an election that seems like taxation without representation XD

  9. Concerned Citizen on September 28th, 2023 11:28 am

    This is the statement made by Gomez a few weeks ago. So, why is he now the permanent mayor?

    “I know that I am in over my head, but I don’t want the town of Century to suffer due to my lack of experience in this position,” Gomez told his town council a few minutes after he was sworn in Monday night.

    Need to bulldoze the entire city government.

  10. Disgusted on September 28th, 2023 11:07 am

    What’s funny is I put in for the available council spot as mayor, and subsequently my paperwork was lost and not submitted. The problem with this council is the projects that are being proposed is only sticking century’s money in the pockets of these members and not into the community. If you step back and look at the proposed builds you will see that they are denying the true build better plans because they do not fit their schedules

  11. Rusty on September 28th, 2023 10:24 am

    We’ll now the cast is set for under the big top the two clowns are now on the stage

  12. Cantonment Mom on September 28th, 2023 10:11 am

    This is so comical to read everyday! I’ll just leave it at that!

  13. tg on September 28th, 2023 8:34 am

    This tells you all you need to know about Century.

  14. Soapbox Sally on September 28th, 2023 8:32 am

    The town Council shortened the qualification time to three days…. Well how convenient for the incumbents. Is that even allowed? But then again, something not being allowed has never stopped Council from doing it anyway.

    Well, we get what we pay for. Gomez has shown blatant disregard for the Sunshine Law, proven he is not qualified to hold the position of mayor by stating he is in over his head. At this point the only way to keep Council honest and doing right by citizens is for citizens to police them. Go to Council meetings and hold them accountable for their decisions. Let your voice be heard on issues that you think are important. Otherwise, they’ll make decisions that benefit them and not the town as a whole. Being a keyboard warrior isn’t enough.

  15. CF on September 28th, 2023 8:14 am

    I can’t believe nobody else ran against the incumbents.

  16. Waste of Time on September 28th, 2023 7:48 am

    As long as the tax payers of Escambia County keeps bailing out this side show up there…. the consequences of clown’izm will continue.

  17. Willis on September 28th, 2023 7:22 am

    Congratulations
    Good clean race.

  18. Ed on September 28th, 2023 4:48 am

    Dave lamb neither one of them are qualified. Just the lead clown and one of his puppets.He Gomez has got it just the way he wants it.Time to starting the pettion
    to do away with their town charter. STAY TUNED coming soon

  19. ed on September 28th, 2023 2:27 am

    Did I miss Keystone Kops move to Century.

  20. dave lamb on September 28th, 2023 1:41 am

    Q. How qualified are they?