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Municipal ‘Super Tuesday’ 2017 – more of an event, more of a deal

Jesse Hollett
Posted 1/18/17

ORANGE PARK – Election season fatigue has begun to fade for Clay County voters as the months give way to municipal elections, which, since last year, have meant less hassle for the elections office …

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Municipal ‘Super Tuesday’ 2017 – more of an event, more of a deal


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Election season fatigue has begun to fade for Clay County voters as the months give way to municipal elections, which, since last year, have meant less hassle for the elections office and higher community buzz.

Clay County will hold its second countywide municipal ‘Super Tuesday’ election April 11, five months after a contentious election season and one year after Election Supervisor Chris Chambless campaigned to align all municipal elections into one event.

All three municipalities have their current mayor’s seat up for election. Meaning Green Cove Springs Mayor Pam Pamela Lewis, Keystone Heights Mayor Tony Brown and Orange Park Mayor Eugene Nix are up for re-election.

Also up for re-election are Green Cove Springs Vice-Mayor Mitch Timberlake and Orange Park Council member Steve Howard. All positions are three-year terms.

This election is the second year all municipal elections will fall on one ‘Super Tuesday,’ where voters in every municipality can vote in their district on the same days in what Chambless said makes for a smoother election system for both the elections office and municipalities from years prior.

“Elections have become much more technical from 10 to 15 years ago – now they’re very specific and require a great deal of a wide-ranging skillset and we’re just better positioned to bring elections than the municipalities,” Chambless said. “It’s an additional duty or an aside for these municipalities. For us it’s what we do, so we believe it takes a lot of pressure off these municipalities to conduct the number of these different processes”

The change loosens the burden on municipalities that previously had to allocate staff to the invisible yet time-consuming election season tasks of mailouts and provisional ballots, for example.

A more tangible effect of the changed system is it gives the municipal election season more teeth by making it more of an event for voters, thereby increasing turnout and community buy in.

“Rather than having multiple smaller elections than to have one larger election you could leverage that to garner more attention. Secondly was the idea that you would be able through consolidation to better administer the election process and that would reduce the overall cost,” Chambless said.

The county saves money through ballot costs with the realignment as well as equipment fees, some of which were eliminated through election consolidation. However, it won’t be until this year that Chambless can accurately identify exactly how much money is saved.

While qualifying for seats begins on Jan. 30, two candidates have already applied to fill the soon-to-be vacancies.

Ronald Raymond, a River Road Resident and former council member in 1989, has declared to run for Howard’s seat, while Alan Watt, who lives on Birdwood Drive, will run to take incumbent mayor Eugene Nix’s position on seat two.

Nix is running for re-election. Orange Park and Green Cove Springs council members select their mayors from current council members for a one year term, as opposed to other Clay municipalities who elect their mayor.

Orange Park’s election this year is “hugely important because not only do we have council seats on the ballot, but three charter amendments,” said Town Clerk Sarah Campbell. “So it’s important for people to come out and vote for the candidates and the issues.”

The three ballot measures will essentially align Orange Park’s charter more closely with state standards by editing run off provision dates, authorizing the elections office to handle candidate qualifying and adoption of the Florida election code.

Keystone Heights Mayor Tony Brown, who has served roles in the city since the early 90s, announced he would run for re-election after an intense outpour of public support after he previously said he would retire.

“His reasons for deciding to seek re-election was because of the outpour from the community,” said City Clerk Lynn Rutkowski. “It‘s up to them to keep him in his spot…he decided he owed it to the people.”

Green Cove Springs officials hope, however, that there will be an election this year considering last year’s three competing seats all ran unopposed. The lack of election meant charter amendments to clarify canvassing board language and loosen laws relating to how and when an elected official is declared winner by the elections supervisor went neglected.