ELECTION DEBACLE

APRIL FOOLS — After last week’s discovery that the town incorrectly advertised its $16 million beach bond referendum, the Town Clerk’s Office conducted an elections audit of the past 20 years.

The search determined that all elections from the last four years are invalid — including their results.
Now, all current commissioners and their former opponents must face off in a special municipal election later this month.

The Longboat Key Town Commission now automatically has a dozen members, because all commission candidates from the last four years are up for election again and will serve on the commission in an interim capacity. (The audit also found that a vote is required to release commissioners from public service, meaning that the resignations of former commissioners Gene Jaleski and Robert Siekmann are not effective.)

The new 12-person commission is now made up of Commissioner-Contenders Jim Brown, David Brenner, Phillip Younger, Lynn Larson, Jack Duncan, Hal Lenobel, Lee Rothenberg, Peter O’Connor, Randall Clair, Lee Pokoik, Siekmann and Jaleski.

Former Mayor George Spoll’s term limits still stand.

The recent nominations of Jim Brown as mayor and David Brenner as vice mayor are also null and void (see box at right).

The ruling left Town Hall employees scrambling last week to find five more matching commissioner chairs from local OfficeMax stores in time for the commission’s April 1 special meeting.

The new commission will again preside over the Longboat Key Club Islandside renovation-and-expansion hearings, which are expected to start in June and be complete in July 2013. The town will rent the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall at a rate of $500 a day, every Monday through Friday, to accommodate the large number of expected attendees.

The election debacle could also be a boon for local businesses. The owner of a local button company said that he was cranking up production of “I Support the Club” buttons, while a sign-company owner said that he had hired seven additional employees to accommodate demand for election signs. Code enforcement has also hired two additional staff members at a cost of $75,000 a year to help with anticipated code violations due to election signs being placed in the rights of way.

But not everyone was pleased with the re-election election. One commissioner said the errors are “a debacle” and an embarrassment to the town and said he planned to resign promptly. But he learned that he couldn’t give up that easily.

“I don’t want any part of this, but they told me I have to run for my seat now whether I like it or not,” he said. “I’m going to make up buttons and signs that say, ‘Please, Don’t Vote for Me.’”

Please contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected]