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Election Rules Could Change in Dunedin

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: October 13, 2007

DUNEDIN, Fla. - Debate is already brewing on the City Commission over how elected officials should be voted into office.

During the next municipal election, in March 2008, voters may decide whether the city charter should be changed so commission members run for individual seats in a citywide vote. Under the current method the top vote-getters are elected, depending on how many seats are on the ballot.

The vote to put the issue on the ballot passed by a narrow 3-2 margin on first reading during the Oct. 4 City Commission meeting.

Mayor Bob Hackworth and Commissioners Dave Eggers and Julie Ward Bujalski voted to let voters decide, while Commissioners Julie Scales and Deborah Kynes voted no.

Commissioners will tackle the issue on second, and final, reading at their Thursday, Oct. 18, meeting, 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Prior to last week's preliminary vote on putting the charter change before the city electorate, Eggers noted under the current method of electing commission members a challenger may find it daunting having to run against one or two incumbents.

Someone may not run for office because he or she supports one incumbent but not the other and does not want to water-down the support, he added.

Officials would run on their track record if they had to defend their individual seat rather than run against the pack, Eggers said.

Kynes, however, said holding an election in which candidates run for individual seats could become derisive and personal, rather than issue-oriented.

She noted the city has been electing its officials this way since it was founded.

Bujalski said it is interesting to note in the last election, when she ran for an unexpired term as a political newcomer, there were seven challengers for her seat but no one chose to run against the incumbents.

Scales said there is no empirical evidence that one way of electing officials is better than another. The issue should get more study before it is placed on the ballot, she said.

Hackworth countered that the issue should be placed on the ballot so voters can decide whether they want to change how commissioners and the mayor are elected.

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