The Wellington Village Council on Tuesday approved the preliminary reading of four proposed charter amendments to go for a public referendum in March.
The first amendment, regarding the filling of council vacancies, passed 3-2 after a long discussion centering on whether Councilwoman Anne Gerwig was going to run for mayor.
If Gerwig does run, it would leave the final two years of her term to be filled by a special election if the amendment passes, and leave her seat open for replacement by the sitting council members if the amendment does not pass.
The proposed amendment provides that if a vacancy occurs in the office of a council member, and fewer than 180 days remain in the term, the seat will remain vacant until the next regularly scheduled election. If a council vacancy occurs with 180 days or more remaining, a special election would be called.
Now, the charter provides that if any council vacancy occurs, the remaining council members appoint a new council member by majority vote within 30 days following the vacancy.
Village Attorney Laurie Cohen explained that the charter amendment would make the process to fill vacant council seats the same as the mayor, which is treated differently as the charter currently reads.
“This amendment would essentially treat them both the same,” Cohen said.
Mayor Bob Margolis said that the charter amendment would take the replacement of council members out of the council’s hands. “The voters will decide, if this charter amendment passes,” he said.
Gerwig said much depends on the effective date of the resignation. If the question is approved in March, it will become effective immediately. The resign-to-run law says that the last effective date of resignation would be the day that person takes the new seat, which would be after the referendum.
Councilman John McGovern asked what the consequence would be if Gerwig did decide to run for mayor.
“I hate to call you out, but let’s take the 10,000-pound gorilla out of the room,” McGovern said. “If Councilwoman Gerwig wants to run for mayor, and she wants her seat to be up for election in this election that we’re about to go into, she would have to resign so there is an effective date prior to the commencement of qualifying. Is that correct?”
“That’s right,” Cohen said.
“The question is, could Councilwoman Gerwig run for mayor, potentially lose, and run for her seat again?” McGovern asked.
“I don’t know the answer to the question,” Cohen said. “That question I would have to take a look at, and look at the current charter and analyze that.”
Gerwig said that to get her seat on the ballot, she would have to resign now.
“That was the question that was asked of the Florida Elections Commission attorney, and that was the reason it was asked. Could my seat go on the ballot or not?” she said.
Cohen said the elections commission attorney had not issued a written opinion, but she had talked to him on the telephone.
“Basically, they said that they did not have the jurisdiction to render a written opinion on it because they felt it should have been asked by Ms. Gerwig, or the person who was running,” she said, adding that the attorney for the Village of Royal Palm Beach had had the same question regarding that village’s upcoming election.
“Her question was the same as mine,” Cohen said. “Ultimately, it took so long to get a response whatsoever, after repeated calls to the Division of Elections, ultimately she just issued an opinion.”
Councilman Matt Willhite asked what the cost would be to hold a special election, and Village Clerk Awilda Rodriguez said it would be about $35,000.
“I think it’s a great idea that we want an elected body sitting up here,” Willhite said. “The problem is in those unforeseen circumstances where, for whatever reason, there is a vacancy. It could become very costly and very short-term for filling that.”
Willhite made a motion to deny the amendment, which failed 3-2, with Gerwig, Vice Mayor John Greene and McGovern opposed.
Greene then made a motion to approve the amendment, which carried 3-2 with Margolis and Willhite opposed.
The council unanimously approved the other three amendments.
One of the amendments would change the composition of the elections canvassing board to make it an independent panel, with the village clerk as chair, along with a county commissioner and a Palm Beach County judge. The current provision is for the village clerk and those council members who are not up for election to serve as the canvassing board.
Another amendment asks whether the charter should be amended to include a provision protecting the Equestrian Preserve Area. Currently the charter does not make reference to the Equestrian Preserve Area.
The final amendment asks whether commercial transient occupancy uses other than bed-and-breakfasts, such as hotels, motels and rental apartments, should be prohibited in the Equestrian Preserve Area.
Several other amendment topics were discussed throughout the charter review process, but only these four were chosen by the council to move forward to the voters.
