Dick Brown should be allowed to run for seat that used to be held by Jabour/wife

[Radio Talk Show Host]

WE DESERVE[/b the right to pick from anyone qualified to run
Dick Brown will be a guest on the Dave Siebert show tomorrow 1460 8-10am
(first guest Larry Jones, Mike Weinstein's opponent)

[Radio Talk Show Host]

    

Last modified 4/11/2008 - 11:52 pm
Originally created 041208

Neptune Beach council ballot should be open, suit contends

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A judge has ruled only two candidates may run for an open seat.


By BETH KORMANIK, The Times-Union

Neptune Beach Mayor Dick Brown filed a lawsuit Friday to open the ballot for the vacant at-large council seat, which a court order has restricted to just two candidates.


      

Jay Jabour held the seat until an appellate court confirmed in February he did not meet residency requirements.

Duval County Circuit Judge Bernard Nachman ruled that the only candidates who could run for the seat would be Democrat Bob Harms and Republican Theresa Graham - who both ran unsuccessfully against Jabour in last year's election.

But Brown, a Republican, is arguing that Jabour resigned before the court order took effect and that the City Council must declare a vacancy for the seat and open the election to anyone who wants to run.

"The voters deserve a greater choice than that," he said. "A number of folks felt it was puzzling that it would be restricted to these folks."

Brown pointed out that if the lawsuit filed in Duval County Circuit Court is successful, other candidates could jump into the race.

Earlier this week, the City Council delayed voting on a bill that would have called for the election to be exclusively between Harms and Graham.

Council President Daniel Davis said Tuesday that he fully expected a lawsuit over the issue, and Chief Deputy General Counsel Cindy Laquidara said attorneys for possible candidates have contacted her office.

Several council members expressed their preference to have the ballot open to more people.

"We're going to narrow it to two people?" Councilman Richard Clark said Tuesday. "That doesn't feel right to me."

Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said earlier this week that he thought the issue of any potential lawsuits "was put to rest" and was surprised to hear anyone was contemplating it.

Holland said that he hoped any possible lawsuits could be dealt with sooner rather than later so that the vote will still take place Aug. 26 - the date of an already scheduled election. A special election could cost more than $1.1 million.

Brown's term as Neptune Beach mayor ends in November because of term limits. He also served two terms as a Jacksonville councilman, from 1991 to 1999, and left because of term limits.

Brown, 69, is married to former Jacksonville City Councilwoman Elaine Brown.

beth.kormanik@jacksonville.com (904) 359-4619

[stephenc]

Is the seat empty right now?

[Jimmy]

Dick should run in 2011, if he loses this court case and can't get on the ballot this go-around.  The suit that he filed is based on a flawed premise, so I have my doubts about its success.  It's premised on a belief that Jay resigned his seat.  And that Judge Nachman's ruling is somehow not binding.  It's a mess for sure.   

I spent some time looking at the filings on my blog, including a link to download Dick's complaint.

http://ageeklawyer.blogspot.com/2008/04/harden-brown-vs-coj.html

Some people may not want to trek through the internets... here's a direct-link to the PDF...
http://hometown.aol.com/midyettej/brownvcojcomplaint.pdf

[stephenc]

Why would you remove someone from office and then not fill the empty seat?

[Jimmy]

That's what all of this is about, stephenc.  Filling the seat.  They have six months from the time of vacancy in which to hold an election.  It turned out that the timing lined up so that that election could happen on August 26, when we're already holding a county-wide primary.  So, it saves Jacksonville about $1.1M.

Breaking news this afternoon is two motions files by Mr. Bob Harms, one of the candidates for election in the race.  You can read his motions through my blog, referenced above.

[stephenc]

I'm just surpised this hasnt been done already. I would think they would have a special election soon after he was removed. Why would you wait 6 months for an election. Just to save money?

[Jimmy]

Well, in this tight budget year, yes.  That's a lot of money.  And we do have 18 other councilmembers.  It's an at-large seat, so it's not like there's a district full of people without a councilmember.

[Radio Talk Show Host]

For those of you who might have missed Bob Harms being interviewed on my show last Saturday, Paul Porter (our 7-9am talk show host who has also interviewed Bob) called in after Bob spent a lot of time listening/learning factual information that Bob should probably already know before becoming a councilman. Paul Porter called him an idiot and stated Bob and people like Bob without the knowledge necessary for good government are the main problem with government

My opinion is that hopefully someone even more impressive than Dick Brown will enter the race once its open or at least an open race makes them all try harder