Photo: AFP
There are 19 Palm Beach County municipalities with elections next month.
They include the City of Lake Worth Beach, where there is one City Commission seat up for grabs and four charter amendments on the ballot.
In this Election Spotlight story, we focus on those amendments.
Here is the information provided by the City of Lake Worth Beach.
Ballot Questions & Explanations:
Question 1
“SHALL THE CITY OF LAKE WORTH BEACH AMEND ITS CHARTER AT ARTICLE III, SECTION 2 TO PROVIDE THAT NO PERSON MAY SERVE MORE THAN A MAXIMUM OF TWELVE CONSECUTIVE YEARS AS A CITY ELECTED OFFICIAL AND THAT NO PERSON MAY SERVE MORE THAN TWO CONSECUTIVE FULL TERMS AS MAYOR OR COMMISSIONER WHEREIN THE OFFICES OF MAYOR AND COMMISSIONER WILL BE CONSIDERED SEPARATE OFFICES FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUCH CONSECUTIVE TERM LIMITS?”
Currently, there are no term limits in the City’s Charter. This question would allow a Commissioner or Mayor to serve only 2 3-year terms in a row, then have to wait for 23 months before running again for the same seat. A Commissioner could run for Mayor or a Mayor for Commissioner after serving 6 years, but the maximum time they could serve would be 12 years after which time they would have to sit out for 23 months.
Question 2
“SHALL THE CITY OF LAKE WORTH BEACH AMEND ITS CHARTER AT ARTICLE V, SECTION 4 TO PROVIDE THAT A CANDIDATE WHO QUALIFIES FOR A RUN-OFF ELECTION IS AUTHORIZED TO CONCEDE THE RUN-OFF ELECTION WITHIN 48 HOURS OF THE CERTIFICATION OF THE ELECTION RESULTS THEREBY DOING AWAY WITH THE NEED FOR A RUN-OFF ELECTION AND ALLOWING THE REMAINING CANDIDATE TO BE DULY ELECTED?”
Concession is not addressed in the City’s Charter. In 2019, the candidate who was in second place after the general election conceded, but the City had a run-off election to ensure compliance with the Charter.
Question 3
“SHALL THE CITY OF LAKE WORTH BEACH AMEND ITS CHARTER AT ARTICLE III, SECTION 1 TO PROVIDE FOR SINGLE-MEMBER DISTRICT VOTING WHEREIN EACH COMMISSIONER SHALL BE ELECTED BY THE VOTERS RESIDING IN HIS OR HER OWN DISTRICT, AND WILL CONTINUE TO REPRESENT THE ENTIRE CITY AND WITH THE MAYOR CONTINUING TO BE ELECTED BY THE VOTERS OF THE CITY-AT-LARGE?”
District Commissioners are currently elected at-large, meaning that all voters in the City vote for each Commissioner. Many cities have single-member district voting where only the voters living in that district can vote for the Commissioner for that district. Each Commissioner would continue to represent the entire City and the Mayor would continue to be elected at-large.
Question 4
“SHALL THE CITY OF LAKE WORTH BEACH AMEND ITS CHARTER AT ARTICLE III, SECTION 5 TO PROVIDE THAT WHEN THE CITY COMMISSION IS REQUIRED TO FILL A VACANCY ON THE COMMISSION BY APPOINTMENT, SUCH APPOINTMENT SHALL BE MADE BY THE REMAINING MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION NO LATER THAN 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE OPENING OF THE QUALIFYING PERIOD FOR THE NEXT CITY ELECTION?”
The Charter does not specify a specific time for filling a Commission vacancy beyond the overall time between a vacancy and the next election. This amendment would add language that an appointment to fill a Commission vacancy would have to be made before the start of the qualifying period.
The municipal elections are being held on Tuesday, March 8.