Christian Peterson
reporter.riverbendnews@gmail.com
The White Springs Town Council recently broke its own town charter while attempting to fill vacant seats on the council. On Tuesday, May 28, the White Springs Town Council met for its regularly scheduled meeting. In attendance were Anita Rivers, Jacqueline Williams and Kizzie Burch. One council seat had yet to be filled and the other was abdicated by Linnie Polt. There were a total of three letters of interest to fill the vacant seats from Randolph Williams, Cheryl McCall and Jodi Watson. The council chose to put Williams and Watson in the two vacant seats. However, this decision in itself is a violation of the White Springs Town Charter.
The charter specifically speaks on this type of situation in Section 2.03(d) Extraordinary Vacancies. It reads as follows: “Should two or more vacancies occur simultaneously on the Town Council, the remaining members shall, within 15 days, call a special meeting to call a special election to fill the vacant council positions; such election shall be held in the manner prescribed by the laws of the State of Florida and the provision of Article IV of this charter.” The charter continues in Section 4.05 Determination of Special Election Results, reading: “In the event of a special election to fill two or more vacated council seats, the persons with the highest vote totals will be awarded the council seats with the longest available terms. Members elected thereby will serve out the remaining terms of the seat awarded.”
The charter specifically reads that, in the case of two vacant council seats, a special election is to be held. However, in the Tuesday, May 28, meeting of the White Springs Town Council, the council members chose the two people who would sit on the council without holding a special election. This is a direct violation of the town charter, which requires a special election be held so the public may have a voice in their local government. Riverbend News reached out to the Town of White Springs for comment and were told, “no comment,” by Town Manager Vanessa George.