Christian Peterson
reporter.riverbendnews@gmail.com
On Friday, Feb. 28, the White Springs Town Council met for an emergency meeting regarding a special election. The meeting began with Anita Rivers reading a memo from Town Attorney Leslie Scott Jean-Bart. The memo went over the way that the town was supposed to elect council members, with three being elected in even years for a two-year term and two being elected in odd years. The memo went on to clarify that, in 2024, only one officer, Rivers, qualified and was elected. However, this left two vacancies on the council. In March of 2024, the town council appointed Randolph Williams and Jodi Watson to fill those seats.
As Riverbend News pointed out in the Wednesday, Jan. 19, edition in the article titled “Did the White Springs Town Council break its town charter?” Section 2.03 (d) Extraordinary Vacancies of the White Springs Town Charter reads: “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.” This means the appointment of Williams and Watson to the council was in spite of the town charter. Riverbend News did reach out to the council at the time and received a response of “no comment” from Town Manager Vanessa George.
The memo from Jean-Bart acknowledges this to be true about the charter, and so Williams and Watson were immediately removed as members of the town council, leaving Mayor Jacqueline Williams, Kizzie Burch and Rivers as the only remaining town council members. The council also announced a special election to be held on Thursday, April 22, in conjunction with the general election to fill the two vacant seats. “Two council members will be elected to serve a one-year term and will be eligible to run again in the 2026 general election,” Rivers read from the email.
It was also clarified that there were two seats open from the general election as well. This means that any candidate interested in running needs to specify whether they are running for the general election seats or the special election seats.
The qualification period opens Tuesday, March 11, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. It ends on Tuesday, March 18, at noon. This excludes Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Early voting starts on Tuesday, April 8, and ends on Thursday, April 17. The general election and special election will be held on Thursday, April 22. The council also said that, at the next regular town meeting, it will discuss a workshop for potential candidates and answer questions. The next regularly scheduled White Springs Town Council meeting is Tuesday, March 11, at 6 p.m. The meeting is held in the temporary portable building, located directly next to the Town Hall at 10363 Bridge St. W, in White Springs.