Starting with May 5, Marco Island residents have seven days to apply to join the City Council by filling the seat vacated by Erik Brechnitz. Brechnitz died on April 21.
The six council members agreed at Monday’s regular meeting that they want to fill the seat quickly given the many decisions that would benefit from having a seven-member council – from water pollution solutions to spending money on bridges and roads to next year’s budget.
Applications are due at 8:30 a.m., Monday, May 11. The forms are online at the Marco Island website. That deadline gives the council until June 20 to choose a replacement for Brechnitz with the last council meeting before that date being June 15, City Clerk Joan Taylor told the council.
Divisive council took four months to choose last councilor
Determined not to have a repeat of the last time they filled a seat – the one now occupied by Councilor Rene Champagne – Chairman Darrin Palumbo told councilors to be prepared to make nominations and vote yay or nay at the May 18 regular meeting.
That took more than four months, far longer than the 60 days allotted by the city’s charter.
The rest of the council agreed.
“I don’t think we should be taking an unusual amount of time to reach this decision,” Champagne said. “In fact, the sooner the better. If you look at the issues we have on our agenda going forward, we need someone here, or we’re going to face three-three tie, which I don’t want to face.”
The lengthy time it took to choose Champagne to fill the seat vacated by Greg Folley, who resigned to run for state legislature, prompted Florida District 81 Rep. Yvette Benarroch to sponsor a bill – CS/HB 4003 – that would amend the city charter. The bill, passed unanimously by both the state House and Senate, requires a referendum Nov. 3 that would amend the city’s charter to require a special election to fill city council vacancies that occur more than a year before a general election. Otherwise, the city council has the same 60 days to fill the vacancy. However, if the city council fails to fill the vacancy in that time frame, the bill would allow the governor to fill the vacancy or call a special election.
The bill was ordered enrolled March 11, which means it is ready for presentation to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
What are the qualifications to be a Marco Island city council member?
Applicants must be residents for at least one year and registered voters of the City of Marco Island. In the State of Florida, members of the City Council must adhere to laws including, but not limited to, the Sunshine Law, Public Records Law, and the State of Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees.
According to the city’s charter, no one who has already served eight years in his/her lifetime can be a council member.
Those interested can apply electronically.
This article originally appeared on Marco Eagle: Marco Island City Council applications now open
Reporting by J. Kyle Foster, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Marco Eagle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
