STUART — For the second time in two meetings, city commissioners here failed to fill the vacancy on the City Commission following the departure of Mayor Christopher Collins.
Collins quit as mayor to run for the District 2 seat on the Martin County Commission, which is held by Commissioner Stacey Hetherington. Stuart’s Charter required Collins to resign once he began his campaign.
“There should be five people,” Commissioner Laura Giobbi said when asked following the meeting why she has been pushing to fill the seat. “You need a majority vote.”
With Collins gone, the commission is down to four members and issues with a 2-2 tie can be neither approved nor disapproved. Stuart’s board was divided politically lately, with Giobbi and Mayor Sean Reed typically voting in tandem with Collins and commissioners Eula Clarke and Campbell Rich voting together regularly.
The last time the City Commission appointed someone to fill a vacancy on the board was in 2018, City Attorney Lee Baggett said. Nick Blount replaced Tom Campenni, who was mayor and resigned following allegations he threatened the city manager. Campenni now publishes Friends & Neighbors, a digital newsletter.
But besides Giobbi, no other commissioner is eager to appoint a fifth member.
“I just feel it’s the right thing to do,” she told TCPalm.
Giobbi on May 11 suggested appointing Deana Peterson to the post. Peterson currently serves on the city’s Local Planning Agency.
“For us to stack it one way or another I think is inappropriate,” Reed said after the May 26 meeting, referring to the creation of a majority favoring one side politically.
“I think it’s kind of inappropriate because we’re so close to the election,” he added.
If it were six months to the election, “that’s probably where we should be appointing someone,” he said.
The election for three Stuart commission seats, including those held by Clarke and Rich, is taking place Aug. 18. Collins also would be up for reelection.
Clarke wants to hold off on appointing a fifth member because she is interested exploring whether to shorten the time to appoint someone, she said. The Charter requires that someone be appointed within 120 days of a vacancy.
“Let people speak at the elections this time,” she said.
Rich echoed Clarke but based his reasoning on conversations he has had with voters.
“Since I am running for reelection,” Rich said from the dais, “I have been knocking on a lot of doors.
“I’m surprised how many people are aware of it,” he said. “What they’re saying is just let the voters decide.”
Keith Burbank is TCPalm’s watchdog reporter covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com and at 720-288-6882.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida city again fails to appoint an interim commissioner
Reporting by Keith Burbank, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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