Repost...All In The Family: She Think's It's A Conflict Too.

(Originally posted October 3rd but the message remains important).

The election for Anna Maria mayor is but 30 days away, one month from tomorrow, and campaigning should kick into high gear in the next few days. As pointed out by the Bradenton Herald’s Michael Bender HERE with the rise in absentee and early voting, voters are making election decisions long before election day. As a result, those key reasons why voters cast their vote for or against a particular candidate, must be addressed in advance as well. We’ll endeavor to provide our perspective on the candidates and some of the issues for you to consider in the coming weeks. Today though, let’s talk about one issue: Conflict of interest.

Does the possibility of close relatives, say father and son or mother and daughter, or even husband and wife, serving simultaneously as mayor and commissioner raise as many red flags for you as it does for us? What about sunshine law implications? Since he/she does not serve on the same governmental body, a mayor is free to independently discuss pet votes with commissioners without the straight-jacket of sunshine restrictions. Concerning? As you will see, others who are perceived by some to have influence think so and we agree with them.

Let’s break it down.

Specifically, does the fact that Joanne Mattick is a sitting city commissioner present enough of an inherent conflict of interest for her daughter Sandy Mattick to be seriously considered as a candidate for mayor? Is there not a perceived if not a very real danger of them, as others have said, “co-legislating their agenda as mayor-commissioner…”?

First, pursuant to the City Charter the city commission is effectively the mayor’s collective boss and it may remove the mayor from office under certain circumstances. Also, the mayor may suspend or terminate administrative officers (City Clerk, City Attorney, Superintendent of Public Works, and Building Official) only with the approval of a majority of the commission. Is a Commissioner Joanne vote in favor of every Mayor Sandy action or intitiative a foregone conclusion? Maybe not. But the perception will hang in the room like a winter sea fog after every vote and is that really fair to the city? Or to the other four commissioners? It is not.

Second, we now know the “Aubry Pledge” to recuse himself from PAR votes was more about pre-election voter pacification than true conviction (we questioned its very legality HERE) and this commission appears headed for close votes in either direction on issues of tremendous importance to the city. The mayor holds veto power that can only be undone by a super-majority 4 to 1 override vote, an override that is not likely to happen. So again we ask, does having a daughter-mayor with veto power over votes her commissioner-mother may lose raise those red flags again? We think so.

And we are not alone.

Believe it or not, this is not a unique circumstance here on the island. It’s happened before. In 1998, with a husband serving as a Holmes Beach city commissioner, the wife ran for mayor. As you may suspect, the candidacy was not well received and she came in a distant third in the race. But here’s the good part. Before the election, in an editorial endorsing certain candidates just before the election, one well-known local commentator had this to say about close familial relations and the adminstration of local government:

“We don’t look forward to…a husband-wife team co-legislating their agenda as mayor-commissioner. And while the mayor doesn’t vote…the office carries veto power and more importantly, with this form of city government, the mayor freely lobbies other commission members on matters up for consideration out of the ‘sunshine’ – contrary to the intent of Florida’s open government law.”                  
                            -The Islander Bystander, March 4, 1998

Needless to say, the candidate-wife did not get the Islander’s endorsement. And for the same reasons neither should the candidate-daughter.

Yes folks. It’s true. We actually agree with Bonner Joy, the editor and publisher of the Islander Bystander, as it was known on March 4, 1998.

Hey, she made a good point back then. Give her that. But will she stand by her convictions? Who knows but on November 2nd, stand by yours.

And stay informed.

Bill Yanger