PALM BAY, Fla. — A vacancy on the Palm Bay City Council is usually filled one of two ways, according to existing city ordinance. If it’s less than a year between the vacancy and the end of that member’s term, the council appoints a new member. But if it’s more than a year, a special election will be set. 

The current City Council was set to change that Thursday until Deputy Mayor Kenny Johnson made a motion to withdraw the proposed ordinance change from the meeting agenda.

During its regular city council meeting Thursday, the council was planning to hold a second and final reading for Ordinance 2021-50, which would change the language in the “Elections” section of the Code of Ordinances by adding the following provisions:

• A special election shall be scheduled to be held no sooner than seventy-five (75) days or more than one hundred eighty (180) days following the date of the vacancy; and
• Whenever a vacancy occurs on City Council and a Special Election is scheduled to be held, the remaining members shall choose a successor to serve until a newly elected council member is qualified.

This updated language is a step back from the original proposal brought up during the July 15 City Council meeting. That version of the proposed ordinance opted to do away with the special election entirely and “permit Council to appoint a qualified person within thirty (30) days of the vacancy and that person would serve the remainder of the term until the general election.”

The topic is especially relevant because Councilman Jeff Bailey is preparing to step down from his seat because he is moving with his family to Alabama to be closer to relatives. 

He made the announcement on July 1 — on the following day, emails between staff members that were shared with Spectrum News 13, discussed the methods that other municipalities, like Cocoa, Rockledge, Titusville and Melbourne, use to fill vacancies.

All of those municipalities fill a vacancy on the city council through appointment until the next occurring election. Some, like Cocoa and Melbourne, include provisions that call for a special election, if the council is not able to appoint a new member within a specified timeframe.  

“Staff looking at options didn’t shock me, but it did kind of shock me that there was communication with council members so quickly and that council members were entertaining the idea, given the fact of the timing,” Bailey said. “I don’t think this is the right time to be considering changes whenever you’re already set out on the process.”

The communication that Bailey referenced was an email sent to Johnson from City Attorney Patricia Smith at 12:04 p.m. on July 2. Bailey said that exchange happened days before the other council members were informed that an ordinance was being drafted that would change how Palm Bay fills a council vacancy.

“It wasn’t until next Tuesday that the other four members of council became aware," Bailey said. "That’s when I became aware. I came up here immediately that afternoon,”  

That original version of that proposed ordinance, which called for the removal of Palm Bay’s special election process, was met with stern opposition during the July 15 meeting. Over the course of a nearly 2-hour public comment period, dozens of residents came to speak in opposition of the idea. 

No one from the public spoke in support of changing the ordinance during the meeting.

Some who spoke that night, like local mortgage broker Jason Carrasquillo, said they were concerned about the idea of an unelected official having the ability to vote on city matters.

“It was very concerning to me because I do know that there is a budget that is going to be voted on. So, putting an appointee in would mean that someone that is not elected by the people would be voting on something that we’re not wanting,” he said.

One of the original reasons for wanting to do away with the special election process stated in the July 15 version of the proposed ordinance brought up the issue of the cost. It stated that “the last special election held in 2019 had cost approximately $83,000.” 

According to a July 14 estimate sent from the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections to Palm Bay City Clerk Terese Jones, a special election would cost $253,628.04. Council members who supported changing the ordinance backed off the idea of cost being prohibitive after hearing hours of commentary from constituents.

During the public comment section in the July 15 meeting, resident after resident also argued that doing away with the special election was tantamount to voter suppression since the timing of the vacancy normally would bring about a special election.

“When Councilman (Randy) Foster said, ‘I’m not trying to take your vote away in 2022,’ when I hear that, what I hear is ‘I’m not trying to take your vote away in 2022, I’m just trying to take your vote away for 2021,” said Ken Delgado, a Palm Bay pastor.

During the July 15 meeting, Mayor Rob Medina also voiced his opposition to the ordinance saying “I don’t believe this should’ve been on the agenda,” adding that it was “un-American.”

Johnson and Foster both pushed back against the assertion, arguing that other local municipalities are doing what they were suggesting.

“By changing this ordinance, we are in line with Melbourne," Foster said. "I don’t think Melbourne is taking their citizen’s rights to vote away. West Melbourne, I don’t’ think they’re taking their citizen’s right to vote away.” 

Spectrum News 13 reached out to Foster following the meeting, but he declined to comment until after the August 5 council meeting. 

Following debate on the dais among the council members, Johnson offered what he described as a compromise: to keep the special election and have the council appoint someone in the interim.

““We can’t just have a vacancy when we’re trying to conduct city business and that’s my issue,” Johnson said during the meeting. “So, I’m trying to find a way where it addresses both sides, where we have the special election, but we also don’t leave a vacant seat on key votes.”

Nathan White, who filed to run for Johnson’s council seat prior to this issue coming up, said that the proposal didn’t feel like a compromise.

“It felt like mitigating the damage," he said. "It felt like them realizing that they couldn’t get away with this with a clean slate, and so they wanted to say something that would make themselves sound better, while still being able to achieve their goals, which are still up for debate or consideration."

Delgado agreed and said he hoped that the resolution won’t pass on Thursday.

“I do think that if enough people will actually voice their concerns, that within the three, there might just be the one that says, ‘You know what, it’s not worth it, especially with the past of Palm Bay,” Delgado said.

The updated ordinance was approved in a 3-2 vote to come back for a second and final reading on August 5 during the regular council meeting.

After a nearly 40-minute discussion, the item was removed from Thursday's meeting agenda by a 4-1 vote. The move was met by applause from the audience.