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Efforts fail — Deltona residents hold “recall” signs at a City Commission meeting in February. The effort to force a recall vote on the continued service of Deltona Mayor Dennis Mulder, and three commissioners, has failed.
By Al Everson
posted Jun 11, 2009 - 9:01:12am
Because of an apparent lack of interest, there will be no special election in Deltona this year.
A grass-roots drive to oust Mayor Dennis Mulder and three other members of the City Commission failed to gain enough traction in the first round of petition-gathering.
“Maybe somebody can motivate people better than I,” said Mark Buckley, who founded and chaired the Deltona Recall Committee.
The political-action committee tried to collect at least 3,000 signatures to demand a special election.
“I thought more people were fed up,” Buckley said.
The Deltona Recall Committee had 30 days to gather enough petitions to require Mulder to face a ballot test. The committee collected only 670 signatures, less than 23 percent of what was required by law.
The petitions were circulated beginning May 2 and ending May 31.
Mulder was obviously pleased with the failure of his political foes.
“I never really felt like it had a great deal of community support. That’s part of the democratic process, and I let it take its course,” Mulder said.
Buckley, along with Donna Handley, formed the Deltona Recall Committee in late February.
Buckley cited Mulder’s call to use tax money to sue vocal critics of himself and other commissioners. Mulder’s proposal sparked a firestorm, as his opponents charged he was trying to suppress freedom of speech.
Mulder subsequently backed away from his own suggestion, and issued an apology saying he never intended to prevent anyone from exercising his or her First Amendment rights.
Besides the controversy over the launching of SLAPP suits — an acronym for strategic lawsuits against public participation — Buckley claimed Mulder supports big increases in spending and taxation.
The Deltona Recall Committee had also targeted Commissioners Paul Treusch (District 4), Janet Deyette (District 5) and Michael Carmolingo (District 6).
Treusch, Deyette and Carmolingo often vote with Mulder, and several major commission decisions have been marked by 4-3 votes. Commissioners Zenaida Denizac, Herb Zischkau and Michele McFall-Conte are often the minority faction.
The petition results for the three commissioners also fell short, even though fewer signatures were required in the case of the commissioners.
To recall Commissioner Treusch, the committee had set 950 petitions as its goal; only 410 names from District 4 were gathered.
In Deyette’s case, the committee needed 1,100 signatures, but collected only 90 petitions in District 5.
The committee had to collect at least 1,000 petitions in Carmolingo’s District 6, but only 21 people signed for a special election.
Because the recall drive failed to produce enough signatures of dissatisfied voters, the signatures were not verified by the Volusia County Department of Elections.
Like Mulder, Deyette said she had not expected the effort against Mulder to succeed.
“I have ignored it, because I don’t want to concentrate on the negative,” she told The Beacon.
A campaign treasurer’s report filed April 7 showed $775.19 in contributions to the recall committee, both in-kind and monetary donations. The report listed $547.53 in expenses, mostly for signs. That’s not the full financial report; City Clerk Joyce Kent said another campaign-finance report must be filed, later.
Florida law permits recalls of elected officials of cities and charter counties, such as Volusia. The law sets forth seven reasons for recalling an elected official:
1. Malfeasance
2. Misfeasance
3. Neglect of duty
4. Drunkenness
5. Incompetence
6. Personal inability to perform official duties
7. Conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude.
Buckley had targeted the price the City Commission agreed to pay for land for a public-safety complex.
The commission last year voted to pay almost $7.6 million for 19 acres near the intersection of Howland and Catalina boulevards, even though the governing body had decided in October 2007 to pay $2.5 million for 18 acres not far away.
Deltona would have had a regular municipal election this year, but, last year, the City Commission rescheduled its elections to even-numbered years, at the request of Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall.
Thus, the election that had been anticipated for 2009 was pushed to 2010, and the terms of Mulder and three other commissioners were extended.
Many cites in Volusia County conduct elections in odd-numbered years, and since its incorporation in 1995, Deltona had been no exception.
When the City Commission adopted the state’s even-year statute on local elections, the state law took primacy over Deltona’s charter. Supporters of the Uniform Election Law argued by combining the local elections with state and national elections the turnout would be greater, and the cost would be less. Municipal elections typically draw less than 20 percent of the eligible voters.
Normally, charter changes require the consent of the voters, but the commission’s acceptance of the state law overrode that requirement. Yet, Buckley said, the decision of the majority of the commission to change the election schedule without a popular vote amounted to “incompetence.”
A recall is a rare process, and rarer still is a recall that actually results in the removal of an elected official.
Obviously disappointed in his effort to oust Mulder before the fall of next year at the earliest, Buckley said he is still concerned about the mayor’s ability to run the city. Buckley said Mulder has “30 more meetings where he can cause damage.”
Though his tenure has been marked by controversy and dissension on the City Commission, Mulder sounded an upbeat note.
“The city’s going well. I plan on doing this job for another five-and-a-half years. I’m encouraged by the progress we’ve made,” he said.
He noted Deltona is building new roads and working on infrastructure to prevent flooding.
The man Mulder replaced as mayor is talking about challenging him in 2010. John Masiarczyk, Deltona’s first and, so far, longest-serving mayor, hinted last summer he will run again.
Masiarczyk could not seek re-election in 2005 because of term limits.
Reader Comments
The comments posted below are posted by readers, not by The Beacon staff. These comments express the views and opinions of the authors, and not the administrators, moderators or webmaster. The comments forum is governed by these rules. Please use the report abuse link if you find offensive comments.
Al Eversons buddy? for sure.
As far as the other commissioners, I didn't see the need to get rid of them. I honestly think they try hard to do what is right but with Mulder as the ring leader, what can you expect? If you recall folks would have focused on Mulder instead of wasting your time on everyone else, you might have been a little more successful.
Let's hope Mulder matures and grows up so our city won't be his favorite toy from his toychest.
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