By Al Everson and Barb Sheperd
posted Jul 13, 2008 - 11:28:04pm
Deltona's City Commission voted July 7 to change the city's elections and extend commissioners terms, while DeLand has chosen to let the voters decide.
With the vote at Monday's meeting, Deltona's six city commissioners and its mayor are now serving five-year terms, rather than the four years they were elected to.
By adopting an ordinance scheduling Deltona's municipal elections in conjunction with presidential and gubernatorial elections held in even-numbered years, starting in 2010, the city is extending, by one year, the terms of each member of the City Commission.
Commissioners' terms were set to expire in 2009 and 2011; now, Deltona's next elections will be in 2010 and 2012.
DeLand seemed ready to do the same, but at Wednesday's City Commission meeting, the mayor and four commissioners decided, instead, to put the decision in residents' hands, with a referendum Nov. 4.
At the polls, DeLand residents will find a ballot question about whether the county seat should follow Deltona's lead and combine its municipal elections with federal, state and county elections already going on in even-numbered years.
Volusia County's cities are being asked to consider combining their small municipal elections with the elections already going on in even-numbered years to choose presidents, governors, members of Congress and so on.
Volusia County Elections Supervisor Ann McFall has told the cities they can save money and increase voter turnout by doing so. In turn, the combined elections will mean she doesn't have to perform 16 separate audits of 16 cities' municipal elections, to meet requirements of a new state election-audit law.
So far in West Volusia, DeBary, DeLand and Pierson have decided to ask residents what they want to do, and are placing referendums on the Nov. 4 ballot. Orange City and Lake Helen declined to make any changes to their local elections. Only the Deltona City Commission has decided, by ordinance, to amend the election procedures in its city charter.
DELTONA'S VOTE
The Deltona City Commission passed an ordinance recommended by Volusia County Elections Supervisor Ann McFall, It amended the city's charter without a referendum.
A city charter usually may be changed only by the city's voters, but this ordinance is consistent with a state law on municipal elections.
Deltona's decision on the election change came up for a final vote after hours of debate about police protection in Deltona. City Commissioner Herb Zischkau opposed the change.
"The choice of doing it after midnight after everyone has left is another black eye for Deltona," Zischkau said.
Since Deltona became a city in 1995, its elections have occurred in odd-numbered years, as stipulated by the city's charter. The current mayor, Dennis Mulder, and commissioners elected in Districts 1,3 and 5 — Zenaida Denizac, Michele McFall-Conte, and Janet Deyette, respectively — were elected in 2005. Their terms were supposed to expire next year, but they will now serve until 2010.
Similarly, the commissioners elected to represent Districts 2, 4 and 6 — Zischkau, Paul Treusch and Michael Carmolingo, respectively — were elected in 2007. Their tour of duty was supposed to expire in 2011, but now will end in 2012.
An official summary described the advantages of moving Deltona's elections from odd to even years.
"The City Commission has determined that voter turnout and participation in municipal elections increases in years in which County-wide general elections are held ... . In addition, the financial expenses to the City for municipal elections held in conjunction with County-wide elections is less than the financial expenses to the City for standing alone in municipal elections," the summary noted.
McFall said Deltona may save as much as $60,000 by moving its elections to coincide with federal, state and county elections.
As for voter turnout, municipal elections in Volusia County often draw less than 20 percent of eligible voters, while presidential elections attract 65 percent or more.
Four Deltona commissioners, including Mayor Mulder, voted to change the city's elections. Carmolingo, Deyette and McFall-Conte voted yes, while Denizac, Zischkau and Treusch dissented.
DELAND'S VOTE
In earlier discussions on the topic, the DeLand City Commission had seemed ready to change the city's charter by ordinance, and move DeLand elections to combine them with larger elections in even-numbered years.
That changed at the July 9 City Commission meeting.
Commissioner Leigh Matusick said the citizens she had spoken with mostly favored keeping DeLand's elections as standalone events in odd-numbered years.
The one citizen who spoke on the topic at the meeting was in that camp.
Attorney Tanner Andrews, who lives outside city limits but has an office in Downtown DeLand, told commissioners what they would lose by combining city elections with larger ones is far more valuable than the estimated $13,000 per election they would save.
He said DeLand's important issues would be "buried" during election season in even-numbered years, by the activities of well-financed campaigns for Congress, the Florida Legislature and the County Council.
"We ought to care about DeLand and DeLand's issues," Andrews said. "We ought to care enough about DeLand and DeLand's issues to separate them out, and pay attention to them."
Commissioner Charles Paiva argued that not enough voters care about those issues to show up at the polls in odd-numbered years, when they aren't already turning out to vote for president or governor.
"Unfortunately, the voter turnout has been abysmal," Paiva said. "The highest ever was about 35 percent."
Paiva said the cost-savings and the potential to encourage more people to take part in DeLand City Commission elections convinced him to favor making the change by ordinance. He said he would also be OK with taking it to voters in a Nov. 4 referendum.
"I would feel more comfortable with letting it go to referendum and letting the people vote. I think this is an important-enough item," Matusick said.
DeLand's newest and least-experienced commissioner, Phil Martin, said he could see both sides.
Martin spoke about how special it was, during his campaign in 2007, to meet voters in person.
"I think we'll lose that if we just blend ourselves in with the state and national elections," Martin said.
As for voter turnout, he said, "While we can say the voter turnout is small, the voters who turn out truly care about local government."
Ultimately, Mayor Bob Apgar and all four commissioners voted "yes" to the referendum. City Clerk Julie Hennessy was instructed to bring an ordinance calling for the ballot question to the next City Commission meeting, set for Monday, July 21.
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