Bean, Adkins support OHPA request for partisan elections

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm

Reporter - News Analyst

January 14, 2015 11:05 a.m.

State Representative Janet Adkins (R) and State Senator Aaron Bean (R) take public testimony on the Port Authority's request for a local bill to legitimize partisan elections to that body.

To the disappointment of many and the surprise of a smaller subset of the audience, members of the Nassau Legislative Delegation – both Republican -- voted on January 13, 2015 to uphold a request of the Ocean Highway and Port Authority (OHPA)) to move forward with local bill that would amend the OHPA’s charter to bring it into conformance with what has been the practice for the past 63 years: partisan elections.   All five members of the current OHPA are Republicans.

OHPA Attorney Clyde Davis advocates bringing charter into conformity with past practice of partisan elections over the past 63 years.

According to a timeline Clyde Davis, the OHPA attorney, reported, “We know that for 17 of those [63] years, the practice has not been consistent with the change in the law, but nobody knew and nobody complained.”

The discrepancy surfaced in the fall of 2014 when Fernandina Beach resident Medardo Monzon raised a series of questions regarding the 2014 OHPA elections. Those elections were decided in the August Primary Election, when three Republican candidates—Adam Salzburg, Carrol Franklin and Ron Braddock—were in effect "elected " because they had faced no opposition on the November general election. While researching Monzon's questions relating to candidate information listed on her website, Nassau County Supervisor of Elections Vicki Cannon uncovered a different problem:  that the state approved OHPA charter mandated non-partisan elections. She notified the OHPA, which then passed a resolution seeking to bring its current charter into conformity with its historical practice of having its Commissioners elected in partisan elections, in the same manner and from the same districts as the Nassau County Commissioners.

Almost 30 people attended the Nassau Legislative Delegation meeting on January 13 in the Page Governmental Center in Yulee. Only two of the of the 14 speakers supported the proposed amendment to legitimize partisan elections.

State Representative Adkins, OHPA Chair Richard Bruce and attorney Clyde Davis confer before the meeting.

State Senator Aaron Bean, who chairs the 2-member Nassau Delegation, began the hour-long meeting by informing audience members that he and State Representative Janet Adkins, the other member of the Nassau Delegation, would be taking public input on one issue: whether or not OHPA elections should be nonpartisan, as specified in the current charter, or partisan as they have been for 63 years. Without action by the state legislature, future elections would conform to the charter. But should the Nassau Delegation vote unanimously to endorse the OHPA proposal, a local bill would be introduced in the upcoming legislative session to amend the charter to make future elections partisan. Bean advised the audience that a decision to move forward on a local bill begins a process that will involve future hearings in the legislature before a final decision.

Bean also announced that according to Florida Statutes, there is a 10-day time limit for appeal of election results, and that such time has passed for appealing 2014 election results. Since there has been no appeal of partisan election results, OHPA commissioners are deemed to have been properly elected and their decisions are legal.

Michael Harrison: "OHPA argument less than adequate to change."

After deferring to Representative Adkins for opening remarks, Bean recognized OHPA attorney Clyde Davis, who presented the OHPA position that partisan elections do not prevent anyone from seeking office. He suggested that political parties help recruit candidates and that without such support a situation could arise where nobody runs for office. Davis said that the amendment sought was consistent with the “statutory scheme for ports.” He encouraged the legislators to endorse the practice that has been in effect for 63 years.

Old Town resident Michael Harrison, the first of eleven speakers in opposition to the proposed amendment, claimed that the “onus of the argument is less than adequate to change.” He said t hat party politics have no place in port management and that no party has an exclusive right. He said that there would be a benefit in seeing a greater diversity of candidates.

Chip Ross: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

Chip Ross, Fernandina Beach Historic District resident and neighbor to the Port of Fernandina, reminded Bean and Adkins that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. He cited the $100K study that produced the controversial port master plan, a 10 percent negative rate of return and a 50 percent drop in port business. He said, “Let’s see if we can get a different result [by conducting OHPA elections as nonpartisan].”

Medardo Monzon has filed an election protest following his notification that OHPA elections violated the charter.

Medardo Monzon, who raised questions in September regarding OHPA elections not being held during the general election, maintained that because he filed an election protest within ten days of being officially informed on December 29 that the port elections should be nonpartisan according to the OHPA charter, all actions of the OHPA are illegal until the state affirms their legality. He said that the OHPA has put forward a controversial plan that constitutes an abuse of power, and that because elections were decided in the primary, there was no opportunity for write-in candidates. He invoked words of Abraham Lincoln in pleading with the legislators not to make future elections partisan.

Representative Adkins greets Steve Crounse before the meeting.

Island resident Steve Crounse also asked that elections be nonpartisan. He claimed that the OHPA needs oversight and that it is “out of control.” In response to an audience outburst Senator Bean reminded Crounse to limit his remarks to the particular issue under consideration and not the broader topic of problems with the port master plan. Crounse asked that Bean and Adkins follow through with an earlier willingness to host a town meeting on Amelia Island to listen to citizen concerns about the port and its plans.

Nassau County Elections Supervisor Vicki Cannon explains her research into the OHPA charter.

Nassau County Supervisor of Elections Vicki Cannon explained her research into the OHPA Charter and her belief that the conduct of elections in violation of the charter was an “inadvertent error,” following the passage of the Special District Accountability Act amended by the state legislature in 1997. The current OHPA charter was adopted in 2005, but no one caught the 1997 change.  Following the meeting, Cannon stressed that she had responded to Monzon's specific questions immediately, but had delayed further response, with his understanding, due to her office's workload in conducting the November general election.  She discovered the error independently of Monzon's inquiry.

OHPA Commissioner Danny Fullwood responds to Bean's question: "No one appeared to speak to this matter at OHPA meetings."

OHPA Commissioner Danny Fullwood, who had listened to the previous audience comments with barely contained unhappiness, spoke in support of the proposed charter amendment. He said that no one seemed to have a problem with partisan elections when port revenues were up. He maintained that changing the charter to formalize partisan elections would not disenfranchise anyone. He also reported that when the OHPA met to discuss this issue, there was no objection from anyone in attendance at the meetings.

Speakers Ann Thomas, Don Rooney and Jennifer Harris followed Fullwood, each emphasizing that OHPA elections should be nonpartisan and that technical expertise should outweigh partisan politics. Thomas reported that local residents are “furious at the way this OHPA is operating” and wielding “veiled threats” of eminent domain. She said that the state needs to consider an amendment “to curtail the enormous power of this board.” Rooney elaborated on her comments, citing what he called the OHPA’s “almost plenary powers in economic development.” Harrison said, “We want the brightest and best people serving on this board.”

Phil Scanlan: "Going forward, you should correct a defect, not authorize the defect."

Amelia Island resident Phil Scanlan drew an analogy to his work in quality control and making decisions to recall defective products. He said that once a defect is discovered, it would be corrected. He said, “Don’t change the process to authorize the defect.” He said that non-Republicans aren’t running for local office because they can’t get elected in partisan races. Primaries prevent even more people from even voting. “Why should non-Republicans be excluded?” he asked. Scanlan’s comments were in reference to the registered voter numbers in Nassau County where today 54 percent of Nassau County’s 56,132 active voters are registered Republicans, 26 percent are Democrats, and 20 percent list other or no party affiliation.

Joan Bean, mother of State Senator Bean: "We're scared about the OHPA powers."

Joan Bean, Senator Aaron Bean’s mother, also spoke against the move to legitimize partisan elections. She said that as a representative of the older generation, “We are scared about the Port Authority’s powers.” She cited port powers of eminent domain. Senator Bean replied, “Mother, you just described every elected board in the state.” Mrs. Bean was not to be deterred. “It’s not right,” she said. “They are not beholden to the people.”

Michael Leary suggests moving forward with new elections.

Yulee resident Michael Leary said, “My head is spinning. It is like the Wizard of Oz is behind the curtain. An illegitimately elected OHPA is petitioning you to change their charter [to legitimize their elections].” He suggested moving forward with new OHPA elections, adding that “if Clyde Davis [as OHPA attorney] was on post and more competent, maybe we wouldn’t be here tonight.”

Bean allowed Davis a two-minute response. Davis said that the problem did not just exist in September 2014, but rather “it has existed through previous terms until this attorney and this board brought the problem forward. But nobody cared.”   In response to comments from some of the speakers he said that the OHPA has not told the city of Fernandina Beach that it is immune from all its laws. “But it is immune,” he said, “from interference in their operations.”

Susan Raab: "We are asking you not to change the charter."

Susan Raab, the final speaker, said that the question before the delegation is “Shall we change the law?” All except for one speaker has asked that the law not be changed. “Just because things have been done wrong is not a good reason to change,” she said

Following public input Senator Bean reiterated his conviction that the current OHPA Board is legal. He said, however, that he allowed broad testimony because “I wanted the OHPA to hear the people, to win back the confidence of the people, which they have lost.” As a local resident he added, “We don’t want to sell our souls for economic development.”

Representative Adkins thanked the 30 or so audience members for their attendance and input but added, “I heard 14 speakers of all of Nassau County.” She said that she understands the concerns that something is not right and wants to fix it. She defined the issue as the elections. She said that she supports partisan elections because candidates hold the core values of the party they represent, adding to transparency.

Bean said that in deciding issues like this, the default is the recommendation of the body putting forth the recommendation. In this case, the OHPA voted 3-1 to request the charter amendment that would legitimize partisan elections. He said, “They know best.”

Adkins and Bean, the Nassau Legislative Delegation, vote to support the local bill to change the OHPA charter and provide for partisan elections.

Both Bean and Adkins voted to support the OHPA request, which now moves forward for consideration by the state legislature as a local bill.

Few local elected officials attended the meeting. In addition to Elections Supervisor Vicki Cannon and OHPA Commissioner Danny Fullwood, OHPA Chair Richard Bruce and Fernandina Beach Vice Mayor Johnny Miller also were present.

Updated with clarification from Supervisor of Elections Vicki Cannon.

Editor's Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne's many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.