VOTE BUT VOTE NO ON QUESTIONS 1 THROUGH 4
Posted by iris on February 8, 2018 · 4 Comments
Palm Beach Gardens has 4 referendum questions on the Tuesday March 13 Municipal Election related to our city’s Charter – which is its constitution. It is vital that you DO VOTE however since so few residents vote in our city’s elections. The Council is taking advantage of the expected extremely low-turnout election with no candidates on the ballot, to get rid of the 2 3-year term limits that more than 16000 of us voted for in November 2014 by adding an additional term and allowing term-limited council members to run again.
They are trying to get rid of “majority wins” (which means 50%+1) by arguing it saves the cost of run-offs which rarely happen; but “majority wins” ensures that the person who is elected is the choice of most of the voters. The Council does not seem to see the irony in spending the $70,000 or so for the no-candidate election plus the additional $60,000 plus for the related marketing materials – the cost of two run-off elections, in the guise of saving the taxpayer money on future run-offs.
The Council vote was NOT unanimous with Council Member Lane voting NO on all four referendum questions.
The public information campaign will claim that the city’s Charter is simply being modernized – hiding the fact that a yes vote also gets rid of required Charter Reviews, city manager residence, city manager reviews, changing how council vacancies are filled, disenfranchising voters in determining ‘total votes cast’ and more. This was tried previously in November 2012 and rejected by over 11000 of the voters.
Who benefits from all of these changes? The ‘insiders’ and the Council – none of whom have even completed a single term yet.
See details on each ballot question here:
Why Vote NO on Referendum Question 1
Why Vote NO on Referendum Question 2
Why Vote NO on Referendum Question 3
Why Vote NO on Referendum Question 4
Thanks so much for this excellent website and the important information it contains. My husband and I will be voting ‘NO’ on all Referendum Questions. They have no shame. This is chicanery.
Thanks Shirley – please get the word out to your Gardens’ friends and neighbors. The city has $60K. We only have word of mouth.
Palm Beach Gardens friends and neighbors…. Please learn the facts behind the false information being provided by our City Council regarding the upcoming vote. If you vote yes to these items you are giving away any chance of having a voice in how this community is governed. For example…there will be no accountability for the City Manger so far as job performance. Everyone I know that worked as an employee had to answer to the supervisor/boss/owner/manager for job performance. Our law enforcement, military, medical, school employees, etc. all are responsible for their actions and must report to someone. If the City Manager is not accountable what about the rest of the staff? Space is limited so very important points will not be listed, so….Please read the referendum information very carefully!!! I will be voting NO on each one.
I will be voting yes for numbers 2 and 3. Since we do not have the normal four year terms , I think three three-year terms is appropriate. So much is learned each year, and that history is important in the governing of our city. A council person who sits out a term and runs again will not hurt the city. I will be voting no on items 1 and 4.