The Voters Speak: A Resounding NO! to More Terms for Council Members

September 5, 2018

On August 28, almost 12,000 residents weighed in on the three PBG charter questions. This was almost three times the participation in the March election at which the Council first sought to resolve the questions.

In March, 2 questions were thrown out by a circuit court judge for being misleading, and they were clarified and put back on the August ballot as questions 1 and 2, with one issue (City Manager residency) separated out into question 3. March question 3 (Run Again) was allowed to go forward and did pass, but is still being challenged at the court of appeals.

The city had spent $35,000 for the March election, and then another $65,000 for August, ostensibly to “educate” the voters. Unfortunately, the campaign that resulted used misinformation to influence the voters to vote YES on all three questions, and this expenditure is being challenged in yet another lawsuit. The city’s actions, and the challenge to them, caught the attention of many residents through articles in the Palm Beach Post, and citizen’s sharing the news on social media and in emails.

The vote was definitive. Much as the original term limits question was passed with 80% in November 2014, voters said NO to the Council’s desire to have three terms instead of two (question 1), and they rejected the repeal of the City Manager residency requirement (question 3). Both of these were rejected by close to a 2 to 1 margin, and almost every precinct in the city voted NO by more than 15 points.

Question 2, which dealt with a general cleanup of the Charter passed with 60% of the vote.

Given the split vote (The city wanted YES to all, opponents wanted NO to all), you can probably conclude that voters were willing to trust the city to a certain extent that the charter rewrite was necessary, but soundly rejected the Council’s desire for more time in office.

It should be noted that a typical Gardens’s election shows a strong variation in the vote of different parts of the city. There are differences between gated and non-gated communities, eastern and western sections, older and newer areas, those with strong HOAs and those without. The March election showed these differences, but pointedly, the August election did not. It should be noted that March elections where city races are usually decided, have smaller turnout and tend to draw those that are most aware of city issues. City issues are incidental in August and November elections which primarily are deciding state and national races. The larger electorates at these times are likely to decide based on a “policy filter” (eg. “we like term limits”), rather than a personal one (eg: “I trust the Mayor so will vote her way”). Of course, whether you follow city issues or not, if you live in Palm Beach Gardens, your vote is as good as any other, and higher turnout is good for Democracy.

Hopefully, the city and Council will respect the wishes of the voters this time and we can put this all behind us.

Below are the results from the August election:

Question 1 – Three terms instead of two?

Question 1 – Three terms instead of two
Strong Yes Weak Yes Very Close Weak No Strong No
Click the precinct on the map for vote totals.

Registered Cast Turnout% YES NO Yes Margin%
1186 Mirabella 1436 417 29 138 257 35
1188 Westwood Gardens 895 263 29 80 169 32
1189 Old Palm – North 95 17 18 4 13 24
1190 The Isles, Paloma, San Michelle, Alton 3547 980 28 344 592 37
1192 Evergreen 1440 400 28 121 253 32
1194 Frenchmans 2023 616 30 257 329 44
1228 Osprey Isles, Carleton Oaks 451 170 38 64 98 40
1238 Mirasol 1696 451 27 93 336 22
1240 PGA National 2454 750 31 266 449 37
1242 PGA National 2542 709 28 261 405 39
1244 PGA National 1537 503 33 185 291 39
1246 Bent Tree, Garden Lks, Shady Lks, Gdns of Woodbury 2382 610 26 146 442 25
1247 Old Palm – South 228 54 24 13 38 25
1248 PGA-east. 1497 499 33 152 330 32
1250 Gardens Glen 63 26 41 11 13 46
1252 BallenIsles 2288 802 35 294 475 38
1254 Hunt Club 445 154 35 39 106 27
1260 Elm Avenue 1294 472 36 118 338 26
1266 Union Square, Randolph Way 462 56 12 26 28 48
1268 Golfers Drive, Lilac 298 37 12 13 21 38
1270 Lilac Park 10 1 10 0 1 0
1272 Holly Drive, Riverside 1900 579 30 172 387 31
1274 Gardenia Dr, Arbor Way 1581 481 30 149 318 32
1280 Lake Catherine 392 129 33 57 69 45
1284 Gardens Mall area 2170 508 23 201 283 42
1288 Oakway Circle 38 13 34 4 8 33
1290 The Oaks 2084 633 30 196 408 32
1292 Nature’s Way 73 29 40 15 14 52
1296 Prosperity Oaks, Marina Gardens 727 149 20 54 84 39
1324 Oaks East, Sandelwood 1258 307 24 96 193 33
1326 Siena Oaks 557 206 37 68 129 35
1340 Landing Place 14 9 64 6 3 67
1352 Steeplechase, Montecito 2202 627 28 237 367 39
1360 Sunset 889 290 33 90 190 32
1372 Sandtree 162 32 20 10 22 31
6062 Bay Hill Estates 814 269 33 104 151 41
6064 Rustic Lakes 122 35 29 7 27 21
TOTALS 42066 12283 29% 4091 7637 35%

Question 2 – Charter Cleanup?

Question 2 – Charter Cleanup?
Strong Yes Weak Yes Very Close Weak No Strong No
Click the precinct on the map for vote totals.

Registered Cast Turnout% YES NO Yes Margin%
1186 Mirabella 1436 417 29 223 163 58
1188 Westwood Gardens 895 263 29 141 99 59
1189 Old Palm – North 95 17 18 16 1 94
1190 The Isles, Paloma, San Michelle, Alton 3547 980 28 582 305 66
1192 Evergreen 1440 400 28 222 104 68
1194 Frenchmans 2023 616 30 369 181 67
1228 Osprey Isles, Carleton Oaks 451 170 38 102 44 70
1238 Mirasol 1696 451 27 217 203 52
1240 PGA National 2454 750 31 387 304 56
1242 PGA National 2542 709 28 423 233 64
1244 PGA National 1537 503 33 261 190 58
1246 Bent Tree, Garden Lks, Shady Lks, Gdns of Woodbury 2382 610 26 259 288 47
1247 Old Palm – South 228 54 24 33 11 75
1248 PGA-east. 1497 499 33 250 212 54
1250 Gardens Glen 63 26 41 15 9 63
1252 BallenIsles 2288 802 35 435 313 58
1254 Hunt Club 445 154 35 77 59 57
1260 Elm Avenue 1294 472 36 244 197 55
1266 Union Square, Randolph Way 462 56 12 37 13 74
1268 Golfers Drive, Lilac 298 37 12 22 11 67
1270 Lilac Park 10 1 10 1 0 100
1272 Holly Drive, Riverside 1900 579 30 287 257 53
1274 Gardenia Dr, Arbor Way 1581 481 30 232 214 52
1280 Lake Catherine 392 129 33 82 38 68
1284 Gardens Mall area 2170 508 23 335 121 73
1288 Oakway Circle 38 13 34 8 4 67
1290 The Oaks 2084 633 30 355 207 63
1292 Nature’s Way 73 29 40 20 6 77
1296 Prosperity Oaks, Marina Gardens 727 149 20 85 37 70
1324 Oaks East, Sandelwood 1258 307 24 160 117 58
1326 Siena Oaks 557 206 37 107 73 59
1340 Landing Place 14 9 64 5 0 100
1352 Steeplechase, Montecito 2202 627 28 366 200 65
1360 Sunset 889 290 33 155 113 58
1372 Sandtree 162 32 20 22 8 73
6062 Bay Hill Estates 814 269 33 177 57 76
6064 Rustic Lakes 122 35 29 15 17 47
TOTALS 42066 12283 29% 6727 4409 60%

Question 3 – Repeal City Manager Residency Requirement?

Question 3 – Repeal City Manager Residency Requirement?
Strong Yes Weak Yes Very Close Weak No Strong No
Click the precinct on the map for vote totals.

Registered Cast Turnout% YES NO Yes Margin%
1186 Mirabella 1436 417 29 111 279 28
1188 Westwood Gardens 895 263 29 69 172 29
1189 Old Palm – North 95 17 18 8 8 50
1190 The Isles, Paloma, San Michelle, Alton 3547 980 28 255 642 28
1192 Evergreen 1440 400 28 109 221 33
1194 Frenchmans 2023 616 30 254 298 46
1228 Osprey Isles, Carleton Oaks 451 170 38 47 105 31
1238 Mirasol 1696 451 27 119 305 28
1240 PGA National 2454 750 31 208 493 30
1242 PGA National 2542 709 28 230 426 35
1244 PGA National 1537 503 33 129 332 28
1246 Bent Tree, Garden Lks, Shady Lks, Gdns of Woodbury 2382 610 26 117 444 21
1247 Old Palm – South 228 54 24 18 28 39
1248 PGA-east. 1497 499 33 118 345 25
1250 Gardens Glen 63 26 41 7 16 30
1252 BallenIsles 2288 802 35 286 477 37
1254 Hunt Club 445 154 35 39 100 28
1260 Elm Avenue 1294 472 36 108 343 24
1266 Union Square, Randolph Way 462 56 12 16 34 32
1268 Golfers Drive, Lilac 298 37 12 10 23 30
1270 Lilac Park 10 1 10 0 1 0
1272 Holly Drive, Riverside 1900 579 30 128 417 23
1274 Gardenia Dr, Arbor Way 1581 481 30 106 349 23
1280 Lake Catherine 392 129 33 39 83 32
1284 Gardens Mall area 2170 508 23 149 310 32
1288 Oakway Circle 38 13 34 5 7 42
1290 The Oaks 2084 633 30 177 401 31
1292 Nature’s Way 73 29 40 12 14 46
1296 Prosperity Oaks, Marina Gardens 727 149 20 41 84 33
1324 Oaks East, Sandelwood 1258 307 24 76 201 27
1326 Siena Oaks 557 206 37 60 124 33
1340 Landing Place 14 9 64 1 4 20
1352 Steeplechase, Montecito 2202 627 28 197 373 35
1360 Sunset 889 290 33 78 189 29
1372 Sandtree 162 32 20 8 22 27
6062 Bay Hill Estates 814 269 33 84 149 36
6064 Rustic Lakes 122 35 29 9 23 28
TOTALS 42066 12283 29% 3428 7842 30%