Reasons to change date of next election

Dear Editor:

On Feb. 8, I celebrated my 80th birthday. I tell you this to emphasize the fact that I have been in Deerfield for 54 years, and I have seen the municipal elections change from time to time. So it is not as though there is not history in making changes.

I do believe that this [city] commission has been sincere in attempting to save the taxpayers money. I am sure that the Supervisor of Elections can ascertain the differences in costs.

The proposal I am making would not only be a cost saver, but it would also have more voter participation as a goal.

That is why I think you should consider moving the next municipal election from March [2013] to November 2012, to coincide with the next presidential election.

We have 42,000 registered voters in the city of Deerfield Beach.  When we attempted our Rescind the Unfair Taxes, we collected over 7,000 signatures from registered voters. That number was more than voted in the last municipal election. Hopefully, if we change to coincide with the presidential election, we will see an increase in local participation.

This change could be formulated to have those who are incumbents but are not re-elected hold their seats until the installation date in March. The president is elected in November but is not installed into office until January, so this is not an unusual concept.

It has been suggested that those not re-elected would be lame ducks and could do a great deal of damage in the interim. It still takes three votes to do anything, so let’s hope that there are at least three who really want what is best for the city and that they would prevail.

According to 6.01 in the Deerfield city charter, the city commission, by ordinance and subject to the provisions of the Constitution and laws of Florida, Broward County, and this charter, shall have the power to call for regular and special elections as may be required for the city and to make all necessary regulations for the conduct thereof.

The commission has the power to make this change. Call City Hall at 954-480-4262 and voice your opinion.

Jean Robb                                                                                                                                            

Deerfield Beach

Editor’s note: According to Mary Cooney from Brenda Snipes office, based on a cost estimate for another city with the same number of precincts [38] as Deerfield:

Projected cost for the regularly-scheduled election on March 13, 2013 is just under $67,000.

There were no comparables for a Nov. 6, 2012 election with a city with the same number of precincts. However, for a city with 32 precincts, estimated cost of a Nov. 6, 2012 election would be just under $20,000.