Incumbent Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie, incumbent Commissioner Jake Spooner and former Commissioner Jan Vosburgh are the only candidates to qualify for the three seats up for election in Bradenton Beach.
Now running unopposed, Chappie will serve another two-year term as mayor and Spooner will serve a two-year term as Bradenton Beach’s Ward 1 commissioner when their current terms expire in November.
Running unopposed, Vosburgh will serve a two-year term as the new Ward 3 commissioner, replacing Randy White. White did not seek reelection and his first term in office expires in November.
Commissioners Ralph Cole and Marilyn Maro are not up for reelection until 2020.
Updated Aug. 18, 2019 – BRADENTON BEACH – When informed that former City Commissioner Jan Vosburgh plans to challenge him for his Ward 3 commission seat, Commissioner Randy White said today he will not seek re-election.
“With reconsideration, I am withdrawing my candidacy for city commission. I recognize my inability to schedule my physical attendance at short-notice special meetings,” White stated in a text message he sent to The Sun.
White has missed several recent city meetings and in the past six months has participated in many meetings by phone.
White said personal considerations also factored into his decision. His wife is a Canadian citizen who lives in Toronto.
“It is the responsibility for all candidates to commit that they will be physically able to serve the residents. I appreciated the opportunity to be your commissioner and encourage others to run,” White said in his text message.
Last week, Vosburgh and White filed their preliminary paperwork with the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Office. The preliminary forms name the candidates’ campaign treasurers and state they understand the requirements placed on them by Chapter 106 of the Florida Statutes.
Vosburgh served 6½ years as a Bradenton Beach commissioner before she term-limited out of office in 2016.
Former commissioner Jan Vosburgh seeks a return to the Bradenton Beach commission. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“I’m proud of my past accomplishments as a commissioner. The city is running well under Mayor John Chappie and I want to be part of the work that still needs to be done. If elected, I will be devoted to serving our citizens and the city,” Vosburgh said.
Ward reconfiguration
White is serving the second year of his inaugural two-year term in office. He took office in 2017 after defeating incumbent commissioner Ralph Cole in the Ward 3 race.
In 2017, city voters also eliminated the city’s geographically-based commission wards and Cole was later appointed to fill the commission seat Chappie vacated after he won the mayor’s race in that same election cycle.
In 2018, Cole and Marilyn Maro were elected as at-large commissioners. That year, city voters also restored the commission wards in support of a charter amendment proposed by the charter review committee.
Earlier this year, when the city commission established the ward boundaries that now apply to the 2019 elections, the boundaries were changed in a manner that left White in Ward 3 and placed Cole in Ward 4.
Due to the 2017 elimination of wards and the 2018 restoration of wards, White would not have been eligible to run in 2019 had those boundaries not been changed. Ward 3 now encompasses the entire area between the south side of the Cortez Bridge and the southern city limits at the Longboat Pass Bridge.
The southern boundary of Ward 4 is now the north side of the Cortez Bridge. In 2020, Cole will be eligible to run for election as the Ward 4 commissioner if he wishes.
Other races
As of today, no additional candidates had filed preliminary paperwork to run against Chappie in the mayor’s race or Commissioner Jake Spooner in the Ward 1 commissioner’s race.
Bradenton Beach’s week-long candidate qualifying period begins at noon on Monday, Aug. 26 and ends at noon on Friday, Aug. 30.
For more qualifying information, visit the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections website or call the city clerk’s office at 941-778-6311.
BRADENTON BEACH – City Commissioner Randy White’s status as a city resident was indirectly questioned during last week’s Charter Review Committee (CRC) meeting.
City Attorney Ricinda Perry said she has received inquiries about the residency status of a current commissioner. Perry was discussing the City Commission’s request to better define city charter residency requirements for commission candidates.
Perry did not identify the commissioner by name but mistakenly said he holds a city-issued Transient Public Lodging Establishment (TPLE) license. She also said the property listed as the commissioner’s residence has been used recently as a vacation rental.
Perry said the property tax bill for the commissioner’s property is sent to a Canadian address and the commissioner’s car had a Canadian license plate until recently.
Mayor John Chappie has a city-issued TPLE license, but he resides full-time in one of the two duplexes he and his brother, Joe, own on 12th Street South. Their tax bills also reflect that.
According to the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s website, Commissioner Randy White’s tax bill for the bungalow at 106 Fourth St. N. has been sent to Toronto, Canada since he bought it 2012.
The tax bill for the bungalow White owns next door at 108 Fourth St. N. has been sent to the 106 Fourth St. N. address since he bought the second bungalow in 2014. According to Building Official Steve Gilbert, the bungalow at 108 Fourth St. N. remains uninhabitable due to an unresolved stop work order issued for working without permits in 2016.
In January, White pursued a TPLE license for the 106 Fourth St. N. bungalow that was being used as a vacation rental. Late last year and earlier this year that property was listed as a vacation rental through the Holmes Beach-based Beachrental.mobi property management company.
On Monday, City Treasurer Shayne Thompson said White recently obtained a city-issued business tax receipt license for that property but he never completed the TPLE licensing process.
White’s response
White is a commercial airline pilot based out of LaGuardia Airport in New York City. During a layover Monday morning, he explained his residency situation.
“I do understand why people scratch their heads,” he said, when informed of Friday’s CRC discussion.
White said his wife, Lorraine, lives in Toronto and is a Canadian citizen. He said she usually handled the vacation rental logistics and that’s why the tax bill was sent there.
White said his wife will vacation at the bungalow at 106 Fourth St. N. but she will not live there because it’s too small. They planned to live in the bigger bungalow next door, but those plans got bogged down in the permitting issues and remain on hold.
White said he often has overnight layovers in Toronto that allow him to spend time with his wife.
“I have an international job and I’m in an international marriage,” he said.
White said they abandoned the TPLE license because it was getting complicated and costly. He said they no longer use the bungalow as a vacation rental and previously only rented it out when he was flying or out of town.
When it was noted there was recently a car with out-of-state license plates parked in his driveway, White said it belonged to a friend of his wife’s and she did not pay to stay. He said other friends do the same.
White says he also has a crash pad in New York and shares a room with another pilot. He said he usually works Saturday, Sunday, Monday and sometimes on Friday. He usually commutes to New York from Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport.
White said he inherited a Buick LeSabre when his dad passed away and that’s why it had Canadian plates. It now has Florida plates. White said he has a Florida driver’s license that lists 108 Fourth St. N. as his address because that’s where he planned to live.
White said he is an American citizen and registered to vote in Manatee County and Bradenton Beach.
“I’m on the road at least half the time. I spent time in New York and I shoot up to Toronto to see my wife. The other time I dedicate to Bradenton Beach,” he said, noting that he spends about 10 days a month in Bradenton Beach.
White was asked why he decided to run for a commission seat when his time in Bradenton Beach is limited.
“Because I love the town and I know a lot of people here. I’m big on the residents and I think there’s resident and residential issues that need to be addressed,” he said.
On Monday, Perry said she was not aware that White had discontinued his efforts to obtain a TPLE license. She said that has no impact on the commission’s request to better define residency in the city charter.
BRADENTON BEACH – The Nov. 7 elections reshaped the Bradenton Beach City Commission and changed how future commission races will be run.
City voters elected Vice Mayor John Chappie to serve as the city’s next mayor, replacing current Mayor Bill Shearon.
First-time candidate Randy White won the Ward 3 race, defeating incumbent Commissioner Ralph Cole in what will go down as the city’s last ward-specific commission race.
“If the voters made their decision because of a parking garage, I’m sorry they were basically misled.” Ralph Cole, commission candidate
The city charter will be amended to incorporate three voter-supported charter changes proposed by the Concerned Neighbors of Bradenton Beach (CNOBB). These include the elimination of commission wards and the reduction of residency requirements for candidates.
Running unopposed, Ward 1 Commissioner Jake Spooner retained his seat and will serve another two-year term.
Chappie, White and Spooner will be sworn in at 1 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 20.
Open seat
After losing his commission race, Ralph Cole is seeking commission appointment to a soon-to-be-vacated seat. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The elimination of commission wards means Cole is among those eligible to serve the remaining year of Chappie’s two-year commissioner’s term.
Cole and CNOBB chairman Bill Vincent, a Ward 4 resident, have already submitted applications to the city clerk’s office in hopes of filling the seat that becomes vacant on Nov. 20.
In 2016, Vincent ran for the Ward 4 seat won by Chappie. He is one of six former city board members named as defendants in an unresolved Sunshine Law lawsuit.
Others interested in the commission appointment can apply with the clerk’s office.
City Attorney Ricinda Perry will draft ordinances to formalize each of the voter-supported charter amendments. The commission must then adopt the ordinances during two public hearings before the appointment process can begin on or around Dec. 7.
Post-election reactions
“I think people wanted a change. I think people are tired of all the controversy and negativity,” Chappie said of the mayor’s race.
“We have some challenges we’re going to work through to be a better community than we are today,” he added.
As mayor, Chappie plans to be a stickler for open government and Sunshine Law compliance.
He said he has no issues with the charter amendments or their impact on the pending appointment process.
“Anybody in the city who meets the basic qualifications to run for office can put in an application. That’s what the people wanted,” Chappie said.
“The voters spoke,” Shearon said. “I would’ve liked to have continued the progress I feel my administration’s made over the years. Now it will be up to the new commission.”
Shearon will not apply to fill the vacant commission seat and he does not think someone who just lost an election should either. He also said he did not intend to run for a commission seat in 2018.
“I’m going to be retired. I’m not going to be in government, but I’ve had a couple people ask me to provide consultation to help them get their projects through the maze of bureaucracy,” Shearon said.
“I think myself and John Chappie won because we were out there on the streets knocking on doors,” White said. “I covered the whole town and I know John did too. The ones who wanted the votes the most got elected.”
Regarding the appointment process, White said, “Everybody’s entitled to put their name in the hat. We’ll work with the system and hopefully we choose the right person.”
Cole said a campaign mailer White distributed inaccurately represented his views on the parking garage discussions Shearon and Spooner initiated in 2016; and he feels that contributed to his loss.
“If the voters made their decision because of a parking garage, I’m sorry they were basically misled,” Cole said.
Regarding his possible reappointment, Cole said, “There were 169 people who voted for me. If you’re going to change the rules, then I can do it. I’m not going to back down because I lost an election. I want to have a say with what’s going on.”
Spooner said, “I’m honored to have the opportunity to work for the citizens of Bradenton Beach for a second term. I look forward to help healing the divide and making the city even more beautiful, enjoyable and safe for all, while protecting the taxpayers’ investment in the city.”
He also said he sees nothing wrong with Cole or anyone else in the city applying to fill the vacant commission seat.
By the numbers
In the mayor’s race, Chappie received 232 votes (60 percent) and Shearon received 155 votes (40 percent).
In the Ward 3 race, White received 205 votes (55 percent) and Cole received 169 votes (45 percent).
The Amendment 1 proposal to eliminate commission wards received 207 votes of support (55 percent) and 171 votes in opposition (45 percent). All future commission races will now be at-large races.
The Amendment 2 proposal to reduce commission candidate residency requirements from two years to one year and eliminate the requirement that candidates be registered city voters received 212 votes of support (55 percent) and 174 votes in opposition.
The Amendment 3 proposal to limit the city commission’s ability to interpret the city charter received 243 votes of support (64 percent) and 134 votes in opposition.
