By Bryce Abshier
For 16 years, Belleview voters have not had much deciding to do at the ballot box when it comes to their City Commission.
George and Andraea Thorn are trying to change that.
The Belleview-area couple is circulating a petition seeking a referendum that would expand who is eligible to run for Mayor or City Commission, potentially opening the door to people who have Belleview addresses but live outside the city’s municipal boundaries.
Their push comes as another Belleview election cycle passed without a contested race. The city’s qualifying period ended last week without a challenger stepping forward, extending a streak of uncontested City Commission elections that dates back 16 years.
George Thorn had hoped to become one of those candidates.
Thorn submitted a Statement of Candidate for Commission Seat 3, but ran into a problem: although the Thorns have a Belleview address, live within about 50 feet of the city limits and are connected to Belleview water and sewer, their home sits outside the incorporated city.
Under the current City Charter, that makes Thorn ineligible.
City Attorney Fred Landt wrote in an Aug. 11 legal memo that Section 3.02 of the charter requires a City Commissioner to be a resident of the city.
The Thorns first took their case to City Hall. When Andraea Thorn addressed the City Commission at a recent meeting, commissioners showed little interest in expanding the residency requirement.
Commissioner Ray Dwyer said it did not make logical sense to allow someone who does not live within the city to serve on its commission.
Mayor Christine Dobkowski agreed.
“We’d have people on the commission who would be voting for things that would never affect them,” Dobkowski said.
The Thorns are now pursuing another avenue, one that would leave the ultimate decision to the people who do live inside Belleview They are circulating a petition for what is being called the “Belleview Municipal Candidate Residency Amendment.” The proposed charter amendment would allow an otherwise qualified person who has maintained a permanent residence with a Belleview, Florida mailing address for at least one year to qualify for Mayor or City Commission, even if the home sits outside of Belleview’s incorporated city limits.
The petition itself would not change the residency requirement. Instead, it seeks to put the question before Belleview voters in a referendum, so the citizens can decide at the ballot box. That’s a distinction that could become important as the effort moves forward. The Thorns are not asking to expand who can hold city office through their petition. They are asking enough Belleview voters to sign on to give the rest of the city’s electorate the opportunity to decide.
Under the City Charter, getting there requires valid signatures from at least 10% of Belleview’s registered voters. If a proper petition is secured and filed in accordance with the charter, the city attorney wrote that adoption of an ordinance providing for the referendum is then required.
The City Commission could also put the proposed change before voters, but the charter can only be changed through a referendum, meaning Belleview voters would have the final say at the ballot box.
Any referendum ordinance would first go through the normal advertising and public hearing process. Even if approved, the amendment would not expand who gets to vote in Belleview elections. People living outside the incorporated city would remain unable to cast ballots in them. It would instead expand the pool of potential candidates from which Belleview’s existing voters could choose.
Whether voters want that larger pool is precisely the question the Thorns are trying to put before them. After 16 years without a contested City Commission election, they’re probably not alone in thinking something needs to be done.
