Submitted by Phil Scanlan
January 15, 2015 9:00 a.m.
In school they teach that our revolution in 1776 was to make sure we did not
have taxation without representation. USA would have a right to
vote for our representatives. Unfortunately, that is not always true today in Nassau County, and it seems like thinks are going to get worse.
In a recent election for Nassau County Commissioner only two Republicans
were in the race for County Commissioner in District 2, which happens to be the County District that I live in. Commissioner Steve Kelley was challenged by past county commissioner Mike Boyle, both in the same party.
By state law if the only candidates running in a race are from the same Party then the Primary election becomes the General election, because that election will determine who is elected to office. However, an individual who lives in the same Home Owner Association as Mike Boyle filed as a “write-in” for the election, which prevented all Democrats (35% of Nassau voters) and all Independents (23% of Nassau Voters) from voting in the real election race, which was the Republican Primary between Commissioner Steve Kelley and past Commissioner Mike Boyle.
Commissioner Steve Kelley won the Republican primary and Democrat and Independent voters were excluded from voting in that real race for county district commissioner. In addition, a General election had to be held for Commissioner Kelly to run against the write-in candidate later, which was an uncompetitive waste of time and tax payer money.
Uncompetitive write-in candidates have been used before in Nassau county elections which results in Democratic and Independent voters to be excluded from voting in the real election. The prior time this was done I could not even find out the write-in candidate’s name when I actually tried to vote in the meaningless and wasteful General election after the Republican primary had already decided the real winner.
Republicans have filled all elected offices in Nassau County since 2002. We have not had any Democrat candidates running in Nassau County since 2006. Hence, the Republican Primary in all Nassau partisan elections has been the real election in Nassau County since 2008.
Having 100% Republican government and 100% Republican candidates in Nassau should not result in excluding 48% of voters from voting in Nassau elections for their representatives.
Port Authority elections in Nassau County have been held as partisan elections even though the Florida state law required they be held as non-partisan elections. Partisan elections show the party of the candidates beside their name on the ballot. The dictionary defines partisan as a firm adherence to a party, exhibiting a blind prejudicial and unreasoning allegiance to a party. In elections this is characterized sometimes by a strict party vote for all candidates on the ballot from the same party, regardless of individual candidate qualifications. I understand this is what some party leaders and party members want.
Non-partisan elections are not influenced by a party. Non-partisan is defined as free from bias and objective. In a non-partisan election without party affiliations voters must assess individual candidate qualifications and their positions for an informed vote.
Our current Port Authority commissioners were all elected in an illegal partisan election process. Nothing is going to be done about those past illegal elections; we are told that simply a mistake was made. If I rolled through a stop sign I do not think I could expect to simply say I made a mistake and have no consequence. But for an illegal election that is OK?
Our two local state representatives just held a public hearing on 1/14/15 to get input on how to conduct future Port Authority elections in Nassau County:
- Follow the current state law to have non-partisan elections.
- Change the current state law to have partisan elections.
All community input at that hearing was to hold non-partisan elections for the Port Authority commission in the future, as the current state law requires. Both our Republican state representatives decided to support the Port Authority commissioners request to change the state law to have partisan Port elections in the future.
Why does this proposed state law change really matter to Nassau voters? This change may result in excluding 48% of the voters here in future port elections anytime an uncompetitive write-in candidate files to run.
While a lot of citizens do not exercise their right to vote and may not consider their right to vote important to them, my right to vote is very important to me. I always try to vote in elections, unless excluded as explained above, and I do not like my right to vote taken away from me.
Remember a long time ago we had a revolution to obtain that right to vote for our representatives.
Some will say they have the “legal” right to prevent me, and all non-Republicans in Nassau County, from voting for our elected officials, and they may actually feel very clever in being able to take away our vote. They are right my vote, and 48% of the county, has been taken away in real elections here and it is legal to do so. Sad but legal.
Some Republicans have told me they do not want non-Republicans voting in “their” Primary, However, when there is no other major party candidate running then a Party Primary election actually becomes the General election that all should be voting in.
When I was 18 years old I wrote my US Senator complaining that the legal age to vote should be changed from 21 to 18, since those who were between 18 and 21 were paying taxes and being drafted to fight for their country. When I was 24, in 1968, I got a letter from my US Senator to let me know he had submitted a bill, and it finally had become law, to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. In 1968 when I got that letter I was in Vietnam fighting for my country. I was legally denied the right to vote when I was young and now, as a veteran, I am legally being denied the right to vote again.
Shouldn’t Republicans be satisfied with having 100% of all elected offices in Nassau County filled by Republicans and not also have to create a situation that enables “only” Republicans to have the right to vote for elected officials in the Nassau County real elections?
Shouldn’t my state elected officials be concerned about the potential loss of a right to vote by 48% of Nassau County voters and therefore not propose changing the state law for Port Commission elections in Nassau County from non-partisan to partisan?
Shouldn’t my state representatives be working on the election laws to restore my right to vote in all elections by simply requiring write-in candidates to participate in one Primary/General election when there are only major party candidates from one party in partisan elections?
Editor’s Note: Phil Scanlan retired to Amelia Island from AT&T in 1999 and had been the AT&T Corporate Quality VP for his last dozen years during which time three company units won US quality awards, more than any other company. Since moving to Amelia Island Phil has been involved in organizing and leading teams to help improve the quality of life on Amelia Island.
Phil’s Amelia Island non-profit activities have included leading team efforts to: establish tree ordinances, create a new tennis club, develop an Adult Bikes for Barnabas program (providing for 200 bikes to those in need of transportation to work), and develop a trail network whose goal is to make Amelia Island the best place to walk, run or bicycle safely in all of Florida.
Whether or not one agrees with Mr. Scanlan’s political affiliation, he make an excellent point of drawing attention to what frequently becomes the clear discrimination outcome stemming from one party control of any legislative or quasi-public institution.
The voters of Nassau County, whatever their party, in exchange for the expression of their guaranteed franchise to vote, deserve a more fair, just and equitable organizational system to assure appropriate public office outcomes.
Malcolm Noden
1055 hours EST
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Amen two times. Well put, Phil – and critical for this county to realize and act upon. Hopefully Arron and Janet will understand the ramifications of what they just did.
Phil, This is so well said, wish you had scripted this at the meeting. I remember you give an overview. But the content of this “stirred my soul ” We on this blog are mostly of the same mind. This needs to be said to the general public.Please submit to the News Leader for the Opinion Column. Also a copy to both Adkins and Bean, they need to digest these words. Like you i was in the Army in the far east during the 60’s My ancestors fought at Saratoga during our revolution All for the right of self determination as a country. The Right To Vote. Thank you.
First I want to express my appreciation to Phil Scanlan for all of his contributions to our community. However, I believe he has conflated two issues to the detriment of his argument.
Issue #1: Was the partisan nature of the Port Authority Commissioner elections proper/legal/ethical, and should future elections be non-partisan? No to the former and yes to the latter in my opinion.
Issue #2 : Is it fair that Republicans control Nassau County politics? This is where the arguments of Phil, Noden, Warner, Crounse, and Mike Harrison (in his comments to a prior column) come across as a little whiny to me. Full disclosure here, I am not a Republican–I am an independent. I think the problem for the aforementioned commenters is that they have not been successful in achieving their own political goals. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas opined in favor of the concept of the “marketplace of ideas”– that is the idea that truth will be found in competitive public discourse. Why didn’t the Democratic party of Nassau County have a candidate in the Kelly/Boyle race? No chance for distinctive public discourse there. So you don’t want Republicans to dominate politics here? Recruit, campaign for, financially support Democratic/Independent candidates. Outwork your Republican opponents. Close the sale in the marketplace of ideas.
It looks like the skirmish over whether the Port Authority Commissioner elections should be non-partisan has been lost for the time being. The battle is not over however. Bean and Adkins will stand for re-election. Will Democrats and/or Independents be ready with opposition candidates who can clearly articulate viable alternate policies?
Thanks, Steve, for your support of the position that OHPA elections should be non-partisan.
Your argument that those voters who want to see candidates other than Republicans on the OHPA should work harder, field better candidates, sway the ballot box etc. is of course correct. But it is not the complete answer in that it ignores the biases within the electoral system that favor any party with a dominance of registered voters in the county. Phil has detailed the problems of the primary/write-in rule, and I wrote of the benefit that a party-line vote brings to candidates in non-headline elections. These are systemic biases that do not of themselves favor any one party, but they do favor whichever party has a dominance of registered voters. And this in turn tends to exclusion of the other parties.
In the case of OHPA elections at least, let’s avoid all of these problems, and keep their elections non-partisan.
As noted by Stephen, the ship has sailed for the time being on the OHPA commissioner race. The underlying issue however, that of the OHPA commissioner’s being responsive and in concert with the Nassau County community on the activities that are compatible with the community, is far from settled. If someone is unhappy with their OHPA commissioner, let them enter their candidacy and run against that commissioner. I agree that if you run as a Democrat, you have two strikes against you already, but switching party affiliations is an easy process. I also know incumbancy has inherent advantages as well, but as recent elections in here and elsewhere have shown, past records and actions can be deterimental to the incumbant candidate as well. Yes, it’s gamemanship but that is what is already being played in making the elections partisan.
Thank you to the FO, and to all the men and women who’ve come to this forum willing to write/respond to weeks and weeks of complicated port policy. You’re educating us all. Thanks also to those who’ve gone to the meetings, stood at the podiums, and gone up against the wall of port/port officials’ vast statutorily vested power and protections.
Turns out each of us has an individual angle of outrage. My angle derives from Phil’s article title re Taxation. OHPA is, of course, exempt from state and local taxes. If you really want to feel it in your gut, go to the Nassau County Property Appraiser website, key in “Ocean Highway Port Authority,” then click through all 51 of their real estate parcels in downtown Fernandina, and be reminded all over again that OHPA [unlike the rest of us] pays no annual tax for the properties they own.
From the OHPA website: “As the Port’s governing body, the Port Authority has policy-making, budgeting and general oversight responsibilities for all port activities…The Port Authority is exempt from taxation by the State of Florida, or by any county, municipality or political subdivision on those properties it owns.
The Port Authority may acquire property or property interests through negotiation or condemnation; set tariffs; enter into secure agreements with governmental entities; incur indebtedness; plan, develop or lease its properties; and regulate land use and buildings on Port lands.
The Port Authority has powers similar to those of a unit of local government and is accountable to the electorate residing in Nassau County.”
Read those last 9 words again. OHPA is “accountable to the electorate residing in Nassau County.” Huh? Next step: finding/hiring a pit bull city attorney vigorous enough to go up against tax-exempt, vested-powers, private-economy, growing-like-a-weed Goliath, to finally wrestle a definition of “accountable” and make it stick. Then fight to return statutorily-mandated non-partisan elections.
It is very easy to change voter registration to Republican in order to vote in the primary. In order to win, we must play by the rules of the game; if the rules require being a Republican to be elected and to vote, then be a Republican.
But more importantly, we need to find people who represent the community to run for office — as Republicans.
Bob Weintraub just turned on a light.
For the record, Phil Scanlan and I were opponents in the 2006 County Commission Race for District 2: Phil as a Democrat, and I as a Republican. During that campaign, and for the years afterward, Phil was a complete gentleman and a worthy opponent. I have always enjoyed interacting with Phil on a variety of topics and issues.
On the current issue of partisan elections for OHPA elections,I agree with his stand that they should be non-partisan, not because such an action would allow Dems to vote, but because the current law requires such inclusion. I am troubled by the fact that when all parties discover a law has been ignored, the response (from our elected officials) seems to be, “Oops, our bad. let’s just change the law so we can continue to do whatever the heck we want to.”
But there’s another aspect to this whole issue that no one has raised, and that is the fact that for the one vacancy on the OHPA Board last year, only one (1) person stepped forward to run. This candidate was a young man with no previous political experience who ended up being “elected” without a single voted being cast simply because he was unopposed. And if you think that’s “wrong,” the exact same thing happened on the Nassau County School Board, a board many people think is even more critical than the OHPA Board.
None of this is meant to denigrate either of the candidates who did step forward, but simply to illustrate that as the old joke about the lottery goes, the first step to winning is to “buy a ticket.” It’s disingenuous to complain about not having anyone to represent you when you yourself “decline” to run. Phil came to our island paradise from the New York City area and I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the political scene up there was the polar opposite (party-wise) of what he found here. I’m guessing he wasn’t too upset with that arrangement.
As students of political history know, these matters are cyclical. My wife, a Florida native, has told me that when she was growing up there there really was no Republican Party in Florida. If you wanted to have a chance at winning, you ran as a Democrat. So hang in there, it will all change.
My hat is off to Phil for his many contributions to our community, including running in 2006.
My letter was not complaining about Republicans having won 100% of the Nassau County elected positions. I accept Republicans are the dominant party in Nassau and that means Republicans will be elected.
My letter was about 48% of Nassau citizens who are excluded from VOTING in the real race ( the Republican Primary) whenever an uncompetitive write-in candidate files for office. My letter was about the right to vote in real elections.
20 states have open primary elections which solve this voting problem. Florida could at least have open primaries when there are only major party candidates from one party. That would solve this voter exclusion problem. Also non-partisan elections solve this voter problem.
I did not have the right to vote in the real election for my County Commissioner or for my US Congressman — because an uncompetitive write-in candidate filed and only Republicans were allowed to vote in the real election, which was the Republican Primary.
My letter was not about wanting Democrats to waste their time running for office in a dominant Republican county. It was not about having Democrats change to Republicans so they could run for office, while 48% of the citizens can not vote.
Excluding 48% of the citizens from real elections will result in more far right office holders in Nassau County — rather than more moderate candidates the actual majority of citizens here would possibly elect.
In dominant Democrat counties or districts the same problem exists — except more far left candidates are elected.
We need all citizens to be able to vote to reduce the trend in America toward more far right and more far left officials being elected because about 1/2 the registered voters are excluded from the real elections.
Excellent piece Phil. Voting is the bedrock of our democracy so marginilizing people from elections is against the essence of our constitution. Yes, it is perfectly legal but it is a discriminatory practice that leads to radicalism. An example of the end result is the disfunctionality in our Congress.
When I moved to Nassau County all county commissioners ,state representative and congressional representative were Democrats.Twenty years later they were all Republican many were the same people who had switched parties, after election.The officials were elected to serve the people of the county not their party whether it be Republican, Democrat, Tea Party or KnowNothings. To limit voter participation speaks to the dark side of politics and the less attractive nature of politicians.Phil Scanlan correctly points out the disenfranchisement of a large portion of the electorate(35% and 23% are actually 58%, and a majority of the voters). As MLK day comes tomorrow, Republicans should take pride in the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments which began the long battle to insure all citizens the right to freedom and the right to vote and continue to expand – not contract – the electorate.
I am cross referencing these comments to the other about Arron and Janet’s decision concerning the Port Authority . This is why we are where we are now.
http://fernandinaobserver.org/2015/01/14/bean-adkins-support-ohpa-request-for-partisan-elections/