What the Stats Say
The results of yesterday’s municipal election in Indian Rocks Beach welcome a new commissioner, Phil Hanna, to the board, and allow Terry Hamilton-Wollin to retain her seat for another two-year term. Although still unofficial, these results are expected to be certified by the Pinellas County Canvassing Board on Friday. Congratulations to both winning candidates.
Hopefully, the stats from yesterday’s election will send a clear message to the entire commission. The fact that a candidate who has not been all that involved in our city government was the top vote-getter speaks volumes. Hanna, who worked very hard and very smart to earn his seat, managed to grab nearly 38% of the vote. And when you add Hanna’s share to the percentage garnered by Don House, who also represented change but did not earn a seat on the commission, over 2/3 of the votes cast show that our residents are just not thrilled with their representation in general. And it's not just the "yowlers." House, who was in a dead heat with incumbent Wollin in the absentee/mail-in ballots, fell 47 votes shy of tying Wollin once the results from the polls were downloaded.
The statistic that is probably the most troubling is the voter turnout. This was by far the lowest number of ballots cast for a March municipal election in IRB in many, many years. When combining this fact with fewer and fewer folks attending commission meetings, finding ways to encourage, not discourage, more participation in our local government, is crucial to our city’s future. Whether you like IRBeHEARD or not, encouraging more involvement was, and still is, the goal. Please make it a point to attend a commission meeting now and then and let all five commissioners know what’s on your mind. It’s tough for them to represent us if they don’t know what we’re thinking.
EGG-ON-FACE RETRACTION: In the IRBeHEARD posting on March 9, I referred to one candidate’s political signs as being in violation of election laws. In terms of the specifications spelled out in the Florida Division of Elections Candidate and Campaign Treasurer Handbook, all the sign examples given include the word “elect” or “re-elect,” which is what I based my statement on. However, when election officials in Tallahassee were contacted for clarification, they referred to the Florida Statute where there is NO requirement for EITHER “elect” or “re-elect” to appear on the sign. Hopefully, the discrepancy between the handbook guidelines and the state statute will be rectified before the next election. I do, with a limited amount of time, try to do a responsible job of being accurate…but I clearly blew on this one...and will probably blow it again at some time in the future. Apologies to the candidate for making the assumption that the handbook was correct without checking further.
How is everyone else feeling about the results of yesterday's election?
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
(Note: If you'd like to comment on this posting, simply click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of the article and follow the prompts. You may comment anonymously if you'd like. Or, you can always e-mail your comments to irbeheard@cmdinc.net and we'll post them for you!)
The results of yesterday’s municipal election in Indian Rocks Beach welcome a new commissioner, Phil Hanna, to the board, and allow Terry Hamilton-Wollin to retain her seat for another two-year term. Although still unofficial, these results are expected to be certified by the Pinellas County Canvassing Board on Friday. Congratulations to both winning candidates.
Hopefully, the stats from yesterday’s election will send a clear message to the entire commission. The fact that a candidate who has not been all that involved in our city government was the top vote-getter speaks volumes. Hanna, who worked very hard and very smart to earn his seat, managed to grab nearly 38% of the vote. And when you add Hanna’s share to the percentage garnered by Don House, who also represented change but did not earn a seat on the commission, over 2/3 of the votes cast show that our residents are just not thrilled with their representation in general. And it's not just the "yowlers." House, who was in a dead heat with incumbent Wollin in the absentee/mail-in ballots, fell 47 votes shy of tying Wollin once the results from the polls were downloaded.
The statistic that is probably the most troubling is the voter turnout. This was by far the lowest number of ballots cast for a March municipal election in IRB in many, many years. When combining this fact with fewer and fewer folks attending commission meetings, finding ways to encourage, not discourage, more participation in our local government, is crucial to our city’s future. Whether you like IRBeHEARD or not, encouraging more involvement was, and still is, the goal. Please make it a point to attend a commission meeting now and then and let all five commissioners know what’s on your mind. It’s tough for them to represent us if they don’t know what we’re thinking.
EGG-ON-FACE RETRACTION: In the IRBeHEARD posting on March 9, I referred to one candidate’s political signs as being in violation of election laws. In terms of the specifications spelled out in the Florida Division of Elections Candidate and Campaign Treasurer Handbook, all the sign examples given include the word “elect” or “re-elect,” which is what I based my statement on. However, when election officials in Tallahassee were contacted for clarification, they referred to the Florida Statute where there is NO requirement for EITHER “elect” or “re-elect” to appear on the sign. Hopefully, the discrepancy between the handbook guidelines and the state statute will be rectified before the next election. I do, with a limited amount of time, try to do a responsible job of being accurate…but I clearly blew on this one...and will probably blow it again at some time in the future. Apologies to the candidate for making the assumption that the handbook was correct without checking further.
How is everyone else feeling about the results of yesterday's election?
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
(Note: If you'd like to comment on this posting, simply click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of the article and follow the prompts. You may comment anonymously if you'd like. Or, you can always e-mail your comments to irbeheard@cmdinc.net and we'll post them for you!)
2 comments:
I didn't vote. Not something I am proud of, but I just didn't see any point. None of the candidates went out of their way to get my vote---way to may emails! Web sites were just too slick. Lots of same old same old.
Results were as expected with exception to charter amendment. I knew that Hanna would get majority votes and House and Wollin would spit the remainder. Its too bad that House lost by such a slim margin, I voted for him. I cannot believe that we have two more years with a complete fool of a person as our commissioner.
Post a Comment