(a) VACANCIES.--The office of the Mayor or a Commissioner shall become vacant upon his or her death, resignation, removal from office in any manner authorized by law or by forfeiture of his or her office. A resignation shall be deemed to occur upon the day of submission of a letter of resignation, unless the letter provides for a future effective date, in which case the resignation shall be deemed to occur on the earlier of the effective date provided in the letter or the date the resigning official’s successor takes office.
(b) FORFEITURE OF OFFICE.--
(1) Forfeiture by disqualification.--The Mayor shall forfeit his/her office if at any time during his/her term s/he ceases to maintain his/her permanent residence in the
or otherwise ceases to be a qualified elector of the
. A Commissioner shall forfeit his or her office if at any time during his/her term s/he ceases to maintain his/her permanent residence in his or her respective Residential Area or otherwise ceases to be a qualified elector of the
. A Commissioner shall not forfeit his/her office under this paragraph if, in the process of relocating within a Residential Area, s/he lives outside of his/her Residential Area but within the
for a period of no more than 90 days.
(2) Forfeiture by absence.--A Commissioner shall be subject to forfeiture of his/her office, in the discretion of the remaining Commissioners, if s/he is absent without good cause from any four regular meetings of the Commission during any calendar year, or if s/he is absent without good cause from any four, or three as to the Mayor, consecutive regular meetings of the Commission, whether or not during the same calendar year.
(3) Procedures.--The Commission shall be the sole judge of the qualifications of its members and shall hear all questions relating to forfeiture of a Commissioner’s office, including whether or not good cause for absence has been or may be established. The burden of establishing good cause shall be on the Commissioner in question; provided, however, that any Commissioner may at any time during any duly held meeting move to establish good cause for the absence of him/herself or any other Commissioner, from any past, present or future meetings, which motion, if carried, shall be conclusive. A Commissioner whose qualifications are in question or who is otherwise subject to forfeiture of his/her office shall not vote on any such matters. The Commissioner in question shall be entitled to a public hearing on request regarding an alleged forfeiture of office. If a public hearing is requested, notice thereof shall be published in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the
at least one week in advance of the hearing. Any final determination by the Commission that a Commissioner has forfeited his/her office shall be made by resolution. All votes and other acts of the Commissioner in question prior to the effective date of such resolution shall be valid regardless of the grounds of forfeiture.
(c) FILLING OF VACANCIES.--
(1) If there is an available city election scheduled to be held within one year of the submission of a letter of resignation or the death, forfeiture or removal from office of an elected official, the office shall be filled at the first scheduled available city election and the person elected shall serve the remainder of the term of the vacated office. If there is no available city election scheduled to be held within one year of the submission of a letter of resignation or the death, forfeiture or removal from office of an elected official, but there is an available county, state or national election in that time period, the office shall be filled at the first scheduled available county, state or national election and the person elected shall serve the remainder of the term of the vacated office. If there is no scheduled available city, county, state or national election within one year of the submission of a letter of resignation or the death, forfeiture or removal from office of an elected official, the office shall be filled no sooner than 90 days and no later than 360 days after the submission of a letter of resignation or the death, forfeiture or removal from office of an elected official by a special election and the person elected shall serve the remainder of the term of the vacated office. An election shall be deemed available if there is sufficient time to hold a qualifying period and to provide all legally required notices, and the Supervisor of Elections acknowledges that the election can be placed on the ballot for that election.
(2) A vacancy in any Seat shall be filled by a qualified person residing within the corresponding Residential Area.
(3)
filling vacancies shall meet the qualifications specified in this Article II.
(4) If no candidate for a vacancy meets the qualifications under this Article for that vacancy, the Commission shall appoint a person qualified under this Article to fill the vacancy.
(5) Notwithstanding any quorum requirements established herein, if at any time the full membership of the Commission is reduced to less than a quorum, the remaining members may, by majority vote, appoint additional members to the extent otherwise permitted or required under this subsection.
(6) In the event that all the members of the Commission are removed by death, disability, recall, removal, forfeiture of office, resignation, and/or otherwise, the Governor shall appoint an interim Mayor and an interim Commissioner for each seat, each of whom shall serve until a replacement is elected. If there is no regular
election scheduled to take place during the subsequent 180 days, the interim Mayor and interim Commissioners shall call a special election that shall be held within 180 days of the appointments at which time a Mayor and Commissioner for each seat shall be elected to complete the remainder of the terms. If there is a regular
election scheduled to take place during the subsequent 360 days, a Mayor and a Commissioner for each seat shall be elected at that regular election, and the people elected shall serve either a full term (for those positions that were up for election at that time) or the remainder of the terms (for those positions that were not up for election at that time). Appointees must meet all requirements for candidates provided for in Article II.
(Am. Ord. 2014-15, certified 11-4-2014; Am. Ord. 2016-08, certified 11-21-2016)
Statutory reference:
Municipal officials; suspension and removal by Governor, see Florida Statutes § 112.51
Qualified electors, see Florida Statutes § 166.032
Vacancies, see Florida Statutes § 166.031