Delray again fails to appoint candidate

Delray Beach will leave a commission seat empty until March after city officials failed to appoint an interim candidate for a second time.

City commissioners remained gridlocked in a 2-2 vote for interim candidates Yvonne Odom and Josh Smith on Tuesday night — even as dozens of residents rallied behind Odom.

The city’s charter says Delray has two months to hold a special election and fill the vacancy if commissioners can’t agree after two meetings. But the mayor and city attorney say it’s impossible to hold an election in 60 days and impractical to do it a month before March elections for the same seat.

A special election would confuse voters as interim candidates would campaign alongside those seeking the seat in March, said R. Max Lohman, Delray’s attorney. Not to mention it would cost the city at least $75,000, he said.

Lohman said residents could take Delray to court to force them to hold an election, but the results would be the same. "[Going to court] would be the worst possible outcome for the city of Delray Beach," Lohman said.

Despite the consequences, Mayor Cary Glickstein said he was unwilling to change his vote for someone he did not think was qualified to fill the vacancy left by Al Jacquet, who recently was elected as a state representative.

“I was disappointed with the outcome of last night. I think the people of Delray are entitled to have a qualified person whether it’s two weeks or two months in that role,” Glickstein said.

Nearly two dozen residents came to the meeting wearing yellow in solidarity for Odom. Many spoke in support of her during public comment.

“She has a servant’s heart," said Greta Britt about Odom. “Look at the totality of the picture and what she brings to the table and listen to what the community has asked."

No one from the public spoke out in support of Smith on Tuesday night.

In a wide-ranging discussion, commissioners accused each other of letting politics get in the way of their official duties. Commissioner Jordana Jarjura derided her colleagues for choosing Smith against the will of many residents at the meeting.

"If you want to pick someone from the black community, pick someone the black community is supporting,"

she said.

Jarjura also accused Commissioner Shelly Petrolia of asking Smith to run and then supporting him.

"That’s news to me," Petrolia replied. "Unless you can tell me who I did this with, the discussion is over."

Commissioner Mitch Katz said Smith was the most qualified candidate and his support was unwavering despite receiving threatening phone calls.

“So to call me and threaten me and think that’s what’s going to get me to change my mind, that’s ludicrous,” Katz said.

A crowd of residents walked out of the meeting after learning there would be no appointment.

“It should be obvious — when you have a community speaking in one voice for one candidate, and then those talks go completely unheard — [it’s] really a slap in the face to the community,” said lifelong Delray resident Jerome Weatherspoon, 61.

Here are some reasons why the city says it wouldn’t conduct a special election before March:

The earliest date the county elections supervisor could hold a special election is Feb. 7, which would violate the charter deadline by two days and is only about a five weeks before the regular election for the same seat, Glickstein said.

It likely would take longer than two months and cost the city a “significant” amount money to purchase its own voting machines and have ballots printed to conduct its own election, Lohman said.

The city clerk would have to hire and train 150 poll workers within 60 days — at taxpayers’ expense.

In that time frame, candidates would have to circulate petitions, gather signatures and have them certified by the county elections supervisor in order to qualify for candidacy.

Odom

Smith