Pompano candidate wants only rival disqualified

A Pompano Beach City Commission candidate wants his only competitor to be disqualified because, he says, she doesn’t meet residency requirements.

And a candidate in another city district has dropped out of his four-way race. All City Commission seats are up for grabs in the Nov. 6 election.

Tom Terwilliger has filed a formal challenge to the candidacy of his sole rival, Rhonda Eaton, for the District 2 seat, saying she was legally living in Boca Raton within a year of qualifying to run for the District 2 seat. The city charter says a candidate must have lived in the city at least a year before qualifying to run.

Terwilliger, making his fourth commission run, began to question Eaton’s residency after a neighbor complained to the City Commission about Eaton’s action as a member of the city planning board on Feb. 27. The speaker said Eaton lived in Boca Raton, and not in Pompano as a planning board member must, according to city charter.

Further documents showed that she did not change her voter registration from Palm Beach County to Broward until Oct. 17, 2017, and her homestead exemption wasn’t moved from her Boca Raton address to one in Pompano until March 20. Qualifying was in June.

An email from City Attorney Mark Berman seems to support Terwilliger’s contention.

“My review of same indicates that there may in fact be discrepancies as to Ms. Eaton’s residency in relation her qualifications as a candidate and ability to hold office,” he wrote in an Aug. 8 email to Pompano’s city clerk.

Eaton could not be reached for comment Wednesday, despite a phone call.

“I’m hoping the city stands up and does the right thing,” Terwilliger said, noting that he needs a ruling before the Sept. 7 deadline for ballot changes rolls by.

Meanwhile, in District 1, Don McNiel said he was leaving the race because of the behavior he’s seen from current commissioners, singling out Commissioner Michael Sobel, who is running for mayor, and Commissioner Beverly Perkins, who is also up for re-election.

“An ‘us’ versus ‘them’ attitude is developing throughout the city,” he wrote in an email. “This combative, divisive attitude of entitlement erodes our city's core, and threatens to stop the remarkable turnaround of our city, none of which can be credited to Sobel or Perkins.”

He said he’s endorsing Commissioner Rex Hardin for mayor and Andrea McGee for the District 1 commission seat, who is in the race with John Geer and John Cavanaugh.

Perkins couldn’t be reached for comment but Sobel says he has no apologies about questions he’s raised and will continue to raise, if elected mayor.

“I have always acted in the best interests of our city residents,” he said. “If asking questions and ensuring transparency on issues before the commission have caused discord, then so be it.”

In addition to Hardin, Sobel is also competing with Debresia LeSane and Cyndy Floyd for the mayor’s seat. Mayor Lamar Fisher is leaving his position to run for the County Commission.

Terwilliger