Greenacres: How the six ballot questions fared,
GREENACRES — With seven of Greenacres’ 16 precincts counted at deadline, Councilwoman Judy Dugo appeared to have easily defeated Brian Willever in her District 3 re-election bid while former councilman Jonathan Pearce also appeared on his way to winning back his District 4 seat from Councilman Anderson Thelusme, according to results posted by the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office.
All six charter amendment questions also appeared to have passed, although Question 1, on whether the term of office for mayor and council members should be changed from two years to four years, remained close.
The other five questions appeared to be passing by wide margin. They would let the council appoint a council member to fill a vacant mayor’s seat; let the council fill empty council seats with temporary appointments; set terms limits at three consecutive terms for the mayor and council members; require approval of voters for outsourcing the police and fire-rescue; and require the city manager and city attorney to be hired and fired by a full council, which is defined as the mayor and council.
The precincts counted remained at seven for much of the night
WINNER:
WINNER: because of a problem reading ballot cartridges. By about 11 p.m. the cartridges were being brought to the elections counting center in Riviera Beach.
Dugo, 70, who is retired, was first elected in 2014 and reelected two years later.
“Tell my true opponent that he has lost and that it’s time let go and let Greenacres grow,” she said. “I’m so enthusiastic because we have so many visions of our city and it’s on the move. We can make it Greenacres where it’s not just a city you drive through, but it can be one of the greatest neighborhoods.”
Willever, 50, who runs Royal Wellington Pharmacy, did not respond to a request for comment. He told The Palm Beach Post recently that he could bring a unique perspective to government because he’s a business owner and health care provider.
Thelusme, 32, who was appointed to the District 4 seat when Pearce stepped down to run for mayor two years ago, also wasn’t available to comment.
The 59-year-old Pearce, often a polarizing figure when he was on the council, said he was ecstatic over his position in the race. “I did things completely different this time,” he said. “I implemented a game plan and stuck to it.”
For instance, Pearce said he analyzed the areas where he did poorly the last time and focused on that.
During his time on the council, Pearce, president and CEO of DMJ Holdings, sparred with then-Mayor Sam Ferreri publicly at council meetings and tried firing former City Attorney Pam Terranova, who had already announced she was retiring.
The ballot questions came from recommendations from a Charter Review Committee that the mayor and council appointed in 2016.
Dugo said she was a proponent of the committee and thought they did a great job. “Their research was excellent,” she said. “Going from two to four years for the mayor and council members, people will find that very receptive.”
Pearce also thought all the questions were fine, but said he didn’t focus on them for his campaign. “As a challenger, I was focusing on trying to get re-elected,” he said. “I wasn’t going in and telling anyone to vote for this or vote for that. I figured if I did, someone would get upset.”