Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 07-24-1990 Regular — reading text

H. Langdon Steven N. Mink Ray Munn Dennis Nicholson Barbara Nix The nominees will be voted on in the order established by a random drawing by Mayor meeting on the at the Tuesday, July 24, 1990. Voting shall be in the sequence of the order of the random drawing. If repeated rounds of voting are required, voting will be in the following order: the second person voted for in the prior round will become the first voted for in the present round and the first person voted for in the prior round will become the last person voted for in the present round. Otherwise, the order of voting shall remain in the same sequence. If repeated rounds of voting are required, the names of all nominees will remain on the ballot unless a nominee withdraws, which he is not obligated to do. ( Reference: Page 371, Roberts Rules of Order. ) The method of election is viva voce or voice vote. The vote will be recorded for each candidate for whom the call for vote is made by the Mayor. Each Council meaber shall indicate a yes vote, if so desired, or abstain. The voting system will be utilized. Each Council meaber is limited to one vote in each round of voting. Reference: Page 371, Roberts Rules of Order.) The first nominee to receive four votes shall be considered elected. ( Reference: Page 372, Roberts Rules of Order. ) If necessary, upon determination by the Mayor that a stalemate or iBpasse has occurred, the Mayor will exercise his authority to break the tie by casting a fourth vote. Motion was seconded by Mr. Smith. Mr. deVaux said he did not want to be limited to how many times he can vote; he is an elected official and each time the vote lights up he should be able to vote yes or no and he should not be told how he should vote. Discussion followed on the voting procedure and the number of votes allowed each Council member. Mrs. Wyninegar pointed out. in a voting booth, you would vote for one person. Mr. deVaux said this is appointment an of an office. not an election for the general public. and now he is being restricted in a legislative matter to only vote one time.  99 7/ 24/ 90 COUNCIL VACANCY ( CONT.) Mr. deVaux said if three people voted the first time for one candidate. the other nine clearly cannot get a majority vote, so why vote on them. Mr. Wyatt remarked that is the same situation as in the motion Mr. Rosenbaum made, only the candidate needs three votes and you do not proceed any further. Mr. Maney remarked that Mr. Rosenbaum wanted to do according to what was in the for each I book, which says you get a chance to vote candidate. Mr. Wyatt noted that was until saneone is' elected, and Mrs. Wyninegar noted that was until someone gets four votes. Mr. deVaux described a situation if candidate A received two yes votes, and candidate B received one yes vote, then the rest of the candidates will not be able to receive a majority vote. Mr. Maney said the issue is the one vote per round, which is not in Robert' s Rules; the fundamental issue. as Mr. deVaux described and Mr. Rosenbaum talked about, is that each Councilman gets a yes or no vote on each candidate; the proposal by the Mayor says only get Councilmen will one vote each candidate up to a majority. on Mrs. Wyninegar remarked the controversy was whether it was legal or not. Mr. deVaux said he is being limited to vote and he should be able to vote every if the Mayor time; has the authority to break a tie at every vote. then he felt he should at least be able to vote every time. The Mayor pointed out he would only vote in the event of a stalemate. Mr. deVaux said he just described an example where some candidates cannot get a majority vote. and he felt the easiest way is to let everyone vote and hope to get five votes for one person for a majority vote, then they will be finished. He then said he did not care if Council wants to discuss how to nominate the candidates. Mr. Wyatt remarked they had said they would proceed with a random drawing. The City Attorney recommended Council table consideration of nominees, and to complete the rest of the agenda, and he would like time to recess to research the questions which have been raised. Mrs. Wyninegar moved to table. Motion died for lack of a second. RECESS The meeting was recessed at 7: 26 p. m. RECONVENE The meeting reconvened at 7: 41 p. m. I COUNCIL VACANCY ( CONT.) The there he where Mayor said, have been would it like