Candidates for Winter Springs mayor and commission would no longer have to live in the city for a year before qualifying, and would need 50 voter signatures instead of 15 to get on the ballot, under changes a citizen panel has tentatively backed in its review of the city charter.
The Ad Hoc Charter Review Committee holds its fifth meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, in the commission chambers at City Hall, 1126 East State Road 434.
The agenda continues its discussion of Articles I through IV of the charter, the sections that set up the city's powers and its governing body, and the committee is scheduled to approve the minutes of its Oct. 15 meeting.
What the panel has backed so far
Those draft minutes, posted with Thursday's agenda, record several votes on Section 4.01, which covers who can run:
- Petition signatures: 5-0 to raise the requirement from 15 registered voters to 50. Members had floated numbers from 30 to at least 100 before settling on 50.
- Domicile: 5-0 to require candidates to be domiciled in the city, meaning their single permanent home, rather than simply reside there.
- Residency period: 3-2 to drop the rule that candidates have lived in Winter Springs a full year, and in their district for six months, before qualifying. Supporters said the election itself vets newcomers. Members David Bear and Louie Hilal voted no, calling a minimum period a reasonable guardrail.
A proposal from Bear to replace one of the five district seats with an at-large seat died for lack of a second. The committee did vote 5-0 to redraw commission districts at least once every 10 years, within 12 months after new census data is released, instead of the current three-year cycle, with the commission free to redistrict more often if growth warrants it.
On terms of office, members asked City Attorney Anthony Garganese to research when county, school board and other officials' terms begin, after a member said Florida's resign-to-run law could force a sitting official to quit early to run for the commission. No vote was taken on that section.
Residents split
At the October meeting, resident Karen Meyer told the committee she was disappointed by the vote to end the residency requirement and warned that 50 signatures is harder for first-time candidates than it looks. Resident Linda Freeburn spoke in favor of removing district boundaries in favor of at-large races.
