- November 19, 2024
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Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner sent a letter to Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks March 28, telling her that it is her “responsibility to conduct (Palm Coast's) election in an accessible, fair, and efficient manner” and that any issues concerning the city’s 2011 referendum to change elections from odd to even years are the city’s concern, not hers.
“My understanding is that the Flagler County Attorney, the Palm Coast City Attorney, and the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections’ General Counsel have provided opinions that should adequately address your concerns,” he wrote. “Any issue about the propriety of the city’s actions in changing its election and qualifying dates is solely the City’s concern.”
Detzner also wrote that he was "concerned about the disruption that a separate city election held concurrently with a state and county election would cause."
Weeks had previously indicated she might not hold Palm Coast’s 2014 elections, citing concerns that the 2011 referendum to move city elections from odd to even years — which occurred in an election she presided over — was improper, and saying she didn’t want to risk legal responsibility for an illegal 2014 election.
She reversed course in early March, saying she’d hold Palm Coast’s elections after all. But then, on March 17, she presented the city with an unusually hostile interlocal agreement for the elections.
The interlocal agreement contained accusatory language and provisions that would have allowed Weeks to use any city facility she pleased for the election, and bill the city if the city made any changes Weeks decided to consult an attorney over.
The city set a March 25 meeting to discuss the agreement with her, but she announced March 23, not to the city but in an email to the local press, that she wouldn’t be attending.
She said the city should have instead discussed the agreement with her at its 9 a.m. March 18 meeting — less than 24 hours after she’d sent it, and long after the agenda for the meeting had been determined. And anyhow, she said in the email, the city shouldn’t be trying to negotiate with her over the agreement at all, and should instead simply sign it.
At a March 25 City Council workshop, councilmen spoke of the possibility of holding their own election if Weeks refused to meet about the interlocal agreement.
They placed the issue of the interlocal agreement on the agenda for the upcoming April 1 City Council meeting.
But on the afternoon of March 27, City Attorney William Reischmann emailed Gary Holland, the assistant director of Florida’s Division of Elections, asking for help from Florida's secretary of state.
“Dear Mr. Holland: On behalf of the City of Palm Coast, we hereby request assistance from the Secretary of State in a matter which is becoming problematic to the voters of the City of Palm Coast. We continue to have disagreements with the County Supervisor of Elections,” he wrote.
Reischmann attached a copy of an April 1 City Council meeting agenda item that included the city’s proposed interlocal agreement for the elections, and a copy of Weeks’ proposed interlocal agreement for the elections. The backup for the agenda item noted of Weeks’ proposed interlocal agreement that “there were many additions in the proposed Interlocal Agreement that differed from other municipalities in the County.”
A few hours later, Weeks sent an email to the press, and this time also to Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts, saying that if the city decides to hold its elections on the county ballot, it would be required to itself meet all state deadlines for publicizing the election.
“If the City of Palm Coast intends to hold elections in 2014 on the county ballot they are required to publish their own Notice of Election, and are responsible for meeting deadlines and requirements,” she wrote. “I brought issues to their attention nearly 7 months ago (September 4,2013), and it is unfortunate the city has allowed the clock to run out.”
The Florida secretary of state’s message to Weeks arrived the next morning.
“Your arrangements with the City of Palm Coast for conducting its elections should be the same for conducting other city elections in Flagler County held in conjunction with the 2014 primary and general elections,” Detzner wrote. “Through responsible leadership, I am confident that you will ensure the voters in Flagler County and the City of Palm Coast receive what they expect, need, and deserve without needless election disruption and confusion.”
