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County Mayor Petition Will Prevail

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By MARY ANN STILES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 8, 2008

Does anyone really believe that I would have continued to spend money to collect signatures on a petition that was flawed? There is not now nor has there been a need to have changed the date in the petition. The issue was anticipated and addressed prior to seeking signatures.

Our petition was certified for the ballot on April 11, 2006. At that time we knew that our six months given to us by the charter to collect the signatures would end October 10, 2006, well after the deadline for the 2006 election and how tough it would be to get on the 2006 ballot. Therefore, in case we did not collect enough signatures for the 2006 ballot, we made sure the language provided:

"The nonpartisan primary and general election of the County Mayor shall be held in even number years, beginning with the general election held in the year 2008."

Hello? Does anyone not see the "nonpartisan primary" language? Since that would have had to occur in August 2008, how can any reasonable person read the language to mean that the election had to be held in November 2008? The "2008" is a start date to begin the election, not that the election had to be over with. The candidate for mayor may win the primary in August and there would be no need for a general election.

With the hurdles that have been thrown at this effort, if we had not put a date in the ballot language to begin the election, I have serious doubts that our "leaders" would have been rushed to hold the election. The county "leaders" who do not want citizens to vote on replacing a person appointed by the BOCC with a person elected by the people. It does not add another layer of government or cost more money. It is change and the county government does not want change. Especially decided by citizens for them and not by them for citizens.

I am doing this because I believe we need change. Someone had to step up. We have fought many battles. Some we expected. Some we did not.

However, should the appeals court disagree with me, the "Leaders" are postponing the inevitable. I will work to get this measure before the people until the people vote on this issue. I am concerned with where will this county be by 2050 if we do not change the form of our county government? And citizens should be too.

James Shirk did not file this lawsuit because he wanted to vote on this measure in 2006 and not 2008. If he did, he should have read the petition he signed.

He filed this lawsuit at the encouragement of the opponents. Opponents know that as long as this cloud hangs over the petition, fundraising is tough and we are stymied in getting our message to the people. That was the real purpose of this lawsuit. Shirk just happens to be an unwitting pawn in the fight against this change by the "good ol' boys" that do not want to see anything change.

But the "good ol' boys" have not met Ms. Stiles. By the way, the veto petition is still on the ballot. Vote for it. The petition to create the mayor is right behind it. It may take longer than planned, but it will be there.

Mary Ann Stiles is chair of the Elected County Mayor Political Committee Inc.

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