With John Shaughnessy as mayor-elect, Gay Breuler set to return as Ward 1 commissioner and no candidate in Ward 3, Nov. 8 will be a non-election day in Bradenton Beach.
When candidate qualifying closed at noon Sept. 2, there was one candidate for a two-year term for mayor, one candidate for a two-year term for Ward 1 commissioner and no candidate for a two-year term for Ward 3 commissioner.
That means incumbent Breuler will be returning to the dais to represent the city’s northernmost ward after Nov. 8.
“I’m so involved now,” Breuler said of her decision to seek another term. “And I have to say, I love it. I love being involved in what’s happening in our city. I love being connected.”
Shaughnessy, a former three-time commissioner, will be seated as mayor. Bob Bartelt, elected last fall and first appointed mayor to fill a vacancy created by Michael Pierce’s resignation, decided not to seek another term.
“I really missed it,” Shaughnessy said of elected office. “I really enjoyed being on the commission.… And now, I want to serve.”
As for Ward 3, currently represented by Commissioner Janie Robertson, there will be a vacancy after Nov. 8.
Robertson, who has served three two-year terms, could not seek re-election because of a limit imposed by the city charter.
Now the charter will guide the city through the process of selecting a commissioner to fill the vacancy created by her forced exit.
The charter states, “Whenever there is a vacancy, the commission shall propose by nomination one or more names of willing and qualified successors for the vacancy. The commission will then vote among the nominees to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term.”
If a majority on the commission cannot fill a vacancy after two consecutive meetings, the new commissioner “shall be chosen by lot by the city clerk from the nominees proposed.”
But the question for Bradenton Beach is: Who is there to nominate in the ward, which generally runs from the Gulf to the bay, and Runaway Bay to Second Street North.
The ward is the largest geographically, but in the past decade the full-time population — and number of registered voters — has declined.
Last year, Robertson urged the city to consider changing the city’s ward system to avoid the situation the city is now facing.
So did Shaughnessy, who chaired the charter review committee.
“I really would have liked to have had the commission run at-large,” he said. “When the commission votes, it votes for the whole city.… That didn’t get changed, but I think it would have been a good thing.”
Robertson also devoted time this summer to seeking out a potential candidate to take the Ward 3 seat at the dais and the Ward 3 office at the front of the commissioner chambers. Breuler and Commissioner Jan Vosburgh also searched, with no luck, for a candidate.
Shaughnessy said a challenge in November will be to promote volunteerism and civic service.
“It’s not a new challenge,” he said. “There’s a history here. But I would like to get people to be more participatory, to be more civic-minded.”
He’s also looking forward to working again with the city staff. “We’ve got a great crew down there,” Shaughnessy said. “In administration. In the police department. People really put in 150 percent. They go over and beyond their job.”
Shaughnessy said he was prepared for a fall campaign for mayor. “I had planned on running, and I planned on running up against someone. But that didn’t happen.”
Now, he has two months on the sidelines, from where he’ll be supporting Bartelt.
“I have all the admiration in the world for Bob,” Shaughnessy said. “I really do. He’s done a terrific job.”
Breuler, meanwhile, will wrap up the last two months of her first two years, before she begins another two-year stint at city hall.
The lack of a challenger, she said, hopefully “means I’ve done a good job and people are happy.”
This situation shows that the entire Anna Maria Island situation needs to be reorganized. The idea of having three little meaningless fiefdoms running the Island has reached the point of ridiculous. It’s time for one City with one mayor, one commission, one police department, one everything. Clinging on to an inefficient and self-serving set of three political entities to administer the small area of the three jurisdictions only exists because politicians want it that way and selfish citizens can’t seem to change the antiquated.