Voters turnout to oust mayor in Bradenton Beach

Bill Shearon has been recalled from the office of mayor in Bradenton Beach.

Jack Clarke is mayor-elect.

With balloting completed May 19 at Annie Silver Community Center, 103 23rd St. N., and vote by mail results tallied, the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections office unofficially reported 182 voters said Mayor Bill Shearon should be recalled while 174 said he should not.

In the balloting to fill the remaining months of Shearon’s term, Clarke defeated Shearon 185 votes to 172.

Shearon is the first Manatee County elected official to be recalled since Anna Maria voters ousted Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus in 2010.

Reached May 20 at city hall, Clarke said he is gratified by the result.

“I am humbled by the faith the citizens of Bradenton Beach have put in me,” he said. “There are high expectations. I expect to exceed those expectations during the next six months. I eagerly tackle the task at hand.”

Reached also May 20 at city hall as he cleaned out his office, Shearon said the voters spoke their piece.

“Eight votes is eight votes,” Shearon said of the recall vote margin. “We move on.”

Shearon already has announced his intention to run again for mayor in November. “We’ll let the voters decide — again.” Until then, Shearon said, he wishes Clarke success.

“Hopefully he can straighten out all the concerns and issues that he feels that there is with the city,” Shearon said.

With 358 votes cast, turnout was 47.17 percent. Some 759 voters were eligible to vote in the recall election, compared to 911 eligible voters in November 2013.

Candidates’ backgrounds

In addition to being elected commissioner and appointed vice mayor, Clarke served on several city committees, including budget and long-term planning.

Shearon ran unopposed in 2004 and 2006 as Ward 4 commissioner. He resigned to run as mayor in 2007, losing to Michael Pierce. In 2008, he lost a commission race to Robert Bartelt. He then lost another mayoral race to Pierce in 2009 before defeating incumbent mayor John Shaughnessy in 2013.

Shearon also served on the scenic highway committee, the mooring field committee and the planning and zoning board.

History of dispute

The current campaign began in April, when Andrew Owens, chief judge of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court, set the May 19 recall election.

But the circumstances that led to the recall election began not long after November 2013 when Shearon, now 68, defeated Shaughnessy by 17 votes and Clarke, now 71, took the Ward 1 seat without opposition. Turnout for the Shearon-Shaughnessy vote was 281 voters (30.85 percent).

Several months into his term, Shearon was the subject of a lawsuit filed by ELRA Inc., the corporate arm of Ed Chiles Beachhouse Restaurant, related to a joint development agreement the city and ELRA entered into in 2012 that Shearon opposed before becoming mayor.

In the lawsuit, ELRA claimed Shearon, once elected, “misused his position to direct city officials and staff, including charter officials, to take positions that are adverse” to ELRA and the development agreement, among other charges.

In October 2014, Clarke began an effort to oust Shearon from office via forfeiture, for alleged misconduct in office. Clarke said Shearon is “temperamentally unsuited” to serve as mayor. Shearon said he and Clarke “agree to disagree” on management style.

Recall effort

But Clarke did not have an opportunity to bring forfeiture charges forward before the recall effort — initiated in December 2014 by the Committee to Recall William Shearon that was led by former Commissioner Pete Barreda — finished its work.

The committee’s only other named member is a treasurer in Venice. Barreda did not name his supporters and did not return calls for comment to The Islander.

A resident and Shearon supporter, John Metz, attempted in April to have Clarke’s name stricken from the ballot, based on the date he resigned as commissioner/vice mayor not complying with the state’s resign-to-run law. But Judge Gilbert Smith Jr. ruled Metz did not meet his burden in seeking a temporary injunction.

Clarke resigned as vice mayor/commission seat effective June 1, the day he is to be sworn in as mayor.

Meanwhile, city attorney Ricinda Perry said in a May 19 email, neither state law nor the city charter provides for a holdover period for recalled officials.

So as Shearon was cleaned out his office, Clarke chaired a commission workshop regarding the request for proposal the city to attract a new pier restaurant concessionaire.