After two deadlocks and a card draw, Bradenton Beach has a Ward 2 commissioner — 18-year resident Marilyn Maro.
For the second time in as many years, a Bradenton Beach election was decided by an ace.
At the Dec. 13 meeting, two nominees, Marilyn Maro and Anne Leister, came to draw from a deck of 52 playing cards.
The candidate with the highest card would win the seat.
During public comment, Bradenton Beach resident “Bicycle” Jim Hassett asked the commission and candidates to consider their actions.
“You are about to make a decision that will affect the city for the next couple of years,” Hassett said. “Would any of the six parties involved like to change their mind?”
There was no response from the dais or the nominees and the meeting proceeded to the drawing of lots.
The crowded chambers grew silent as city clerk Terri Sanclemente shuffled the cards in preparation for the draw.
Because Maro was the first to apply for the open seat, she drew first and cut to the ace of spades — one of the four highest cards in the deck.
Next, Leister drew a deuce — the two of spades — ranking at the opposite end of the spread.
Maro was sworn into office by Sanclemente and congratulated by Leister, the commission and members of the gallery.
The drawing was reminiscent of the 2015 municipal election for mayor, which was decided in favor of Bill Shearon, who broke a tie vote by cutting a standard card deck to the ace of clubs.
The Ward 2 seat had been vacant since Vice Mayor Ed Straight finished his third term in November. Straight had planned to run for a fourth term, but the Bradenton Beach electorate in the August primary election voted to retain the three-term limit.
This left the seat open to applicants meeting the candidate qualifications. The responsibility of deciding a new commissioner transferred from the city electorate to the four commission members.
The first deadlock occurred at the Dec. 1 commission meeting when Vice Mayor John Chappie and Shearon voted for Maro and Commissioners Ralph Cole and Jake Spooner voted for Leister.
Maro’s application had been submitted several months before the Dec. 1 meeting. Cole submitted Leister’s last-minute application to the clerk at the Dec. 1 meeting, to the surprise of the other commission members, who thought Maro to be the only interested person.
A special meeting was scheduled for Dec. 5 and the application process was re-opened, but no other candidate came forward for the Ward 2 seat.
The commission was deadlocked once more Dec. 5, when Chappie and Shearon again voted for Maro and Cole and Spooner voted for Leister.
According to the city charter, the vote had to be recast at a third city meeting where the commissioner would be designated “by lot.”
Lots were drawn and the game was over, with Maro holding the high card and the seat.
“I would like to thank everyone who supported me so much,” Maro said following the Dec. 13 meeting. “And, I hope we can all work together like a family and Bradenton Beach can be wonderful.”
The next meeting for the new five-member Bradenton Beach commission will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive N.
Maro joins Bradenton Beach commission
“I used to hear about the problems in my city from people sitting in my chair at the salon,” said former hair stylist Marilyn Maro, newly appointed Bradenton Beach Ward 2 commissioner. “I thought about what I’ve heard and decided I would like to try and help.”
Maro retired from her career as a cosmetologist and cosmetology teacher five years ago. She said she decided it’s time to help build the community where she resides.
“When I was teaching in Ohio, I taught a classroom full of inner-city kids and we had armed police in the classrooms at all times,” Maro said. “Those kids were tough — if I could handle that, I can handle anything.”
As an 18-year resident of Bradenton Beach, Maro has seen changes in the city over the years and voted in favor of the six-month building moratorium.
“I firmly support the moratorium,” Maro said. “I’ve been attending the planning and zoning board meetings and I’ve learned a lot about what they are going to try to accomplish during the six-month break.”
Maro also said she agrees with the proposed ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
“I think it would just create more problems for an already busy police force,” Maro said.
Maro said her goal as commissioner is to speak for the people and help find a common ground among differing opinions.
“This is important stuff — not just for Ward 2 but for the entire city,” Maro said. “It all goes hand in hand and I want to help sort through the different viewpoints to find what fits for Bradenton Beach.”
It’s all in the cards.
Is it coincidence? Do we believe in coincidences, or like the cops on “Law & Order” on TV, do we deny the probability?
Can lightning strike twice in the same place? What are the odds in Las Vegas of two city elections in two years being decided on a draw for high card — and both resulting in aces? Will Ripley’s believe it?
Well, maybe you had to be there. For another opinion, we reached out to government expert Paul Ferber, a part-time city resident and political science professor at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York for comment on the process to fill the vacancy.
He observed an inability to work together on the commission.
“In the case of the commission vacancy, everybody knew that there was a tie, but nobody on the commission found a way to avoid it,” said Ferber.
“Perhaps commissioners tried or perhaps they were willing to just go with a 50-50 chance of getting their choice. Either way, it does not suggest an ability to work together. And when it comes time to decide on policies, they won’t be able to use a deck of cards.”
Ferber pointed out the difference in the commission’s deadlock to appoint a successor to Ed Straight and the electoral tie in the mayoral race last year.
“While a close mayor’s election could have been forecast due to the division in the community, there was no way to predict a precise tie. Once that happened, there was no option but to draw cards,” he said.