The Anna Maria electorate overwhelmingly voted Nov. 5 to approve three changes to the city charter.
The mayor appoints a commission of five people every five years to review the charter and propose any updates and changes. This year, all three of the review commission’s proposals were approved.
The first amendment, which requires elected officials to resign if the Florida Commission on Ethics finds them to have violated the state’s code of ethics, was approved by 91.32%, with 242 votes in favor.
Voters approved the second amendment, requiring the city commission to confirm mayoral appointments to the city treasurer position, by 86.36%, with 228 votes.
They also voted 89.02% for the third amendment, making grammatical and typographical corrections, as well as clarifying language to improve readability.
The third amendment gained 235 votes in favor.
While the election lacked competition for seats on the city commission, a chair remains up for grabs.
Commission Chair Carol Carter automatically retained her seat for another two-year term when the qualifying window closed in August, while Jonathan Crane, former chair of the planning and zoning board, qualified for a commission seat without opposition.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Dale Woodland, who planned to run for re-election, failed to qualify because he paid the required fee to the Manatee Supervisor of Elections Office from a personal bank account.
Despite his mistake, nobody qualified to fill his seat, so the commission will appoint a member later this month.
Woodland has previously told The Islander that he plans to apply for reappointment. If he is appointed by his peers, he will begin his eighth two-year term as commissioner.
Crane and Carter will be sworn in at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive, Anna Maria.
Woodland’s term ends the same day.
The commission will operate with four members until it appoints a new member in early January, according to city clerk Leanne Addy, who added, a date had not been set for the appointment.