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Commission directs draft of election rules: petitions, filing fee and sign-bond language to return for first reading
Summary
City attorney presented options for municipal election rules and the commission directed staff to draft an ordinance that sets petition thresholds (50 for commissioner, 100 for mayor), to draft a municipal filing fee at 2% of salary, and to draft sign-bond language focused on larger/commercial signs with a $500 bond and a 10-day removal window after an individual's election.
The city attorney’s office presented draft language and options for an ordinance to regulate campaign filing fees, sign bonds and petition thresholds, and the commission provided direction to prepare a formal ordinance for first reading.
Presentation and legal context: Assistant City Attorney Iain Grigorchik reviewed the state-required election assessment (calculated as 1% of the annual salary for the position and remitted to the Supervisor of Elections) and explained the city’s optional tools: a municipal campaign filing fee, a sign bond to secure removal of campaign signs, and petition-circulator rules. Grigorchik said the city may set a local filing fee (flat or percentage), require a sign bond, and require filing deposits be paid from a personal account when the statute or Florida Election Commission precedent requires it.
Commission direction: After discussion the commission gave staff direction to draft an ordinance with these elements: - Petition thresholds: 50 valid signatures for a city-commission candidate and 100 valid signatures for a mayoral candidate (signatures to be from qualified city voters, not limited to district-only petitions). - Campaign filing fee: draft language that sets a municipal filing fee at 2% of the position salary (the discussion referenced the overall filing/assessment to total roughly 2% including state fees for administrative cost recovery); staff will return with ordinance language and examples. - Sign bond and removal rules: staff was directed to draft a $500 sign bond focused on larger commercial or right-of-way/swale signs (excluding private single-family yard signs); removal window set at 10 days after an individual candidate’s election result (language to address runoffs). - Personal-funds requirement: the city attorney’s draft will require the sign bond to be paid from a personal account (not campaign funds); the commission asked staff to provide practical enforcement options and to present alternatives and implementation language at first reading.
Enforcement and audit questions: Commissioners asked how audits would be handled and whether enforcement would unfairly target particular candidates; the attorney said the draft ordinance can include an audit mechanism, but commissioners requested options and safeguards so audits are not perceived as arbitrary. Staff will return with options and sample language for first reading.
Next steps: City staff will draft the ordinance and return for formal introduction (first reading) with options for enforcement mechanisms, sample fee calculations and model sign-bond language.
