Charter panel narrows residency language, proposes 'permanent resident' and county registration reference

The Town of Pearson Charter Review Committee on July 10 debated and agreed on wording changes to candidate eligibility that would require officeholders to be a "permanent resident" of the town and to be registered with the appropriate elections authority.

"No person shall be eligible for election as mayor or councilman who has not resided in the town for a period of one year immediately preceding the qualifying date, is a permanent resident, and shall have registered in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida," one committee member read aloud as the working phrasing; committee members discussed changing "citizen of Florida" to "resident" to avoid ambiguity. Rick Davis, who delivered the invocation earlier in the meeting and participated in the edits, said the change clarifies part-time residency issues and aligns the charter language with the county registration process.

Committee members also discussed specifying registration "with the Supervisor of Elections"—identifying the Volusia County Supervisor of Elections as the body that verifies voter registration—so the charter would rely on county processes for registration and verification rather than an internal municipal ordinance. The committee decided to include the "permanent resident" language and to reference the county supervisor in the draft sent to counsel.

As a procedural next step, the committee voted unanimously to have staff prepare a redraft reflecting the agreed changes and forward it to the town attorney for review before final submission to the council.