I Didn't Ask for This......... But.........Yeah, Let's Have a Talk about It!

 

Should employees of the county be precluded from running for office while simultaneously holding on to their county job?  This question will be taken up by the board tomorrow morning....

At tomorrow's regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners, which I will drop the gavel on and call to order at 9:00 sharp tomorrow morning---one very interesting topic of note will be discussed near the end of the meeting's agenda.

Shall those persons on the payroll of the county be permitted to seek elected office while simultaneously working their job with the county?

It is an interesting subject---one which I didn't request to be brought forward.  I am not the person who requested this nor am I the one that asked for this to be added for discussion.  Maybe I should have, though.

Because two and a half years ago I was told that a person who worked at the county would be stepping up to run for county commissioner-----against me.  Furthermore--I was told this was perfectly legal and we were limited in what sway, as an employer, we held over an employee who decided to run for office.

Fast forward a couple of years and we know how that turned out for that individual who ran..... (3rd place, distant).

So why this comes now is somewhat a mystery--but obviously one or more of my counterparts want a discussion of it.  Good--it is a good discussion that we should have.

Of course we all know any campaigning or campaign type activity is strictly forbidded while "on the clock" at a county office or while on county property.  Everyone knows that.  But the mental distraction of an employee running might be something an employer like Escambia County would want to look at.  The optics as well---particularly if the circumstances appear vindictive as was the case in my race in 2020.

Perhaps this is coming now because another member of the D2 office---this time his assistant secretary/intern, Conor Mann---has pre-filed to run against Kevin Adams for School Board District 1?

Whatever the reason/impetus---I've asked and received confirmation from the legal department that making someone on the payroll resign if they choose to run for office is something that is within an employer's purview to mandate.  And Escambia County fits within this description as an employer.

I wonder where that discussion was two years ago, LOL.  😏

Currently--there is no prohibition on County employees running.  And they have NOTHING to lose...if they lose the election, they can comfortably scurry back to their "job" with the county.  If they win the "election" they assume office and quit their job.  That's the way it is right now.  It's easy and risk-free. 

But perhaps now is the time to change that.

Because for other employers and most current elected officials who choose to run for a higher state office---there is no such "comfort."  ----as they are subject to the Florida "Resign to Run" law and must tender a resignation for the office which such a candidate currently holds effective the date of the assumption such office after the election.  So, in effect, you either win or you lose the election--but either way that turns out---you lose your current position.

I had to resign my school board seat when I ran for the BCC.  Had I lost in 2016, (which I didn't) I was precluded from re-assuming my school board seat.  There was risk, there was something real and tangible at stake for me.

Maybe this needs to be applied to others as well, so this will be a good discussion.