One of the potential candidates to complete the term of District 4 County Commission Robert Bender may have a residency problem. Walker Wilson, who ran for the District 3 school board seat in 2018, doesn’t currently live in District 4.
However, according to a Florida Attorney General‘s Opinion, he doesn’t have it during the pre-filing period.
Art. VIII, s. 1(e), State Const., requires residence in the appropriate county commission district as of the day of the election. Accordingly, in order to be sure of complying with this constitutional provision, a candidate should establish his residence in the district he seeks to represent by no later than the day before the election.
Walker Wilson will be my guest on WCOA’s “Real News with Rick Outzen” at 7:20 a.m.
Walker Wilson cannot manage parking.
Buck Mitchell cannot keep a house.
Jared Moore tried to screw-up Summit Blvd.
Jim Reeves, well is Jim Reeves.
In the 2022 mayoral race, three of the candidates were “not” city residents. One openly said that he lived in Cantonment. It was even reported in the PNJ. Another said he lived in a homeless shelter well outside of the city. A third listed his address as a P.O. Box at the East Hill 32503 Post Office which is “not” in the City of Pensacola. He also reported his address as his work place on N. Palafox St well north of Pensacola Christian Academy. His homestead property was in Santa Rosa County. Two years before that, a man filed to become a candidate for the District 7 seat. He didn’t meet two of the legal requirements to be a candidate. I have a 2009 letter from City Attorney Wells to the Council confirming that a candidate for an elected office of the city must meet specific criteria to include being a city resident. On top of all that, the Council has now twice violated the Charter’s districting criteria to protect the incumbents. That is why District 2 was split in half into District 2 “North” (Camelot, Dunmire Woods, Walmart, Tippin Park, etc. where no councilmember lives) and District 2 “South.” It frustrates me that the city’s elected and appointed officials do not believe in constitutional government. It also frustrates me that groups like the League of Women Voters for the Pensacola Bay Area and Women for Responsible Government say nothing when the city’s charter is violated.
Crazy! This needs to be item number one in florida reform for elections. How can a person running for a seat have any clue what the issues are on day one? One year minimum in the seat should be the standard.