//Luck of the Draw Gives Voorhees Bronson Council Seat
Andrea Garcia, of the Atkins company, which has been involved in studying possible routes for the Suncoast Connector toll road, draws a name from a hat at the request of Mayor Beatrice Roberts.
Town of BronsonApril 5, 2021

Luck of the Draw Gives Voorhees Bronson Council Seat

By Terry Witt -Spotlight Senior Reporter

Andrea Garcia, of the Atkins company, which has been involved in studying possible routes for the Suncoast Connector toll road, draws a name from a hat at the request of Mayor Beatrice Roberts.
Andrea Garcia, of the Atkins company, which has been involved in studying possible routes for the Suncoast Connector toll road, draws a name from a hat at the request of Mayor Beatrice Roberts.

            A 21-year-old Bronson man was selected Monday by a random draw from a hat to fill the unexpired term of former Councilman Berlon Weeks.

            Tyler Voorhees’ name was drawn from a hat by Andrea Garcia who just happened to be in the audience concerning the toll road project and was asked by Mayor Beatrice Roberts to do the honors since she had no stake in the outcome.

            Five candidates submitted applications to the town including Julie Stalnaker, Johnette Ross, Jerry Mongo, Jordan Jabbar, and Voorhees but the selection came down to the luck of the draw.

            Voorhees has lived in Bronson all his life and graduated from Bronson Middle High School in 2017. He started his own nursery business in town.

            “I love being able to give back to my community in any way that I can and I feel that this will be another opportunity to do so,” he wrote. “I look forward to the potential opportunity to work with other council members to help make Bronson the best that it can be.”

            Voorhees will be sworn into office at the next council meeting on April 19. His term of office will be short. The city election is scheduled for Sept. 6 with qualifying set to start on July 25 and last for five days. He will have to run for election.

            Any qualified resident of Bronson can run for the seat. Two other council seats are on the ballot, those of Roberts and Councilman Robert Partin.

Tyler Voorhees, a native of Bronson, was approved by the Bronson Town Council to fill the vacant seat of former Councilman Berlon Weeks.
Tyler Voorhees, a native of Bronson, was approved by the Bronson Town Council to fill the vacant seat of former Councilman Berlon Weeks.

            Voorhees will be the youngest of the council members. He made that point in his letter of application.

            “I would be the youngest on the council, which I believe would be beneficial to represent the younger generation in town,” he wrote.

            Voorhees’ appointment comes at a time when Weeks is suing the town on grounds that the town council illegally removed him from office. Weeks said he never formally resigned from the council and the board had no legal authority to recognize statements he made at a Sept. 15, 2020, board meeting as a resignation.

            The council says the vacancy has existed since that time.

            It’s unclear at this point how the lawsuit figures into the situation, given that Weeks said he never resigned and remains a member of the council. The lawsuit has been moved to federal court by a lawyer hired by the Florida League of Cities to represent Partin, Roberts, Town Attorney Steven Warm, former Deputy Clerk Melisa Thompson and Councilman Jason Hunt.

            The vote to appoint Voorhees as a member of the council was 4-0.

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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting April 5, 2021; Posted April 5, 2021

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