By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                The Bronson election is shaping up to be an interesting one with Franklin Schuler, Jr., former mayor of Bronson and father of current City Councilwoman Sherrie Shuler, qualifying to run for Seat 4 on the town council late Friday.

            Town Clerk Wendy Maragh said Schuler qualified at 3:54 p.m. Friday just minutes before the deadline to register for the April 4 election. If he were to win, it would mean a father and daughter would sit on the town council as voting members. Maragh said she has time stamps proving when candidates qualified. The qualifying deadline was 4 p.m.

            Seat 4 Town Councilman Jason Hunt isn’t seeking re-election. Jordan Jabbar has also qualified to run for Seat 4 along with Julie Stalnaker, owner of Julie’s Diner.

            Mark Kjeseth, a Bronson realtor, and Virginia Phillips, qualified to run for Seat 2, the town council position being vacated by retiring Councilman Aaron Edmondson.

            Close relatives are nothing new on the council. Mayor Robert Partin is the uncle of Hunt. They are voting members of the town council and belong to the same family.

            Just for comparison, in Williston, when Jerry Robinson served as mayor, his wife, Councilwoman Marguerite Robinson, was a voting member of the council. But in Williston, the mayor has no vote.

            By contrast, Inglis Town Commissioners Joyce and Steven Schwing are a married couple that serve together on the Town Commission. Both are voting commission members.

            Levy County Commissioners John Meeks and Rock Meeks are third cousins that serve as voting members on the same board.

            The question of close relatives serving on the same board is often raised in elections because voting members of the same board can’t discuss city or county business outside of a publicly advertised board meeting. The Sunshine Law requires elected city and county officials, and members of appointed boards that advise elected officials, to limit their discussions of official business to public meetings. They can’t discuss official business in private. If two members of a public board discuss public business in private it’s considered an illegal meeting.

            Levy County Supervisor of Elections Tammy Jones said the Schwings contacted her about the legality of serving on the Inglis Town Commission as a married couple.

            “It is legal,” Jones said.

            Members of the same family can serve on an elected board as long as they make certain they don’t discuss the public business in private that will come before them later as elected officials, Jones said.

            Jones remembers when Sherrie Schuler ran for office when her father was serving on the town council earlier. Sherrie Schuler lost the election. Jones said this same question came up then.

            She said the Florida Commission on Ethics has ruled that closely related family members can serve on the same elected board as long as they don’t discuss public business in a private setting.

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Enterprise Reporting by Terry Witt January 27, 2023; Posted January 27, 2023