HB 0565 2003
   
1 CHAMBER ACTION
2         
3         
4         
5         
6          The Committee on Local Government & Veterans' Affairs recommends
7    the following:
8         
9          Committee Substitute
10          Remove the entire bill and insert:
11         
12 A bill to be entitled
13          An act relating to Lee County; amending the Lee County
14    Home Rule Charter to provide for the election of
15    commissioners from single districts; providing for the
16    creation of districts; providing an exception; providing
17    for a referendum; providing a ballot statement; providing
18    for the staggering of commissioner terms; providing an
19    effective date.
20         
21          Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22         
23          Section 1. Section 2.2 A. of Article II of the Lee County
24    Home Rule Charter is amended to read:
25          Section 2.2: Legislative Branch
26          A. The County Commission. The governing body of the
27    County shall be a board of County Commissioners composed of five
28    (5) members serving staggered terms of four (4) years. There
29    shall be one Commissioner for each of the (5) County Commission
30    districts established pursuant to general law and they shall be
31    elected in a partisan election by the electors of their
32    districtson a county-wide basis by the electors of the County.
33    Each County Commissioner during the term of office shall reside
34    in the district from which such County Commissioner ran for
35    office, provided that any County Commissioner who is removed
36    from a district by redistricting may continue to serve during
37    the balance of the term. Districts must be contiguous, separate,
38    and equal by population at the time of redistricting.
39          Section 2. In accordance with the requirements of section
40    101.161, Florida Statutes, and section 3, the Supervisor of
41    Elections of Lee County shall place the title and substance of
42    the referendum on the ballot as follows:
43 ELECTION OF LEE COUNTY COMMISSION
44 MEMBERS TO PROVIDE FOR SINGLE-MEMBER REPRESENTATION
45          Shall the election of Lee County Commission members be changed
46    so that commissioners are elected by the people who live in
47    their districts, rather than countywide?
48          Yes
49          No
50          Section 3. If for any reason there is a countywide
51    election prior to the 2004 general election and 2004 primaries,
52    the vote for this act will occur on this earlier date. If it is
53    prior to the qualifying period for the 2004 general election,
54    all county commission seats will be up for election in the year
55    2004 and staggered from that point on. If the next countywide
56    election is in 2004, all county commission seats will be up for
57    election in the year 2006 and staggered from that point on.
58          Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law,
59    except that section 1 shall take effect only upon its approval
60    by a majority vote of those qualified electors of Lee County
61    voting in a referendum to be held by the Lee County Board of
62    County Commissioners in conjunction with the next regular
63    general, special, or other election, exclusive of primaries, in
64    accordance with the provisions of law relating to elections
65    currently in force and this act.