Minutes 04-21-36 (2)P~EG~J/~-R ~ETING OF APRIL BI~ -93o.
RECESSED UNTIL TUESDAY, APRIL 28~ 1936.
A Regular ~ieeting of the Board of Town Conm~!ssioners
of the To~a% of Bo.~ton~ Florida~ which was held at the~ ~o~
Hall on Tuesday evening, ~
zp~l 21, 1938, ~d which was
'~ .............. '~ 1938~ was
~eoonvened on Tuesday evening, Ap~ii 28~ 1988 at V:30 o~o!oo~ P~M~
The above
Present
H. D. Stevens, Mayo~
k
constituting tD~ entL~e Boa~d of Town
Co~missioners 0£ the Town of B%~ton~ Florida°
The fotlo%%ng letter was _eaa:
Atty at Law
~09 Guaranty Bldg
West PaLm Beach~ Fla.
APRIL
~ h~ SEVENTH
I936
To the ~yo~ a~d
of the ~o~ of Boynton~
Boynton~ Florida
I have you~ let~f~ under date of April 23rd, asking
me my opinibn wi~h ~eferenoe to tn~' = legality of~ Four ballots
cast in you~ towm ~lec~±on held t,p~il t3~n, 1936.
With reference to ballot ~8~, cast by Robert L. ~eyers,
and ballot #14i, cast by ~ary L, ~eyers: It is ~V opinion that
neithem of these ballots were lav,~ul l~gal ballots, due to the
fact that, as stated in your lett®r~ poll t~x payment by th~se
peopl~ was not effected withLu fiftean (15) days pmiom to the
hold. Lug of ~our town eleetion~ ~'as neither of them had a lawful
rig,hr to vote.
Regaz~ling ballot $1!0, cast by W. S. Ha~veI:
This ballot, in~..~y opinion, was an ¥~iawTul baliot~ ~ud was
wrong£ully cast, due to the fact that the voter's poll tax
was not paid &ccording to law-, and thus this person had no
right to vote.
With reference to ballot ~234~ cast by James Price, it is
likewise my opinion that 'this ballot was not lawfully cast.
Howsver~ the question of residence is a question of intention~
but csrtainly Mr. Price expressed his intention, if not by ~ord of
mou~ tHen byizisacts, when he removed from the town of Boynton
with his family and household goods du_w~gthe yea~ 1934, which
would indicate that he was leaving the Tow~ of Boynton as his place
o£ residen¢~. Late~ you say his name was striokenf~0m the
~egistration book, and posted. ~~t a late~ date he returned, but
made no application tc have his n~me restored to the ~egtstnatlon
book. ~nus he was not registered, consequently not entitled to vote
I observe that one of ~hs cs~didates ~u this election
received 83 votes, he being the highest~ and the next to him
received 80 votes..The ethan two cs~Gdidates were ~dch
in nu~ben of votes ~ceived, than eith~ of ti~e two
S~ce you have ~. at least t~ee, ~d pe~haps fo~, illegal
votes ~st ~ you~ election of the 13th, it is headily
that the casting of thes~ ille~l votes p~naps changed the ~esult
o~ the siecti~.$ and s~uce this ts t~, it is ~ opinion ~at the
alleged election held was not a ~WfuI election ~usofaP as
pe~ta~s to the questionable votes, ~d thus no eleoti~ a~ all.
This me~s that y~ have not he~ y~ ~e~!a~ e!eoti~, which
y~ ~e ~equi~d -~de~ the charism to do$ thus, it is t~ duty
of the Co~ission to call by Resoiuti~ a ~e~al~ election to Fill
the vzc~cy c~eated'by the-~i~ed te~m of one of its members.
Tou will understand, of oou~se~ tha~ the Co~isstone~ whose te~
~s. e~pi~ed continues to hold office a~d pemFo~hls duties as
Co~ission~ until~his successo~ is ~e~lamly elected and
properly qualified.
~u calling an election, I sugges~ that you t~eat the san~
as a reguis~ general election, not as a special eleotion. To do
so ymzmust open yo~ ~egiet~ati0n books and go t~h~ough the
neoessa~yform~olities and ~equire~ents as though no attempted
election ~d been called or held, ~en this is done, those pea-
sons east~g what I ~ha-¢e heretofore held to be unl~v~ul votes
nmy then be qual~iedto vote lawfully, if they oa_~e to do so.
In addition to the la~uep mentioned_*irs~ here~,'- I also
you~ iette~ of April 2~h~ supole~ent~iA~gyou~ !ette~ of AP~il
You ask ~you~ supplementa~'l~tte~ t~ee questions: -
First Question~ Is it necessar~ fo~ the electors of ~he Town of
Boyr~on~t an Elec$ion Boa~l?
Ny answer te this question is that no such election of
electors is provided fc~ under the law. _~me Act ef the Legtslat~are
of 1~5 being ' Chapter 16585, Serrate Bill ~0, applies only to the
City cz Tampa, as. w~ll be found in a Supreme Co,mt opinion
~nde~ed to the Governor~ I8~ So~ Page ~lO.
ScootS. Question: In case you fi_Ud th~t~ we must call a special
election~ a~e--M-i~e candidates whonfiled for the April l~tD~ election
entitled tO m refund of thei~ filing fee should they decide not to
qualify fc~ the special election?
it is m~ op~on that the candidate who has heretofore
Paid z filing fee and ~h~ desires not te be a con, idle at a
subsequent or another eleot4on held in lieu 'of the one of April
l~h, shoul~ hav~ netu~ed to him or her the filing fee hereto-
fore paid by such candidate o I find no p~ovision ~e~ the
chester e~ general law which would autt~-orize you in retaining
the filing fees heneinbe£ore mentioned.
~i~d Question: Ma~ a pe~son vote who has e~ iv~u~ ~*~
vided hi~ n~me h~S ~0~ beem taken from the megistmation book ~d
his poll t~es s~e pa~?
As stated in an earlier pa~t of this tetter~ the question
of residence is ~gely a question of intention. Lutention is
dete~d no~ only by ~£nat a person m~y say, bu~ coupled to what
he says, his acts~ if any, which would lead people to concl-~de
that he b~ad o~ had nob changed b_is residence, It may be
his n~m~ being left on the townts registration ~ook w~s an over-
sight or an act of neglect on the part of the Town Commission.
It m~.y be that this person fully intended to takm up a residence
outside of the To~vn of Boynton~ a~d proceede~i to a point of so
dom~g. If he was actually a non-~esm~ent of the To~ of Boynton
then he would h~ve no ~ight to vote. If he ~emaLued a ~esident
of She Town of Boynton but was livir~ tempo~a~ly away f~om the
town, cont~u_ng his residence in the ~o%r~, then he would have a
~ight to vote ~
i desime to ~ake one ?~vthe~ oonunent~ which is not called
fo~ in th~ letters hereinbefore mentioned., It iS ~ jud.~nt ~at
*~e T~n of B~nton should w~lte ~ud pass a complete election
o~r~noe, co~ ~tte~s ~e~befo~e discussed ~s well as ~r~
o~e_ questio~ which ! feel
qul~e well convict. ~e not oove.~d
~ the p~es~t electi,n o~di~n~ of the to~.I bzse ~is state~'
~nt upon ~e fact ~a~'~ ' ~na_oe~ n ~82,~ioh ~nds O~d~noe ~I~,
confabs ~.e entre eleoti~ o~in~e~. If O~di~n~ ~82 does not
con~ th8 entre e!eotion o~inance~ then I m~ be ~ ~o~
t'ou n¢~y p2oceed, however, with the calling of ~ election
unde~ t~ ~achine~y set Up for that p~pose at ~his time, ~d after
yea ~ve cono!udod your eiec~on~' then I surest that you h~e
election omdir~ om o~din~s completely me~.mped and out
Ver~ t~uly
NT~:~N (Si~d) ~ev~n T. Eillem
Commissioner Bowen moved SDs% th~ above and fo~ego~ lette~
be spread upon the mtautes~ whiah was seconded by C~issione~
Menzel a~ ~ '
~ously cad.led.
Upon rr~otion made by Co~issione~ Bowen, seconded by
~o~_sslone~ Morsel and unan~ous!y ca~ the fot!o~ng
~SOLUTION was ~ssed ~nd adopted:
RESOLUTION.
%~EMAS~ ~n election was held in the To~ oF Bo~ton~ Flo~i~.~
on the 15th day of Ap~il~ A.D~ 1958, fo~ the pu~pos~ of e~ect~ng
a~ Vics-~layo~ of the Town oF B~nton, Flo~ida~ who ~x of~zc_o~' ~ would
be on~ of the To~ CQ~ssione~s of said To~ of B~n~on~
~REAS~ th9 inspecto~s and C!e~k of said ~!ection D~ve
metu~s to th~ To~ Co~ssion~s of the To~ of B~nton, F~., and~
V~REAS~ It appes~s fm~ said rust.ns tb~t the~ were
votss cast at said e~ect~on, tD~s (Z) votes be~ spoiled ~ud not
counted, and that S~ of said votes we~ co~ted by th~ Inspecto~s~&
~E~ ~ It api~a~s f~om said metu~ns that of the I~o
~ Forty Fo~3~ (~) vot~ oo%~%~d~ 8~ t~*e~eof we~ cast ~d
Mamtin, 5~ thereof were cast and counted fora one %~. ~el snd
28 thereof w~e cast ~ud counted fo~ one ~ Nutt=ng~
Wi~Lw~AS, it fumthem appea~s that ~t least ~bmee (3) ~d
pe~haps fo~ (4) p*z~sons w~Pe ~rmitt~d to vote a~ said
q.a~ ~d ~leoto~s and tibet said votes ~ i~egal
void e~d ca~ot 3De oo~mt~d om Oonsidem~d ~ d~ola~g om
the ~esult of ~'
s=zd eiect~on. ~d,
V~q_~EAS, because of the said tl~e
unla~fu! votes so cast the Town Co~uissione~s of the To~ of
B~n~on are ~bls to determine w~mich candidate ~soeived the
hi,assr nu~b~ of ~w~l votes cast~ a~
~-~ A~ca~e of said a~eged illegal votes the To~
~o~msszoneps o~ ~hs T~vn of B~nt~u~ FloPida~ s~e ~ble to
de~ue ~e ~esu!t of said election
That due to the fact of tbs allsged illegal votes cast at
~ election _~el~ on the 13~h ~.y of Ap~m~ A. D. 1936, the~e was
no leal ~iection ke~ ~ therefore said~ e!~otion ~s' h~eby
Upon motion m~ds by Co~mis~o~ Bowen, seceded by
Con~ds~io~ St~s and ur~nimo~ly ~r~ied, ~e foll~g
~SOL~0~ v~s ~ssed ar~ ~dooted:
RE S 0 LU T i 0 N~
BE iT P~SOLVED that notice is hereby given by the To~.~
Comr~s~ion®~s of tb~ Town of Boy~on~ Pa~ B~ack Co~ty~ Florida~
that a General El~ction of said To~ will b~ held at the T~n Hall~
on the D~i~ Hi~ay~ in t~ T~n of B~nt~ Pa~. Beach
Fl~ida~ b~v~n the h~s ~ E~ht o~o!~k A. ~. ~d S~_s~t of
Eighth (Sth) day oF J~s~ A. D. 19~, fo~ ~s pu~pos~ of eisot~
eno~b~nt to t~ offio~ oF Vic~-~yo~ fo~ a ~ expi~ir~
All nom~a%ations £o~ said offise shall be ~de at least ten
'!0) days p~io_~ to the date of said
o~ ~ti~_o~tes ~ll be accom~d by a fil~g fee of Twenty Five
Do~s ($B5~0~,~. Ca~idates ~y be voted fo~ on ~e ballot
without being nor, inat~.
Notice is Further given that Stephen
~%o~y mud ~m~ L. M~m~ith ~ hereby appoLn~ Ins~ctoms
~epo~ at t~ To~ Hall on th~ day ~ud t~ aforesaid to hold
said e lsotion.
BE ~ = ~R=Zq~R RESOL%~ tha~ a co~ of this n~ice be posted
at ~e F~ont ~.,o~ of the To~n ~a~l of the T~m~ ~ B~ton~ PaL~
Beach Oo~ety~ P.~o~da~
BE IT FURT~R RESOL~ that ~e Reg~t~tion Book of th~
T~vn of B~nt~ P~m Beach Co~zby~ F!~ida~ be opened fo~ the
Eegi~t~tion ~ a~ qual_f~e= el~ctoz~s oF the T~n of B~nton~
Palm B~ach Co~ty~ Flo~i~ at ~e T~n Hall on the Twenty N~th
(~?~_) d~ of A~il~ A.D. 19~8. All ~sons desi~eg to megiste~
fo~ the G~ne~l Election called f~ the 8th d~ of J-~e. A. D~ !938~
th~ Regist~tion Book will be
l~ayo~ 8~svens reported to the Con. lesion
sus~ndsd ~obemt ~es~m~ colored ga~oa~ oollectom~ fo~ be_ng
~n~ox~oat~ ~nil~on ~%~y$ sub~sct~ to the action of tl~ Co. lesion.
Az"'~ soz~e~d~ 0u~sion~ Co~ission~ Bow~
n== the semvices of Robert Lestsm be dispensed with, which motion
was seceded by Co~issioner [¥ienzsl ~d ~muimously
iY~_~ng a fur~h~ discussion it wa~ :-~utual!y agme~d
to employ C~o~ge Fo~d (colomed) fora_ d~iving the garbage
~ere oe._ng no fu_~the~ buszness the meeting adjou_~nedo