Light-up McIntosh December 15
Light-up McIntosh will begin at the Civic Center at 6:30 p.m. The event will host Santa Clause and an area choir from six local churches will sing.
09.06.06 -- SPECIAL REPORT: Council Member Jim Strange resigns, new council member to swear in Sept. 14
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Council Member Jim Strange Resigns, Eva Jo Callahan replaces Joe Phillips
By CHER PHILLIPS
McINTOSH -- Council Member Jim Strange e-mailed his resignation today ending after several months of fighting a recall petition for an election that could have removed him from office.
A public record request was made by this reporter for the full e-mail.
Town Clerk Julie Musselman said she asked Attorney Scott Walker to confirm that an e-mailed resignation is valid before she will comment on whether or not Strange has officially resigned, or intends to resign.
But Strange is reported to have made an earlier announcement at the McIntosh Baptist Church Sunday saying he intended to resign this week and that he felt "vindicated," said one source.
Musselman could confirm Strange's e-mail was brief and in part, he said he hoped his resignation "would bring closure to those who have sought it."
Strange's resignation comes after a recall battle.
Sportsman's Cove owner Casey Girardin gathered more than 100 signatures on a recall petition this summer. After the recall petition was circulated twice through town, Strange sued Girardin, Musselman as the McIntosh Town Clerk and Dee Brown as the Supervisor of Elections. Strange said he sued, in part, to clear his name. The judge determined last week that if the petition were to go forward, Girardin would need to rewrite one of the charges against Strange and recirculate the petition and return to court.
She and other petition committee members began circulating a new petition last weekend restricting the charge to one that he violated Florida's Sunshine Law in a February workshop meeting where he asked other council members to not talk about issues discussed outside the meeting.
Strange is the third council member to resign since July. Danaya Wright resigned in July and Joe Phillips resigned in August.
Council Member Lee Deaderick replace Wright when he ran unopposed in August. The qualifying time for Phillips' seat passed last week. Eva Jo Callahan was the only applicant to file to qualify to fill former council member Joe Phillips' seat. Since she is, in essence, running unopposed, she will be sworn in Sept. 14.
posted by Cher @ 4:23 PM,
1 Comments:
-
At September 06, 2006 5:11 PM ,
said...
-
Sorry to hear it has come to this. Hopefully our new council will be more willing to listen to ALL the citizens of McIntosh. Let's get on with healing this community.
Editor
Editor and Publisher:
I'm Cher From McIntosh, FL I'm a graduate student at the University of Florida working on a master's degree in Mass Communication. While I was finishing my undergrad degree in journalism last year, I reported on McIntosh, Fla. for an in-depth reporting class. I figured that the reporting and the public record files should go somewhere people can access them. Reporters don't report to keep the information they find to themselves. Some of that reporting is included here in a forum that allows response. McIntosh suffers because with no news coverage, the local government and the rumor mill have too much potential to run rampant over residents. I moved to McIntosh in the fall of 1999. My profile
About This Blog
The primary purpose of this blog is to accurately reflect what happens in town public meetings and dispel rumors. I record the meetings and make them available for download. One of the goals of this blog is to offer residents a place to voice opinions. The comments, views and opinions expressed there are not necessarily those of the editor.
