County Considers Major Change In Sun 'N Lake Voting Rules

The electoral system that has given large property owners at Sun 'n Lake of Sebring the ability to elect a majority of the seats on the special district's board of supervisors could be coming to an end.

Whether it does or not is in the hands of the Highlands County commissioners.

On April 7, the commissioners will hold a public hearing on a proposed ordinance making a major change in the Sun 'n Lake voting rules.

If approved, the change would drastically reduce the voting power of large land owners and give more say-so at the ballot box to the special district's homeowners and small property owners.

"The biggest change it would make is that a big property owner like NRPI (National Recreation Properties, of Irvine, Calif.), instead of having about 2,000 votes, would have about 500 votes," said county Administrator Mike Wright.

Al Grieshaber Jr., general manager of the special district, expressed disappointment that Sun 'n Lake officials weren't consulted about the ordinance.

"I would tell you that the proposed ordinance - done without consultation, courtesy or comity to the board of supervisors of Sun 'n Lake, a self governing, local government entity representing an independent special district - is under review by legal counsel," he said.

"After completion of the review at our special meeting April 2 at 3 p.m., the district will have further comment," he added.

Grieshaber and George Puffenberger, a Sun 'n Lake supervisor, said they were surprised that the ordinance was proposed without consulting the district's board of supervisors.

"I thought they would have had the courtesy and the comity to talk with the board of supervisors prior to scheduling a public hearing for the proposed ordinance," Grieshaber said. He compared the county's action to a husband grabbing his wife and pulling her out the door to go to dinner instead of asking her if she wanted to go out to eat.

Until the April 2 meeting, Puffenberger said, "it would be premature to comment" about the ordinance. The district's lawyer, he said, "will be there to advise us what our options are and what we should do."

Since it's founding in 1974 by a charter approved by the county commissioners, Sun 'n Lake has had two of its five board of supervisor seats elected by popular vote of residents, the other three seats by land owner elections.

The current system gives land owners one vote per subdivided lot. The average acre in the district has just under four lots. As a result, large land owners such as NRPI typically have about four votes per acre and can elect a majority of the board of supervisors.

The ordinance under consideration would allocate one vote per one acre owned. A homeowner with less than one acre would get one vote.

Dick Miller, who ran unsuccessfully for a land-owner seat in January on a campaign of reforming the electoral system, said he supports the proposed change because it would bring Sun 'n Lake closer to a democratic form of government.

The current system is unfair, Miller said, because "it tips the balance tremendously in favor of the large landowners."

"It would make a big difference," Miller said, referring to the ordinance. "What it does is reduce the very large land owners' voting power by about 75 percent, and increases proportionally the voting power of each land owner."

At least two of the five county commissioners are backing the change.

Commissioner Jeff Carlson proposed the ordinance and said he supports a more democratic voting process for Sun 'n Lake residents.

Commissioner Guy Maxcy said residents of Sun 'n Lake should have a greater voice in electing their board of supervisors.

"In the past I've been quoted as saying that currently the way it stands, it is very close to, if not actually, taxation without representation," he said. "That's the way I felt all along for years and years, and this is a measure that would make it a lot better."

Maxcy called the proposed ordinance "a step in the right direction for the constituents I have in Sun 'n Lakes." Unless a compelling argument against the ordinance is raised April 7, he said, "I am leaning toward it."

Commissioners Edgar Stokes and Don Bates said they are uncommitted, while Commissioner Barbara Stewart could not be reached for comment. Bates, though, said the controversy over voting at Sun 'n Lake has been pending for years and should be settled soon.

"I think it's time for the issue to be resolved so we can move forward one way or the other in that residential district," Bates said. About the ordinance, he said, "I will reserve my judgment till we hear what's presented on the seventh."

The ordinance was drafted at the request of Thomas Kosty, a Sun 'n Lake resident who said the proposal would simply bring the district's voting rules in line with state law for special districts.

Kosty analyzed the last board of supervisor election, in which Miller lost to incumbent Supervisor Frank Guglielmi by a vote of 2,568 to 1,514. NRPI swung that election by casting all of its 2,022 votes for Guglielmi.

If the election had been held under the ordinance being considered now, Kosty said, NRPI'S 2,022 votes would have been reduced to 505 votes, and Miller would have won by a vote of 1,514 to 1,012.

Wright, a Sun 'n Lake resident, said he is not supporting or opposing the ordinance, but presenting it as a possible solution to the long-running controversy at Sun n Lake.

"I think the board (of county commissioners) has been looking for a solution to the controversy and this is an avenue to explore," Wright said. He said Kosty's proposal "seemed to be a reasonable approach to at least get before the board for discussion."

Grieshaber complained that two requests to Wright from the Sun 'n Lake supervisors made in early October, one for a zoning change, the other concerning code enforcement, have been ignored.

"So," he said, "two requests by the board of supervisors go unaddressed, one request from a citizen gets addressed. Where is the courtesy, where is the comity?

"We are a self governing entity which has been ignored by the county commissioners."

Kosty said the Sun 'n Lake supervisors have been refusing to even consider residents' calls for a change in the voting system.

"A number of times over the past six months we have tried to discuss this with the supervisors out here and have been completely stonewalled on it," he said. "They have rejected any consideration of further discussion on it, that's why it went to the county."