Runner-up in 2016 City Commission race claims he deserves to replace Scott Maddox

Jeffrey Schweers
Tallahassee Democrat
Bruce Strouble, executive director, Citizens for a Sustainable Future, Inc..

Bruce Strouble is convinced that he is the heir apparent to the City Commission Seat 1 vacated by the suspension of Scott Maddox following a 44-count indictment on political corruption charges.

Strouble was the runner-up in the 2016 primary, getting 4,586 votes to Maddox’s 22,553 votes.

"I was under the impression I was defeated by Maddox running an honest campaign," Strouble said.

But the indictment against Maddox alleges that he coerced favors out of people doing business with or looking to do business with the city, which raises the question whether he extracted favors to get elected, Strouble said, pointing to a rarely referenced part of the city charter.

Indictment fallout:

“It appears that during the 2016 City Commission Election one candidate received support in exchange for promises to provide favors after winning the election,” Strouble posted on Facebook. “I was reviewing the City of Tallahassee Charter and it says that the runner-up should be declared the rightful officeholder. I believe the commission should avoid the messy politics of making an appointment and follow the guidance provided in the charter.”

According to Section 12: “No candidate for the office of mayor or city commission nor any candidate seeking nomination in any primary election for such office shall promise any money, office, employment or any other thing of value to secure his nomination or election.”

Any candidate who violates these provisions is disqualified from holding the office if elected, the section said, "and the person receiving the next highest number of votes... shall be entitled to the office."

Not so fast, City Attorney Cassandra Jackson said. Section 14 is the part of the city charter that clearly sets out a process to follow when there is a vacancy on the commission.

“Had someone challenged Mr. Maddox properly holding office during the time of his service on the bases cited in Section 12 and prevailed, Section 12 may have been operative,” Jackson told the Tallahassee Democrat in an email. “However, the circumstance which exists is that the Governor has suspended Mr. Maddox by executive order which has created a vacancy.”

Strouble said he respected the city attorney's opinion, "but I see it differently."

Ultimately, he said, the charter language needs to be more clear about the timeline for challenging a candidate's election. 

"I thought we were in a fair and square race, only to be surprised by this indictment," Strouble said.

 

Contact Schweers at jschweers@tallahassee.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffschweers.