An effort to remove Lynn Haven Mayor Jesse Nelson has been put on hold
Bay County Supervisor of Elections Nina Ward has determined that a committee to recall Lynn Haven Mayor Jesse Nelson has failed to gather enough valid signed petitions.
Hundreds of citizens working to remove Lynn Haven Mayor Jesse Nelson from office are facing a setback in their effort to get a recall election on the ballot.
In a letter addressed to interim City Manager Chris Lightfoot on Thursday, Bay County Supervisor of Elections Nina Ward explained that the recall committee failed to get the “requisite number of signatures” to move forward to the next round of petition-gathering.
Unless the decision is successfully challenged, the recall committee will have to draft a new petition and start the process over or give up on their effort.
The group claims Nelson should be removed from office for “incompetence,” one of several possible legal standards for removing a local elected official.
The petition states: “Mayor Nelson has actively opposed oversight and auditing measures that would safeguard the city treasury. Mayor Nelson has publicly opposed hiring or appointing an independent city clerk to audit city spending and contracts, and he has failed to enforce basic city financial reporting requirements set forth in the city’s charter.”
The complaints stem from $5 million that the city lost as a result of a “mismanaged vendor contract, which was attributed by the FBI to criminal activity by the city manager and failings by the city staff,” the petition states.
Nelson, who was first elected in 2021, wasn’t yet in office when the corruption involving federal Hurricane Michael recovery funds occurred.
In an interview with The Panhandle Press last week, Nelson said he felt “singled-out” because he’s only one of five votes on the City Commission.
“At least three votes have to happen in order for us to accomplish what we are objecting to do in the city of Lynn Haven,” Nelson said. “I'm not the only one that either voted for or voted against a particular issue.”
Throughout the month of July, the group collected hundreds of petitions from residents who oppose the mayor. On Monday, they submitted 1,615 signed petitions to the interim city manager who then forwarded those petitions to Ward’s office for verification. The minimum requirement needed to advance past the first round of petition-gathering is 1,535.
The recall committee advertised on social media that its push to collect signatures got underway on July 4.
In an interview with The Panhandle Press last week, recall committee chairman James Finch explained that they had until Aug. 3 to gather signatures.
Members of the recall committee notified local news outlets this week that they had gathered enough signatures to advance to the next round of petition-gathering, putting them one step closer to getting a recall election on the ballot.
But that announcement came before the petitions were officially verified by the supervisor of elections’ office.
While reviewing the petitions, Ward found that the first petition with a verified signature and witness was dated in early June.
Under state law, petitions to recall a local elected official must be gathered within 30 days after the first signature is obtained.
Because the first verified petition was dated on June 7, the committee had until July 7 to gather enough signatures, Ward explained in the letter. Only 226 valid petition signatures were gathered within that time frame.
A spokesperson for the recall committee has declined to comment at this time.