VERO BEACH — Vero Beach City Councilman Brian Heady has made official his quest to become Indian River County’s interim Supervisor of Elections.
Heady has sent in his application seeking to replace out-going Supervisor of Elections Kay Clem, who has resigned effective Dec. 31. There are two years left to her term before the office goes to election in 2012.
“I am confident my abilities, life’s experiences, and work related expertise would enable me to be an effective Supervisor of Elections to serve your constituents here in our county,” Heady wrote in his application letter to Gov. Crist.
The governor could name an interim elections chief before the end of the year, or leave it up to Gov.-elect Rick Scott to decide once he takes office in January.
Press Secretary Sterling Ivey has said that the governor would prefer to have a candidate pool of about eight or 10 from which to choose a successor.
Heady joins Assistant Supervisor of Elections Leslie Swan, Sandi Harpring, Cathy Hart, Charles Searcy and Fran Adams – bringing the total to six candidates.
“The Governor will appoint the person he believes is best qualified to serve, regardless if they are currently an elected official or not,” Ivey told VeroNews.com prior to receiving Heady’s application. “The Governor has in the past appointed elected officials to open seats and the fact that Heady is a current City Councilman would not preclude him from consideration should he apply.”
If Heady were selected to serve as the remaining members of the Vero Beach City Council would have a few options to fill his vacated seat.
According to City Clerk Tammy Vock, the council has three options:
-Appoint someone to fill the remainder of Heady’s term;
-Hold a special election to fill the remainder of his term; or
-Ask the governor to appoint someone to fill the remainder of the term.
In the case of ousted City Councilman Charlie Wilson, the then-council opted to appoint someone to fill Wilson’s seat.
They appointed Ken Daige, who was the third place finisher in that election, but only until the following municipal election.
Heady has already served one year of his two-year term, so any appointment or specially elected replacement would serve until the November 2011 election, when Heady would have been up for re-election.