Commissioner Aaronson joins Marcus in defiance of voters' term limit

Burt Aaronson told the Palm Beach Post he will 'definitely' run for his sixth term as a county commissioner if the current effort to overturn Palm Beach County's voter-approved 8-year term limits law is successful.

In doing so, the 83-year-old commissioner would be directly defying the will of the voters expressed in the overwhelming 2002 approval of the citizen-led term limits initiative at the ballot box and current expression of local support of term limits in polls. The voters called for a two-term limit for commissioners.

Aaronson joins Karen Marcus -- who hasn't faced a general election challenger in 20 years -- in clinging to the position. Four other commissioners who would otherwise have been term limited by the new law have been indicted for corruption and had to leave office, three of them for prison.

Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher said she would not accept paperwork from Marcus or Aaronson to run again in defiance of the law.

However, Marcus and Aaronson are pinning their hopes on a politician-led effort from Broward County that is making its way through the courts. In Broward County, where term limits passed with an astounding 80 percent of the vote, a friendly and politically active judge -- whose husband is the term-limited former mayor of Fort Lauderdale -- struck down Broward County commission term limits.

Broward is appealing to defend the people's law, but an adverse decision at the appellate level later this year could be used by Marcus and Aaronson for a basis for a legal challenge of the Palm Beach law. Broward is confident of success of their term limits law at the Supreme Court, but you can bet the politicians won't wait.

Be sure to answer the poll question at the top right of this page. The voters have made it clear as day they want term limits. Would you vote for a politician who so brazenly defies us?

(Pictured above, Karen Marcus and Burt Aaaronson in the commission chambers)

IT'S OFFICIAL: Charter review takes aim at voter-approved term limits

The voter-initiated term limits law that passed in 2002 with 70% of the vote was an amendment to the Palm Beach County Charter. Over the next year, the county is reviewing the charter, presumably looking for ways to update or improve the document. At a public charter review meeting last night at the library on Hagen Ranch Road in Delray Beach, it was unveiled that "eliminating term limits" is on the agenda.

TAKE ACTION: Go here to tell the charter review commission to retain our voter approved, 8-year term limits law as is.

Some background: In 1984, Palm Beach County voters approved a home rule charter form of government, sometimes called "home rule." Since then there have been changes made via citizen initiative (term limits and single member districts) and via referrals of ballot questions by the commission (the non-interference rule and ethics commission). But until now there has not been a thorough top-to-bottom review.

In preparation for this the county is sponsoring charter review presentations around the county and soliciting ideas for changes. As part of last night's excellent presentation by Assistant County Administrator Brad Merriman, a list of changes under consideration were shown. Most were from the commissioners themselves and a few from citizen input. The relevant one here is "eliminate term limits." It was followed by "retain term limits." You can guess which one came from a commissioner and which one came from a citizen!

Please participate in this important process. Please take the Review Commission's online survey (or use on of their postage-paid comment cards if you attend a charter review meeting) . Please leave a short comment on the county's charter review site urging them to keep our voter-approved, 8-year term limits law as is. This can be done here.

We expect the commissioners to argue that since a similar term limits law is being challenged in Broward and working its way through the courts that in order to "clean up" the charter the law ought to be removed before the Florida Supreme Court hears the matter. Then, when the Florida Supreme Court upholds the law, the law is no longer in the charter to enforce.

Can local politicians sink so low? One would hope not. But charter reviews are used by politicians to try to undo term limits all the time, including recently in West Palm Beach.

Let's participate in the process and show our support for the term limits law. The deadline is Aug. 26 for public comment.

TAKE ACTION! Inform your neighbors with new palm flyers

How do we alert our neighbors about the threat to Palm Beach County's voter-initiated and -approved term limits law?

Well, to put the proposal on the ballot back in 2002, we distributed petitions to our friends, neighbors and business associates -- not to mention strangers in the streets! -- and the recipients reacted with enthusiasm. Taking a page from that successful playbook, we've created a simple palm flyer to print out and distribute.

Click on the picture above to see a larger, clearer image. To download and print (four flyers per 8.5x11 page), click here.

The flyer's message is short and clear. It tells the basics of the story, names the two commissioners (Burt Aaronson and Karen Marcus) who have announced they will defy the voters and urges our neighbors to learn more by going to this website. It also suggests they print out and distribute more palm flyers.

This is much easier than petitioning, and is nonetheless an effective way to get the word out. All you need to do is click here and print. Then pass them out at work and other places you go. Keep them at your desk and include when paying all local bills. We'll be organizing group distribution at post offices and other public places too. If you'd like to volunteer, please contact me at pblumel@bellsouth.net.

Thank you for your efforts to defend this citizen-initiated law from politicians who place their own self-interest above that of their community.

Palm Beach Post on Aaronson's defiance of voters

In an outstanding May 20 editorial, Randy Schultz tells the unfolding story of Commissioner Burt Aaronson's undignified grasping for power in his final days of his legal term. Please read the entire editorial, but here's some highlights:

"Even if the courts allow Commissioner Aaronson to run, should he? Moreover, Palm Beach County's single-member districts mean that Commissioner Aaronson - and Commissioner Karen Marcus, if she ran - would have to persuade only one-seventh of the electorate. Term-limit advocates elsewhere only could fume.

"In many ways, Commissioner Aaronson has become the example of why people support term limits. As we saw during last year's Democratic Senate primary, Commissioner Aaronson fancies himself a political kingmaker. Commissioner Aaronson quietly retired 'on paper' and made himself a double-dipper, drawing a pension while still serving on the commission. Blame the Legislature, he said, for passing the law.

"If Commissioner Aaronson had been so worried about filling his days as an octogenarian, he could have led a campaign to repeal term limits. For now, though, whatever the courts say, the voters have spoken."

Aaronson seeks to evade primary as well as term limit

Commissioner Burt Aaronson, who is legally barred from running for reelection due to Palm Beach County's voter-initiated and -approved term limits law, is trying to bully a legal candidate out of the race to preserve "party unity."

That's right. According to a Palm Beach Post editorial on June 13, Aaronson is arguing that he should not be bound by the term limits law nor face an opponent.

As the Post notes, "The danger point comes when an elected official takes himself more seriously than the job. Commissioner Aaronson is way past that point."

This is one reason why the people passed term limits. Commissioner Aaronson, please respect the law, the electoral system and the citizens of this county and retire with dignity.

Isn't Burt Aaronson ALREADY retired?

Burt Aaronson, 83, has indicated he seeks to run again even though he is not a legal candidate and even though he is already collecting his pension!

In a practice called "double dipping," Aaaronson is currently receiving a state pension of $1,648 a month, or nearly $20,000 annually, while continuing to collect his $92,000 annual salary (plus lots of perks) as a county commissioner.

His defense?

"I completely abided by the laws, and rules, and regulations the legislature set," he told the Sun-Sentinel.

And to stay on this gravy train, Aaronson has announced plans on using legal technicalities to avoid the term limits that were approved by 70% of county in voters in 2002.

Please contact and thank Commissioner Burt Aaronson for his past service and ask that he retire with dignity at the end of his term.

Are Palm Beach County voter-approved term limits in danger?

As detailed in the previous post, the politicians in Broward won round one against the voter approved county commission term limits law in that county. Broward is appealing the circuit court decision. The case may ultimately go to the Florida Supreme Court.

What does the Broward case mean to Palm Beach County, where 70 percent of voters here approved 8-year county commission term limits in 2002?

If Broward County wins the appeal, nothing will happen in Palm Beach. The position of the voter-approved Palm Beach County law will be strengthened.

If the Broward County loses its appeal, the county will ask for a Supreme Court review. The case at the Supreme Court level is very strong and ultimate victory likely.

However, in the meantime the appellate decision could be used as a basis for a suit by county commissioners and local special interests against Palm Beach County voters to overthrow the law.

You can bet that the local pols will not wait for the Supreme Court to act. If what is happening in Broward is any clue, county commissioners will find a patsy to file a suit against the voters immediately and then announce their re-election campaigns. They, of course, will pretend they are not involved in the suit.

County Commissioner Karen Marcus -- a 26-year veteran who hasn't faced a general election challenger in nearly 20 years -- has already said she plans on running again.

Voters continue to support term limits in overwhelming numbers. We should ask Karen Marcus and Burt Aaronsen, the two commissioners affected by the law in 2012, to respect the will of the voters. They should leave our term limits law alone and not run again without sitting out a term as the law provides. Please also answer the poll question at the top right of this page. Let them know how we feel.