Hawthorne’s Carlton wins re-election bid

Newcomer Tommie Howard unopposed

Unsuccessful Hawthorne city commission candidate James G. Franklin (standing) congratulates William A. Carlton (seated), who won his bid for re-election Tuesday night.

 Hawthorne City Commissioner William A. Carlton was re-elected to serve for an additional two years on the city commission.

The clash for Seat 3 on the commission ended Tuesday after Carlton defeated his opponent, James G. Franklin, Sr., for the position.

“I’m elated and pleasantly surprised,” Carlton said. “My opponent ran a good clean race with nothing derogatory in it at all.”

Of the 600 registered Hawthorne voters, 112 voted for Carlton, with 57 voting for his opponent.  Pulling in over 62 percent of the vote, Carlton was handily selected to be a voice on the commission for the next 104 weeks.

“It’s not the turnout that I anticipated, but we have to respect the decision of the people,” Franklin said. “Mr. Carlton has been a good public servant, and I’m sure he will continue to be, and I myself will continue to be involved.”

As for future campaigning for the city commission, Franklin said he would have to decide what to do when the time came.

At Hawthorne City Hall, 161 residents came out to cast ballots resulting in 107 votes for Carlton and 54 for Franklin.  Eight absentee ballots accounted for the remainder of the votes cast, resulting in 5 for Carlton and 3 for Franklin.

“I feel very happy that I won because at my age, I wondered,” Carlton said.

Carlton, 84, said he’s been serving the City of Hawthorne for more than 20 years. He said he likes the current commissioners and looks forward to working with them again.

“I think I have a good relationship with the commission. They’re a good group of people,” Carlton said. “I feel good about it and I look forward to serving with the new commissioner, [Tommie C. Howard, Jr.]. He will be an asset for the commission, I’m sure.”

Carlton restated his belief that the City of Hawthorne needs to continue its forward progress.

“I think we’ve had a lot of problems that were uncalled for,” said Carlton. “I believe we need to be honest with the people all the time about the finances and it needs to be in advance, not after the fact.”

Carlton said he speaks his mind, and even though he and the commission may not always agree on everything, he believes all the commissioners have the common goal of bettering Hawthorne.

“The people who come to the meetings know I speak from the heart and I speak the truth. I try to talk about the issues and stay away from personal matters,” Carlton said.

Carlton, Vice Mayor Matthew Surrency and new City Commissioner Tommie C. Howard, Jr. will remain on the commissioner until June 2013.

Hawthorne Mayor Eleanor Randall and Commissioner DeLoris Roberts will be up for re-election in June 2012.

Charter Amendments on Ballot

Included on the City of Hawthorne ballot were 13 Charter Amendments for voter approval or denial.  These Charter Amendments were all approved Tuesday by the electorate.

Charter Amendment 1:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to mandate that the city commission provide by Ordinance for the City Manager to furnish a fidelity bond?

Passed: 136-27

Charter Amendment 2:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to provide a procedure to be followed by the City when an adopted budget is found to be unbalanced?

Passed: 144-18

Charter Amendment 3:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to provide that a City Manager removed due to misfeasance or malfeasance shall not receive severance compensation?

Passed: 151-15

Charter Amendment 4:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to require that the City Manager operate as a fiscal conservative and maintain City solvency?

Passed: 139-24

Charter Amendment 5:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to require background checks on a city manager and otherwise restrict employment to a term specific and under a standard city manager contract?

Passed: 150-15

Charter Amendment 6:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to require the City Manager to prepare and submit a balanced annual budget and prepare and submit a five-year capital program?

Passed: 146-19

Charter Amendment 7:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to require the City Manager to provide monthly reports of the finances and administrative activities of the City?

Passed: 148-8

Charter Amendment 8:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to require that the City Manager has a continuous duty to keep the Commission fully advised as to the financial condition and future needs of the city?

Passed: 143-12

Charter Amendment 9:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to establish an expenditure cap of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) for City Manager budgeted expenditures?

Passed: 126-24

Charter Amendment 10:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to require that the City Manager maintain a general accounting system for the City and each of its offices, departments and agencies and exercise financial budgetary control over same?

Passed: 143-11

Charter Amendment 11:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to require that the City Manager make reports to the City Commission, as required, concerning the operations of the city departments, offices and agencies subject to his or her direction and supervision?

Passed: 145-11

Charter Amendment 12:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to require the City Manager to produce and maintain a Personnel Rules and Regulations manual for commission approval?

Passed: 142-11

Charter Amendment 13:

Shall the charter of the City of Hawthorne, Florida, be amended to require that personnel appropriations within a budget be kept separate from other funding categories and not modified without Commission approval?

Passed: 136-16