Starke’s mail ballot referendum ended Tuesday night, with a majority of voters deciding the position of city clerk should remain an elected office.
Of the 540 votes cast in the mail ballot referendum, 328 — nearly 61% — voted to keep the position in the city’s charter.
The city had called the move an effort to streamline governmental operations.
Starke’s charter has been in place for more than 100 years without updates. It still lists a city clerk as the city’s tax assessor, tax collector and even supervisor of elections. The position originally included law enforcement roles such as issuing criminal arrest warrants, attending trials, and recording fines and sentences.
These duties haven’t been part of the clerk’s job for a long time. As for duties related to finance, they are now overseen by the chief administrative officer and finance director.
According to the city, fewer than 7% of Florida cities now having an elected clerk, so most of the commission felt this was a logical step forward. But when Starke’s election rolls around this fall, it could still include a clerk’s race — if anyone is willing to qualify to run.
This mail ballot referendum follows last year’s referendum to remove the position of police chief from the charter following closure of the city’s police department. Starke commissioners chose to pay Sheriff Gordon Smith for law enforcement while diverting more of the city’s budget to infrastructure improvements.
Following Chief Jeff Johnson’s resignation, commissioners declared police chief a ceremonial office with a $1 salary. Voters overwhelmingly supported removing a police chief from the charter in November.
This is the second time an attempt to remove the city clerk as an elected position has failed, although in 2017 the referendum failed by just six votes.
