When the dust settled Thursday and all 1,799 ballots cast in Aberdeen’s 2015 Municipal Election had been counted, candidates Sean DeBonis and Stephen Smith remained tied for the fourth and final seat on the city council, with exactly 655 votes apiece.
After the polls closed on Tuesday evening, sitting city councilman Smith was leading newcomer DeBonis by just a single vote – by a count of 654 to 653. A count of the four remaining provisional ballots was set for Thursday morning, but rather than clear up the matter, the provisional ballots only served to complicate things – as DeBonis garnered two more votes and Smith only one.
With the final votes tallied, the race officially declared a tie, and the City Charter evidently silent on the matter of how such a tie should be broken, the city attorney has been brought in to rule on the situation.
According to the City of Aberdeen:
“The final results of the election have yielded a tie between candidates Sean DeBonis and Stephen A. Smith for one of the Council seats. The City Attorney is currently being consulted regarding this matter.”
The official swearing in for Mayor-elect Patrick McGrady and city council members Melvin Taylor, Sandra Landbeck, and Tim Lindecamp is scheduled during the Monday, November 9 city council meeting. It remains unclear if the Smith/DeBonis tie will be settled by Monday or if a tie-breaker or even a run-off vote will be required to determine the fourth and final member elected to the city council.
Well….here’s the deal: “Smitty” was appointed by Bennett to complete his buddy Garner’s term.
Bennett lost (and we all know that “Smitty” didn’t do anything up there except what Bennett wanted).
Therefore, shouldn’t the incoming Mayor be able to appoint the tie breaker (with Council approval?).
Besides, if the City is forced to have a run-off election, it would end up costing us tax payers another $10.000 to have the election, and DeBonis would soundly defeat “Smitty” anyway.
Hey “Smitty”, why don’t you just be the big man that you are and let it go (Grumpy’s has your seat warm).
Love this post! And…….. Bennett demanded a recount.
Why would DeBonis soundly defeat Smith in a run-off election if he couldn’t do it in the regular one? It would be all about who has the more passionate backers that would be willing to come out again. Besides, when voters have to pick 4 names for Council they generally have 2-3 they care about and the last often is just a random pick. Like people picking answer C on a multiple choice test when they don’t know the answer, DeBonis having his name at the top of the ballot helped him. That won’t be the case in a run-off because it’s only 2 names. Besides, DeBonis and his ticket ran on lower taxes and spending so he should be the bigger man and save the taxpayers the coin unless that platform was only for when it didn’t affect him or his ticket mates personally.
I recently saw a report where another small town had a tie result. They broke the tie by drawing cards from a deck. The winner drew an ace and the looser drew a ten. No additional money was spent!
What a great way to let the citizens pick their elected officials, a game of chance. Hopefully they do the right thing and have a run off election.
That’s just damn stupid!
I never said I agreed with that approach I was just reporting what I saw. I also prefer a runoff election.
Enough of the Tea Party snark. Its an election not an appointment.The only fair way to break the tie is to have the incoming Mayor and Council vote up or down on Smith or DeBonis.
Most small towns have a tie breaker process codified in their policies. I’m surprised Aberdeen hasn’t done that. Flipping a coin or cutting cards is pretty common.
I suggest a fast draw duel at Robin Hood Paintball. It will give Aberdeen some more notoriety and give a local business some national exposure for free.
Give each candidate two days to practice and train. Issue identical paintball guns, walk ten paces turn and fire. The first one hit loses.
I agree with the paintball duel but I recommend it be held at Festival Park so the fire department can sell pit beef and local businesses can participate. If publicized properly, it would draw a crowd to downtown Aberdeen the likes of which has not been seen for a long time. If it’s as successful as I anticipate, it could become an annual event.
So is there an update on this?? Is there going to be a run off election or how is it going to be settled?
It appears that the new mayor will appoint someone to that City Council seat. That person will have to be confirmed by the City Council.
I suggest a duel since I know that Smitty can’t hit the broadside of a barn even though he was a police officer for many years.
That makes no sense, the citizens just voted for the two candidates and they both apparently were who the citizens wanted. Why should someone appoint a person that the citizens didn’t vote for? All the talk about fairness and council members not being a rubber stamp for the mayor this sure doesn’t fit. Let the people have another chance to vote and choose one of them.
Well, the possibility exists that the mayor may try to appoint the people who were tied for fourth (one or the other). We don’t know yet who he will appoint. Plus, the council has to approve the appointment, thus keeping checks and balances in-place. We shall wait and see.
How about a simple polygraph test? “Do you believe yourself to be qualified for this position?”
Has anyone brought up that Debonis has dui charges and open container charges on him which resulted in probation in the past? Sounds like a great person to lead our city right??
Have you ever had a beer and then drove a vehicle? if so then it could happen to you. does this have anything to do with leadership. probation have you ever had a speeding ticket and been put on PBJ same thing. people make mistakes. stop harping on things that people have done. Have they payed there debt to society?
So much for the open and transparent claims. What are your plans Mr. Mayor. Who are you appointing Mr. Mayor. Will you authorize a run off? This 4th council seat stuff should have been dealt with already.
Still no 4th council member and now the city manager bailed. This is a little counter productive, the citizens deserve better.