Botched ballot delays announcement of who will fill port commission seat

A botched vote during Thursday's Port of Palm Beach Commissioners meeting has delayed the announcement of who will fill the Group 2 seat being vacated by Katherine Waldron, who was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in November.

When voting ended, it appeared that former Mayor Gail Coniglio and other applicants to fill the remaining two years of Waldron's seat had been passed over and that attorney Varisa Dass ― who was defeated during the August Democratic primary in her bid for the Group 5 seat on the panel ― had been selected.

But by Friday word came that something was amiss. In a statement to the Daily News, port spokesperson Yaremi Farinas said: “After the Dec. 15, 2022 Board of Commissioners meeting, upon review of the ballots, a discrepancy was identified in the balloting process. A commissioner did not completely fill out the ballot."

"To ensure an open, fair, and transparent process," the statement continued, the board will hold a special meeting at 4 p.m. Dec. 28 "for the purpose of completing the ballot process and selecting a candidate to fill the Group 2 vacant seat.”

Of the 10 candidates, the top three vote-getters were Dass, eight; Peyton McArthur, six; and Coniglio, four. Under the rules for completing ballots, each commissioner selected three candidates who were then assigned scores of one, two and three. The top-ranked candidate would receive a score of three, second-ranked, two; and third-ranked, one.

The successful Group 2 candidate will be sworn in and officially take office Jan. 5.

In an additional statement Saturday, Farinas, the port's public information officer and communications specialist, said: "at the meeting while the commissioners were voting on the item, port counsel was made aware that one commissioner refused to fill in three names once the ballot process had begun.

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"Port counsel spoke with the commissioner and told the commissioner not filling in three names could result in a challenge to the process by any losing party."

On Friday, upon further review of the ballots, "the clerk’s office immediately informed port counsel that the commissioner only filled out one candidate," Farinas said. She did not name the commissioner.

Coniglio served 10 years as mayor before stepping down in April 2021, and now chairs the town’s Planning & Zoning Commission.

In a statement to the Daily News on Saturday, Coniglio said: "I know that the port commission and administration have responded with a focus on ensuring a fair and transparent process. There will be a second opportunity to fill the open seat and the qualifying candidates await the outcome of their careful review."

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A longtime resident of the North End, she also served two terms on the Town Council, chaired the town’s Recreation Advisory Commission, was a former member of the Seaview Park Commission, and served as an alternate member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Dass was defeated in her bid for a Port Commission seat despite outspending her chief opponent, Deandre Poole, who went on to win the seat in the November elections. Dass, 38, received $55,026 in campaign contributions, including $16,025 in loans from herself. That was more than double the $21,725 that Poole, 41, raised.

McArthur is a former port commissioner who failed in his primary bid to unseat Katherine Waldron from Group 2 in 2020.

The Port of Palm Beach District, a political subdivision of the state, was created and established in 1915.

The port in Riviera Beach covers a land area that represents approximately 50% of the county’s land area. Incorporated municipalities lying wholly or partially within the district include: Belle Glade, Golfview, Haverhill, Lake Park, Loxahatchee Groves, Mangonia Park, North Palm Beach, Pahokee, Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Beach Shores, Riviera Beach, Royal Palm Beach, South Bay, Wellington and West Palm Beach.

The Port of Palm Beach is governed by a board of commissioners composed of five members who are elected at large by the voters within the district for overlapping four-year terms of office.

More than $14 billion worth of commodities move annually through the 165-acre port in Riviera Beach, generating $260 million in business revenue and $12 million in state and federal taxes. The Port of Palm Beach is the fourth busiest of Florida's 14 deepwater container ports. Its five commissioners meet monthly and earn $12,500.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Botched ballot delays announcement of who will fill port commission seat