Joel EngelhardtThree who tried to run removed from ballot; next City Council gets to appoint next mayor.
In the days before Christmas, the Fourth District Court of Appeal lined up all the arguments it needed to rule with one word on whether to remove five candidates from the Riviera Beach March ballot.
The word came down on Dec 26: “Affirmed.”
The court stood by the Dec. 9 decision of Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Reid Scott. He ruled that state law says candidates can’t pay qualifying fees with debit cards. They must write a check from a campaign account.
The repercussions:
- No one is running for mayor. The two challengers to Mayor Ronnie Felder are out. And in a twist, Felder, who helped bring the lawsuit that ousted them, is out, too, because he paid his filing fee with a check drawn from the wrong bank account.
- Fercella Davis-Panier wins the District 5 seat. Incumbent Douglas Lawson is out.
- Two races are left: Incumbent Tradrick McCoy vs. Bruce Guyton in District 1; and incumbent Shirley Lanier against Cedrick Thomas in District 3.
What’s next: Once a new council is elected, it will appoint a mayor, City Clerk Debrah Hall said. The charter says that appointee serves until the next “general election,” scheduled for March 2027.
Applications for mayor are being accepted. Look for a Felder-Lawson faceoff.
Catch up quick: The five who paid by debit card and were ruled out by the courts are: Lawson and Madelene Irving-Mills in District 5, Joseph Bedford Sr. in District 1 and Kendrick Wyly and Kendra Wester for mayor.
- The three who sued to block them are Felder, McCoy and Davis-Panier.
Joel is a founder, reporter and editor at Stet News. His award-winning newspaper career spanned more than 40 years, including 28 years at The Palm Beach Post, which he left in 2020. Joel lives with his wife in Palm Beach Gardens. He volunteers on the board of NAMI Palm Beach County and the Palm Beach Gardens Historical Society.
