As November draws nearer, the people of Hollywood find themselves faced not only with a presidential election, but with local elections as well.
The vote to choose the mayor and the commissioners of Districts 2, 4, and 6 will be held on Nov. 8, the day of the national election. Additionally, a special election will be held for the unexpired District 1 seat on the same day, as Commissioner Patricia Asseff resigned in November of last year to run for mayor.
As of May 20th, six candidates for mayor have been announced but only four remain: Patricia Asseff, Joshua Levy, Jay Arthur Schorr and Eleanor Sobel.
Four residents have thrown their hats in the ring for the District 1 seat, two for District 2, two for the District 4 seat, and three for the District 6 seat.
Itzack Feldman, who had initially began campaigning for mayor recently switched to run for the District 1 Commission seat. Feldman, a vocal critic of the current commission, hopes to gain access to the parts of Hollywood’s municipal departments he believes he has been blocked from. Having lived overseas and served for three years in the Israeli Navy, he intends to make improvements to the city as commissioner. “Now I want to serve the people of Hollywood,” he said.
For those who aren’t content to simply vote, there’s also the option of running for office, and it’s still possible to run for this year’s election.
The candidate qualifying period runs from noon June 20 through noon June 24, with qualifying papers to be accepted beginning June 6. In order to run one must be a registered voter and a resident of the district they’re seeking election in for at least six months before the qualifying period.
“All qualifying fees and paperwork must be received and complete by noon, June 24, 2016, for a candidate to be qualified,” states Kristi Reid Bronson, Chief Bureau of Election Records. “To ensure that the qualifying items are timely submitted, a candidate or someone on his or her behalf should hand-deliver directly to the Division or use a commercial express courier delivery service that delivers directly to the Division.”
Find a current list of Hollywood candidates listed on the city’s web site here.
Residents considering filing for candidacy can find forms here: http://dos.myflorida.com/elections/forms-publications/forms/
David Volz contributed to this report.
