When four new Marco Island City Council members were elected in November, after voters ousted two incumbents, residents and city officials thought it would end the constant division and heated battles.

But in mid-November, six councilors couldn’t select a chair or vice chair after repeated tie votes. This month was no different — and ironically, it was to select a candidate to fill the seventh seat vacated by Councilor Greg Folley. He was required to resign Nov. 5 after an unsuccessful bid for the State House District 81 seat. (He lost in the August primary.)

“You people are useless, you are crazy,” a resident grumbled loudly from the audience.

Council will hold a special meeting at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 20, before its regular meeting to try again, a Jan. 21 meeting due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Greg Folley

The months leading up to the November election were divisive, with residents contending council didn’t listen to them, and businesses and restaurants pushed for a three-month seasonal trolley that residents opposed.

As a result, four newcomers won council seats Nov. 5, ousting incumbents Rich Blonna and Becky Irwin and filling two vacant seats after Chair Jared Grifoni termed out and Councilor Joe Rola opted not to seek reelection. Stephen Gray, Bonita Schwan, Deb Henry and Tamara Goehler were elected.

After the election, the city asked residents to apply for Folley’s seat. In December, councilors whittled 26 applicants to four and councilors each interviewed candidates separately before the Jan. 6 council meeting. At the meeting, they filled out a paper ballot to select the top candidate.

But that led to ties, with David Leaser and Teri Sommerfeld as the No. 1 choice with six votes and Daniel Bryant and Martin Winter tying for No. 2 with three. Acting Chair Erik Brechnitz asked if anyone would consider switching their vote. No one would.

Assistant City Attorney David Tolces urged councilors to continue the discussion to reach a consensus, but that failed. Brechnitz suggested interviewing Leaser and Sommerfield. They did and voted — only to tie again. Councilor Darrin Palumbo recommended they move to their second choice, Bryant and Winter.

“I’d like to try to get some resolution here,” Palumbo said.

Tolces repeatedly urged them to continue discussing the top two, but Brechnitz believed they might reach a consensus if they interviewed the second choices. That failed.

All candidates agreed that the water quality and the island’s waterways was the top issue, in addition to traffic, controlling growth and beach renourishment.

Schwan suggested they nominate others in order to move forward. “There’s no harm in it,” Schwan added.

Gray recommended looking at all 26 applicants again or letting residents vote with a special election, adding, “I would really welcome the community to make this decision.”

However, the city’s charter says the council shall fill a mid-term vacancy, Tolces advised them.

Palumbo suggested flipping a coin and Schwann suggested selecting the November election’s fifth vote-getter, Irwin.

City Manager Michael McNees pleaded with them to adhere to the charter, which they promised to uphold as councilors when they took the oath of office.

“What I believe is in play here is a lot of residual energy from what was a very divided election here on the city of Marco Island,” McNees said, noting it trickled down from a “very divided” national election. “… Everyone understands politics is not a team sport, but governance is a team sport. If you want to move forward for the good of the city of Marco, it is a team sport.”

He said he was appealing to them to make a selection that night.

“What was the oath you took? Was it to support one side of the contentious election that we’ve all just been through, or was it to advance the interests and support the application of the charter of the City of Marco Island?” he asked. “That’s going to mean maybe somebody’s going to have to compromise, but to leave this hanging and to make up a process that’s against the charter, I don’t know what the message is … I think if you’ll put in the effort, you’ll figure it out. There’s somebody in that pile that can be a council member.”

After two hours of haggling, Tolces agreed they were at an impasse and Brechnitz moved to the remainder of the agenda. During public comment, resident Lynn Nathanson offered to pay the $55,000 to hold a special election and recoup it with a GoFundMe campaign.

“The council seems to be at an impasse and it is the function of the council members to represent the interests of Marco Island,” Nathanson said. “Because the council may be unable to reach consensus in filling the seat, the decision should be given back to the voters … Because we feel so strongly about the Marco we love, if we do not reach the (GoFundMe) amount, it will be on us.”

In the end, councilors agreed to select a seventh councilor.

This story was published in The Naples Press on Jan. 17.