MARCO ISLAND, Fla. — After several months of deadlock, Marco Island City Council may finally be close to filling its vacant seventh seat.
The vacancy opened in November when Councilman Greg Folley stepped down. Since then, every vote to appoint a replacement has ended in a 3-3 tie, with no compromise in sight.
“Council hasn’t come to an agreement. I don’t think there’s any question—we’ve got a pretty high-quality pool,” City Manager Mike McNees said.
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The list of candidates recently grew by five when the city briefly reopened the application. It brings the total to 28 candidates. McNees said this is the longest the process has taken since he has been in office, though he remains hopeful a decision will be made soon.
“I guess there have been three times since I’ve been here that there’s been a vacancy—and each of those times Council filled the seat quickly,” McNees said.
Some residents believe the deadlock is rooted in deeper divisions within the council.
“It seems like they have a split within the council itself—where half, it appears, is supporting the residents, and the other half is more business-oriented,” said Christine Dowell, with Citizens for a Better Marco.
Dowell believes several qualified candidates have already come forward, and said she is skeptical that all council members are acting in good faith. She said there is growing support among residents to involve the state attorney general and call for a special election. A special election would incur extra costs.
“To be putting roadblocks up so that your candidate or who you’d like to have rises to the top of the cream—is disingenuous,” Dowell explained.
City Council is scheduled to meet again on March 17 for another vote. Some members say they are willing to stay all day until a decision is reached.
