A DeBary city councilman filed paperwork Monday asking Volusia County to petition the circuit court to take over the process of carving the county into new voting districts.
It's a step that's never been taken in the 40-plus years the county has been ruled by a charter, and Volusia officials are at a loss for predicting what comes next.
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Even once they figure out how and to whom to file the petition, there are a number of sticky legal questions:
· The timing. It's unclear how much the missed deadline matters. The charter requires that two-thirds of council members approve the new boundaries, and the provision for petitioning the court could be interpreted as applying only if the council is unable to reach an agreement, which Eckert called "a deadlock-breaking mechanism."
· The spirit. The county blew its deadline only because it wanted to provide time for more feedback from residents. County Chair Frank Bruno is confident no judge would want to take over a process that took the county months to get this far just to approve a plan that's sure to leave someone unhappy.
"I don't believe any judge will rule that we weren't within the spirit of the law," Bruno said.
· A technicality. The petition that voters signed cited rules "set forth by the state of Florida," when, in fact, it's the county charter that governs this process. A judge could rule that the incorrect language made the petition misleading, though the county wasn't planning to push that issue.
"I don't think it should be dismissed on those grounds at all," said Koval, who said he asked county officials what the protocols were for such a petition.
