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Ocoee District 1 Commissioner Scott Kennedy on Tuesday night publicly challenged Mayor Rusty Johnson’s earlier announcement that he would run for a fourth term in 2027, revealing a sharp divide in the interpretation of term limits as defined in the city charter. Johnson said he had based his announcement on information from the city manager and city attorney.
The charter language limits Ocoee commissioners to two four-year terms, a ballot measure that became effective in 2022 after residents passed it in 2018. However, it could mean that either commissioners who have already served two terms are ineligible to run again — or that 2022 reset the clock, and commissioners elected prior to 2022 could start fresh with two terms available to them.
Under § C-11 in the city charter, it states: “Effective with each first full term commencing following January 1, 2022, the mayor or a commissioner who has held the same district office for two full terms is prohibited from appearing on the ballot for election to that office.”
Toward the end of the March 4 city commission meeting, Kennedy pointed to that section of the charter, saying that he believed it meant “people are prohibited from appearing on that ballot who have served two full terms.”
If there was a question about interpretation, he said, it should have been brought before the full commission for discussion “in front of the people who vote for us and pay the taxes … not going to staff and getting them to make decisions and using them as cover for what we want to do.”
His comments sparked a disagreement between himself and the mayor with the city manager accused of being untruthful, the city attorney’s legal advice called into question and a call that courts should settle the matter.
A quick reminder of how we got here: At the Feb. 18 city commission meeting, the mayor announced that he was told the charter had been interpreted in a way that would allow him and Commissioners Rosemary Wilsen and Richard Firstner to run again if they chose. Johnson, who has been mayor since 2015, then said, “I am going to run again.” In a follow-up interview with VoxPopuli, he said he had always wanted to run again but had been told he was term-limited. City Attorney Rick Geller sent an email to commissioners (and to VoxPopuli after a clarification request was sent) that stated, “term limits do not include any terms of office that began before January 1, 2022.”
When asked to comment on the charter language later during the March 4 meeting, Geller said, “I don’t know how you could read this to say that that would include two full terms that commenced before Jan. 1, 2022.”
Kennedy told Geller that he “put the mayor in a bad position” because Johnson was relying on the attorney’s opinion as “law.” Kennedy added, “It’s your legal opinion, it’s not the law.”
Johnson appealed to City Manager Craig Shadrix to back up his recollection of events. “Did you not, with [City Clerk] Melanie [Sibbett], tell me that?” he asked, referring to his eligibility to run again.
Shadrix immediately said, “Let me just clear the air for everyone. The city manager does not make any interpretations based on election law.”
He then explained what he said he told the mayor.
“What I informed you of was the discussion we had earlier with the city attorney where we were talking about a request from another commissioner as to whether or not they were in their final term. I shared with you what the attorney shared at that time, and we went back and pulled the ordinance for when that language was placed into the charter. That’s all I have to say about that.”
Johnson shot back. “That is not the truth, sir. That is not the truth,” he said. “You can say it all you want. I’m not going to be arguing with you tonight … You sit me down in your office and told me exactly that. That’s exactly what you told me. You said — first words out of your mouth — You get to run again. You can sit there and say what you want, but that’s what you told me.”
Kennedy proposed putting a term-limits item on a future agenda for discussion. The mayor shut him down.
“I don’t have to put it on the agenda,” Johnson said. “If the law says go to court, then go to court. I’ll go to court with you. You …wanting to run [for mayor], I’ll let you run. I’ll run against you. Let’s go.”
What will happen next is unclear. After the squabble, Wilsen apologized for the “unprofessional” display by commissioners, with the mayor quietly agreeing. Then the commission swiftly shifted gears to open a special hearing.
