County Commissioner Greg Hansen will serve on the county canvassing board as the commission’s representative for the 2020 election cycle, with Commissioner Charlie Ericksen as the alternate.
Ericksen agreed to the appointment “with crossed fingers, and my health and stuff in the next few months,” he said. Ericksen has been in poor health and had to miss a few meetings in recent months. He is eligible to serve on the canvassing board because even though his seat is up next year, he has announced he will not run again.
“It’s a very important job, Charlie has done it, we’ve had to do it, it’s a lot of time, but it’s very important to make sure there’s no questions about how the vote comes out–how the votes are counted,” Commissioner Dave Sullivan said.
The canvassing board meets publicly at the Supervisor of Elections’ office with recurring frequency as elections approach, then during and immediately after elections. The board oversees the process, from ensuring that voting and tabulation machines are calibrated properly to counting mailed-in and provisional ballots, among other duties. The board is chaired by County Judge Melissa Distler, who sits alongside a county commissioner and the supervisor of elections.
Boards rarely make news in the absence of voting controversies. That’s been the case since Supervisor Kaiti Lenhart’s tenure, starting in 2015. Under her predecessor, Kim Weeks, the board was a hub of controversy, though most–or all–of the controversies were largely the product of Weeks’s unfounded conspiratorial assumptions. Memories of those unsettled days echo in commissioners’ comments about the board to this day (and Weeks herself is still mired in appealing her felony convictions that stemmed from her time on the board).
“I have to say between Miss Lenhart and our county judge, she runs a tight ship and we’re in good hands,” Commission Chairman Don O’Brien said Monday evening as the commission was naming its representative to the canvassing board. But Lenhart may not serve on the board this year.
Normally the chairman of the county commission sits on the three-member county canvassing board. O’Brien is chairing the commission this year. But he’s running for re-election and has drawn at least one opponent in the Republican primary, disqualifying him from sitting on canvassing. Commissioner Dave Sullivan is also running for re-election. Though he’s not yet drawn an opponent, he is likely to.
Lenhart is also in a re-election campaign, though so far she has not drawn an opponent. If that holds, her replacement on the canvassing board won’t be necessary. But if she draws an opponent in the non-partisan race, she would normally be replaced by a county commissioner substitute. Nicole Williams, the government affairs director for the Flagler County Association of Realtors, would be that substitute. Williams served as Lenhart’s substitute in 2016.
Save Palm Coast says
No worries Hansen is gone 2020 also. 3 strikes -200 rooms for hotel, bings landing, and beachwalk. Plus highest property taxes in palm coast and traffic out of control.
He will join Sullivan, O’Brien , in 2020. They have done nothing but raise taxes and spend like drunken sailors.
We deserve better.
FlaglerLive says
Hansen opposed the Beachwalk development at Monday’s meeting.
YAPOS says
Hansen only opposed the beachwalk development on Monday’s meeting because he knew there was a consensus with the other voting commissioners. Hansen has demonstrated that he is not what Flagler County needs for representation. Hansen needs to be voted out of office. He never would have run for commissioner before his appointment because of the dirt in his closet. He only got re-elected because he was an incumbent. It is time for Flagler County to wake up and see that more of the same is going to only raise our taxes and keep us in a tail spin and prevent this county from moving forward. We deserve better!!!!!!
Linda Hansen says
@Yapos, this man is somebody’s husband, somebody’s father. He has opposed this development from the beginning because of the zoning change, the high density, and the damage it will do to the surroundings. And he has a life of service most will never see. Have the courage he demonstrates by using your own name. There is no “dirt” in his closet. He was very carefully vetted for months by Governor Scott’s staff before receiving this appointment and was selected because he was the most qualified for the job. He sat least has the courage to be truthful, while you hide and cower.
YAPOS says
Linda, We all know what got Greg appointed….his brother in law that is a Texas Senator pulled strings!! Yes, we all have read how contact was made to then Governor Scott by his brother in law who is a sitting Texas Senator aiding in getting him appointed to the board, and we are all smart enough to know how politics works and the ties to Jack Abramoff https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-politics-abramoff/convicted-felon-jack-abramoff-registers-to-return-to-lobbying-idUSKBN19E2JN is no secret! Please enlighten us, and connect the dots between Abramoff and Greg. Maybe this is what you meant when you said he had a life of service that most will never see. What is being hidden? Is it that you don’t want most to see because it is dirty? I am sure if you searched deep enough in your memory bank you will recall many things that you now want to pretend didn’t happen, or maybe it was all bottled up and you forgot to put the cork in the bottle :-). He may be a husband and a father but that does not dismiss or excuse his past and current actions. I said it before and will say it again, Flagler County deserves BETTER–he needs to be voted out or removed from office! Pour me another one……..Team Abramoff SMH There is deep concern with him being part of the election canvassing board in 2020!!!
Linda Hansen says
You are an idiot tossing about slander. Again, you have no idea of the screening and investigative process which took place over a year and a half before this appointment was offered. But why would you, when all you know is lies and slander? It sounds to me like you have poured yourself enough already.
And BTW, all these records are public. And there are no dots to connect. You don’t even have a clue and never did. I told you once that if you didn’t stop threatening me, that you would be met with legal action. I intend to keep my word.