Election: Recount confirms Tucker's edge for fourth council seat

Tucker sneaks past Camposano-Robinson by 85 votes

By NICHOLAS AZZARA and I.M. STACKEL, Staff Writers
March 17, 2004

It was the closest margin of victory in Marco Island City Council's brief history.

Incumbent Glenn Tucker bested challenger Paula Camposano-Robinson by a mere 85 votes March 9 in the city's fourth election since incorporation in 1997.

Nearly 4,700 Marco Island voters voiced their satisfaction with three of four incumbents in the election.

When the results were announced at 10 p.m. on election day, Tucker's victory over Camposano-Robinson was so narrow that a recount by the Collier County Canvassing Board was required the following day at 1 p.m. in the Supervisor of Elections Office at the Collier County Government Center.

The recount put all doubt to rest, assuring Tucker the closely contested fourth seat.

Marco residents amended their city charter last year to elect the top vote-getters in any race. Voters gave incumbents Terri DiSciullo, Mike Minozzi and Tucker the nod, while choosing first-time candidate Bill Trotter to fill the other seat.

DiSciullo, an accountant, led all vote-getters with 2,951 votes; followed by Minozzi, a financial adviser, with 2,682; and Trotter, a business consultant, with 2,443. Incumbant Heyward Boyce, an engineer, proved less popular than his former fellow council members and failed to retain his seat.

Tucker said March 12 that he and Boyce were the most heavily targeted by the challengers, and that he wasn't sure why he got back in and Boyce didn't.

He thought it might be because Boyce hadn't campaigned as aggressively as he had.

An attorney and 26-year Marco resident, Tucker said he advertised more, and he and his campaign team went door- to-door.

"If we hadn't done everything we did, we wouldn't have won.

It was so close," Tucker said of the numbers.

Boyce said he was feeling a bit better about the results a few days after, but on election night, "my morale ped substantially."

He said he'd counted on the "accomplishments of the last four years," but observed that friends have advised him to "never run on the strength of a record."

That's a recipe for losing, he said.

Even so, a substantial number of people liked his work in the past four years, he said.

"I just missed it by 199 votes, the way I looked at it," Boyce said.

While he's said he will continue to serve the city in any way he can, he said he's going to take some time "to lean back on the oars before I become active again."

The 85 votes separating Camposano-Robinson, a health- care official who has been on Marco for more than 20 years, and Tucker was a scant .49 percent.

Florida state law mandates a recount whenever the final margin between candidates is less than one-half of a percent.

Tucker and Camposano-Robinson were among a handful of people on hand to witness the March 10 recount.

Each ballot included a series of logic and accuracy pretests, then the actual automatic machine recount. Collier County Commissioner Frank Halas said the tests are done to ensure the "utmost accuracy."

After about an hour, the official results were in, and the margin between Camposano- Robinson and Tucker had not changed.

"The results agree precisely with the logic and accuracy tests," Halas said. "We tightened parameters and that makes the confidence level go way up."

Collier County Judge Vince Murphy, a member of the canvassing board, said when the final numbers were revealed, they were "99.999 percent accurate."

Tucker said he was not particularly nervous about the close victory on the evening of the election, but did want to be sure that the victory was secure.

"I wanted to get certainty and know that the process was over," Tucker said. "All the challengers ran a hard campaign, so it was not a surprise that it was close."

There was some concern raised over problems with voting machines at the St. Mark's Episcopal Church and Mackle Park precincts. Collier County Supervisor of Elections Jennifer Edwards said in a race this close, it is not unusual to receive some complaints, but in this instance, nothing was officially reported.

"There was nothing wrong with the machines," Edwards said. "There may have been some confusion with the ballots, but no incident reports were filed."

In the event of machine inefficiency, Edwards explained, there is always a post-election audit. She said technicians are on hand at each precinct to troubleshoot concerns.

Both Camposano-Robinson and Tucker were satisfied with the accuracy and thoroughness of the process.

"It was a great race and I have no regrets," Camposano- Robinson said. "I didn't think it would be this close. I really learned a lot."

As the crowd slowly filtered out of the room after the recount, Tucker hugged and complimented Camposano-Robinson on her effort. Camposano- Robinson returned the compliments and congratulated Tucker.

Camposano-Robinson said she plans to continue working on Marco Island committees whenever possible, and she will run for one of the council's four vacant seats in 2006.

"I plan to get more involved in city advisory committees, and I hope to work with the city in any way I can," Camposano- Robinson said.

Of Marco's 11,384 registered voters, 41.1 percent, or 4,679, voted in the elections. Deputy Assistant Supervisor of Elections Gary Beauchamp said the turnout was relatively typical of Marco elections.

"There was nothing particularly unusual about the turnout," Beauchamp said. "Sure, we'd like to see a 60 percent turnout, but the people who wanted to vote got out there and voted."

The final tally

Here are the results of the Marco Island City Council election held March 9:

? Terri DiSciullo, 2,951

? Mike Minozzi, 2,682

? Bill Trotter, 2,443

? Glenn Tucker, 2,300

? Paula Camposano-Robinson, 2,215

? Heyward Boyce, 2,101

? Steve Stefanides, 1,495

? Will Markie, 985