Fort Lauderdale City Attorney Alain Boileau gave Mayor Dean Trantalis details on how to proceed with challenge filed against John Herbst late Monday. Boileau delivered the news at a Tuesday afternoon meeting which was to be the debut of new Commissioners. Instead, only Trantalis and Commissioner Steve Glassman were on the dais.

On Monday, Ken Keechl and Chris Williams filed affidavits claiming Herbst does not meet the residency requirement in the City Charter. Section 3.04 allows any elector to file an affidavit “showing that a candidate has violated this provisions of this charter as to the matter of his or her election, or is otherwise unqualified to hold office, and the city commission shall take proof at such meeting and declare the results.”

The Charter requires a candidate be a Fort Lauderdale resident for six months. For Herbst to qualify, he need to reside in Fort Lauderdale as of May 12, 2022. According to the challenge, Herbst did not use a Fort Lauderdale address on his driver’s license and voter’s registration until May 31, 2022.

On Tuesday, Boileau said the challenge would be heard by the Commission once it had at least three members. The certification of new members Warren Sturman and Pamela Beasley-Pittman should come next week. Boileau said the hearing would be quasi-judicial in nature.

Keechl and Williams would present their case to the Commission. Herbst and his attorney Barbra Stern could offer a rebuttal. The Commission would then decide whether the challenge stands. In order to give all parties time to prepare, a hearing may not come until December.