Hundreds of voters signed petitions to recall Arthur Czyszczon after he sent bizarre texts to a constituent.
TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. — The effort to remove a city commissioner in Treasure Island faces a big step Tuesday, as it’s the last day Arthur Czyszczon can resign or face a special election after hundreds of residents revolted over strange texts he sent a constituent in September.
Back then, Rick Matthew blasted Czyszczon at a commission meeting for sending the texts that say he wanted to “wash” his feet and kiss him and his wife.
That led more than a hundred women in the city to send a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis asking him to remove Czyszczon from office, which got no response.
Susan Lovelady was at the commissioner’s meeting when she heard Matthew read the texts during public comment.
“I was shocked,” she said. “I think everybody in the room was very surprised. My initial reaction was, ‘So this is what you’re about. This is what you do in your spare time?’”
She began a recall petition, needing a few hundred signatures from voters in Czyszczon’s district, which the Pinellas Supervisor of Elections office confirms were certified last week.
In response, Czyszczon sued the supervisor Julie Marcus, city clerk Lisa-Marie Kennedy, Matthew and Lovelady. His lawyer says the texts aren’t legal grounds for removal.
“There’s nothing unlawful,” J.C. Planas said. “It’s an accidental text, that’s it. If he had grabbed his regular phone and texted, it would not have been misfeasance.”
“Misfeasance” is one of six reasons why Florida law says a local official can be recalled, which means a lawful act done in an unlawful manner.
Once Czyszczon was served notice, the recall signatures were verified, and he had five days to resign. The deadline to do so is Tuesday, but he’s not backing down.
“He’s indicated he does not wish to resign,” he adds. “And we are going to ask the appellate court to stay the issue of a special election while they review the ruling of the lower court.”
That district court judge said that Lovelady’s name as the chair of the recall committee was sufficiently displayed on the petitions and that Czyszczon’s texts from a city-issued phone were accepted as “misfeasance.”
If a special election does happen, Lovelady says he won’t run unopposed like he did last year when he won his seat.
“Someone will run,” she said. “There are people I’m sure will take that upon themselves.”
If Czyszczon in fact doesn’t resign on Tuesday, a local judge will set a date for the special election. His appeal could be heard by appellate judges as soon as next week.