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Following repeated email inquires from VoxPopuli about the accessibility of election information, on Monday, Sept. 29, the town added Election Page links to the Government landing page on its website and to the information graphic. The Town News section also now has a pinned news release about the election at the top of its page.

Kathy Heart, town clerk, told VoxPopuli in a Monday email that the elections information was on the Town Clerk’s page, which she described as “currently a work in progress.” She added, “If anyone types in Election at the search it comes right up.”  

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Pressed multiple times about whether the election information provided was adequate and if the site changes reflected acknowledgment that it was not adequate, Town Manager Elise Hui told VoxPopuli via email, “We have not stated that the existing election information was inadequate. In fact, election details are easily accessible by typing “election” into the website’s search bar. That said, we are always open to improving the site’s functionality. Kathy made additional adjustments based on your input, and we remain committed to making further improvements based on user feedback.”

Oakland has a history of canceling municipal elections because incumbents are unopposed. Former mayor Kathy Stark held her position for nearly 20 years without facing an opponent. Former commissioner Rick Polland was appointed in 2012 and served two terms before he faced a challenger for his third. He stepped down at the end of December, and now Commissioner Kris Keller, appointed in January to fill the seat, is running, currently unopposed. Vice Mayor Mike Satterfield and Commissioner Joseph McMullen were both unopposed in their last elections, in 2024 and 2022, respectively. In the 2024 election, no one ran for Seat 3 after Commissioner Sal Ramos stepped down to run for mayor.

At the time, residents complained that they did not know the seat was open and, specifically, that the town had not done enough to publicize its availability. When newly elected Mayor Shane Taylor opened up nominations to the town for the first time, 12 residents stepped up to apply. Nonetheless, Ramos was re-appointed to the commission and now faces a challenge from resident Anne Fulton.

"It makes it more difficult for residents to get involved if they can't find the information that they need to get involved, if they want to run for office as a for instance," University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett, PhD, said in a Tuesday phone interview. "It's best practice, particularly for smaller cities like we're talking about, to do their best to advertise the positions and to make sure that information on how to run is easily accessible."

Hui said she does “not believe the number of candidates [for Seat 3] was impacted by the accessibility of election information.” She pointed to advertisements with the qualifying dates for Seats 2, 3 and the mayor’s position that the town ran in the West Orange Times on Nov. 16 and Nov. 23, 2023. She said election information was also posted on the town’s Facebook page on Nov. 16 and Dec. 6 in 2023. Both the ad and the Facebook post, she said contained a link to election information on the town’s site.

She said that for the 2026 election, the town plans to likewise advertise on its Facebook page and in the West Orange Times.