ALL RIGHT, ARI, THANK YOU. THE MAYOR OF WEST PALM BEACH, KEITH JAMES, IS SUING HIS CHALLENGER, CLAIMING HE DOESN’T EVEN LIVE IN THE CITY. OWNER RODNEY MAYO IS THE PERSON CHALLENGING JAMES FOR REELECT. JAMES WANTS MAYO THROWN OFF THE BALLOT AHEAD OF THE MARCH 14TH ELECTION. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER TERRI PARKER JOINING US NOW LIVE FROM WEST PALM BEACH. AND SHE HAS THE NEWEST DEVELOPMENTS FROM A HEARING HELD TODAY. TERRY. RIGHT. WELL, ON SEVERAL. AND THE QUESTION IS, HOW DO YOU DETERMINE SOMEONE ACTUALLY LIVE? FOR EXAMPLE RODNEY MAYO SAYS HE HAS TWO HOMES, ONE OVER HIS BAR ON CLEMATIS STREET AND THE APARTMENT. ALSO A BIG HOUSE IN LANTANA, WHICH HE SAYS HE USUALLY USES JUST FOR THE HOUSING OF HIS SEVEN DOGS. AND PLACE WHERE YOU CAN GET ON THE DOCK AND OUT HIS BOAT. SO RODNEY MAYO TAKES THE STAND TODAY TO DEFEND HIS CLEMATIS STREET ADDRESS, BRINGING IN HIS DRIVERS UTILITY BILLS, TAX AND OTHER DOCUMENTS THAT HE PROVES THAT HE IS AN ELIGIBLE WEST PALM BEACH RESIDENT. WE DID WHAT WE CAME HERE TO DO, WHICH WAS TO PRESENT QUITE A BIT OF EVIDENCE THAT MR. MAYO WAS NOT QUALIFIED. AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE VOTERS OF WEST PALM BEACH TO DESERVE TRANSPARENCY AND INTEGRITY. I THINK THAT EVERYTHING THAT WE PRESENTED AND JUST THE FACT THAT I’M HERE SIX, 8 HOURS A DAY AND I HAVE TEN BUSINESSES HERE AND AGAIN, THIS IS MY CLEMATIS, THIS IS WHERE I SPENT ALL MY TIME. MAYOR KEITH JAMES DID NOT TAKE THE STAND. HE FILED THE LAWSUIT SHORTLY AFTER MAYO, A WELL-KNOWN RESTAURANT OWNER, FILED TO RUN AGAINST HIM. HIS PRESENTED EVIDENCE THAT MAYO’S VOTER WAS THE LANTANA ADDRESS AND SAY MAYO CHANGED HIS DRIVER’S AND SOME OF THE OTHER DOCUMENTS AFTER HE DECIDED TO CHALLENGE JAMES. FOR MAYO, A FORMER MAYOR. NOW, MAYO TELLS ME THAT JAMES ACTUALLY NERVOUS AND RUNNING SCARED. THAT’S WHY HE FILED THIS LAWSUIT. JAMES SAYS, WELL, NOW IT’S JUST BECAUSE ACTUALLY IN ELIGIBLE NOW UP TO THE JUDGE TO DECIDE HE’S GIVEN LAWYERS FOR BOTH SIDES ONE WEEK TO PRESENT THEIR FINAL ARGUMENTS. THEN HE WILL DETERMINE WHO LIVES WHERE AND WHETHER RODNEY MAYO CAN RUN OR NOT. AND IF HE SAYS NO. THAT MEANS KEITH JAMES SAILS REELECTION WITH
West Palm Beach Mayor brings challenger to court in bid to kick him off the ballot
Keith James sued Rodney Mayo after Mayo filed to run against him in March election
The mayor of West Palm Beach was in court Tuesday trying to get the sole challenger to his re-election thrown off the ballot.Keith James is alleging Subculture Restaurant Group owner Rodney Mayo didn’t live in the city for six months prior to the upcoming March election and therefore is ineligible to run. Mayo, who was raised in West Palm Beach and has lived there his entire life, says he has two homes, an apartment above one of his Clematis Street bars and a house in Lantana where he says he mainly keeps his seven dogs and uses the dock for his boat.Mayo took the stand to defend his Clematis Street address, bringing in his driver’s license, utility bills, tax returns and other documents that he says proves he is an eligible West Palm Beach resident. “I think everything we presented and just the fact that I’m here 16-18 hours a day and I have ten businesses here — Clematis is my home and it’s where I spend all my time,” Mayo told WPBF 25 Investigative Reporter Terri Parker after the hearing. James did not take the stand. He filed the lawsuit shortly after Mayo, a well-known restaurant owner, filed to run against him on the last day of qualifying. Up until then, James had no challenger.”We did what we came here to do, which was to present quite a bit of evidence Mr. Mayo is not qualified. At the end of the day, the voters deserve transparency and integrity,” James told Parker.Lawyers have one week to present their final arguments and then the judge will rule whether Mayo may stay on the ballot or not.Related: New community group feeding people in need amid pandemicIf he rules against Mayo, James will sail to re-election with no challenger.
The mayor of West Palm Beach was in court Tuesday trying to get the sole challenger to his re-election thrown off the ballot.
Keith James is alleging Subculture Restaurant Group owner Rodney Mayo didn’t live in the city for six months prior to the upcoming March election and therefore is ineligible to run.
Mayo, who was raised in West Palm Beach and has lived there his entire life, says he has two homes, an apartment above one of his Clematis Street bars and a house in Lantana where he says he mainly keeps his seven dogs and uses the dock for his boat.
Mayo took the stand to defend his Clematis Street address, bringing in his driver’s license, utility bills, tax returns and other documents that he says proves he is an eligible West Palm Beach resident.
“I think everything we presented and just the fact that I’m here 16-18 hours a day and I have ten businesses here — Clematis is my home and it’s where I spend all my time,” Mayo told WPBF 25 Investigative Reporter Terri Parker after the hearing.
James did not take the stand. He filed the lawsuit shortly after Mayo, a well-known restaurant owner, filed to run against him on the last day of qualifying. Up until then, James had no challenger.
“We did what we came here to do, which was to present quite a bit of evidence Mr. Mayo is not qualified. At the end of the day, the voters deserve transparency and integrity,” James told Parker.
Lawyers have one week to present their final arguments and then the judge will rule whether Mayo may stay on the ballot or not.
Related: New community group feeding people in need amid pandemic
If he rules against Mayo, James will sail to re-election with no challenger.
