Inverness election canceled

By John Labriola - You may have heard I will not be a candidate for Inverness City Council this November. I filed my paperwork last week when I learned that nobody else was running. Although I knew I would not have much time to devote to a campaign, I felt that one of the incumbents deserved a challenger. I gave the city a check for the qualifying fee but asked that it not be deposited until the Friday qualifying deadline when there would be enough money in my account. Instead, the check was immediately deposited without my knowledge, and it bounced. I was informed about this after the deadline and was told I was disqualified.

For residents who were looking forward to a race, I'm sorry that there won't be one, but the truth is that even if I had won, I would not have been able to give the position the attention it deserves. My job takes me out of town several months out of the year, and I would have had to miss many meetings, which isn't fair to the public. Residents deserve a full-time council member, which I couldn't be. But in just two years, there will be another city election, and I'm hopeful someone — maybe you! — will step forward as someone we can all get behind.