FORT LAUDERDALE – Gov. Charlie Crist announced on Monday that he has selected Dania Beach City Commissioner Albert Jones to fill the vacant District 9 Broward County Commission seat vacated by Josephus Eggelletion.
Jones, a longtime Republican, has also served as a member of the Broward County School Board, and is currently a South Broward Hospital District commissioner.
Crist made the announcement Monday afternoon at the Broward County Governmental Center in Fort Lauderdale, where county commissioners hold their meetings.
At the press conference on Monday, Jones said he will move into the district.
District 9 is predominantly Democratic and black. The district commissioner seat has been vacant since Sept. 23, when Eggelletion was indicted on federal money-laundering charges, and was subsequently suspended.
The announcement of Jones' appointment comes two months after Eggelletion’s Sept. 23 suspension, and nearly a week to the day after local leaders criticized the governor for failing to make a timely appointment to the seat.
Unless Eggelletion is cleared of the charges against him, Jones will serve for the rest of Eggelletion’s unexpired term, which ends in 2012. If Eggelletion resigns from his seat, a special election will take place for his replacement.
EJones@SFLTimes.com
Pictured above: Albert Jones, center, joins his wife, Carolyn, left, and Gov. Charlie Crist at a press conference on Monday announcing his appointment as a Broward County commissioner.
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