At least for this reporter, questions remain
COMMENTARY
Editor’s note: Though the Press Journal and the island weekly reported that former Indian River County School Board member Karen Disney-Bromback filed at legal challenge to Shawn Frost’s residency qualifications and has now dropped her lawsuit, neither publication pursued the facts in the case. The following commentary includes links to several earlier published reports explaining more fully why questions remain about the veracity of Frost’s residency claims.
MARK SCHUMANN
Former Indian River County School Board member Karen Disney-Bromback Friday dropped her legal challenge to Shawn Frost’s residency qualifications to serve District 1 on the School Board.
With heavy backing for the Florida Federation for Children and the American Federation for Children, Frost defeated Bromback in the Aug. 26 Republican primary election. Disney-Bromback, who was serving at the time as the president of the Florida Association of School Boards, was targeted by the two groups because of the Association’s opposition to the expansion of Florida’s school voucher program. (See: Outside money dominated local School Board Race)
Disney-Bromback filed her complaint in Circuit Court Sept. 19, but Circuit Judge Cynthia Cox could not find room on her docket for even a preliminary hearing until January. Frost was sworn in as a member of the School Board on Nov.18. They say the right decision made too late is the wrong decision. By failing to act more expeditiously on Disney-Bromback’s complaint, Judge Cox may have done the voters of Indian River County a terrible disservice.
In a prepared statement Disney-Bromback said, “While I am deeply concerned for the integrity of the elections process I could not justify the investment of my time and energy on an expensive lawsuit. The (Supervisor of) Elections office is not an agency of compliance, they are an agency of record. The citizens must rely on the honesty of a candidate and if there is reason to doubt a candidate, it is up to the citizens to respond. Numerous incidences of residency fraud are occurring in Florida. Each candidate should be willing to undergo the scrutiny of a challenge in order to satisfy the public. A candidate who reports three different addresses in one election period is, in my opinion, casting doubt.”
In his own prepared statement Frost wrote, “My family and I are thrilled that Ms. Brombach has decided to accept the facts of law and I can focus on serving the residents of Indian River County as we work together to make our school system even better.”
Frost claims to have established legal residency in District 1 just weeks before the June 20 qualifying deadline by moving into living space above the garage in a home his father owned at the time 6700 77th Street. (See: Frost says he is living in garage apartment at his father’s house in District 1 ) Frost’s wife, to whom he says he remains happily married, and their children, continued to live in Frost’s homesteaded property in District 3.
In February, Frost filed to run for the District 2 seat on the Indian River County Commission giving the Supervisor of Election’s Office the address of 6350 65th Street. According to Indian River County Property Appraiser records, the property at 6350 65th Street is unimproved pasture land. (See: As District 2 county commission candidate, Shawn Frost claimed to be living in a pasture)
On Aug. 29, one of Frost’s neighbors contacted InsideVero claiming that prior to the Aug. 26 primary Frost continued to live with his wife and children in their homesteaded property on 38th Avenue. Though the neighbor preferred to remain anonymous at the time, they said, if asked, they would be willing to testify in court. (See: Neighbor says Shawn Frost has been living at his 38th Avenue home outside District 1)
In the course of less than one year, Frost has claimed to live at 1301 38th Avenue, 6350 65th Street and 6700 77th Street.
According to local blogger Bea Gardner, on August 28, someone writing from the same unique IP address (69.247.236.10) from which Frost had previously submitted comments to her site wrote “Still butthurt about being destroyed by both Wilson and Zorc in previous political ventures?”
The comment was posted to Gardner’s commentary headlined, “Frost might need GPS tracker…” The commenter gave as their email address, “fedoratip@buttmad.com.” An email inquiry from InsideVero sent to this address and to Frost@shawnfrost.com went unanswered. In 2012, Gardner lost to Tim Zorc in the Republican primary race for the County Commission District 3 seat.
Indian River Guardian 
Here’s hoping the “What goes around comes around” saying is true. Mr. Frost will, in the long run, get a taste of his own medicine. Better yet, he’ll have to answer to his own conscience instead of “the end justifies the means”. Public education is meant for all children, but all schools are not public. I agree with Disney-Brombach on the voucher issue – for what it is worth.
Something is seriously wrong with our system of government if an individual has to pay for legal representation out of their own family budget , The failure to meet both the letter and spirit of election laws has been on a steady downhill glide for years. Karen Disney-Bromach is right that the integrity of the election process has been assaulted by the sham election of Shawn Frost.
My biggest fear in the growing trend in residency fraud by unethical people seeking public office is that the situatiion is only going to get worse. The next step will soon be obvious in Florida because of the large concentration of snowbirds. If the residency issue is not correctly processed, it is now inevitable that some of our neighbors might be declined to vote in their home comunity and in Indian River County also. .