When all the numbers are in, candidates for mayor and city council in Boca Raton probably will have spent more than $1.5 million. Then there’s whatever Terra Development and Frisbie Group are spending to promote their redevelopment plan.
So, what will result from this historic spending? Start with two possibilities.
Inexperience rules. Candidates who have not served on the council or any city boards take over the council in today’s election. Fixated on their opposition to the Terra/Frisbie plan, they seek to fix what isn’t broken—perhaps by voting down every development project and seeking to blame Terra/Frisbie on the staff and shake up the leadership team.
This scenario is especially plausible if Mike Liebelson becomes mayor and Save Boca founder Jonathan Pearlman wins the Seat B race over incumbent Councilman Marc Wigder. Both candidates have taken the same confrontational approach, which helps to explain why those races account for most of the spending.
The status quo holds. This will happen if voters who oppose the plan—which also is on the ballot—look past that opposition and support Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas for mayor and Wigder in Seat B. Both support the plan. Both also have much more experience and longer records of civic involvement than Liebelson and Pearlman.
Councilman Andy Thomson also is running for mayor. He opposes the Terra/Frisbie plan, but his election also would maintain stability, since he supports the top staff. Thomson’s experience mirrors Nachlas’ and Wigder’s.
Liebelson reminds voters regularly that he isn’t taking contributions from developers. He has focused so much on criticizing “overdevelopment” that he stated a willingness to risk multiple lawsuits by seeking to overturn project approvals “not in the public interest.”
Pearlman started Save Boca to force a vote on the Terra/Frisbie project. However, even after achieving that in September, he filed to run for office and has turned Save Boca into a personal campaign vehicle. Pearlman is so obsessed with linking everything to the project—which would use land leased from the city—that he has called Mizner Park a mistake and criticized the land donation for Blue Lake Elementary School.
Beyond campaigning, neither Liebelson nor Pearlman prepared himself for serving on the council. During meetings, Liebelson repeatedly referred to council members as “commissioners” (there is a difference). Pearlman has claimed, incorrectly, that Boca Raton has enough financial reserves to finance the public elements in the Terra/Frisbie plan. Save Boca violated election laws when obtaining signatures for two petitions that a judge ruled were unconstitutional. Pearlman thus would approach the job with faulty knowledge of municipal law and finances.
Each also has little documented history in the city. Pearlman didn’t establish a homestead until late 2024 and won’t explain what he did before that, when he claims to have lived in Boca Raton. Liebelson bought his lot in 2020, but a Thomson mailer alleges that Liebelson listed his address as Colorado on a federal campaign contribution in 2022.
Before Liebelson entered last fall, the race for mayor seemed easy to predict. If the Terra/Frisbie project failed, Thomson would win. If it passed, Nachlas would win.
Liebelson has tried to pull votes from each, but especially from Thomson, whom Save Boca members have praised for his opposition to the project and his request that made the vote happen. A recent Liebelson mailer showed a doctored photo of Thomson and Mayor Scott Singer arm-in-arm. Singer has been the strongest supporter of the Terra/Frisbie project.
Though Liebelson did not participate in Save Boca’s petition campaign and does not have Save Boca’s endorsement, he has attached himself to the group. A mailer proclaims that Liebelson has been “in the trenches, fighting overdevelopment and working to SAVE BOCA!” The mailer includes testimonials from people claiming Save Boca membership.
Based on comments I’ve heard, a lot of early Save Boca supporters resent that Pearlman has made the group so political. How those Save Boca votes fall could determine the result. If many go for Liebelson, he could win. If they split between Liebelson and Thomson, Nachlas could win. If most stay with Thomson, he could win.
Recent Nachlas emails—“A Mom’s Perspective”—have aimed at the gender vote. Nachlas also has sought to counter Liebelson’s message by saying of the council, “We are not here to allow unchecked development.”
Thomson has noted the hypocrisy of Liebelson criticizing “variances” for developers when he sought and received a variance for his house. A Thomson mailer criticizes Nachlas’ support for the Terra/Frisbie project, calling it the “Fran Plan.”
Finally, there’s the partisan politics factor. Nachlas and Liebelson are Republicans. Thomson is a Democrat. Liebelson’s pitch for a property tax cut sounds like the rhetoric from Republicans in Tallahassee. A Thomson mailer—presumably only to party members—says, “Boca Raton has not had a Democratic mayor in over 30 years.”
Tonight, we’ll finally know what the next three years on the council will look like and whether the Terra/Frisbie project and/or the police station will happen. I’ll have much more in my Thursday post.
A Boca election financing update
And the spending continues unabated.
Between Feb. 21 and March 5, Liebelson put another $80,000 of his own money into the campaign. That brings his personal spending to more than a quarter-million dollars.
Thomson raised just $8,700 in direct money during that period, but he got $25,000 through a new political action committee. Like Thomson’s other committee, his campaign consultant runs it.
As for Pearlman, he put another $50,000 into Save Boca. That brings his spending just on Save Boca to about $200,000.
And last month, Pearlman created a new committee—Save Boca Now—with the state. That committee doesn’t have to report until after the election.
Likewise, the For A Better Boca Raton committee won’t report until after the election. That’s Terra/Frisbie’s PAC.
By comparison, the Seat A and Seat D council races are sedate, throwback campaigns.
In Seat A, Michelle Grau and Christen Ritchey are fighting for an open seat, so there’s no incumbent to target. With smaller budgets—Grau has raised $23,000 and Ritchey has raised $53,000—they are relying heavily on mailers, emails and social media posts, all moderate in tone.
Grau stresses her accounting background and opposition to the Terra/Frisbie project but doesn’t attack Ritchey. Though Save Boca has endorsed her, Grau told me, “I’m running my own campaign.” Ritchey stresses her 10 years of service on city boards, her endorsement by the police and firefighter unions, and her push for more accessibility to dog parks.
In Seat D, Robert Weinroth is touting his past service on the council and county commission. Larry Cellon stresses his long service on the Planning and Zoning Board and his many ideas, such as an artificial reef at Red Reef Park. Stacy Sipple mainly is touting her Save Boca endorsement.
Politics playing out in Delray Beach city commission race
Meanwhile in Delray Beach, the city’s competing political factions are competing for their preferred candidates in the Seat 2 city commission race.
On Sunday, the Delray Gazette emailed a newsletter again in support of Dolores Rangel. The Gazette is the mouthpiece of the faction that includes City Commissioner Juli Casale. On Monday, Mayor Tom Carney emailed in support of Andrea Keiser. His faction includes former city and county commissioner Mary McCarty, who went to prison on public corruption charges.
If you think it’s wrong for a sitting mayor and commissioner to openly oppose someone they might have to work with, you don’t know Delray Beach.
Judy Mollica, the third candidate, has cast herself as unaffiliated. Casale and Carney often go at each other on the dais, so Mollica’s Monday email said, “I believe our city works best when we approach one another with respect and civility.”
New campaign finance reports show that Rangel loaned herself $5,500, for an overall total of $30,000. Mollica has raised $86,000 and Keiser $170,000, much of that from herself.
But that’s only direct money. Keiser and Mollica formed committees—that can accept unlimited donations—at the end of 2025. Neither must report until after the election.
Delray takes another shot at preserving banyan tree on municipal golf course
On Wednesday, Delray Beach will make one more attempt to save a large banyan tree on the city’s main golf course.
Last month, the board of the Lake Worth Drainage District denied the city’s attempt to keep the tree as the course undergoes a renovation. Board members agreed with staff that if a hurricane toppled it, the tree would block the E-4 Canal and cause widespread flooding.
At Carney’s urging, Delray Beach appealed the denial and sent an arborist’s report that the tree is not the main flooding threat. Board members will hear the appeal at today’s meeting.
Correction
In an earlier post, I had quoted Joe Majhess, Jr., as saying during a council meeting, “Don’t fall for his lies,” in reference to Pearlman. Majhess said he was referring to “lies being circulated,” not to a person.
