Robert Weinroth has dropped out of his Palm Beach County School Board race to run for Congress.
Weinroth, a former Boca Raton City Council member and county commissioner, will run in the Republican primary for District 23. He switched parties after losing his 2022 commission reelection bid to Marci Woodward, claiming that the Democratic Party had become too liberal.
District 23 includes Boca Raton, West Boca, northwest Broward County and coastal Broward south to Fort Lauderdale. The incumbent is first-term Democrat Jared Moskowitz, who succeeded fellow Democrat Ted Deutch. He resigned to become CEO of the American Jewish Committee.
Weinroth had been raising money to run for the District 5 seat on the school board. Frank Barbieri, who has been in office since 2008, declined to seek a fifth term. Weinroth withdrew just two weeks ago. Though he has a website to raise money for his congressional campaign, the Florida Division of Elections does not yet show him as a candidate.
In 2022, Moskowitz carried Broward County—his home—but trailed Republican Joe Budd in Palm Beach County. Weinroth may believe that, if he gets the nomination, his name recognition in Boca Raton will allow him to do even better. Moskowitz won by five percentage points.
Poor Democratic turnout cost Weinroth that commission seat. He switched parties not long after the election.
New candidate joins school board race
Before Weinroth left the school board race, a new candidate had filed.
Shannon Komorsky Scaglione teaches second grade at Sunrise Park Elementary in West Boca and taught previously at Donna Klein Jewish Academy. She graduated from Spanish River High School and received a bachelor’s degree in education from Florida Atlantic University.
When we spoke Monday, Scaglione touted her “25 years of classroom experience” that will make her “a voice for students, teachers and parents. It’s a perspective the board needs.” Scaglione also has served on parent-teacher organizations. Her two children attend Olympic Heights High School.
District 5 includes Boca Raton and West Boca. Scaglione lives “about a mile” outside the district. If elected, Scaglione said, she intends to move inside the district.
School board races remain non-partisan, but in 2022 Gov. DeSantis campaigned for Republican candidates who pledged to support his “parental rights” agenda. Though several Palm Beach County candidates supported that agenda, DeSantis didn’t campaign for them. All of them lost.
In contrast, Scaglione has received $1,000 contributions from Democratic state senators Lori Berman and Tina Polsky. Each represents portions of the county. Scaglione said they encouraged her to run.
The other two candidates in the District 5 race are Mike Letsky and Suzanne Page. Letsky’s website says he is “standing firm on parental rights.” He also pledges to address the issue of late school buses.
Letsky is a first-time candidate. Page ran against Barbieri four years ago and got 40 percent of the vote. Because it’s a nonpartisan election, voting will take place on Aug. 20, the day of the statewide primary.
Financing in Delray’s mayoral race
Tom Carney raised $43,000—and loaned himself $1,000—during the last three months of 2023 toward his campaign to be Delray Beach’s mayor.
At the other end of the spectrum is Shirley Johnson, who raised nothing in the fourth quarter.
In the middle is Ryan Boylston, who added $17,000.
Boylston is the current Seat 3 city commissioner. Carney and Johnson are former commissioners—Carney a decade ago and Johnson from 2017 to 2023. All are seeking to succeed Shelly Petrolia, who is term-limited in March.
This was Carney’s first fundraising report, since he filed in late October and fourth-quarter numbers weren’t due until this month. Boylston remains far ahead, with $128,000. Johnson loaned herself $20,000 after she filed in June. It remains her only significant source of money, and Johnson has spent most of it on a consultant.
The March 19 ballot will include the Republican presidential primary. Because the Florida Democratic Party only submitted President Biden’s name, there will be no corresponding item to draw those partisan voters.
Consultants wonder whether the GOP primary will attract voters who don’t usually cast ballots in city elections. Though city elections are nonpartisan, candidates could try to go after those occasional voters. Carney is a Republican. Boylston and Johnson are Democrats.
There are some indications of that partisan support for Carney. He got $1,000 from the committee supporting Palm Beach County Commissioner Michael Barnett, a Republican whom DeSantis appointed to fill a vacancy. He got $250 from Al Zucaro, a Republican who once ran the BocaWatch website.
Boylston’s latest total includes a $1,000 contribution from Elise Nail. She’s a former chairman of Old School Square Center for the Arts. Boylston is reminding voters that he opposed the commission’s decision in 2021 to end the group’s lease of Old School Square. Carney is allied with Petrolia, who voted with Johnson and Juli Casale to end the lease.
Delray’s city commission ballot
Speaking of Casale, she’s seeking a return to the commission in the Seat 3 race. She raised $13,000 between October and December—$5,000 of that in a personal loan. This also was her first report.
Nicholas Coppola is one of two other candidates seeking to succeed Boylston. He received $30,000 in the fourth quarter, bringing his total to nearly $70,000. Coppola’s total included $6,000 from people and entities affiliated with Delray Beach-based Ocean Properties. He also got $1,000 from Ron Book, one of Tallahassee’s most prominent lobbyists.
The third candidate, Anneze Barthelemy, showed $4,300 in her final report of 2023, including a $2,700 loan. Overall, she has raised about $18,000 and has spent most of that. Barthelemy got $250 from Sid Dinerstein, a former county GOP chairman.
Three candidates also are running for Seat 1: former Commissioner Jim Chard, first-timer Thomas Markert and Tennille DeCoste, a former human relations director for the city.
In her new report, DeCoste listed about $8,000 in donations and a $20,000 loan, for an overall total of $58,000. She also reported a $1,000 check from Book. Chard got $19,000, for a total of $40,000. Markert loaned himself $15,000 and seems to be self-financing his campaign.
Fundraising disparities in Boca city council race
There also are huge disparities in fundraising for the two Boca Raton City Council races.
Former Councilman Andy Thomson has raised $73,000 toward his campaign for Seat D, to replace term-limited Monica Mayotte. Brian Stenberg, who lost to Mayotte in 2021, has raised only about $2,000, including a $1,000 loan.
Because Stenberg has name recognition not just from that race but also from service on city boards, I asked whether he had decided not to seek contributions. Stenberg told me Monday that he is “knocking on doors.” Working with the consultant he used three years ago—who this time is working for Thomson—gave Stenberg voter information that he has kept.
In the Seat C race, incumbent Yvette Drucker raised $37,000 between October and December, much of it from two sources. She got $5,000 from people and entities linked to Compson Development, which developed Aletto at Sanborn Square. Drucker was part of the unanimous vote to approve it. Another $10,000 came from people and entities linked to CP Group, which is redeveloping the former IBM headquarters, now called the Boca Raton Innovation Campus.
Drucker’s opponent is perennial vanity candidate Bernard Korn. He has loaned his campaign about $5,000.
Delray to consider hiring new independent auditing firm
Speaking of Old School Square, one key element of the case to end the lease was a report by Delray Beach’s internal auditor at the time, Julia Davidyan. The report was very critical of the group’s finances.
It was not the first time that Davidyan had been part of a controversial decision. Her conclusions had led previously to the firing of two city managers—Mark Lauzier and George Gretsas. As with Old School Square, the firings went before the commission with very little or no public notice.
Davidyan no longer works for the city, but the commission still likes the idea of having an independent auditor. On the agenda for today’s 3 p.m. special meeting is the hiring of a firm—rather than an individual—to fill that role. Staff members have ranked the top three finalists from among the applicants.
Based on what I heard, Davidyan—fairly or not—had come to be seen not as independent but aligned with Petrolia and her commission faction. Petrolia, Casale and Johnson moved to fire Gretsas after just six months.
Boylston said the auditing firm’s mission will be apolitical and focused: “Minimize risk, and find money.”
