Delray Beach Police Chief Russ Mager has told city commissioners that failure to approve a new union contract is causing critical staffing shortages—and things could get worse.
First, a quick review.
The Police Benevolent Association has worked without a contract since Oct. 1, after the union and city could not agree on a new, three-year contract. In February, the union declared an impasse. The two sides went before a magistrate last month. Recommendations from that hearing should come in July.
In a May 15 email, Mager said the department has 15 vacancies among the 177 budgeted positions for sworn officers. A city spokesman confirmed that number.
Mager added, though, that the department is “processing” another five public records requests from the sheriff’s office, which is “typically the last step in their hiring process.” Among those are a 10-year sergeant and an 11-year K9 officer.
Based on similar records requests, Mager said, the department soon could be down “at least 25 officers.” That figure, he added, “does not take into account” 11 officers who are temporarily unavailable because they are on family medical leave, military deployments, or recovering from injuries. To cover the vacancies, “We are forced to backfill with reassignments and or overtime as needed.”
Because of the shortages, Mager said, “I have been forced to temporarily reassign officers from specialty units.” One of those units, community policing, “has been temporarily dismantled due to the staffing deficit.”
Mager said, “I am extremely concerned with regard to this next wave of 10 officers that (sic) will likely get hired for the upcoming (sheriff’s office) July recruitment class. Should this occur, I will again be forced to dismantle and or shut down entire specialty units to keep minimum staffing requirements for day and nighttime road patrol operations.”
Without the specialty units, Mager said, “We may have to consider farming out serious criminal investigations, to include and not limited to homicides, shootings, stabbings, rapes, robberies, sexual assault etc. as well as traffic homicides to an outside agency due to lack of resources available to conduct these types of protracted investigations.”
Mager concluded by saying, “This is not a doom-and- gloom email by any means.” It is, however, “the bitter reality of our current state of affairs, coupled with the pending loss of at least 10 more officers.” He believes that another eight officers “will be applying” to the sheriff’s office. “My goal is to have some kind of remedy sooner than later to address this public safety concern. I am not sure we can afford to wait until July for the impasse proceeding to be completed.”
Labor negotiations are secret, but one can reasonably assume that Mayor Tom Carney and Commissioners Juli Casale and Thomas Markert are on one side of the debate while Commissioners Angela Burns and Rob Long are on the other. The union endorsed Burns and Long in 2023. A year ago, it endorsed opponents of Carney, Casale and Markert.
When Carney and I spoke Friday, he said, “We always have normal attrition.” He noted that the union declared the impasse. He pointed again to the increase in starting pay the city has offered with other raises and blamed the impasse on older officers holding out for better benefits. Carney said the union hasn’t put the city’s offer to a vote of the membership.
Long reacted differently. “I’m extremely concerned for the safety of our residents.” So did Burns. She called the email “obviously concerning. It’s critical that we listen to the needs of our public safety departments and act with urgency to address this issue.” Markert did not respond to a request for comment. Casale has never responded when I’ve asked for comment.
If the commission doesn’t like what the magistrate recommends, it can impose a contract. But that agreement would last only until Sept. 30, the end of the current budget year. After that, the two sides would be back in the same place.
Emotions have run high. The union has accused the commission of trying to “defund” the police. Carney responded that the union wants to “defund” the city, because its contract demands would force cuts to roads, parks and “emergency services and safety initiatives.”
The commission split revealed itself at Friday’s annual police ball. Burns and Long attended. Carney, Casale and Markert did not. When Capt. Gary Ferreri accepted the supervisor of the year award, he asked the audience to lobby the commission. The audience applauded.
Carney remains unmoved. “I’m going to wait and see how this plays out.”
Improvements with Delray’s homeless
Things were lighter between the commission and the department at the May 20 meeting, when commissioners heard the latest on the city’s homeless population.
The department has been a leader on this issue since 2017, when former Chief Jeff Goldman hired Ariana Ciancio as its “service population advocate.” The move came after bad sober house operators began dumping patients onto the street after bleeding them of their insurance coverage.
That crisis has eased, but Ciancio still works with Ezra Krieg and other volunteers who seek to link the homeless with services and take an annual count of their numbers. This year, it’s 70, down from 106 a year ago.
Ciancio said the homeless can get lunch every day at Caring Kitchen, showers are available twice a week, and they can get laundry service. The goal is to get the homeless “to the next level,” meaning to a dwelling or a job or transportation to their homes out of the area.
Six police staffers take part in the effort. Ciancio said, “It’s miraculous what’s getting done.”
Delray permitting moves online
On Monday, Delray Beach demonstrated the city’s new online permitting service—a longtime goal finally realized.
Effective June 17, all permitting and licensing systems will go digital. According to a news release, a dashboard will let applicants “follow each step—plans review, comments, meeting notices, fee payments—in real time” from any device.
City Manager Terrence Moore said the new system resulted from extensive collaboration between the development services and information technology departments. The change should help applicants “exponentially.” And city residents can know that the dysfunction they see regularly on the commission dais doesn’t reflect the day-to-day operations of city government.
PFAS and water plant costs
Though the Trump administration has weakened rules for some “forever chemicals,” Delray Beach’s plans for the city’s new water plant will not change.
City commissioners heard in March that the price for the plant will be nearly double the original estimate, in large part because of modifications to filter out polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. They are used in many common household products but have been linked to serious diseases. They got the “forever” label because of how long they take to break down.
Moore noted that while the Environmental Protection Agency under Trump has lowered standards for some PFAS, it has kept Biden administration standards for others. And a future administration could restore all the standards.
On a related note, the city commission gets an update today on the national PFAS lawsuit. Delray Beach is a plaintiff.
A playground for all
The new, all-inclusive playground has opened at Patch Reef Park in Boca Raton.
Two years ago, the family of Jordan Ogman asked the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District to design a playground that would accommodate special-needs children like him; Jordan was born with a brain disorder so rare that it has no name. District board members then approved an update of the Pirates Cove playground.
As stated in a news release, the facility allows Jordan and others to pl›Ωay “side-by-side with their more able-bodied peers.” Doctors told Jordan’s parents he might not live past age 3. He’s now 9. Of the new playground, Jordan said, “I love it!”
