Boca Raton will use Terra/Frisbie-friendly language in asking voters to approve the Terra/Frisbie project.
As I reported Tuesday, the original proposed wording for the March 10 ballot question emphasized all the potential benefits without mentioning any of the potential cost for work in the 30 acres around City Hall. The city pegs that expense at roughly $200 million. The proposed language said the project could bring “over $3 billion” in rent and revenue over the 99 years of leasing 7.8 of those acres to Terra/Frisbie.
City council members debated the wording past midnight during Tuesday night’s meeting. That came after many speakers—especially those with Save Boca—criticized the language. Ultimately, though, the wording changed very little and not in any meaningful way.
The new version omits the “$3 billion,” instead saying that the project would generate “rent and revenues to (sic) city for general uses and enhancements to city property, including: Preserving Memorial Park area, honoring veterans; Expanding public recreational and green spaces; new community center, City Hall, and police substation.”
In addition, the new version changes “residential and commercial uses” within the project to “residential, retail, office and hotel uses.” There are no details about each component of the private development on those 7.8 acres.
One reason for the lack of details is that the ballot item can’t be longer than 75 words. Another, though, seems to be that the council majority wants to present the project as favorably as possible. After this point, the city can’t advocate for approval, though individual council members can take sides.
Predictably, most pushback came from Councilmember Andy Thomson, the only council member who opposes the project. Mayor Scott Singer—especially—and Councilmembers Yvette Drucker and Fran Nachlas generally favored the original language that came from City Attorney Joshua Koehler. Nachlas is running against Thomson for mayor. Marc Wigder tried for a compromise with Thomson, though he voted with Singer, Drucker and Nachlas.
One question is why Koehler wrote the item as he did. Notably, Koehler said in an email to the council that he drafted the language after “extensive” consultation with Terra/Frisbie.
Thomson said he ran the original wording through an artificial intelligence analysis, which rated it 8.5 to 9 out of 10 in terms of favorability toward the project. To make a point, he drafted language exaggerated in the other direction and got a 1.5 unfavorability rating. He did not suggest adopting that version.
Drucker twice criticized Thomson for not raising his objections during Monday’s workshop meeting. Waiting for the regular meeting, she said, forced the council to work on the fly under a Friday deadline for submitting the language to the supervisor of elections in time for the March ballot. Thomson said the proposed language got to the council during the holiday week, leaving little time to review it.
One also could argue that Koehler should have consulted with the council from the start, not Terra/Frisbie.
The debate got excruciating, with council members offering suggestions on almost every phrase. Each version required a word recount. At one point, there was talk of recessing and returning later Wednesday morning.
And as Wigder noted, the city and Terra/Frisbie still are negotiating the deal on which residents are supposed to vote. The council is scheduled to approve the deal on Jan. 20. If that doesn’t happen, the ballot language won’t matter, because the delay would nullify any voter approval in March. Koehler said the city would have to inform the public before the election.
Save Boca founder files motion to join lawsuit against ballot proposals
Save Boca founder Jonathan Pearlman has filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit that resulted in a judge invalidating the group’s proposals that had been set for a Jan. 13 vote. Even if the judge allows Pearlman in, though, it likely won’t matter.
One proposal would have created an ordinance to require a referendum on any transaction involving at least one-half acre “any part thereof” of public land. The other proposal would have amended the city charter to require a public vote.
Lawyer and city resident Ned Kimmelman sued, claiming that the proposals were faulty. Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Joseph Curley agreed. He issued a temporary injunction that took the questions off the ballot, thus cancelling what had been a special election on just those proposals.
Curley made that ruling at an emergency hearing Nov. 25. He later released his written opinion, in which he made clear how flawed he found the proposals.
Curley began by reiterating that the council acted too late in scheduling the vote. Under the charter, he said, the election had to happen no more than 90 days after the city certified that Save Boca had obtained enough verified signatures. The 90-day deadline had been Jan. 2.
More important, Curley found that the ordinance and charter amendment violated the Florida Constitution. Only the governing body of a local government, he wrote, can determine the conditions for a referendum. In Boca Raton’s case, that is the city council. “The electorate,” Curley wrote, does not have that power. The council itself set the March 10 vote on the Terra/Frisbie project.
Because an injunction is an “extraordinary” action, Curley wrote, it must meet four conditions. One is that the plaintiff would be likely to succeed on the merits. In addition, there must be a chance of harm, there must be no other remedy under the law and the injunction must serve the public interest. It is “difficult to surmise,” Curley wrote, how the public would not be harmed by approval of such flawed proposals.
Kimmelman first named Pearlman and Save Boca as defendants, then removed them. During meetings this week, Pearlman claimed that the city “threw residents under the bus” by not defending the proposals in court. According to Curley, however, Pearlman deserves the blame for the proposals not getting on the ballot.
Delray Beach City Commission candidates
Delray Beach City Commissioner Angela Burns has won a second term without having to go before the voters.
Burns was the only candidate to file in Seat 4. The race for the open Seat 2, which Commissioner Rob Long is leaving to run for the Florida House, drew three candidates. They are:
- Andrea Keiser, a land-use lawyer whose practice is based in Delray Beach
- Judy Mollica, a real estate broker and president of Friends of Delray
- Delores Rangel, a former administrative assistant in the city manager’s office. Rangel retired in 2023.
The election is March 10.
Boca double murder case delayed
The case against DeVante Moss, accused of killing two people in Boca Raton and trying to kill another, has been delayed until April 6.
A status hearing this week was cancelled. Moss faces two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder and one count of illegally possessing a firearm as a felon. The incident took place at an oceanfront hotel in September 2024.
