New court filings offer persuasive evidence that Save Boca violated election laws when it began gathering signatures for two ballot items.
On Aug. 5, the city certified two committees, each formed toward requiring a referendum on the proposed Terra/Frisbie downtown redevelopment project. One committee gathered petition signatures for an ordinance—a change in city rules. The other gathered signatures to amend the city charter, essentially Boca Raton’s constitution.
According to documents submitted by attorney Ned Kimmelman, however, the committees had been gathering signatures since late June—six weeks before filing with the city. Those signatures, Kimmelman said, thus were invalid and should not have counted toward the threshold for getting the proposals on the ballot. This month, a judge found the proposals to be unconstitutional and struck them from the Jan. 13 special election that the city council had scheduled.
Save Boca founder Jonathan Pearlman has filed to intervene in the lawsuit. In response, Kimmelman argued that because the lawsuit did not name Pearlman or Save Boca as defendants, neither they nor the committees are “indispensable parties,” so the argument for intervention is “baseless.”
At this point, intervention seems meaningless. The city has cancelled the Jan. 13 election. The deadline has passed to get the proposals on the March 10 ballot, when voters will decide whether to approve the Terra/Frisbie project. It may just be politics, since Pearlman is running for the council.
Interestingly, Save Boca didn’t file with the city as a political committee until Sept. 26. The city might want to check whether the group was trying to influence an election before that date, when it was still just a non-profit.
The exchanges between Pearlman and Kimmelman have become increasingly hostile. Pearlman has accused Kimmelman of “judge-shopping” to get a favorable ruling. Kimmelman withdrew his original lawsuit, then refiled after the council scheduled the election. A note, judge-shopping is not possible in Palm Beach County, where cases are assigned based on a blind draw.
Last week, Kimmelman sent a cease-and-desist letter to Pearlman, claiming that the accusations are defamatory. In his latest filing, Kimmelman said of Pearlman, “He needs a foil, and it is me. The villain.” In a text, Kimmelman said Pearlman is the one judge-shopping, since he wants the case moved from Judge Joseph Curley, and has “failed.”
As usual, Pearlman did not return a voicemail seeking comment. Neither did Save Boca Vice President Buffy Tucker or others who gathered the early signatures.
Terra/Frisbie gives updates on downtown campus plan
Terra/Frisbie offered updates and details to its plan during Monday’s council workshop meeting.
The company’s private development would be in seven buildings on the east side of Second Avenue. A 30,000-square foot grocery store would be on the first floor of the office building. It would be on the north end near the library.
Five buildings would combine residential and retail, with stores and restaurants also on the first floor. Terra/Frisbie proposes a 16-foot, landscaped median on Second Avenue. The company also wants to create what its attorney called new, “walkable” streets amid the private development. The seventh building would be a hotel.
Development Services Director Brandon Schaad told the council that the city would need to update downtown development rules to accommodate the Terra/Frisbie project. They would offer “more focus on design.”
Council members had little immediate reaction to Terra/Frisbie’s presentation, which included renderings. Fran Nachlas opined that she thought the contemporary design “needs to look more like Boca Raton.”
Terra/Frisbie partnership agreement goes to Boca P&Z Board
On the agenda for Thursday’s Planning and Zoning Board meeting is the proposed master partnership agreement with Terra/Frisbie. The document runs nearly 400 pages. I’ll have much more before the proposal goes to the council.
Boca City Council to discuss alternative to Save Boca ballot measures
On the agenda for tonight’s city council meeting is Mayor Scott Singer’s proposed alternative to what Save Boca wanted to get on the ballot.
Save Boca wanted a referendum on any transaction involving more than one-half acre of public land. City officials had claimed that such broad language would apply even to noncontroversial renewals of leases with non-profit groups and utility easements. Singer said Save Boca was unwilling to compromise on the wording.
Singer is offering an ordinance that would require the city to determine that any such transaction serves a public purpose, benefits the residents of Boca Raton and is “consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan and overall public interest.” The transaction would require two public hearings.
Save Boca likely will oppose the idea, saying that the council can’t be trusted. If the council agrees to introduce Singer’s ordinance, a second hearing will follow.
PBC School District rejects charter school bids
The Palm Beach County School District has rejected requests by three charter companies to operate rent-free on public school campuses.
Recent state legislation allows charter firms much more freedom to set up these so-called Schools of Hope. Critics called it the latest attempt by Republicans in Tallahassee to undermine traditional public schools.
The companies that sought to operate in Palm Beach County are BridgePrep, Somerset Academy and Mater Academy. Among the targeted schools were two in Boca Raton—J.C. Mitchell Elementary and Omni Middle—and four in Delray Beach—Carver Middle and Banyan Creek, Pine Grove and Plumosa elementary schools and Village Academy.
The district rejected BridgePrep and Somerset, saying that neither met the state’s qualifications to be a Schools of Hope operator. In addition, the district objected to Mater’s request to operate at Carver, Pine Grove and Village Academy.
In letters to Mater, Superintendent Mike Burke noted that, as an A-rated district, Palm Beach County does not rank as low-performing and that no district school received a grade lower than C. Schools of Hope are supposed to be at low-performing campuses. Burke also raised questions about whether the campuses have space for charters to operate and other issues.
Delray Beach Commissioner heading to Florida House
Former Delray Beach City Commissioner Rob Long won last week’s special election in Florida House District 90.
The seat came open when Joe Casello died in July. Long ran as a Democrat, and the district, which includes Delray Beach and Boynton Beach, leans Democratic. His Republican opponent spun conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. The 2026 session begins Jan. 13.
Last week, the commission deadlocked on appointing someone to fill Long’s seat until the March election. Mayor Tom Carney and Commissioner Angela Burns favored Yvonne Odom. Commissioners Juli Casale and Thomas Markert wanted Price Patton. The commission will try again at the Jan. 6 meeting.
Mayor Carney versus Delray DDA—again
Long surely must have been happy that he left the commission before last week’s meeting.
A consent agenda item about money for the Downtown Development Authority devolved into another episode of Carney’s campaign against the agency. Carney didn’t want to approve the full year of funding for the DDA to operate parts of Old School Square. The mayor referred again to the recent audit that found ways for the DDA to improve spending policies.
Markert exploded. Carney was “totally exaggerating the deficiencies” in the audit. Carney has “some kind of agenda going. We want to understand it. What is going on?”
Carney shot back that he was advocating for “financial accountability.” When Markert said the audit had found no evidence of fraud, Carney responded that the city couldn’t rule out fraud until the DDA produced all its records.
Casale then jumped in. Residents had contacted her, Casale said, asking whether Carney’s goal is to abolish the DDA. Casale suggested a conspiracy involving state Sen. Mack Bernard, who represents the city. The DDA was created by an act of the Legislature.
On the bright side, it was the last meeting of 2025.
Delray Beach developer charged with possession of child pornography
Delray Beach businessman and longtime civic activist Scott Porten was arrested Thursday and charged with 11 counts of possessing child pornography and one count of transmitting child pornography.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the case began in September with a tip that ran through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Investigators traced dozens of images of “prepubescent” children to Porten’s Dropbox account. Dropbox allows offsite storage of images, rather than having them on a personal computer.
The 63-year-old Porten owns Porten Companies, a construction and development firm. His volunteer record includes service on the board of Old School Square Center for the Arts, the city’s Site Plan Review and Appearance Board, the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Charter Revision Commission.
Bond was set at $10,000 for each charge. Porten is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 15.
