That Boca thing
Though it’s not news that Boca Raton is a moneyed city, new information shows how much Boca stands out.
The Metropolitan Policy Program of the Brookings Institution just released a study of income distribution in American cities. Researchers created six levels, from households with incomes of $200,000 and above to those with incomes of less than $21,443. The definition of middle class was $41,110 to $65,952.
In Boca, 13.3 percent of households are in that top level, nearly three times the national average. Another 19.6 percent of Boca households make between $106,000 and $200,000. The national average is 15 percent. A disproportionate number of households in both categories probably make closer to the high ends than the lows.
That concentration at the top means that Boca Raton has only a slightly higher portion of middle-class households than other cities—21.6 percent to 20 percent. The other number that jumps out is at the other extreme. Boca has just 10.9 percent of households at the bottom, compared to 20 percent nationally. Even to some Boca residents, it may be a surprise to learn of even that many poor households. (The folks at Boca Helping Hands, however, would not be surprised.)
If you’re looking to compare Boca Raton to other full-service cities, think Weston in Broward County, Stamford, Conn., Naperville, Ill., and Irvine Calif. Though it has a smaller population—about 70,000—Weston has a link to Boca: Arvida pretty much developed both cities.
Despite that bulge at the wealthy end, however, Boca Raton is far from the national leader. That would be not someplace in Silicon Valley—though many of those cities are near the top—but Bethesda, Md. Amazingly, 34 percent of households in that Washington, D.C., suburb make more than $200,000 a year. Almost 32 percent make more than $106,000. The amount at the low end is negligible.
Why? Over the last three decades, the lobbying and defense contracting industries in the Beltway have thrived. Lawmakers who once shared apartments with colleagues are making seven figures lobbying those former colleagues. In Arlington, Va., another capital suburb, nearly half the households make more than $106,000. When your government center gets richer than your innovation centers, something is wrong.
FAU District
There is new movement on the idea of turning Boca Raton’s 20th Street into a Florida Atlantic University student district and gateway to FAU.
The university and the city have been talking for a while. The city council made it a priority at the 2014 goal-setting session. Then things lagged.
Wednesday night, however, there was a presentation at FAU’s Ritter Gallery of renderings by architecture students showing what might be possible along the section of 20th Street that is east of the campus and west of Dixie Highway, spreading at least one block to the north and south and perhaps. In an interview, FAU President John Kelly—who loves the idea—said he wanted to hear first from students—“they’ll be the ones using it”—then from administrators. Those aspiring architects and students from the School of Urban and Regional Planning were happy to take on the project.
Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie told me that she and Kelly will meet “in the near future to move the discussion from the students’ vision to actual property owners and the community at large.” I’m told that the meeting could happen in the next two weeks. FAU has hired former Boca Councilwoman Constance Scott to be the liaison to the city. After the Wednesday night discussion, Haynie said, “the ball is in our court to move this forward.”
Cooper Town
In the 1980s, the cry sometimes among Republicans was, “Let Reagan be Reagan.” In Delray Beach, the cry is, “Let Cooper be Cooper.”
That would be City Manager Don Cooper, whom the city commission evaluated last week. All four commissioners— Al Jacquet left before the discussion—praised Cooper’s ability, and then told him to start showing more of it.
Mayor Cary Glickstein and commissioners Jordana Jarjura and Shelly Petrolia hired Cooper last November. Jacquet and then-Commissioner Adam Frankel were absent. They expected major change after Cooper started work in January. They have seen improvement, but not enough, though they balanced their criticism with an acknowledgement of the problems Cooper inherited.
“I am generally pleased,” Glickstein said, before adding that he thought Cooper had “underestimated the gravity of just about everything,” and thus had been “slow to respond.”
Glickstein, who owns Ironwood Properties, has had a private-sector frustration with the pace of government change since taking office in 2013. Glickstein noted that he and Petrolia had urged Cooper to hire a second assistant city manager. Glickstein said he wants to see the Don Cooper who so impressively ran the goal-setting session just six weeks after taking over. “You were in charge.”
Similarly, Jarjura said, “It’s unfathomable how (the city) has operated so long with the dysfunction we have. You have not had the team you need.” Petrolia called Cooper “the first guy willing to confront the issues.” Mitch Katz, who’s been the commission since March, told Cooper, “We want you to make the tough decisions.”
Cooper’s job got even tougher when the city’s auditor flagged ethical and possibly criminal violations related to purchasing. Then he had to oversee a switch in trash haulers, which so far has gone well. Cooper has the commission’s backing—“110 percent in support,” Petrolia —and a demand to move faster.
City Attorney
There was more disagreement when the commission evaluated City Attorney Noel Pfeffer, who has been on the job about six months longer than Cooper.
Glickstein said Pfeffer has done “a great job,” having “inherited a department in disarray.” Jarjura, who like Glickstein is a lawyer, pronounced herself “very happy.” Katz and Jacquet offered what Glickstein called “legitimate” criticism that Pfeffer sometimes hasn’t notified commissioners promptly about level developments.
Petrolia was the outlier. “I don’t have the confidence” in Pfeffer,” she said, based largely on complaints about how the attorney has handled negotiations over Atlantic Crossing. It will be interesting to see what happens when that issue comes back to the commission on Tuesday.
Randy Schultz was born in Hartford, Conn., and graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1974. He has lived in South Florida since then, and in Boca Raton since 1985. Schultz spent nearly 40 years in daily journalism at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, most recently as editorial page editor at the Post. His wife, Shelley, is director of The Learning Network at Pine Crest School. His son, an attorney, and daughter-in-law and three grandchildren also live in Boca Raton. His daughter is a veterinarian who lives in Baltimore.
