Boca Raton’s special election in January will cost at least $464,000—and maybe more.
That’s because the city council last month scheduled votes on two Save Boca proposals in tandem with the Jan. 13 special election to fill a Florida House seat in northern Palm Beach County. Because Boca Raton includes no portion of District 87, the city must pay to staff all city precincts
An Oct. 31 email from City Manager Mark Sohaney said the election will cost $386,000 plus “new charges” that total $77,600. The tab may not stop there; Sohaney said the overall cost will be “at least” $464,000.
Council members could have saved the city most of that money by putting the votes on the March 10 ballot. Because many other cities are using that uniform municipal election date, the supervisor’s office already will have poll workers and other staffers deployed. Boca Raton thus will share what can be extensive out-of-pocket costs for the supervisor’s office.
That’s one issue with the council’s decision. The other is that the items on the ballot could have serious ramifications for Boca Raton, yet few voters likely will decide them. The ballot also may confuse voters.
In response to the Terra/Frisbie downtown redevelopment plan, which originally proposed a lease for all 31 acres around City Hall, Save Boca organized a petition drive. The goal was to gather enough signatures to require a referendum on the sale or lease of city land; Save Boca succeeded.
As a result, voters on Jan. 13 will see two proposals with identical language: “The Council shall not in any manner alienate from the public, lease or sell any land that is owned by the City of Boca Raton greater than one-half (0.5) acre, or any part thereof, except upon approval of the proposed action at a referendum election.”
Why two?
Because Save Boca obtained enough signatures to put the requirement into city code as an ordinance and into the city charter as an amendment. Any council could rescind or amend the ordinance. Only another referendum could rescind or amend the charter amendment. Save Boca members said they pushed for both because they didn’t trust future councils.
If both pass, a city spokeswoman said, “Both would be followed, and there’s no difference in how the rule applies.” The question would be how far the rule applies.
Would a vote be necessary, as city officials have warned, for renewals of leases with such non-profits as Florence Fuller and the historical society? Would a vote be necessary for the city’s many easements?
Save Boca members have dismissed such concerns without offering details. Given what could be at stake, as many voters as possible should decide. Now, though, that won’t happen.
Two council races last year on the uniform municipal election date drew turnouts of roughly 20%—above average for city elections in South Florida. Stand-alone special elections, however, draw far fewer voters. That favors motivated groups like Save Boca. In addition, the city can’t advocate one way or the other. It only can provide information, though individual council members can take positions.
In March, the mayor’s race and three of four council seats will be on the ballot. So will a vote on the Terra/Frisbie plan and on bonds for a police station. Turnout will be much higher than in January. Opposition to Save Boca’s proposals would have more time to organize. The city would have saved a lot of money.
Why, then, did the council schedule it earlier? According to Mayor Scott Singer’s assistant, the council had no choice. She cited language in the city charter that calls for a referendum on any amendment within 90 days of the petition being certified. That happened Oct. 2. The spokeswoman said Jan. 13 “most closely aligned” with the charter.
Councilman Marc Wigder agreed. “It was my understanding,” he said, “that we had to go with the first available date.” If Gov. Ron DeSantis had waited longer to call for the House election, March 10 might have been the only option.
As I read the charter, the council might have had wiggle room. The charter implies that it must be a city special election, not one for outside the city. Such a decision, however, likely would have angered Save Boca members, who speak often about the importance of a vote but want that vote to be as limited as possible. Save Boca had asked about getting their proposals on the ballot next month, but the deadline had passed.
Wigder, who opposes the charter amendment, acknowledged the problems with a January vote. He added, though, that the big vote will come in March when the public weighs in on the Terra/Frisbie project.
Thirteen-plus candidates pack Boca Raton’s March election ballot
As of Thursday morning, 13 candidates were in the mix for Boca Raton’s election, but the list wasn’t final even though the qualifying period ended at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
That’s because some candidates had to qualify by submitting signatures of at least 200 registered voters and pay the filing fee. Those signatures must go to the supervisor’s office for verification.
According to a city spokeswoman, all candidates who were still active Wednesday likely will qualify. If so, here’s how the races will shape up.
Council members Fran Nachlas and Andy Thomson will challenge each other in the mayor’s race. The two other candidates will be Mike Liebelson and Josh Joffe.
Seat A candidates will include former Planning and Zoning Board member Christen Ritchey, Michelle Grau and perennial candidate Bernard Korn. Wigder will run for another term in Seat B against Jonathan Pearlman and Meredith Madsen. Former council member Robert Weinroth will run in Seat D with Larry Cellon and Stacy Sipple.
I’ll have an update next week.
A proposal to make it harder to fire Delray Beach city managers won’t make the ballot
Delray Beach city commissioners will not ask voters in March to make it harder to fire a city manager.
Though there seemed to be majority support for such a ballot question at the previous meeting, Mayor Tom Carney and Commissioners Juli Casale and Thomas Markert last week opposed the proposal that Commissioner Rob Long had advanced last month to raise the threshold from a simple majority to a supermajority of four. Commissioner Angela Burns continued to side with Long.
Delray Beach had required four votes until 2014. That year, three commissioners who couldn’t get the fourth vote to fire the manager proposed the lower threshold. Voters agreed.
Carney explained his shift by saying that any decision to fire a manager would not be “willy nilly.” He could have looked two seats to his left at Casale for why that explanation—at least in Delray Beach—fails.
In 2021, Casale, then-Mayor Shelly Petrolia and then-Commissioner Shirley Johnson voted to fire City Manager George Gretsas. It happened with no public notice. Gretsas had been on the job only about six months.
Long said Carney’s “about-face” caught him “off-guard.” After Thomas Markert said he switched because he found that community sentiment was divided, Long used that reasoning to make his case that the public should decide.
After the initial discussion, the reliably pro-Casale South Florida Sun Sentinel editorialized against the change. Like Casale, the paper regularly criticizes Moore on specious grounds. The reliably pro-Casale Delray Gazette also opposed the change. Casale quoted from both last week.
Moore himself spoke, to quash rumors that he and Long had conspired to propose the change. Since Long must resign from next month because he’s running in next month’s special election for a Florida House seat, the idea likely won’t resurface for a while.
Delray Beach planners review first Live Local project
Delray Beach planners are reviewing the first project submitted under the Live Local Act.
Kolter has proposed 386 rental units for the roughly 12 acres at 2101 S. Congress Ave. Because 40% of the units would be designated as affordable, the project will not go to the commission for approval. Under Live Local, the only approval needed is from the staff.
Kolter bought the property, which has been the headquarters of Hardrives, 16 months ago for $21.8 million. The company proposes three six-story buildings and two five-story buildings. Amenities would include a dog park. The project is still undergoing staff review.
