As he runs for mayor of Delray Beach, Tom Carney appears to be channeling Donald Trump.
The former president has skipped all Republican primary debates. Last week, Carney informed Chamber of Commerce President Kae Jonsons that he would not participate in the group’s candidate forum on Tuesday. It’s usually the best-attended public campaign event in Delray Beach, drawing an audience of as many as 300.
In a letter, Carney claimed that the chamber “has become immersed in political favoritism and pretends that no one is supposed to notice.” The beneficiary, Carney claims, is City Commissioner Ryan Boylston, one of Carney’s two opponents.
As evidence, Carney cited a panel discussion at Wednesday’s installation of chamber board members. It featured City Manager Terrence Moore, Community Redevelopment Agency Director Renee Jadusingh and Downtown Development Authority Director Laura Simon. The chamber asked Boylston to facilitate the discussion.
Carney claimed that the chamber’s “insistence on supporting” (albeit not officially endorsing) Boylston began in 2021. That year, the chamber nominated Boylston for its Hometown Hero Award. Carney said, “I can’t see where this award has even been given again.”
Stephanie Immelman is the chamber’s executive director. She arranged and scheduled the panel discussion “to get the year off on a positive note” by allowing members to learn about the city’s most important public agencies. She chose Boylston “because he’s been part of all three,” having served six years on the DDA board. City commissioners make up the CRA board.
Immelman acknowledged, “The timing was bad. I should have waited until after the election.” As for the Hometown Hero Award, it happened only in 2021 because Delray Beach was dealing with the worst of the pandemic. The chamber doesn’t endorse candidates.
“I respect Tom,” Immelman said. “I hope he comes.” The chamber has more than 800 members.
Carney’s argument that the forum itself would be biased seems weak. Under the format, candidates draw questions from a bowl. The moderator is not a chamber employee. It’s Eric Roby, executive director of the local chapter of the Red Cross and a former local TV news anchor.
“Just because questions are in a bowl,” Carney said in an email, “doesn’t mean that they haven’t been shared with the chamber’s favored candidates.” Carney did not respond Wednesday to my question about whether he had evidence to support that allegation.
Immelman said, “We would never do that.” She added, though, that if the candidates prefer, the chamber might let them see the questions in advance. Chamber officials already tell candidates what subjects the questions will cover. Among this year’s subjects are affordable housing and economic and workforce development. “We do that so they can prepare.”
Carney, a Republican, may be trying to exploit the fact that the March 19 election is on the ballot with the Republican presidential primary. As a result, voters who rarely—if ever—cast ballots in a city election may turn out. Those voters may have little—if any—idea of city issues and personalities.
GOP turnout may drop, though, now that Ron DeSantis has quit the race. At one point, the primary seemed like a key matchup between Florida’s two most prominent politicians. In two months, Trump may have cleared the field.
Trump scheduled his own events to coincide with the primary debates. I’m told that Carney wants to hold his event next Tuesday, with the forum scheduled for 6-9 p.m., and that he is trying to persuade other candidates to skip the chamber event. The names I heard are former Commissioner Shirley Johnson, the third candidate for mayor, Thomas Markert in the Seat 1 commission race and former Commissioner Juli Casale and Anneze Barthelemy in the Seat 3 race. The chamber lists only Carney as a no-show.
I spoke with Markert on Wednesday. Though he was still planning to attend the chamber forum, Markert said he recently had heard about “a competing event” and wanted to learn more.
Underlying all of this is Delray Beach’s factional politics.
Many in the city’s establishment back Boylston and Nicholas Coppola, who’s running against Casale and Barthelemy. The smaller faction is led by Mayor Shelly Petrolia. She is backing Casale. Petrolia also supported Casale last year when she lost to Rob Long.
Two screenshots in Carney’s email to me about the forum came from former County Commissioner Mary McCarty and former City Commissioner Mitch Katz. Last year, McCarty was part of an attempt to make Long drop out. Boylston defeated Katz in a 2018 commission race.
Carney just got an endorsement from Jerry Taylor, who was a commission aide to McCarty. Taylor doesn’t live in Delray Beach. He lives in Boynton Beach, where he served as mayor.
Petrolia and Casale are Democrats. McCarty is a Republican. Factional politics cross party lines in Delray.
I asked Boylston for his response: “Tom has been a no show for years since he lost his last two races for mayor. Notably, he stands alone among former mayors—failing to offer guidance or support during the pandemic and refusing to stand with the community to protect Old School Square. It’s not unexpected that he’s avoiding participation in the community forum.” Boylston said Carney is displaying “erratic behavior.”
I asked Carney if he is trying to hold a competing event and get other candidates to attend. He did not respond by deadline for this post.
Barricades at Sanborn Square until renovation
Sanborn Square in downtown Boca Raton is due for a complete renovation in three years. Until then, the city will erect some barricades to enhance safety.
Assistant City Manager Chrissy Gibson said the small park has many needs. The fountain isn’t working. Tiles are falling off. Renovation is a priority because Sanborn Square is Boca Raton’s “free speech zone.” The park also could become more important as the city allows more development in that area east of Federal Highway, such as Aletto at Sanborn Square.
At a recent meeting, Gibson said the city will install what are known as Jersey barricades, low, rectangular structures that are cheaper than curved barricades but less aesthetically pleasing. For a better look, the city will add “low plantings.” The total cost will be $78,000.
Councilwoman Yvette Drucker went along with the approach, though she still wanted the city to be more “visionary,” to “think outside the box” and be “more progressive.” Gibson said the staff believed that more expensive options would be wasteful, since the barricades will be in place for only three years and the city can reuse the Jersey barricades.
Boca and Delray high schools outperform county and state
High schools in Boca Raton and Delray Beach outperformed the county and state in graduation rates for the 2022-23 academic year.
According to figures from the Florida Department of Education, two schools—Spanish River and Olympic Heights—had perfect rates of 100 percent. West Boca was next, at 99.6 percent, followed by Boca Raton High (98.3 percent) and Atlantic in Delray Beach (91.7 percent.)
The overall graduation rate in Palm Beach County was 90.5 percent—the highest among Florida’s large counties. Statewide, the graduation rate was 88 percent. For perspective, those rates were 87.1 percent and 86.9 percent in 2018-19. That was the last academic year before COVID-19 hit. The state suspended standardized testing rules during the worst of the pandemic and restored them for the 2021-22 academic year.
Palmetto Park Road bridge completion date moved—again
For cynics who believe that government does nothing right, a county construction project in Boca Raton continues to make their case.
In August 2021, work began to replace the small bridge on West Palmetto Park Road over the El Rio Canal. County officials said the project would take one year to complete.
If only.
Thirteen months later, county officials said the new completion date would be July 2023. They cited delays in obtaining construction materials.
That date didn’t hold, either. It became November and then December. Meanwhile, with traffic down to one lane in each direction, the work has created an ongoing bottleneck on the main road leading into downtown Boca Raton.
According to the most recent newsletter from County Commissioner Marci Woodward, who represents Boca Raton, the latest completion date is “spring.” In South Florida, that can mean anytime from February to May.
Woodward thanked residents for their “continued patience and understanding as we work to enhance our infrastructure.” I called Woodward’s office to see if she had any information to show that this date would hold. An aide said Woodward “does not have time” to talk.
