This is my annual post highlighting the major stories of this year in Boca Raton and Delray Beach and looking ahead to what will be big in 2026.
Downtown Debate
No issue was bigger in Boca Raton than the proposed Terra/Frisbie project for the roughly 30 acres around City Hall. Indeed, no issue has been bigger in Boca Raton since Mizner Park in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The city council, led by Mayor Scott Singer, put the plan on a fast track. Preliminary approval came in March, with final approval set for October. As details of the plan emerged, though, opponents organized under the name Save Boca and pushed back.
First came a petition drive to force a referendum on the project. Terra/Frisbie responded with major changes, to address concerns about Memorial Park and downtown recreation. Then, the council—with Terra/Frisbie’s consent—agreed to a referendum. Then, Save Boca founder Jonathan Pearlman and two Save Boca members qualified to run for the council.
Though the schedule has slowed, things are still moving quickly. Tonight, the Planning and Zoning Board will review the nearly 400-page proposed lease to Terra/Frisbie of 7.8 acres of public land. Under the original proposal, Terra/Frisbie would have leased all public land in the area. The master plan and lease go before the council next month.
Things will culminate in March, with the referendum on the project. Expect much campaigning on both sides. Voters also will choose a mayor and three of the other four council members and decide whether to approve bonds for a police station next to the Spanish River library. The Terra/Frisbie plan calls for private development on the current site.
New Head Owl
In March, Adam Hasner became the seventh president of Florida Atlantic University. Hasner emerged from a second search after the Board of Governors voided the first one, when the committee did not make Gov. Ron DeSantis’ preferred choice a finalist.
Hasner is the fourth former Republican state legislator—all with no background in higher education—to lead one of Florida’s 12 public universities. Issues confronted him quickly.
In June, the Board of Governors placed FAU on its “watch list” for poor performance on two key benchmarks. Hasner responded by directing money toward improvement. In September, FAU suspended three faculty members for social media comments related to the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Only two have been reinstated. But Hasner’s choice for provost drew praise from the faculty.
Mayoral Moolah
Spending on the race for mayor of Boca Raton—a job that pays $38,000 a year—almost certainly will top $1 million. Councilmembers Fran Nachlas and Andy Thomson had raised almost $700,000 through Sept. 30. A third candidate, Mike Liebelson, has joined them.
Why so much money? Nachlas and Thomson are very credible candidates with good fundraising networks. Because Nachlas has favored the Terra/Frisbie project and Thomson has opposed it, their matchup taps into sentiment on both sides.
Not So New Delray
The 2024 election brought a governing majority of Mayor Tom Carney and city Commissioners Juli Casale and Thomas Markert. The called themselves “Tom, Tom and Juli.” That coalition has fractured.
Carney and Casale regularly go at each other in personal terms during meetings over matters so seemingly small as committee appointments. This month, Casale and Markert rebuked Carney over his attempt to restrict money for the Downtown Development Agency. Carney clearly is frustrated that he can’t get majority support for tougher DDA oversight and for cutting the budget.
The coalition did hang together long enough to delay approval of a police contract so long that former Chief Russ Mager resigned after warning that the delay was causing officers to leave and creating staffing shortages.
Yet the city did move ahead this year on long-delayed projects, such as the water plant and the golf course. The city’s credit rating is the highest possible. As I have written, Delray Beach manages to succeed despite its politics.
Pride Meets Prejudice
In September, the state removed Delray Beach’s LGBTQ Pride intersection. It happened at night, as city officials thought they still had time to appeal.
Delray Beach dedicated the intersection in 2021. Though vandals had defaced it twice, the state had raised no concerns. Suddenly, the state said, such streetscapes were safety hazards, even though no data supported that claim. To LGBTQ advocates, it was one more example of discrimination from the DeSantis administration.
No Inside Job
Mark Sohaney became the first city manager in Boca Raton not to be promoted from within since the late 1980s.
Sohaney took over in September from George Brown, who has spent nearly half a century with the city and is serving out 2025 on emeritus status. In 2024, Brown succeeded Leif Ahnell, who began as manager in 1999.
Council members who favored Sohaney liked the idea of a new perspective. Sohaney had been a career naval officer whose final assignment was running the large base at Pearl Harbor. He has lots of experience overseeing big projects, and the downtown redevelopment project will be one of Boca Raton’s biggest, whether it’s Terra/Frisbie’s version or the city’s.
Here Comes Tallahassee. Again
The Legislature may ask voters in November 2026 to abolish the property tax or greatly reduce how much cities and counties can collect.
Even after many previous restrictions on home rule, this is the most extreme. Property tax revenue is the main financing source for local government. At this point, there is no discussion of any replacement for that revenue.
Also, the proposed constitutional amendments would prevent cities from reducing police department budgets. A similar restriction could apply to fire department budgets. Since police and fire consume more than half of the general fund budgets in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, the cities might have to impose massive fees to maintain levels of service.
Local officials are warning their legislative representatives of the potential consequences. Will they listen?
School Enrollment Warnings
New surveys showed drops in the number of children attending Palm Beach County schools. Campuses in Delray Beach are especially below capacity.
Three factors are causing this trend. Families now can receive private state school vouchers regardless of income. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has some families afraid to send their children to school. And South Florida has become much more expensive.
None of these factors will change soon. Education already is a big issue in Delray Beach. It could become one again in Boca Raton.
On Broadway
In September, Boca Raton spent $70,000 on a billboard near Times Square in Manhattan supposedly to recruit businesses. But Mayor Scott Singer seemed to make the promotion more about himself.
Singer, a Republican, appeared on Fox News and Newsmax programs to warn about the impending victory in New York of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist and mayor-elect. Singer’s pitch amounted to: Give us your huddled billionaires yearning to be free of high taxes.
Whatever the reception in New York, Singer’s message flopped at home. He made this pitch as opponents of the Terra/Frisbie project were complaining about overdevelopment. Some of those critics speculated that Singer was positioning himself to run for Congress if the Republican-led Legislature creates a more GOP-friendly district that includes Boca Raton.
Singer denied that he had anything but the city’s welfare at heart. He also posted videos of those appearances on Facebook.
Looking Ahead
There’s no way to underestimate the importance of Boca Raton’s March election.
If voters defeat the Terra/Frisbie project, the city will have to craft a different plan for a new city hall, community center and all the other public portions of the project. If the three Save Boca candidates win, the council be strongly anti-development, though the new members will have to balance that sentiment against property rights.
Either way, Sohaney and the staff could be overseeing a historic amount of public construction, if you add the police station. That assumes voter approval. Toss in having to cope with draconian property tax cuts, and you have huge potential challenges for the staff and council.
Nothing so consequential is at stake in Delray Beach’s election. One race already was settled. The question is whether Carney can get more support for his ambitious agenda.
Happy Holidays
My next post will be Jan. 6. Best of the holidays, and Happy New Year.
