Delray Beach’s political dysfunction showed itself again Tuesday during discussion of how the city should spend money from opioid litigation settlements.
City commissioners held a workshop meeting supposedly to create a policy. Delray Beach has received only about $260,000 from the national lawsuits, but that amount will grow. Having a policy matters because some payments will last for two decades, far outlasting the current commission. (The city has received $1.1 million from the Caron Foundation as part of a separate, local lawsuit.)
A policy especially matters because no other South Florida city suffered more during the opioid epidemic and became more identified with the proliferation of so-called “sober houses.” A New York Times headline in 2007, before the crisis, called Delray Beach “An Oasis of Sobriety.” Ten years later, the Times headline said the sober house industry had gone from “haven” for addicts to one that “profits from their relapses.”
Tuesday’s discussion, though, got bogged down at the start. Commissioner Juli Casale opposed creation of a committee to advise the city on how to spend the money; Commissioner Angela Burns favored it. Mayor Tom Carney said, “I have a lot of questions.” He called the policy “loosey-goosey.” Commissioners Rob Long and Thomas Markert were absent.
Carney shifted the conversation to where the city is keeping the settlement payments—are they in separate accounts? He also asked why the money is not in interest-bearing accounts. In this case, Chief Financial Officer Hugh Dunkley told the commission that the state has not made clear whether cities can invest settlement money that way.
Casale asked why the city isn’t taking more from its reserve fund to invest, to which Dunkley replied, “That is a separate and distinct conversation.” Well, yes. Casale later said debate about the policy “shouldn’t be this complicated.”
But this is Delray Beach, where almost anything can get complicated and political. Fortunately, Assistant City Manager Frank Oris eventually brought the discussion in for a landing.
For now, staff will gather a committee that includes fire and police representatives to decide what Delray Beach can do with money already received. From the sound of it, Delray Beach will direct some payments to city departments that respond to drug addiction and to outside agencies that seek to prevent and treat it. A long-term policy will go before the commission at its Oct. 15 meeting, when Long and Markert will be present.
It can be too easy to forget how far Delray Beach has come since sober houses—which sleazy investors picked up cheap after the real estate crash—were churning and dumping patients after maxing out their insurance. Opioids “remains a focus” for first responders and code enforcement, Moore said, but it has “dissipated quite a bit.”
Boca closer to selecting partner for downtown campus
Boca Raton took another step Tuesday toward selection of a private company to help develop a new downtown “campus” around City Hall tied to the Brightline station.
City council members created a new “cone of silence” policy in the procurement code. It will govern how and when bidders may communicate with city officials.
The cone of silence takes effect once a proposal has gone out for bid. It is designed to prevent bidders from privately lobbying elected or appointed officials. It’s standard practice for local governments. Since 2011, Boca Raton has operated under the county’s cone of silence rules.
Why change now? Councilman Marc Wigder said the city’s legal department called it a necessary “clarification” after recent actions by the Legislature on the law governing public-private partnerships. If the city had stuck with the county policy, Wigder said, it could have been easier for a losing bidder to challenge a contract award.
Still, as I reported Tuesday, potential private partners already have approached council members. Brightline itself could make a pitch. Things are moving quickly.
Despite rumors to the contrary, the cone of silence does not apply to the public. Residents can communicate their thoughts to elected officials at any time. But if an official submittal has gone out, those officials won’t be able to respond until public debate on the contract.
Stuart City Council backs out of Brightline station deal
When city council members last month were defending the performance of Boca Raton’s Brightline station, Singer and others defended the city’s investment by saying that “everyone” in South Florida has wanted a station.
Maybe not “everyone.”
On Monday, the Stuart City Commission backed off a commitment for a station. By a 3-2 vote, the commission cancelled the ground lease for the station and garage and revoked an agreement covering who would pay for the project. The city and Martin County had pledged to pay half of the estimated $60 million.
According to news reports, two new commissioners were elected on Aug. 20. They joined with the holdover who opposed the station. Martin County long has been much more anti-growth than the rest of South Florida. The new commissioners reflect fears that growth around the station could alter the town of roughly 20,000 people.
Monday’s meeting lasted nearly eight hours, with speakers on both sides of the issue. Unless commission sentiment shifts, the only option for a Treasure Coast station will be St. Lucie County, which has had discussions with the city of Fort Pierce. No proposal has emerged.
Boca City Council approves 2025 budget
There was a long debate in Delray Beach about next year’s city budget. There was no debate in Boca Raton.
On Monday, city council members approved an operating budget of roughly $244 million for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. That’s an increase of $22 million. Though the tax rate won’t change, property owners will pay more because of higher value. Half of that budget increase is from new revenue.
Carney, Casale and Markert told the staff to produce a budget with no additional revenue. The mayor said he wanted to give property owners a “year off” from higher taxes. It remains to be seen whether the budget forecast will hold.
Of that $22 million increase, about $5 million will come from higher police and fire pension payments. Public safety pensions were a big issue a decade ago in Boca Raton but clearly have become less of a priority. About $6 million will come from higher police and fire salaries and benefits.
Roughly $2.5 million more will go toward new programs and positions. The city has budgeted almost $1 million for a Traffic Mobility & Connectivity Division. Another $300,000 will support the newly renovated Rutherford Park. And $200,000 will pay for police outreach to the homeless. On Oct. 1, a state law will ban sleeping in public.
