The Florida Commission on Ethics has found probable cause to support charges against Boca Raton Housing Authority Vice Chair Angela McDonald.
At its Dec. 6 meeting, the commission voted to hold a public hearing on two of three charges that Gary Richardson—a former authority board member—filed against McDonald in December 2023. The charges reflect the split on the board over construction of Martin Manor, which will replace Dixie Manor at Glades Road and Dixie Highway.
The issue arose over McDonald’s wish to attend a training session in New Orleans. According to commission documents, McDonald raised money for travel expenses and asked the authority to pay the conference fee. Later, the authority paid all of McDonald’s costs.
The report concluded that McDonald had wrongly solicited donations from a crowdfunding source and had failed to disclose a gift of more than $100. Investigators found no probable cause to support the charge that McDonald received a gift of more than $100 from a prohibited donor.
When the commission finds probable cause, public officials can argue their case at a hearing—conducted much like a trial—or seek a settlement. When McDonald and I spoke, she wasn’t sure what option she would choose. “I’m seeking an attorney.”
Of the charges, McDonald said, “This was personal. They were filed to get me off the board.”
Richardson denied that accusation. The problem, he said, was that McDonald was simultaneously serving on the board while forming an entity called Tenants Association for Progress, Inc. (TAPI) that might have done work at Dixie Manor as a resident management corporation. McDonald is the only Dixie Manor tenant on the seven-member authority board.
“There’s too much co-mingling,” Richardson told me. TAPI, he said, “meets behind closed doors.” For McDonald to hold both roles is “too much power.”
The authority got little attention at Boca Raton City Council meetings until late 2021. Then Dixie Manor tenants and their advocates began showing up to complain that the authority wasn’t telling Dixie Manor’s 95 families enough about plans to rebuild the complex, where even the newest units date back 40-plus years.
McDonald and Richardson represent each side that formed with the decision to replace Dixie Manor. McDonald said the authority had not done enough to find new permanent housing for tenants who didn’t want to return and to find temporary housing for those who wanted to come back.
Richardson echoed other board members and former Executive Director John Scannell in defending the agency’s treatment of tenants. Richardson also disagreed with the successful push by McDonald and the group Developing Interracial Social Change (DISC) to acquire historic designation for Pearl City, including Dixie Manor. Opponents wanted DISC to wait, fearing that the designation could force federal review of Martin Manor, delaying construction.
Council members responded by adding two members to the authority board, supposedly to get a wider viewpoint. They also have reminded speakers that the authority operates independently from the city. Council members only appoint the board, which chooses the executive director. All the money for Martin Manor is coming from the federal government.
And Martin Manor is moving. The city has approved the site plan, which calls for 95 new apartments on the north end of the property with room for 105 more on the south end in a separate project. Executive Director Ashley Whidby said the authority is “near the end of the permit process,” with construction scheduled to start by March.
The schedule calls for completion by late summer or early fall of 2026. Whidby said issues related to the historic designation “have been resolved.”
Whidby also said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has approved voucher money for Dixie Manor tenants. They can stay on the south side during construction or move. After Martin Manor is done, they can return or use the vouchers to stay in their new homes.
Every two weeks, the authority updates residents on the move. The next board meeting is Jan. 29. I’ll have more as the ethics case progresses.
FAU search committee to begin interviewing applicants
Members of Florida Atlantic University’s presidential search committee this week will interview “selected applicants” to be the university’s next leader.
Word of that development came Wednesday from Piero Bussani, who chairs Florida Atlantic’s board of trustees. After the interviews, Bussani said in his email, “a list of finalists” will go to Florida Board of Governors Chair Brian Lamb “for review and approval.” That’s a recent policy change.
Bussani said trustees then will get the list of finalists and schedule campus visits for the first week of February with students, faculty and staff. After that, trustees will conduct their own interviews and make their selection. The full Board of Governors must approve the choice.
Since the trustees’ next scheduled meeting is Feb. 2, this timetable would require a special meeting. The Board of Governors has a Zoom meeting on Feb. 20. The next in-person meeting is March 25.
Under a recent state law, the public will not see the full list of who applied. Only the names of finalists become public. In addition, the public will not know which names—if any—Lamb rejects. It’s unclear whether he could send the list back to the committee and ask for more names. FAU’s is the first search under this rule.
Boca P&Z Board to discuss controversial townhouse project
On the agenda for tonight’s Boca Raton Planning and Zoning Board meeting is a four-unit townhouse project that is drawing opposition from potential neighbors.
The site is a half-acre property at Juana Road and Southwest 17th Street. It’s home now to a one-story office/retail building. The owner seeks a land-use change and rezoning that would allow multi-family residential.
That owner is Neil Haynie, who is married to former Mayor Susan Haynie. Some opponents have noted on social media the link to the family of “the disgraced ex-mayor.” In April 2018, Haynie was charged with seven counts of public corruption. In April 2021, she pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor and received probation.
One opponent posted on social media that the rezoning would set a “dangerous precedent” that could allow more multi-family housing in the surrounding, single-family Palm Beach Farms neighborhood. Another posted, “YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD IS AT RISK!” Opponents hope to gather enough petition signatures that the project would need a supermajority—four votes, not just three—for approval from the city council.
The staff memo, however, recommends approval with conditions. Example: To maintain privacy for homeowners east of the site, the townhouses would have fewer windows in that direction. Haynie also would install sidewalks and trees on the west side along Juana Road.
City planners say the land-use change is compatible with surrounding neighborhoods. The rezoning would provide a “reasonable transition” from the Residential Low category—single-family homes—to Residential Medium. Townhouses, the memo says, would generate less traffic than the current commercial use and look better than the convenience store and barbershop across the street.
I’ll have more after the meeting.
Boca approves development near Tri-Rail station
On Tuesday, the city council approved the mixed-use project proposed for roughly eight acres near Boca Raton’s Tri-Rail station.
The project will have 340 apartments and a small retail component. Council members were pleased that it will add 159 spaces for Tri-Rail commuters and that the developer would make improvements to reduce traffic problems on nearby Technology Way. The developer got higher density—roughly 40 units to the acre—because of the proximity to the station and will have to build fewer parking spots than normally required.
Because of the change to the city’s comprehensive plan, the proposal had to go to the state, which had no objections. Council approval was unanimous.
Boca schedules presentations by developers of downtown campus
Council members have set a schedule for presentations from bidders to redevelop the area around City Hall.
They will take place at the council workshop meeting on Jan. 27 and will start at 12:30 p.m., an hour earlier than usual. Each of the four bidders will get an hour. Council members can ask questions, and the public can comment.
On either Feb. 18 or 19, the city will host an open house strictly for the public. City officials will be available to answer questions about the proposals and what Boca Raton hopes to accomplish with the downtown government master plan.
