Florida Atlantic University could have a new president by the end of the month.
That scenario could begin to unfold today, when the presidential search committee meets. According to the agenda, the committee will be “identifying/vetting applicants” to be FAU’s next leader. In plain English, the committee likely will choose semi-finalists. The meeting is closed to the public.
That’s because a recent state law keeps all applicants’ names private unless they become semi-finalists. A more recent change allows the chairman of the Board of Governors (BOG)—which must approve presidential appointments—to screen the semi-finalists before any become public. Board of Governors Chair Brian Lamb thus could reject any potential president he doesn’t like.
So despite pledges of “transparency” by Sherry Murphy, who chairs the 15-member search committee, the wider FAU committee never will know who applied—and who didn’t. The latter could apply to Stacey Volnick, who has drawn praise since becoming interim president two years ago. She would have strong faculty support if she sought the permanent job.
In addition, the final—and most important—phase of the search could be rushed. The Board of Governors’ next in-person meeting is Jan. 30. After that, the BOG has only a remote gathering on Feb. 20 before another in-person meeting on March 25. Ratifying the choice this month would allow the new president ample time on campus before summer break.
Other recent developments reinforce the idea that the trustee vote could be an afterthought. Of the 13 trustees, I’m told four are newly appointed. That amounts to 30% of the board that supposedly will have a say in picking the new president. To meet the stepped-up schedule, that decision would have to happen at a special vote, since the trustees’ next scheduled meeting is Feb. 4.
If the last four years are a guide, the new president will be a current or former Republican state legislator whom Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetted and considers ideologically suitable as he shifts higher education rightward. After John Kelly resigned at FAU, the governor tried to engineer the appointment of then-State Rep. Randy Fine, now a state senator.
Fine is one of Florida’s most right-wing legislators. He didn’t become a semi-finalist, after which the state stopped, and eventually tossed out, the search.
I’ll have more after the search committee meeting.
Delray firefighters suspended following Brightline collision
On Friday, the Delray Beach Fire Rescue Department suspended four employees, a move related to the Dec. 28 crash involving a department ladder truck and a Brightline train.
The suspensions, with pay, reached to Assistant Chief Kevin Green. He had been interim chief until the hiring of Ronald Martin. Also suspended were a division chief, a captain and the driver of the truck.
I’m told that the truck was on an emergency call. It was heading east on Southeast First Street, one block south of Atlantic Avenue. According to a video from the train and a statement from Brightline, the truck had driven around other cars stopped at the crossing gates and was on the track. A freight train had just passed.
Amazingly, given the damage to the truck, no one was killed. The three firefighters on the truck sustained injuries that required hospitalization. On Monday, a city spokeswoman said all were “in stable condition.” Twelve Brightline passengers sustained minor injuries.
The crash is not on today’s city commission agenda, but the topic likely will come up. Commissioner Rob Long told me Monday that he wants to focus on “how to prevent this from happening again.” That intersection lacks “quad gates,” which don’t give drivers a way to avoid the barriers.
In 2018, a “quiet zone” was established along the Florida East Coast Railway corridor in Delray Beach. Because of safety improvements at the city’s 13 grade crossings, trains don’t have to blow their whistles. As noted, however, some crossings have more improvements than others.
Long also stressed that department discipline is “an administrative matter, not something for the commission.” Four investigations are examining the crash. The suspensions likely will run until those probes are complete.
In a statement, Martin said, “I remain fully committed to learning from this incident, strengthening our procedures, and ensuring our firefighters have the training and resources needed to protect Delray Beach safely and effectively.
“This is the time to examine where we might have fallen short in the past and make the tough decisions needed to ensure we don’t continue to do so.”
More discussions on new Boca downtown campus
With very little notice, the Boca Raton City Council will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. tonight to discuss the downtown government campus master plan.
The city announced the meeting just before 5 p.m. Friday. That plan involves a public-private partnership to redevelop the roughly 30 acres around City Hall between Palmetto Park Road and the downtown library.
According to the agenda, the meeting is designed to give council members, potential bidders and the public “an opportunity to ask questions and have a dialogue” and to allow council members “to confirm their expectations and provide direction for how the city will proceed.”
Though the cost of the project could be almost $2 billion, almost no speakers have shown up at meetings to ask questions. The council hopes to pick a developer by May. The deadline for bidders is Thursday. The meeting seems quite late in the process.
Delray to discuss removing fluoride from drinking water
On the agenda for today’s Delray Beach City Commission meeting is a recommendation from Utilities Director Hassan Hadjimiry that the city stop adding fluoride to drinking water.
In November, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo advised local governments in Florida to discontinue fluoride use. Ladapo noted that fluoride, a naturally occurring element that prevents tooth decay, is available from other sources, most notably certain toothpastes.
This is the same Joseph Ladapo, of course, who wrongly said COVID-19 vaccines are ineffective and dangerous. Ladapo also supported the state’s ban on gender-affirming treatment, which a federal court has blocked.
Ladapo issued his fluoride guidance just after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the vaccine denier whom Donald Trump has nominated to be Health and Human Services secretary, expressed similar sentiment. In addition to the “revised guidance,” Hadjimiry cites “the financial burden of continued fluoridation” and the “safety risks of handling this chemical (sic) by Utilities staff…”
I’ll have more after the meeting.
Delray approves contract to examine code enforcement department
At its Dec. 17 meeting, the commission approved a contract with the consulting firm Calvin, Giordano & Associates to examine Delray Beach’s code enforcement department.
This issue began with the arrest of a former code enforcement officer on extortion charges, which prosecutors dropped. The city’s human resources department also will review code enforcement practices, but City Manager Terrence Moore said “best practice” also includes an outside review.
Predictably, Commissioner Juli Casale used the item as an excuse to rant about Moore. Mayor Tom Carney quickly stopped Casale, saying, correctly, that she was not speaking about the item up for discussion. Casale’s performance didn’t impress her colleagues, but it did draw a fawning editorial from the South Florida Sun Sentinel, which twice has endorsed Casale.
The commission would have acted sooner on hiring Calvin, Giordano, but Rob Long was absent when the commission previously deadlocked, 2-2. This time, Thomas Markert switched, so Casale’s vote didn’t matter.
Plea conference for second “Delray Defacer”
The plea conference for the man who defaced Delray Beach’s LGBTQ+ Pride intersection is set for Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. As I reported previously, the proposed deal would allow Dylan Reese Brewer to plead to only a misdemeanor for burning his truck tires across the intersection three times.
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, which helped to pay for the original intersection in 2021 remains opposed to the deal. Brewer had faced one felony and one misdemeanor charge. The council wanted Brewer charged with a hate crime. The intersection was first defaced two days after the city dedicated it.
Remembering Randy Perkins
Delray Beach resident Randy Perkins died Saturday at 60. Perkins founded AshBritt, the disaster relief company that many Florida counties and cities use after hurricanes. AshBritt also did the cleanup in New Jersey and New York after Superstorm Sandy in 2012. According to property records, Perkins bought his oceanfront home in Delray Beach 13 years ago.
