As a finalist to become president of Florida Atlantic University, Adam Hasner said the university’s biggest spending priority was better pay for faculty members. However, as president of FAU, Hasner’s spending priority appears to be himself.
Hasner has hired a chief of staff. Todd Reid started March 3, one week before Hasner took office Monday. Reid’s salary is an eye-popping $300,000. For perspective, Chief Operating Officer Stacy Volnick—who sent the letter “on behalf of President-elect Hasner” offering Reid the job—makes $450,000 as one of the university’s top administrators. Volnick made roughly $100,000 more as interim president.
Hasner spent eight years in the Legislature as a Republican member of the House. As a finalist, though, Hasner said he would de-emphasize politics if he became FAU’s president.
Reid’s hiring seems to go against that pledge. Reid spent more than a decade as deputy chief of staff and state director for former U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. Like Hasner, Reid has no experience in higher education. After leaving Rubio’s staff in 2022, Reid worked in the Orlando office of Firehouse Strategies. The public affairs firm was founded in 2016 by people who had worked on Rubio’s failed presidential campaign that year. Most, if not all, Firehouse staff have worked on Republican campaigns.
According to its website, Firehouse’s services include, among other things, reputation management, data-driven message development, intelligent audience targeting, grasstops (sic) mobilization, high-profile crisis communications, modern media response, defensive/combative media training, and strategic media relations. Hasner most recently had a similar job—boosting the image of GEO Group, the private prison and detention operator based in Boca Raton.
In his welcome email, Hasner said, “My door will always be open.” I’m told, though, that getting to Hasner requires getting past Reid, who has been shadowing the new president.
Is a presidential chief of staff what FAU needs now? Hasner obviously thinks so. I emailed a question about the position to Hasner through the university’s media relations team. Here is Hasner’s response:
“Florida Atlantic University is a vibrant community with over 30,000 students, 4,300 faculty and staff, and spans six campuses along Florida’s coastline, from Fort Lauderdale to Fort Pierce. The management structure I have inherited from previous administrations has given me 11 direct reports in my leadership team, and each of these areas deserves attention and support.
“The role of chief of staff is common at many universities, including previously at Florida Atlantic. My chief of staff serves as a strategic advisor, overseeing key initiatives across the university, managing the operations of the executive leadership team, and driving institutional projects. This role also functions as a critical liaison between the president and senior university stakeholders, both on and off campus.
“We have tremendous opportunities at Florida Atlantic to help our students achieve academic and career success, recruit and retain high quality faculty, and enhance Florida Atlantic’s reputation and prestige, ensuring they match the remarkable energy and boundless potential of the communities we proudly serve. We have big goals for Florida Atlantic, and I am excited to have my chief of staff play a key role in helping us realize our vision and achieve lasting success for our students.”
Next steps in Boca city campus project
On the agenda for Tuesday’s Boca Raton City Council meeting is the interim agreement between the city and the chosen developer of the area around City Hall.
Most notably, the agreement gives Terra Group and Frisbie Group 180 days for “due diligence.” During that time, according to the memo from City Manager George Brown, Terra/Frisbie “will conduct in-depth studies, feasibility assessments and project refinements.”
Brown said the scope of that due diligence will be “comprehensive, covering critical aspects such as mobility and traffic management, land and structural surveys, environmental assessments, infrastructure capacity, financial feasibility, and regulatory considerations. Public engagement will also continue to be a top priority.”
In addition, “Rigorous financial analysis will be conducted to ensure project feasibility, requiring Terra/Frisbie to provide a detailed funding breakdown, ongoing financial reporting and proof of financial viability.” The agreement will create “a structured and transparent framework. . .to assess whether the downtown campus project is legally, financially, and operationally viable, and whether a formal public-private partnership would serve the best interests of the city and its residents.”
Under the agreement, either side still could back out. More likely, Terra/Frisbie—as the memo states—will “refine” its plan into an interim master plan that would go before the council the week of June 9. Changes to the plan will depend on what the due diligence finds and council “guidance.” Terra/Frisbie will pay the city $375,000 now and another $375,000 if the council proceeds.
After the interim agreement would be a master plan agreement. Both sides hope that could happen in the fall. I’ll have more after the meeting.
Townhouse project in Palm Beach Farms delayed
The developer of a townhouse project in Boca Raton’s Palm Beach Farms neighborhood has delayed the application.
Neil Haynie owns the site at 1700 Juana Road; it is home to a small commercial building. He seeks a land-use change and rezoning for a two-story, four-unit development, with the units selling for $2 million.
In January, the Planning and Zoning Board voted 4-1 to recommend approval by the city council. Neighbors, though, spoke against the project. They claimed that it would increase traffic and could allow other owners of adjacent lots—like those that make up the Juana Road site—to submit similar applications in that strictly single-family neighborhood.
Given the Planning and Zoning decision, the project could have gone to the council this month. But Haynie’s attorney, Ele Zachariades, said her client is “taking a pause” to “strategize and weigh our options.” More meetings with neighbors may follow.
Some neighbors said they preferred single-family homes. Zachariades notes, however, that because the site was seven small lots before being rezoned as commercial in 1973, absent that rezoning Haynie would be entitled to seven homes.
Originally, Zachariades said, the city had envisioned commercial development on all four sides of the traffic circle at Juana Road and Southwest 18th Street. Instead, only the site in question and the one across Juana Road—a convenience store and barbershop—have commercial uses. The site is in a kind of real estate purgatory.
The rezoning requires four council votes, not the simple majority of three. I’ll have more as events warrant.
Davis Cup coming to Delray Beach?
Delray Beach will bid to host a Davis Cup qualifying match in September.
City commissioners approved the move during Tuesday’s meeting. Submitting the bid will cost no money. If the city wins, the cost will be $75,000. The county sports commission will contribute another $75,000. The city also will have to provide security and other services during the event.
The Davis Cup is the World Cup of men’s tennis. In 2023, the city hosted a qualifying round of the Billie Jean King Cup, which is the equivalent event for women’s tennis.
