Florida Atlantic University has its new presidential search committee, and it’s already clear how different this search will be from the last one.

For one thing, Trustees Chair Piero Bussani did not pick anyone who served on the first search that the Board of Governors nullified last December. The new panel includes three trustees—Earnie Ellison, Sherry Murphy and Pablo Paez—the much-respected FAU Professor Kevin Wagner; the newly elected president of the student body, Stefan Andjelkovic; and Brian Poulin, who chairs the university’s fundraising foundation.

Every search committee must include one member of the Board of Governors (BOG), which oversees the state university system. In this case, it’s Craig Mateer. That’s notable because Mateer made the motion in December for a no-confidence vote in Brad Levine, the former trustees chair who named himself to chair the first search committee. Gov. DeSantis appointed Mateer to the board.

In addition, Bussani named Stephanie Toothaker, one of Broward County’s most prominent land development lawyers, to the board. Toothaker has her own practice. Previously, though, she worked for the Tripp Scott firm, which is heavily involved in Republican politics and is close to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Other local members of the board include philanthropist Michelle Hagerty—she and her husband donated $8.5 million to Boca Raton Regional Hospital in 2021—John Tolbert, former general manager of the Boca Raton Resort & Club (now The Boca Raton), and Robert D’Angelo, a vice president of the Boca Raton-based development firm Compson Associates.

Collectively, this lineup suggests to me that the Board of Governors wants to keep the committee from going what it considers rogue. It suggests that DeSantis could exercise more influence over the search. The governor appointed BOG Chairman Brian Lamb, who had to approve Bussani’s choice of Murphy to chair the search committee.

The choice of Paez is also interesting. He is a vice president of Boca Raton-based GEO Group, the private prison and security company. In 2013, the FAU trustees approved the company’s $6 million naming rights deal for the football stadium. The backlash was so severe, however, that the deal fell through and the president at the time resigned four months later. The stadium remains unnamed.

DeSantis has appointed almost all 17 BOG members, which enabled him to influence the search if he chooses to do so. The BOG must approve the trustees’ choice. State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues, who reports to the BOG, stopped the first search two days after the previous committee did not make State Rep. Randy Fine, whom DeSantis wanted to be FAU’s president, a finalist.

In an email announcing the committee, Bussani said, “My goal is for this committee to engage in a transparent and comprehensive search process that honors the varying perspectives that make Florida Atlantic University exceptional, while following the legal requirements that apply to the makeup of search committees.”

In addition, Bussani said he would announce “the formation of a dedicated group of individual faculty advisors” to “serve as a conduit between the broader faculty body and the search committee, providing the opportunity for robust faculty input on the qualities we are seeking in our next president.”

But of the 15 committee members, only two are FAU faculty or students. It appears that the Board of Governors has the committee on a leash of about four inches.

Mayor Carney calls sudden Crest Theater meeting

Tuesday night, as the Delray Beach City Commission ended its contentious discussion about who will operate the new Crest Theater classrooms, the consensus was that the commission would hear detailed proposals and decide at its June 18 meeting.

Early Wednesday morning, however, Mayor Tom Carney told City Manager Terrence Moore to schedule a special meeting for 12:15 p.m. today. The agenda item reads: “External Partnership Selection Consideration for Classrooms at the Crest Theater Building.”

Huh?

Wednesday afternoon, Moore would say only that Carney asked for the meeting. I emailed Carney seeking details but did not hear back by deadline for this post.

Whatever “consideration” might develop will not include the Boca Raton Museum of Art, for which Commissioner Juli Casale had been pushing hard. Executive Director Irvin Lippman told me Wednesday that the museum has “withdrawn.” Moore confirmed that the museum had notified the city.

Apparently, Carney, Casale and Thomas Markert weren’t ever going to consider hiring Old School Square Center for the Arts, which created Old School Square. Casale to the greatest degree, and Carney and Markert to lesser degrees, spent considerable time Tuesday making accusations against Old School Square Center for the Arts that are false or in dispute. I will have more about those exchanges in a later post.

Later Wednesday, Old School Square Center for the Arts also withdrew from consideration. Given those developments, it’s hard to imagine what might happen today. Delray Beach residents, though, can’t feel good about a commission that has tied itself in knots over a simple transaction.

Boca and Delray tax rolls increase as property values soar

It will surprise no one in Boca Raton and Delray Beach that property values continued to rise dramatically in 2023.

According to preliminary estimates, Boca Raton’s tax roll is roughly $36.6 billion—an increase of almost 8%. In Delray Beach, the overall roll is $17.6 billion—an increase of nearly 10%. Properties within the Downtown Development Authority rose at a rate of 8.1%. Owners within the agency’s boundaries pay a separate tax from the city’s property tax levy.

Though West Palm Beach is the county’s largest city, its tax roll is $23.2 billion, or barely 60% of Boca Raton’s. That comparison also reflects favorably on Delray Beach, which has 67,000 residents compared with 121,000 for West Palm Beach.

Property tax revenue makes up the largest share of city budgets. Despite the increase in value, state law limits the increase in annual taxable value for primary residences to three percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

With the added revenue, though, expect local officials to say that they didn’t “raise taxes,” meaning that they didn’t raise the tax rate. Even with Save Our Homes, most homeowners will pay more. Save Our Homes does not apply to anything beyond homesteaded properties.

Delray’s beach named best in the U.S.

In happier news for Delray Beach, the city’s beach was named best in Florida by USA Today.

The publication took nominations from travel writers, and a panel made the final choice. Delray Beach previously received a second Blue Flag designation for the quality of its beach.

Rob Long pushes back against anti-LGBTQ comments

Also in happier news for Delray Beach, City Commissioner Rob Long during Tuesday’s meeting pushed back against what he said were hateful comments posted to the city’s Facebook page about Saturday’s LGBTQ Pride Festival.

The event comes after the city repainted the Pride intersection that was defaced in February. Long said supportive comments outnumbered homophobic ones roughly 10 to one. The city, Long said, supports the LGTBQ community, and hate from “cowards” is “never going to change that.”

Boca prepares for centennial celebration

During Monday’s workshop meeting, city council members will get an update on preparations for Boca Raton’s centennial celebration next year.

The city has hired a marketing consultant. On June 24, the city will unveil a logo for the commemoration, which will culminate May 24-25, 2025. A website will inform residents about the city’s founding as “Boca Ratone.” Throughout the year, there will be centennial-themed events and ample sponsorship opportunities.