Broward County hired its school superintendent not just from Palm Beach County but from south Palm Beach County.
Peter Licata—a Broward native who also grew up there—is the school district’s south region supervisor. School Board Chairman Frank Barbieri represents Boca Raton and West Boca, so he has worked often with Licata. Barbieri sent the Broward County School Board a letter recommending Licata when the board picked him last week.
“He will succeed if the board lets him,” Barbieri told me. Indeed, Licata faces the sort of political turbulence that has plagued so many school districts in Florida recently but has still not infected Palm Beach County. Last year, voters rejected several candidates who ran only on ideology.
Last year, the release of a grand jury report led Gov. DeSantis to remove four of Broward’s nine board members. Those appointees—two of whom remain—led a push to fire former superintendent Vickie Cartwright, then rehire her, then fire her again before receiving the action plan they had requested from her. Some of Cartwright’s supporters said the governor had targeted Cartwright after her forceful defense before the Department of Education of the board’s decision to require masks during the worst of the pandemic.
Licata’s hiring underscores the differences between the two districts. Former Chief Financial Officer Mike Burke, who became superintendent in October 2021, has been a calm, steady presence. He’s popular with teachers and business leaders.
As a result, at the board’s July meeting Barbieri will propose extending Burke’s contract. Burke is in the mandatory state retirement program and had been set to leave in 2025. But changes to the program could allow him to stay until 2028. That’s how long Barbieri wants the contract to run.
Another contrast is the two districts’ construction record. Palm Beach County builds schools on time and/or under budget, as we saw with Blue Lake Elementary and the rebuilt, expanded Addison Mizner and Verde schools in Boca Raton.
In the last four years, 61 of Florida’s 67 school districts have hired new superintendents. Creating turmoil seems to be the priority of many new school board members. Perhaps Licata’s hiring means that Palm Beach County’s model of quiet competence makes more sense.
Rooftop pool bar—a very Boca problem
You know it’s Boca Raton when much of the discussion about a development project focuses on a rooftop pool bar.
That project is One South Ocean. It will be on the southwest corner of Palmetto Park Road and A1A. The council approved it in 2017, but the issue last week was a change in the site plan that would allow the pool bar.
Some neighbors objected because the pool would be only about 90 feet from some homes. When would the pool be open? Would it be staffed? Could One South Ocean have what City Attorney Diana Frieser called “amplified sound?” Other neighbors noted that One South Ocean originally had been a condo. Now, the developer says it would be a rental. Some Boca Raton residents have a thing about rentals.
One speaker responded that the projected rent at One South Ocean would range from $15,000 to $20,000 per month. Not exactly public housing. The developer’s attorney said the project still might be a luxury condominium. She added that residents deserve to enjoy their “amenities” well into the evening.
After much discussion, pool hours will be limited. The bar will not be staffed. The approval that requires four votes, not the usual three, was unanimous. As municipal government goes, this was the ultimate First World problem.
Boca billboard discussion moves forward
A proposal to update Boca Raton’s only billboard and give the city some of the new revenue has advanced, but approval is not certain.
Outfront Media made its pitch during last week’s city council workshop meeting. The new billboard, on the same site just east of Town Center Mall at Butts Road and Glades Road, would allow digital ads. The deal would last for 40 years, with Boca Raton getting at least $8.3 million over that time.
Chris Ashley, an Outfront vice president, called the idea “a win-win.” The company, Ashley said, would design the new structure with a style unique to Boca Raton. New technology would enable Outfront to run lots of public service announcements, such as those for missing children.
Council members had questions. Fran Nachlas wanted to know about political ads. She wouldn’t want them. Ashley said the city could restrict content. Nachlas also wondered why the deal had to last for so long. “Why not 20 years?”
Mayor Scott Singer was the most skeptical. Digital ads, he said, would be “more intrusive.” He also didn’t like the 40-year term. He dismissed the payment—roughly $200,000 a year —as insignificant. If Outfront applied to put a billboard there, he asked, would the city want it? “No.”
Boca Raton got the billboard when the city annexed the property 20 years ago. Singer pointed out that, by doing nothing, the billboard “could go away” when the current deal ends. “I’m not swayed,” he said.
But a majority of the council asked staff to negotiate with Outfront. The money, one said, “is not nothing.” The deal “makes that billboard go away,” Monica Mayotte said, and “brings it into the 21st century.” I’ll update when the issue comes back to the council.
Ahnell to prioritize finance
Boca Raton City Manager Leif Ahnell has made finance his priority. It might sound dull, but it pays off for residents.
When credit agencies give the city good ratings, borrowing money costs less. According to a news release, Moody’s Investors Service just upgraded the city’s revenue bonds from AA1 to AAA, the highest rating available. All of the city’s bonds now have that rating. As with upgrades to underground pipes, residents don’t see this work. But they benefit from it.
Detective in Owen case weighs in on execution
Did Rick Lincoln feel different last week after the killer he helped send to prison died by lethal execution?
“Not really,” said the former Delray Beach detective. Lincoln secured the confession of Duane Owen, who murdered 14-year-old Karen Slattery 39 years ago. The state actually put Owen to death for the murder in Boca Raton of Georgianna Worden—weeks later in 1984. As Lincoln acknowledged Friday, though, the cases had become one.
“I wouldn’t have cared if [Owen] had rotted and died in prison,” Lincoln told me. “But [the death sentence] was very important to the family.” Debbi Johnson, Karen Slattery’s sister, sat in the front row Thursday at Florida State Prison.
As the execution date neared, debate arose again over whether a sentence of life without parole brings finality for the victim’s family much sooner than decades of appeals. Lincoln noted that argument, but added, “My worry was that he was so devious, he would have been an escape risk.” While in custody at the Palm Beach County Jail, Lincoln said, Owen hid in a laundry basket and got down several floors before being found.
Owen’s attorneys got a brief stay of execution by claiming that their client was insane. That gambit failed, as it had failed in the Slattery case.
“He was far from insane.” Lincoln said. “He was cunning.”
