George Brown began working for Boca Raton on April 15, 1977, as a clerk/typist.
“Temporary,” he recalled. The city didn’t make him a permanent employee until July.
Talk about rising through the ranks. Forty-eight years later, Brown left his post Monday as city manager. He will stay through the end of the year as city manager emeritus, to help with the transition to Mark Sohaney.
Brown has much institutional knowledge he can share. Early in his career, then-City Manager James Zumwalt made him Boca Raton’s Mr. Fixit. Brown was the first code enforcement officer. Knowing the code led him to development regulation. He oversaw the sanitation department.
For most residents, the mayor and council members are the face of Boca Raton. Like almost all cities in Florida, though, the manager is the CEO. Everyone has reported to Brown except the city attorney. The manager and what Brown calls the city’s “terrific team” carries out the council’s policies.
As such, Sohaney takes over at a critical juncture. Residents are fighting Terra/Frisbie’s downtown redevelopment plan that a majority of the council believes is critical to Boca Raton’s future. If voters approve a bond issue in March, Sohaney will oversee construction of a new police station. The city is updating rules for all downtown development. And in Tallahassee, Republicans seem set on cutting or eliminating the property tax that finances 53% of Boca Raton’s general fund budget that pays for police, fire, parks, public works and all the costs of a full-service city.
For nearly 40 years before Sohaney, every manager was promoted from within. Though council members who backed Sohaney said they wanted a new perspective, Brown will be around to provide those decades of institutional memory.
“I can tell him,” Brown said of Sohaney, “’This is how we’ve done it and why.’ Then, it’s his call.”
Sohaney hits the ground running
As for Sohaney, he told me over the weekend that he feels “fully integrated” in city operations after many meetings with staff since the council hired him seven weeks ago.
In addition to “immersing myself,” Sohaney has bought a home “across from” Trader Joe’s. So, as opponents of the Terra/Frisbie project complain that no council member lives east of Interstate 95, Sohaney will live near the heart of downtown. That also will be a break from Brown’s predecessor, Leif Ahnell. As manager for almost a quarter-century, he lived in a gated community in the far northwest.
Sohaney already made “minor changes” to the organizational chart. Utilities will report to Deputy City Manager/Chief Financial Officer James Zervis. He already had Public Works, which, with Utilities, is where most of the infrastructure money goes. Deputy City Manager Jorge Camejo will oversee Development Services and the community redevelopment agency, which controls downtown projects. But the police and fire departments will report to Sohaney, as they did to Brown. Sohaney said that “allows me to better understand public safety.” He also will oversee emergency management.
Aside from that, Sohaney sees nothing immediate. Boca Raton “is a well-run city.” He is taking Brown up on his offer to meet formally once a week, while saying, “We talk informally all the time.” Sohaney tracked the budget through approval this month. He and Zervis are looking for more “low-hanging fruit” if the Legislature comes down hard on property taxes.
Brown notes that all city managers have been “really fortunate” to benefit from decisions made decades ago to create the job-heavy commercial district in the northwest and the CRA in 1980 to redevelop downtown with Mizner Park. “That was the first wave of economic development,” Brown said. “I would say now, we’re in the third wave.”
In the chaotic world of city management in South Florida, the transitions from Ahnell to Brown and from Brown to Sohaney stand out for their smoothness. That will help Boca Raton if the chaos from Tallahassee arrives.
Plans to revitalize Wildflower Park
One issue for Sohaney will be the attempt to “activate” Wildflower Park along the Intracoastal Waterway at the Palmetto Park Road bridge.
The effort is necessary because a petition drive like the one opposing the Terra/Frisbie project killed the plan to lease the 2.2-acre site for a revenue-generating restaurant. The city never had envisioned the site—once home to a nightclub—as a park. After voters in 2016 approved a referendum preventing such use of city-owned waterfront, however, a park was the only option.
After spending nearly $10 million on design and construction—on top of the $7.5 million purchase price—the city has been left mostly with a draw for the homeless. To change that, the city imagines a place geared toward “fitness and community experiences.” There will be public art, “field days,” “pop-up events” and “acoustic music events.” The city hopes to draw “running clubs” and food trucks. There will be a new playground and shade covers.
It’s a tough assignment, because the city had to improvise after that amendment passed. There are only 58 parking spaces. There isn’t room for all the amenities that immediately “activated” Hillsboro El Rio Park South, which is on nine acres in the southeast part of the city.
Staff got little help from the council during a recent workshop meeting. Councilwoman Yvette Drucker made her usual vague demands to “think outside the box” and “be bold.” Mayor Scott Singer, who backed the referendum, said, “We will tweak as we go.”
According to a staff presentation, Wildflower Park by fall will have vendors, a marketing plan and more public art. Pavilion rentals will start winter with “recreation field days.” By spring and summer, programs will begin. And staff will “continue to evaluate and adjust.”
Terra/Frisbie responds to criticism of One Boca website
Speaking of that downtown redevelopment project, the Terra/Frisbie team has changed its website, likely in response to public criticism.
The first version of oneboca.com allowed viewers only to submit a supportive comment. The new version allows viewers to submit any comment or complete the form to indicate support. Social media posts had noted the lack of options.
Whatever one thinks of the project, Terra and Frisbie have been listening to the criticism. They have changed their proposal not once but twice. They have gone from 1,129 apartments to 740—a reduction of 34%. They have eliminated the hotel. They have cut 100,000 square feet of office space. They have reduced the retail/restaurant space by 43%.
Still, things won’t be clear until the council and the public see all the public costs of the Terra/Frisbie project and the estimated public costs if the city were to pay for it alone. The next council meetings are on Oct. 14.
DDA Board to discuss Old School Square
The Delray Beach Downtown Development Agency (DDA) will hold a board workshop meeting at noon today to discuss Old School Square, part of which the DDA operates.
It’s odd timing. The new budget year begins Wednesday, with the agency taking $100,000 less from the city for its work at the Cornell Museum and elsewhere. According to a DDA spokeswoman, new board Chairman Jim Knight asked for the meeting. The agency and Mayor Tom Carney have been at odds over Carney’s failed attempt to cut the DDA’s tax rate. But a proposal to prohibit Carney from attending board meetings in a non-voting capacity has been postponed, at least for now.
Alleged Boca double murderer to examine evidence against him
The man charged with murdering two people in Boca Raton a year ago and trying to kill another person can see the evidence against him.
Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Scott Suskauer granted De’vante Lashawn Moss’s motion for an independent examination of evidence this month. The examination will happen in a “secure” location at the Boca Raton Police Department. An evidence custodian can be present but cannot be close enough to Moss’s defense team “as to invade confidential communication.”
No one from the state attorney’s office can be present. There will be no audio recording. A status check on the case is scheduled for Dec. 3.
Terra/Frisbie open house discussions
Terra/Frisbie will host an open house discussion for residents to ask questions and provide feedback for the downtown campus plan on Monday, Oct. 6.
Until next time
My next post will be on Oct. 14.
