The Tracy case
Not surprisingly, James Tracy’s lawsuit against Florida Atlantic University is a conspiracy theory.
Tracy is the self-proclaimed conspiracy theorist who on his personal blog—Memory Hole—questioned whether the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Conn., and the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing happened. In January, FAU fired Tracy, not for his preposterous ideas but for allegedly failing to submit his Report of Outside Employment or Professional Activity Forms. The letter from Vice Provost Diane Alperin claimed that FAU needs the forms to “address potential, actual or perceived conflicts of commitment or interest.” Obviously, the forms would cover Tracy’s work on the blog.
Before we get to the lawsuit itself, there’s the question of venue. Attorney Louis F. Leo IV of Coconut Creek filed the action in federal court, although FAU is a state institution. Leo argues that because federal sources provide more revenue for FAU than state government, a federal court should hear the case that FAU violated Tracy’s constitutional rights.
That argument is a stretch. Federal court can be a tempting venue because judges have law clerks, and cases can undergo a more thorough review. Attorneys also get their fees awarded if they win. But I would expect FAU to seek to have the case moved to state court if FAU can’t get it dismissed.
Tracy argues that faculty union representatives conspired with FAU administrators to deprive him of his right to free speech. In so doing, they “trampled on their own long-standing principles of academic freedom.” FAU hired Tracy in 2002. He received tenure in 2008. Once professors receive tenure, it is very difficult to fire them, even for cause.
As I read the lawsuit, Tracy contends that academic freedom at FAU protects him even when he’s writing a blog that isn’t affiliated with FAU. The lawsuit claims that Memory Hole features Tracy’s “independent research and analysis on (sic) current events,” with the sources of that research unspecified. The university contends that Tracy couldn’t separate his private postings from his day job. The Memory Hole disclaimer first mentioned that the site was not affiliated with FAU. At FAU’s request, Tracy changed the disclaimer to say that the website was not linked to any “institution or entity.”
This controversy began with Tracy’s “theory” of the December 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting. After questioning the Boston Marathon bombing four months later, Tracy went on to “theorize” that the government also staged the September 2013 Washington Navy Yard shooting and the December 2015 San Bernardino massacre. Tracy’s alleged harassment of the parents of a Sandy Hook victim got into the pages of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and away things went.
Based on the lawsuit, Tracy isn’t backing down. It refers to “an alleged mass casualty in Newtown.” Tracy hasn’t bothered to file the grievance to which he is entitled. One can see why he chose Leo after reportedly firing his first lawyer. Leo’s profile on the Medgebow Law website notes that he founded People Over Politics. The content on the group’s website is way farther to the left than Bernie Sanders and includes an article touting the discredited link between vaccines and autism.
If FAU President John Kelly claimed on a personal blog that the 1969 moon landing didn’t happen, the trustees would have to fire him. Academic freedom is no more absolute than the First Amendment. Tracy casts himself as the victim. The families of those who died in the tragedies Tracy disputes would argue otherwise.
CRA workshop
The April 12 workshop may have been the turning point in the relationship between the Delray Beach City Commission and the Community Redevelopment Agency.
For nearly two years, that relationship has been under review, at least from the commission’s standpoint. For all the redevelopment success downtown, added tax revenue from that success has stayed within the CRA, creating a backlog of needs outside the CRA’s large boundary. The CRA decided how to spend that money. Since the CRA doesn’t expire until 2045, no relief seemed in sight. Disputes over the iPic project and the look of Old School Square exacerbated the commission’s frustration.
But Mayor Cary Glickstein called the April 12 meeting “productive.” In an email, he said, “We are now aligned to design, quantify and complete fundamental aspects of our lower-income neighborhood plans as a priority. Hopefully, in the near future folks will not be asking their mayor, ‘Why are all the alleys east of Swinton (Avenue) paved but not west of Swinton?’ “
Commissioner Jordana Jarjura agreed, saying that City Manager Don Cooper and CRA Director Jeff Costello are working to “identify what the CRA can handle in terms of capital improvements and maintenance and other items within the CRA’s boundaries so the commission can concentrate on the rest of the city’s infrastructure needs.”
For all the hum on East Atlantic, many parts of Delray Beach have unmet, basic needs. Cooper and the commission want to address those needs through the Capital Improvement Program, which requires money. The city-CRA effort will seek to use both agencies’ revenue as widely as possible—what Glickstein calls “fungibility.” Previously, he said, “It was the CRA tail wagging the dog.”
Cooper called the meeting “positive. . .a first step in addressing the Osceola Park, Northwest/Southwest neighborhoods public improvements in a complete project.” His main takeaway? “This approach will make city funds available for uses in other areas of the city,” not just downtown.” Which has been the goal.
Boca’s 5th Avenue intersection
The Boca Raton City Council had hoped this week to discuss recommendations for improvements to the intersection of East Palmetto Park Road and 5th Avenue. The city’s spokeswoman said the new target date is June 13, when the council meets as the Community Redevelopment Agency. The intersection is on the eastern edge of the CRA boundary.
Boca’s traffic consultant, Calvin Giordano, has held two meetings with the public. The company will present options to the council. In an interview, Mayor Susan Haynie said the options likely would include bringing back turn lanes, split phasing of the traffic signals and adding a lane on Palmetto Park west of Fourth Avenue.
Unfortunately, Haynie said, the city can’t add a normal, long westbound right-turn lane onto Fifth Avenue. The configuration of the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway doesn’t provide enough room. Haynie said the city could create a “modified” turn lane, but it would be very short and offer minimal help.
Palmetto Promenade, the nearly 850,000-square-foot mixed-use project, is rising on three blocks just west of the intersection. The council wants to put a restaurant on the former Wildflower property. It’s on the northeast corner of the intersection. The council will want to hear recommendations on which the city can act quickly.
Ethic complaint invoice
According to a city spokeswoman, Boca Raton paid Tallahassee lawyer Mark Herron $10,000 for his work on the ethics complaints against Councilman Robert Weinroth and Deputy City Manager George Brown. The complaints stemmed from their appointment last year to the Boca Raton Airport Authority Board. Each case cost $5,000.
BocaWatch Publisher Al Zucaro filed the complaints. He had argued that Weinroth and Brown should have paid for their own defense. Surely Zucaro would have felt differently if an iffy complaint to the Florida Commission on Ethics had been filed against him when he served on the West Palm Beach City Commission.
Though he suffered a high-profile loss, having made a big deal publicly about filing the complaints, Zucaro is lucky in another way. There have been calls to make the complainant pay the official’s attorney fees when the ethics commission finds no probable cause, as happened with Weinroth and Brown. Zucaro could have lost and been out $10,000. Instead, the public will pay.
Sales tax wish list for Delray
As of last week, Delray Beach’s list of projects for revenue from the proposed county sales tax increase is $600,000 lighter.
City commissioners approved the purchase of a mobile command vehicle for the police department. Chief Jeffrey Goldman told the commission that the vehicle would allow the department to respond more effectively to “large-scale incidents” and natural disasters and would be used during “tactical operations.” Goldman said Boca Raton and Boynton Beach have them.
Delray Beach had listed roughly $30 million in projects. Under the plan to raise the tax from six cents to seven cents for 10 years to pay for infrastructure improvements, the city would get roughly $3 million a year. City Manager Don Cooper said Delray has not updated the list, and the county has not asked for a new version. Boca Raton has not compiled a list because the city has no backlog of capital projects.
County commission votes on whether to put the proposal to voters in November – and in what form – are scheduled for May 3 and May 17.
The insurance commissioner stalemate
After Tuesday, it appears less likely that state Rep. Bill Hager, R-Boca Raton, will leave office early to become Florida’s insurance commissioner.
For the second time, Gov. Rick Scott and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater disagreed on who will succeed Kevin McCarty and become the state’s most important appointed official. Scott and Atwater must agree and get a third vote from Attorney General Pam Bondi or Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.
At last month’s meeting of the governor and the Florida Cabinet, Scott wanted Jeffrey Bragg, who has run the federal flood and terrorism insurance programs. Atwater wanted Hager. At Tuesday’s meeting, Scott against proposed hiring Bragg, but none of the other three second the motion.
The four may meet by phone on Friday to continue the discussion. Hager will get the job only if Scott comes around to Atwater’s thinking. I’m hearing that the expectation is for a compromise candidate.
Five-acre score
Last week, I should have noted that Delray Beach has finalized its acquisition of nearly five acres on Lake Ida. I had written previously how Delray swooped in a year ago when Boynton Beach fumbled the deal to buy the surplus land from the county.
The property is just north of Lake Ida Park, which the county owns. The hope is to turn the site into a greenway. There are difficulties in doing so, but having this nice slice of property in the public’s hands instead of seeing more homes go on it is heartening. Credit Taylor Levy and the others who donated money to make the purchase happen. Paired with the city’s fast reaction, it made for a true public-private partnership.
