Florida Atlantic University hopes to learn Thursday what happens next in its search for a president.
The Board of Governors, which oversees the public university system, will meet that morning—one week after the system’s inspector general recommended that the board toss the search that produced three finalists five months ago. The report also recommends that trustee Chairman Brad Levine not chair the search committee again.
After Chancellor Ray Rodrigues suspended the search on July 7, Levine defended the search in letters to Rodrigues. Levine has not responded to the new report and has made no public comment. I asked Richard Schmidt, who defended the search in a South Florida Sun Sentinel article, for his reaction to the inspector general’s report. He served on the search committee. His family is FAU’s largest private donor.
“No comment,” Schmidt said.
Given the politics that have run beneath the surface from the start, Levine could be getting pressure to resign. The search committee defied Gov. DeSantis, who wanted State Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, to run FAU. Committee members did not make Fine a finalist. He is no longer under consideration.
DeSantis has appointed almost every member of the Board of Governors. It is a near certainty that the board will agree with Inspector General Julie Leftheris’ recommendations. DeSantis could use the report as a reason to remove Levine, even though 10 of the other 12 trustees defended Levine and the search.
The Board of Governors now could decide to consider the proposal by FAU’s faculty senate to name Interim President Stacy Volnick to the permanent position. Rodrigues and Board Chairman Brian Lamb have praised her.
If the board doesn’t want to prolong the uncertainty for FAU but doesn’t want to hire Volnick, another candidate could emerge. I reported previously that State Rep. Toby Overdorf, R-Stuart, remotely attended last month’s trustees’ meeting. Then there’s Henry Mack, a former chancellor at the Florida Department of Education. DeSantis wanted Mack to be president of Florida Gulf Coast University. Last spring, by a one-vote margin, FGCU trustees chose someone else.
After that, Mack joined one of Tallahassee’s biggest lobbying firms. In October, Mack agreed to become Broward College’s interim president but quit on the same day. College officials cited a contract dispute. Mack said he dropped out because of family concerns. The lobbying firm’s website does not list Mack as a staff member.
If the board demands a new search but over a much shorter timeline, Volnick could apply. She did not apply during the first search but now says she likes the job. Volnick would be the popular choice within FAU. But what’s best for FAU hasn’t been the priority from the start. I’ll have more after the meeting.
Tense discussion on Delray’s American Legion Post
Emotions about Delray Beach’s closed American Legion Post 188 ran high during last week’s city commission meeting.
The city had proposed a settlement in the lawsuit by Post members who allege that Delray Beach wrongly ended its lease of city land. Commissioners offered to grant a new, 99-year lease and to deed the building if the Post renovated it.
Rather than accept or refuse the offer, City Attorney Lynn Gelin said, the Post’s attorney submitted a counterproposal that included payment of his fees. Gelin said Brown provided no invoices to show how much he wanted. “It’s never a good idea,” Gelin said, to agree to payment in such cases.
Commissioner Rob Long called Brown’s action “an attempted shakedown.” Adam Frankel accused Brown of not negotiating in good faith. Mayor Shelly Petrolia said, “I’m at the end of my rope.”
Brown told me Friday that each objection was “a red herring.” He filed the counterproposal “to protect my client’s interest.” As for the fees, Brown said he can’t ask for a specific amount until the case is resolved. “That’s state law.”
Commissioners clearly are mad over accusations that their actions toward the Post, whose members are Black, amount to racism. On today’s agenda is approval of an ordinance to let City Manager Terrence Moore negotiate a deal with the Emanuel Jackson Sr. Project for a lease of the land and renovation of the building. That agreement would depend on the Post dropping the lawsuit. I’ll have more after the meeting.
Delray to consider appointees for smaller police advisory board
Delray Beach believes that a smaller police advisory board will be a better police advisory board.
On the agenda for today’s city commission is appointment of new members for a five-person board. The previous one had 13 members. Despite the reduction, Police Chief Russ Mager told me that the new format will be more “effective” and thus improve accountability.
Mager said the department already does so much community policing that officers hear a lot from residents. “We’re always looking for ways to have that interaction.” The new board will be “icing on the cake.”
My observations support Mager’s claim. Nearly a decade ago, after the fatal shooting of Michael Ferguson in Missouri, I attended a community event when Jeff Goldman was chief. I was impressed by the support for the department from Delray Beach’s minority residents. Mager acknowledges, though, that the relationship requires constant nurturing. Which is where the new advisory board comes in.
Mager hopes to get even more input from the panel, which will enable the department to focus resources. “It always helps if we can better explain ourselves” to the community when responding, say, to “multiple burglaries in one area.” With the new board, he hopes that knowledge will flow both ways.
Site plan for Delray Swan
Also on today’s city commission agenda is approval of the site plan for Delray Swan. It will have 165 apartments and a small amount of retail space.
The commission in 2021 approved a land-use change and rezoning for the project. It will cover roughly 2.5 acres over 14 properties in the South of Atlantic (SOFA) neighborhood just west of the Florida East Coast Railway tracks. A five-story parking garage will be in the center of the project.
The developer is getting what the city calls a “revitalization incentive” that allows up to 70 residential units per acre. Brian Rosen, who serves on the Downtown Development Authority board, is a principal in the project.
PBC School Board to vote on firing of Boca teacher
Palm Beach County School Superintendent Michael Burke wants the school board to fire a Boca Raton Middle School teacher for the second time, despite a judge’s finding that he should be suspended. The board is prepared to do so.
Victor Lopez put one student in a chokehold. He called other students by such names as “Oompa Loompa” and “knucklehead.” The board fired him 15 months ago, after which Lopez appealed. As part of that process, an administrative law judge recommended on Sept. 29 that Lopez be suspended for 30 days, placed on probation for one year and take classes, presumably to deal with anger issues.
Burke, however, noted that Lopez had been suspended before. The proposed order to fire him states that Lopez “has been afforded the benefit of progressive discipline and has had an opportunity to improve his behavior.” Which, to Burke’s thinking, Lopez did not. The board will vote Wednesday.
Plan for relocating Boca Children’s Museum buildings
Boca Raton has resolved the question of where to move the three buildings that make up the Children’s Museum.
City Manager Leif Ahnell wants to build a new office for the building department on that site, north of City Hall. The museum closed during the pandemic and didn’t reopen. The three buildings are some of the oldest in the city.
City officials first discussed the idea of moving the structures to Sugar Sand Park. Officials of the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, which owns and operates the park, wanted help from the city to maintain the buildings.
Now, however, a spokeswoman said the city will move the Singing Pines and Rickards House to Meadows Park. They will be east of the Junior League’s community garden, which the Brightline station displaced. The cottage building will move to the city cemetery “for use by staff.”
This move is part of the wider, nascent planning for a new downtown government complex that city council members want to link with a development district around the Brightline station. Officials want the building department to be separate from any new City Hall building, to allow easier access. I’ll have more about this plan in future posts.
Brightline looks to expand beyond Florida
Speaking of Brightline, the company is thinking much bigger than Florida.
Last week, President Biden announced a $3 billion federal grant to the Nevada Department of Transportation toward Brightline West—the company’s $12 billion project to provide service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The track will be in the median of Interstate 15 and have no grade crossings.
Though the company touts its Florida service as “high-speed rail,” a news release advertises Brightline West as “the nation’s first true, high-speed rail system.” Trains between Miami and West Palm Beach reach maximum speeds of 79 miles per hour, increasing to 125 north of South Florida to Orlando. Brightline West trains will hit 200 miles per hour. That’s the level of high-speed trains in Europe.
