News

By Steve Plunkett

    An entrenched politician and a newcomer have declared their candidacies for elections more than 10 months away.
    Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie filed her intent to run for mayor. Mayor Susan Whelchel will be term-limited out.
    “We are going to be running a strong grass-roots campaign, and I look forward to sharing my message of fiscal responsibility, public safety, lower taxes and ethical representation with the residents of Boca Raton,” Haynie said in a statement.
    Running to fill Haynie’s seat  on the City Council is Craig Ehrnst, chairperson of the city’s Financial Advisory Board and treasurer of NCCI Holdings Inc., a national workers compensation insurance data services firm located in Boca.
    “The quality of our business environment, the confidence of our residents and the well-being of those we serve are key to our community’s success,” Ehrnst said in a statement.
    The nonpartisan elections will be on March 11.
    Council members are elected at large to designated seats for three-year terms. Members who serve two consecutive terms are not eligible to run for that office for the succeeding term.
    Haynie, for example, served on the council from 2000 to 2006, sat out two years then won elections in 2008 and 2012.
    City voters changed term length and limits in 2006.
    Whelchel called Haynie a “hardworking leader” who is “extremely dedicated” to Boca Raton.  “With her ideas and depth of experience, I know she would make an outstanding mayor,” Whelchel said.
    Haynie, a Florida native, is a 40-year resident of Boca Raton. Her public service record includes involvement with the Coastal Ocean Task Force, the Boca Raton Planning and Zoning Board and the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowners Associations.
    She has also chaired the Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization and was president of the Palm Beach County League of Cities.
Ehrnst, who worked previously at ExxonMobil and Ryder Systems, has also been a member of the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce government affairs committee and the city’s Northwest Sub District Land Use and Urban Form Plan Transportation Committee