More than 2,500 supporters created a sea of purple for the second walk and that raised more than $250,000 — twice the 2014 amount. Dottie Carson, who recently was diagnosed, served as keynote speaker. LEFT: Co-Chairwomen Victoria Karasin and Pam Polani. Photo provided by Jon Laye

Friends of the Boca Raton Museum of Art kicked off the season of events with a viewing of the documentary ‘Art and Craft’ – a chronicle of the escapades of notorious art forger Mark Landis – and a discussion of French artwork with Chief Registrar Martin Hanahan. ABOVE: (l-r) Connie Schaefer, Marlene Pomeranz, Sandra Coyne, Cherie Baer, Ann Conte, Doreen Alrod, Katia Delouya, Helene Ostrow, Trudi Helfand, Paulette Dale, Robin May and Carol Sonia Friedman. Photo provided

More than 100 Palm Beach County teachers participated in ‘A Look Beyond the STARs,’ an evening that gave educators the opportunity to see how the arts can enhance their classroom efforts while offering teachers ticket opportunities and treating them to live performances. LEFT: (l-r) Students Emily D’Addio and Laura Romero, with teacher Nancy Robey and event host Alan Gerstel. Photo provided by Mary Stucchi

Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum benefited from the fourth-annual event that was the toast of the town and a sellout. Guests enjoyed a trolley tour of the area while sampling dinner-by-the-bite and specialty drinks at various locations, beginning and ending at Boca Raton Resort & Club. A total of $25,000 was raised. LEFT: Dawn Zook with Kathy Qualman. Photo provided

The fourth-annual affair raised $60,000 for the Delray Beach Library during a fun-filled afternoon of shopping that gave a nod to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. More than 475 men and women came out to support the cause. LEFT: Christopher and Joan Finely, with the Krayon Kiosk the couple purchased at the auction. Photo provided

First Officer Elizabeth Ackerly poses for a photograph in the jet engine of her American Airlines 767. Ackerly retired after 28 years with the airline. Her final flight from Paris arrived in Miami, where she was greeted by colleagues, friends and water cannons on the tarmac. On retirement, the Ocean Ridge resident says, ‘I plan to spend time snorkeling in the Bahamas.’
Photo provided

More than 300 Gators attended the alumni association’s annual celebration of affiliates, clubs and leaders that represent the university’s best qualities in local communities. The association gave out several awards to those fighting for the Gator Nation, including Gator of the Year to Joelen Merkel, of Ocean Ridge. She received a thank-you note for her hard work from Gov. Rick Scott.
Photo provided

Manalapan town officials turned out Oct. 22 for Read for the Record. Town Manager Linda Stumpf (l-r), Mayor David Cheifetz and Mayor Pro Tem Peter Isaac read to children. Coordinated by The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County, Read for the Record is a national campaign to bring children together with valued grownups to read from the same book, on the same day, in communities all over the world. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Thom Smith

Oh, what a lovely life.
In 1962, David Short, the oldest of five children, died in a car crash and his mother, Olive, was diagnosed with cancer. Doctors gave her three months.
    But I have one last child to raise, she responded defiantly. Five years later — her fifth child, Martin, on the verge of manhood at 17 and her job done — she succumbed.
    “It’s a big difference between losing your mother at 12 and at 17,” actor, singer, writer and producer Martin Short told more than 1,500 guests at the Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s 12th annual Go Pink luncheon, Oct. 21 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. “I realized I had been an extraordinary beneficiary of willpower.”
    Before Martin hit 20, his father died from a stroke. Undaunted, he pressed ahead, always looking on the bright side of life.
    With a degree in social work in his pocket and stars in his eyes, he auditioned for the Toronto production of Godspell. The cast included his college classmate Dave Thomas, Paul Shaffer, Victor Garber, Eugene Levy and Gilda Radner. Short and Radner made a fine couple for a couple of years until his attention was commanded by “the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in your life,” Nancy Dolman, Radner’s understudy.
    They married in 1980. TV, movies, Broadway, an Emmy, a Tony — he was a star. She landed a role in Soap, but retired from show biz to stay home with three kids. It seemed an idyllic life. Then in 1997, Nancy was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a double mastectomy and the Shorts moved on with their lives only to hit another roadblock a decade later.
    Ovarian cancer had claimed Gilda in 1989; in 2007 it struck Nancy. Three years later, she was gone. The National Enquirer broke the story before he could tell his family.
    Of writers and analysts who suggest that he turned to comedy to relieve his pain, Short scoffs, “Great stuff, it writes itself — but it wasn’t me. My childhood was a blast. It was unequivocally happy. There were difficult times, but they yielded important lessons. They gave me information about life that few guys my age had, as well as a certain fearlessness that would deeply influence my career.
    “When I look back at my life, I can see moments where it might have been understandable that I might have turned to drugs … or ice cream, but I succumbed, no matter what the situation might have been, to my natural tendency to be happy. Tom Hanks likes to say that of all the people he knows in comedy, I’m the only one who’s laughing on the inside.
    “But my upbeat nature is also a function of resilience, a firm belief that tough experiences Teflon coat you and strengthen you against further adversity. Along the way, I picked up the wisdom that bad things happen and yet the sun still comes up the next day and it’s up to you to keep living your life and keeping your setbacks in perspective. You also have to understand that on some level these horrible, sad things happen to everyone. But the mark of the man or the woman is not just how they survive but also what wisdom is gained from the experience.”
    One of every three women and one of two men will confront cancer and everyone is affected by it in some way. But, everyone responds differently, observed Short. Every decision a person makes is the right decision, because everyone instinctively knows what he or she needs.
    Despite the subject, Short’s address was hardly a downer, laced as it was with the occasional dig — for laughs — as when he asked the audience:
    “Are you all wearing Spanx? You look so-o-o-o good.”
    Or “I have three children . . . one of each.”
    And “I’m Canadian. We’re the aliens Donald Trump doesn’t want to deport.” He later described Trump as “the man who screams out his own name when having sex.”
    Advice: “Never carpool with Suge Knight.”
    Celebrity intellect: “Kim Kardashian thinks soy milk is Spanish for ‘I am milk.’”
    And drawing most raucous applause of the day: “Never ask Bill Cosby to mix your wife a drink!  It just makes sense, everyone.”  
    “It’s amazing,” Short observed, “how cancer alters one’s glibness.”

***
                                    
 Let’s see. You’ve got your Alpine marmot, the forest-steppe marmot, Menzbier’s marmot, the Brooks Range marmot and the Himalayan marmot. Colorful varieties include gray, black-capped, yellow-bellied and golden. But no matter how hard you try, you will not find an Okeechobee or Everglades marmot. Not even a Suwanee species.
Marmots, which are actually large squirrels, can’t take the heat. Most live in colder regions ­— the Alps, Siberia, Alaska, Canada. Aside from zoos, the closest point of contact for a Floridian would be Punxatawney, Pa. Yes, groundhogs are marmots.
But come Dec. 22, South Florida and Boca Raton, in particular, will be crawling with ’em. In its second year, the Boca Raton Bowl has found a corporate sponsor. The Marmot Boca Raton Bowl, played at sunny Florida Atlantic University Stadium, will be selling outdoor equipment and clothing, much of which is associated with mountain climbing.
Founded in Grand Junction, Colo., in 1974 by a local resident and two California college students, Marmot Mountain was one of the first companies to utilize Gore-Tex fabric. It’s big, just not in Florida.
So why sponsor the Boca Raton Bowl?
Simple. Marmot is one of many companies held by Jarden Corp., a Fortune 500 comglomerate that just happens to be based in Boca. Jarden, which started with Mason jars, has acquired such diverse brands as Diamond (matches), United States Playing Cards, Coleman (camping gear), Mr. Coffee and Yankee Candle. Last month it acquired Jostens, the high school memorabilia company. Jarden sells lots of products that football fans buy.
Citing high-quality products geared to a high-adventure lifestyle, bowl game executive director Doug Mosley called Marmot’s sponsorship “a great fit with the vibe of Boca Raton and Palm Beach County.”
                                    ***
    Seeing is believing, especially for the trustees at FAU. A year and a half into John Kelly’s tenure as president, reports around campus suggest that the mood of faculty, staff, students and more significantly the board of trustees has never been better. In an annual review by the board, Kelly was rated “excellent” and rewarded with a $40,000 bonus. He took office in March 2014, for a salary reported to be $400,000 plus expenses, car and other perks.
    FAU may not be having a great season on the football field, but many of its former athletes are faring well: Washington Redskins running back Alfred Morris remains among the top rushers in the NFL; Brittany Bowe is preparing to defend her 2015 title as the world’s best speed skater.
    But universities aren’t judged solely by touchdowns or hundredths of seconds. FAU grads have become leaders in business, government and education. Since it opened half a century ago, the school has been an international leader in ocean sciences.

***
    The original University Theatre was revolutionary in design, with dozens of rigid panels that could have be raised and lowered to create mini-scenarios — until the Legislature cut funding for the lifting mechanism. Undeterred, the theater department produced amazing work. A 1971 FAU production of Arthur Kopit’s Indians was the only Florida college play selected to compete in the southeastern regional division of the American College Theatre Festival.
    After finishing at FAU in 1988, Marc Kudisch headed for Broadway, picked up Tony nominations for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Thoroughly Modern Millie and 9 to 5, and featured roles in Sex and the City and more recently House of Cards as Senate Majority Leader Henry Mitchell.

***
    Look for more innovation with Louis Tyrrell. A familiar face in South Florida theater circles for three decades, Tyrrell founded Theatre Club of the Palm Beaches, which later became Florida Stage, and most recently the drama program at Arts Garage in Delray Beach.
But now as “Dorothy Schmidt Eminent Scholar in the Arts,” Tyrrell has a new challenge: Theatre Lab. Its purpose is to develop and produce new work in American theater and provide a training ground for FAU students interested in careers in professional theater and related fields.
    “Theatre Lab will establish FAU as a force in the national professional theater movement,” Tyrrell said. “With the goal of making great theater accessible, Theatre Lab will bring thousands of community members together with the FAU faculty and student body. A true ‘globe theater,’ the lab will provide world-class professional theater experiences, but it also will develop project-based partnerships, workshops, conversations with leading playwrights and theater artists while offering enrichment activities at the theater, on campus and throughout the community.”
    In a sense, Tyrrell is reviving the dreams professors Harold Burris-Meyer envisioned with his revolutionary theater design and Bob Boyd pursued with Indians.
    Until a permanent site can be selected, an intimate 150-seat “theater in the raw” will be created on the ground floor of the Parliament Hall residence at the northeast corner of the campus. Beer, wine, drinks and snacks will be available for purchase.
                                    ***
    “Lee Roy? It’s Carol. Carol Channing. I’m doing a revival of Hello, Dolly! and I want you to play Cornelius Hackl. Jerry Herman and Lucia Victor, the director, don’t know you, darling. So, you have to audition, but don’t worry, you got the part.”
    Lee Roy Reams’ first encounter with “the” Dolly Levi earned him a Tony nomination, and a long-term relationship as cast member and director that brings him back to The Wick Theatre in Boca for the second time this year.
    Last winter he reprised one of his other well-known roles, Albin/Zaza, one of the transvestites in La Cage aux Folles. When the curtain goes up Nov. 5, Reams will take a more unusual turn, not as Hackl or Horace Vandergelder, but as … Dolly herself.
    That’s right, for the first time ever, Dolly will not be played by a woman.
    Though Reams’ performance will be historic because the character and Channing are theatrical icons, it’s hardly a new concept. In Elizabethan England, all the roles were played by men.
    “I don’t do Carol Channing,” Reams told South Florida Gay News. “I wouldn’t want to do Carol Channing. I want to bring the character to the fore and that’s what I will do.
    “The point of being an actor is to play roles you can’t play in real life. In today’s world, sexuality — transgender, bi-, tri, quad-, whatever — it’s time people have become more comfortable with it all.
    “We’re not reinventing the wheel; we’re just doing Hello, Dolly!”
                                    ***
     Gimme a head with hair . . .  It’s been 49 years — yes,
f-o-r-t-y  n-i-n-e — since Hair, The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, radicalized American musical theater.
    The show helped launch such stars as Melba Moore, Ronnie Dyson (who sang Aquarius), Diane Keaton, Ben Vereen, Keith Carradine, Barry McGuire, Ted Lange, Meat Loaf and Heather MacRae. The original production lost out at Tony award time, ironically, to 1776, but the 2009 production claimed a best revival Tony.
    The music remains part of the American soundscape. Hair’s shock value may have been diminished over the ensuing half century, but as Time magazine noted in 2008, the show “seems, if anything, more daring than ever.” Assorted road shows have come through over the years, but a new staging next May by MNM Productions, the South Florida company founded by Marcie Gorman-Althof and Michael Lifshitz, will be the first locally produced version. Auditions, Nov. 16 and 17, could be interesting. A new Keaton? Another Meat Loaf?
    To schedule a tryout at Organic Movements Dance Studio in Boca Raton, hopefuls should email Lifshitz at mnmprods@gmail.com and put “Hair Auditions” in the subject line. Candidates should bring a headshot, resume and Equity Card, if applicable, be prepared to move, to perform a one-minute song with sheet music in his or her key (accompanist provided, no recorded accompaniment or a cappella singing permitted) and a one-minute monologue and, especially important, “If you can play acoustic guitar, be prepared to show your stuff.”
    Asked if the final requisite “to show your stuff,” was an allusion to the Hair’s legendary “nude scene,” Lifshitz played it close to the vest: “Oh my! Did we really say that?”
                                    ***
    Bolstered by a successful inaugural season, MusicWorks plans to double the fun with four “folkie” shows at the Crest Theatre in Delray Beach. Picking up where John Sebastian and Livingston Taylor left off, pianist George Winston opens the series Nov. 19. He’ll be followed by Peter Yarrow Jan. 14, Tom Rush Feb. 10 and Roger McGuinn March 11.
    MusicWorks promotes concerts and special events with a philanthropic tilt at not-for-profit venues, several in South Florida. It was the brainchild of Rusty Young, founder and former CEO of the Count Basie Theatre Foundation in Red Bank, N.J., and Lee Babitt, a businessman, builder and music promoter with ties to Philadelphia and Miami.

***
                                    
    In Lake Worth, the music raising the roof at Bamboo Room is a bit more heavenly this year — at least on Sunday. Common Ground Church, a Southern Baptist affiliate, had been holding services at Common Ground Coffee Bar, just across the street, but worshipers had outgrown the space.
    Fortunately for Mike Olive, pastor of Common Ground, he bumped into Bamboo Managing Partner Dave Minton, explained his plight and Minton took it to his partners, who saw the positives and even agreed to reduce the rent. Don’t be surprised to hear Will the Circle Be Unbroken with splashes of hallelujah.    
                                    ***
    All gussied up by a $14 million makeover by decorator Carleton Varney, The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach has launched its winter cabaret season in the Royal Room with Billy Stritch and Jim Caruso, described as Manhattan’s most sophisticated musical goofballs, Nov. 6 and 7, followed by perennial favorite Nicole Henry for two weeks. Also on the bill: Tony Danza, Tommy Tune, Aaron Weinstein and Bucky Pizzarelli, The Four Freshmen, Steve Tyrell, Melissa Manchester, John Pizzarelli, The Lettermen and Marilyn Maye.
                                    ***
    Though management refuses to confirm or deny, The Breakers is reported to be the site for the biggest wedding of the year. Sofia Vergara is expected to marry Joe Manganiello Nov. 21 or 22 before a cast of hundreds, if not thousands.
While not releasing every detail, Sofia has dropped crumbs.
Keeping details, dates and locations secret is difficult, she told Howard Stern (a sometime Palm Beacher), “because you can’t control 350 people.”
    The 350 will include three families — Manganiello’s from Pennsylvania and Vergara’s from Colombia, plus her Modern Family. Her TV hubby Ed O’Neill told Entertainment Tonight the entire cast will attend.
    Organizing the weekend: L.A. party planner Mindy Weiss. Gown by Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad.
    Honeymoon: Not so soon. On Good Morning America, Vergara defined “honeymoon” as “the thing that I’m not going to be able to have much of after my wedding … because I’m gonna have to go back to work.”
                                    ***
    The Breakers is a short Uber ride from Delray Beach, but you can bet one occasional resident is not invited to the wedding. Former fiancé Nick Loeb is still pursuing his legal battle with Vergara for custody of frozen embryos the couple created during their relationship.
Loeb, who lost a race for a Delray City Commission seat in 2005, is trying to raise money for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s Republican presidential campaign and seeking investors for his Onion Crunch. It’s billed as “America’s first kosher pareve and vegan crunchy onion condiment!” Loeb reportedly is offering 8,000 shares for a $1,000 investment.
                                    ***
    If you’ve served in a branch of the United States armed forces and have the I.D. to prove it, march over to Boston’s on the Beach in Delray on Nov. 11, Veterans Day. From 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Boston’s will serve a complimentary lunch or dinner, up to $20, to any present or former member of the military.

Reach Thom Smith at thomsmith@ymail.com.














                                    
 

The Plate: Butter Poached Maine Lobster
The Place: Angle Restaurant, Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, 100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan; 540-4924 or www.eaupalmbeach.com
The Price: $23
The Skinny: We always joked that we loved a poached egg because it’s better stolen.
But truth be told, we love the way a poached egg can steal the scene in just about any dish. We’ve had it memorably over pasta and sandwiches.
It was only natural that poached egg would pop up in a something as decadent as a lobster dish.
Here, lobster itself is poached in butter, served with a poached egg and topped with a bit of eggs of another sort — caviar.
It’s decadence upon decadence as the yolk of the poached egg breaks and surrounds the tender lobster.
What did we do to deserve this?
We’re not saying. We just hope we can do it again.
— Scott Simmons

By Steve Plunkett

The developer of a planned restaurant at the city-owned Wildflower site on the Intracoastal has withdrawn its proposal, complaining about a demand from Boca Raton for “several millions more” in rent.

“The restaurant business is one of very narrow margins,” Glenn Viers, vice president of the Hillstone Restaurant Group, said in a letter to the city Oct. 22 announcing the withdrawal.

The higher rent, combined with escalating property taxes, “would stretch Hillstone beyond reasonably acceptable financial limits,” Viers wrote.

The restaurant group had proposed building a $10 million Houston’s restaurant at the northwest base of the Palmetto Park Road bridge. It already operates a Houston’s off Glades Road just west of Interstate 95.

Boca Raton held a workshop in October 2011 to gauge interest in developing the site, which the city bought in 2009 for $7.5 million. After an initial flurry of excitement, only the Hillstone group submitted a formal bid to lease the land.

The 2.3-acre now-vacant parcel once was home of the raucous Wildflower bar and restaurant. Neighbors of the site fear a restaurant there will overload Northeast Fifth Avenue with traffic and illegally parked cars.

As recently as Sept. 1, Viers showed the Boca Raton Federation of Homeowners Associations the latest renderings of the project and said he thought it would be finished in 2017.

By Rich Pollack

Drive along State Road A1A and you’ll see the subtle signs of a steadily recovering economy.

In Manalapan, several older homes have been bulldozed to make way for new and larger luxury homes that are rising out of the ground. 

A short distance away crews are remodeling an aging condo for new owners who want a place with a more contemporary appearance.  Not far down the road in Highland Beach, a multimillion-dollar luxury condominium project is being built on what had been one of the last remaining empty parcels of land in town.  

All up and down the coast, South Florida’s economic rebound can be seen in the construction that’s taking place — and in the resulting revenues municipalities collect from building-permit fees.

“As the economy gets better, construction increases,” says Mike Desorcy, Highland Beach’s building official.  “When people are doing well, they spend more money.” 

In Manalapan, for example, construction of seven sizable single-family homes — four east of State Road A1A — during the last year has helped to generate close to $1 million in building fee revenues through the end of August. That’s a 170 percent increase of about $632,000 from the previous year when about $365,000 was collected from building fees. 

“This is the highest it’s been since I started here 13 years ago,” said Town Clerk Lisa Petersen.

One reason for the dramatic increase in Manalapan could be a pent-up demand for luxury homes as a result of the improving economy. 

“These are nice homes and quality homes,” Petersen said. “They’re being made with the highest quality materials and finishes available today.” 

Several miles south in Highland Beach, revenues from building fees for the first 11 months of this 2014-2015 fiscal year were close to $710,000. That is about $207,500 more than in the previous fiscal year and about $460,000 more than was collected from building fees in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. 

Much of this year’s increase can be attributed to a single project — construction of a 20-unit luxury condominium building at 3200 S. Ocean Blvd. Town officials estimate building-permit fees from that one project alone to be in the $200,000 range and say that figure could increase. 

In Highland Beach — and most other towns — building permit fees are usually set by ordinance or resolution and often are based on the construction value of a project. Highland Beach, for example, charges $15 per thousand dollars of improvement value up to the first $500,000 of value and $12 per thousand dollars of value for anything over $500,000. Fees vary in each municipality.

In Gulf Stream, a multifamily building project helped generate about $387,000 in building fee revenues last fiscal year, about $110,000 more than was collected through the end of August this year. That’s still significantly more than the $171,000 that was collected from building fees during the 2009-2010 fiscal year in the midst of the recession.

While new construction of multifamily buildings tends to bring in the largest chunk of revenue from building fees, town officials in coastal communities also are seeing building-permit-fee revenue increases coming from other, less obvious sources.

In addition to new home construction, remodeling projects and concrete restoration projects are helping to generate more building fee revenues. 

“People are doing more remodeling and they’re doing more extensive remodeling,” says Karen Hancsak, Ocean Ridge’s town clerk. 

So far this fiscal year, Ocean Ridge has issued 647 building permits. That’s down slightly from the last fiscal year when 706 permits were issued. It’s significantly up from five years ago, however, when only 519 building permits were issued. 

While there are fewer permits issued so far this year, compared to all of last year, the actual dollars collected are up, with Ocean Ridge receiving $250,000 in building-permit-fee revenue so far this year versus just under $230,000 last year. In 2009, during the height of the recession, the town collected only about $145,000 from building fees. 

This fiscal year, Ocean Ridge collected about $75,000 in building-permit fees from construction of five new houses, four of which replaced tear-downs. Permit fees from several remodeling projects totaled about $56,000, while an assortment of other building projects accounted for the remainder. 

Remodeling also accounts for a substantial amount of building permit fee revenue in South Palm Beach and Highland Beach, which both have a large number of condominium buildings. 

In South Palm Beach, which has 25 condominium buildings, 15 town homes and four single-family homes, a little less than one quarter of the town’s 464 building permits so far this fiscal year were for bathroom, kitchen or other remodeling projects. 

Highland Beach’s Desorcy says he is seeing an increasing number of condominium apartments purchased decades ago being passed on to children of the original owners, who either sell the units or move in themselves and quickly remodel. 

“The new owners often want it updated,” he said. 

Concrete restoration projects to aging condominiums, in which crews have to replace balconies and make other external repairs, can also increase building-fee revenues collected by towns. 

“Some of those restoration projects are million-dollar projects,” Desorcy said. “They can go on for years.”  

While the revenue generated by building permit fees in the small coastal towns — which have little if any commercial construction — is welcome, it pales in comparison to larger neighboring communities.

Delray Beach, for example, has generated close to $5 million in building permit fees through the first 11 months of this year, up from about $4.3 million last year.  

And in Boca Raton, where large projects are springing up in the downtown area, building permit fees have increased $2.25 million from last year’s $10.7 million in just the first 10 months of this year. 

On Nov. 6, 2009, 48-year-old Bill Dunn choked to death in the county pocket. It took Palm Beach County Fire Rescue nearly 13 minutes to respond to the 911 call. 

It’s unknown if a faster response might have provided a different outcome in Dunn’s case, but everyone on the barrier island agrees that the medical response time that evening was much too long. Since then, a mutual aid agreement between Boynton Beach and Palm Beach County fire-rescue agencies has been firmed up to provide better response times to the island. 

Still, each year at budget time, the desire for a fire-rescue station on the barrier island is discussed in every small town along the coast. One look at any town’s budget shows the increasing costs of fire-rescue service contracts with the larger area agencies. 

Growing pension debt, real estate and equipment costs, merging of departments and the rapidly increasing population just across our bridges soon will make these small-town service contracts unsustainable. There will be no quick and cheap solution to this problem. 

It’s time to think (and act) outside the box.

At The Coastal Star we applaud the initiative led by Gulf Stream officials to explore the feasibility of a barrier island fire-rescue district and are heartened to see a spirit of cooperation among our coastal communities. 

Each of the six towns participating in this study brings something different to the table: Briny Breezes and South Palm Beach bring a lower tax-base and an older population, Highland Beach and Manalapan bring already existing facilities, Gulf Stream and Ocean Ridge bring a critical need and political capital. 

We can’t afford the comfortable blinders of isolationism when it comes to public safety. We can’t afford to slam the door when initial costs look uncomfortably high. 

There will be many times when we’ll need to collectively take a step back and continue hunting down new avenues for mutual agreement. It is going to take open discussions and smart leadership to take the first step and then keep moving forward.

This proposal could be just the beginning of a string of great ideas that could enhance our quality of life on the barrier island. Let’s give it the serious discussion it deserves. 

— Mary Kate 

Leming, Executive Editor

Gulf Stream resident Kirsten Stanley is happy to serve as the president of the Junior League. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Kirsten Stanley doesn’t shy away from challenges. 

At 39, she is executive vice president of Delray Beach-based Meisner Electric, making daily operational and administrative decisions that affect the company’s customers and more than 350 employees in Florida and Colorado.

She is also battling stage 4 breast cancer — an illness she speaks about openly, and one she is determined to keep from interfering as much as possible with her day-to-day life.   

Since May, she has been president of the Junior League of Boca Raton, a 700-member organization going through one of the most significant organizational changes in its almost 45-year history. 

“Being president wasn’t my goal,” says Stanley, a 13-year member of the Junior League. “But the more involved I got, the more passionate I became.”

The daughter of a Lutheran minister and a college president — her mother is president of Ferrum College in Virginia — Stanley grew up in Boca Raton. She was graduated from the international baccalaureate program at Atlantic High School, where she met her husband of 10 years, Thomas Stanley (currently a commissioner for the Town of Gulf Stream). 

After graduating with a degree in economics from Duke University, she moved to New York City where she worked for a large Wall Street firm for a few years before coming back home.

“I learned to appreciate the wonderful things in Florida,” says Stanley, a Gulf Stream resident who starts her day with a walk or jog.

It was after she returned that she sought out the Junior League as a way to get more deeply involved in her community. 

Since then Stanley has served on a variety of league committees, ranging from the finance committee and new member committee and the board of directors. 

Before becoming president, she served on a planning committee studying the Junior League of Boca Raton’s organizational structure, in place since its inception in 1971. 

The league was run by a board of directors, which had responsibility for setting the vision and the organization’s direction. Without a management team in place, the board also had responsibility for implementing that vision. 

This year the league voted to split the board into a strategic governance body and a tactical management team. 

For the first time, the organization has a managing director and for the first time it has a president — Stanley — who will serve a two-year term instead of just a one-year term.

“I felt very invested in this split,” Stanley said, explaining why she agreed to lead the board through the transition. 

That the transition comes at a time when the league is implementing a new member database and website doesn’t make the shift any easier. 

“It doesn’t intimidate me,” Stanley says in a voice that is calming, yet confident. “I know there will be challenges and there will be mistakes, but that’s OK. You have to take ownership of those mistakes and say ‘Where do we go now?’ ”

Being president during the transition is also a chance for her to maintain a focus on something other than her health. 

“It’s been an opportunity for me to step away from my own concerns,” she says. 

Her health is, of course, a major concern for Stanley and her husband, who has been her rock through her challenges. Radiation treatments and frequent trips to her oncologist in Miami are part of her routine.

There also are the emotional battles that have to be fought. 

“I have moments of tremendous resentment,” she says. “I feel my body has betrayed me, but I don’t want to dwell on that.” 

Through her volunteer work with the Junior League, Stanley says, she has seen others facing challenges who don’t have the same resources that are available to her. “So there are moments that allow me to say I’m lucky,” she says. 

To help her unwind at the end of a tough week, Stanley goes horseback riding, a passion she calls her escape and her therapy. 

Next month, Stanley will be on hand as the Junior League of Boca Raton hosts the 28th annual Woman Volunteer of the Year luncheon Nov. 6 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. For Stanley, being involved in the community through the Junior League and supporting other organizations are as much about receiving as giving. 

“The volunteer things I do and that Tom does, those are the things that enrich our lives,” she said. 

If You Go

What: Junior League of Boca Raton Woman Volunteer of the Year Luncheon

When: 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 6. 

Where: The Boca Raton Resort & Club

Why: The Woman Volunteer of the Year event  will honor women from more than 30 Palm Beach County nonprofit organizations for their commitment to the community. One woman will be chosen as the Woman Volunteer of the Year. A Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to one volunteer nominated in this category.  

Event chairwomen: Debbie Abrams and Elizabeth Grace; Honorary Chairwoman Deb Tarrant

Tickets: $95 to $250

Information: www.jlbr.org/woman-volunteer-of-the-year 

By Jane Smith

The man’s voice on the robocall sounded as if something dangerous were happening. 

In mid-September, he warned of Delray Beach elected officials’ transferring fire-rescue services to the county. The county will get the equipment, buildings and staff, and you will get nothing but a separate tax for county fire-rescue services.

Some Highland Beach residents also were called, but none in Gulf Stream, according to the town managers. 

Delray Beach, which provides fire-rescue services to both towns, is seeking an offer from the county that it can analyze so it can tell its residents which service would be more cost-effective.

The robocaller, which said the call was made by the so-called Citizens for a Safe Delray, advised residents to call the main number at City Hall and tell the mayor and the commissioners that they oppose any fire deal with the county.

As of noon Sept. 18, the city received 43 calls, according to Rosanne DeChicchio, public information relations coordinator. 

She was working in the city manager’s office late afternoon on Sept. 15 when the calls started.

She put up a public notice on the city’s website about 6 p.m. that day. The notice included this statement: “Please be advised that the city of Delray Beach has made no decision regarding the transfer of fire/emergency equipment and services.”

The city reopened discussions in early summer with the county and is still waiting on a viable proposal. The full-cost methodology proposal is no longer on the table. Delray Beach property owners and those of the towns it serves would have to pay a flat rate of $3.46 per $1,000 of taxable value. 

At issue are the staffing levels, equipment and building valuations and other items.

If it gets to be the middle of October and the county has still not replied with a viable offer, the City Commission will have to make a decision. “We just can’t go on like this,” said City Manager Don Cooper.

 By Dan Moffett

Saying they want to hold down expenses, Gulf Stream commissioners are changing their lineup of lawyers as the town appeals its federal racketeering case against Martin O’Boyle and Chris O’Hare.
Mayor Scott Morgan says Joanne O’Connor of the West Palm Beach firm of Jones, Foster, Johnston & Stubbs will be taking over most of the work in the RICO case, replacing Gerald Richman of Richman Greer.
Town Attorney John Randolph is a shareholder in Jones Foster, and the firm has had a working relationship with Gulf Stream for years. O’Connor has handled dozens of suits over public records that O’Boyle and O’Hare have filed against the town.
Morgan told commissioners on Sept. 11 that Jones Foster was willing to charge a “reduced hourly rate” to pursue the RICO appeal. Gulf Stream is setting aside $1 million in the next fiscal year to cover legal expenses against the two men, so money is no small issue.
“Most of an appeal is formulaic, preparing documents and what-not,” Morgan said. “It can be done at a lower expense. There’s no need to pay high-priced attorneys.”
Billable hours aside, Richman hasn’t given commissioners much to feel good about since he proposed suing O’Boyle and O’Hare under the civil RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) statute late last year.
U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Marra threw out the suit in June, essentially buying none of Richman’s arguments that O’Boyle and O’Hare were abusing public records laws to extort legal settlements from municipalities around the state.
Then the town’s appeal of Marra’s ruling got sidetracked in August when the clerk for the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals informed Richman that his bar membership had lapsed and he was ineligible to file motions. Though that  glitch was quickly resolved, it did nothing to enhance commissioners’ confidence in Richman’s management of the case.
The commission has unanimously approved appealing the ruling, and Morgan believes there are grounds to persuade the court to take a second look.
“We have been advised by our attorneys that there are justiciable actions there that would justify the return of the case back to the trial court for hearing,” Morgan said. “Is there a guarantee? Of course not.”
At the Sept. 11 meeting, O’Boyle told commissioners they were “dreaming” if they believed $1 million “was even close to enough” to cover future legal fees.
“I can’t express to you how wrong you are,” O’Boyle said. “The litigation can be resolved — promptly and at a very low cost. Supporting this (appeal) is pouring gasoline on a fire.”
O’Hare told the commission he was losing business because of damage to his reputation from the RICO suit.
“It is devastating,” O’Hare said. “Take me out of it.”
The town’s officials and attorneys say attempts to settle the legal issues with the two men have failed because they have not been willing to negotiate in good faith and drop their lawsuits. O’Boyle and O’Hare say the same is true of the town.
Those who attended the September meeting were treated to a display with poster boards and stacks of log sheets recording the roughly 1,700 public records requests the two men have made — some under fictitious names such as Wyatt Burp, Prigs Hypocrites and Patrick Henry, some under affiliated groups such as Stopdirtygovernment LLC — that have led to dozens of suits over the past three years.
“Right now, every judge in the 15th Circuit has more than one, and in some cases three or four, of these (public records) cases,” said Vice Mayor Robert Ganger. 

“I can’t tell you how many municipalities, who unfortunately are enduring the same kind of trickery, are on our side … who’ve said ‘The same thing is happening to us. Somebody has got to do something about it.’ We are the only town that I know of that has the courage to do something.”

By Dan Moffett

Ocean Ridge appears to have found its next town manager in Jamie Titcomb, the former Palm Beach County League of Cities executive director.

Jamie Titcomb has been offered the town manager position in Ocean Ridge.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Titcomb, 58, and Town Attorney Ken Spillias have worked out details of an agreement that the town commissioners are expected to approve at their Oct. 5 meeting. Titcomb replaces the retiring Ken Schenck who has held the position since 2006.

After interviewing four other candidates, commissioners said they chose Titcomb because of his familiarity with Ocean Ridge and the county, his experience as a town manager in several other coastal communities, and perhaps most of all, his willingness to tackle the town’s budget work.

Karen Hancsak, who has overseen the town’s budget preparation for most of her 25 years as town clerk, is retiring later this year, and the commission wants to shift the financial duties to the next manager.

“We’re looking for a heavy hand in the financing,” Mayor Geoff Pugh said.

“The budget is a blueprint document,” Titcomb told commissioners. “It’s what we go by. I’m very comfortable dealing with that.”

Titcomb has been the town manager of Melbourne Beach since early 2014, and before that served as the interim town manager in Lake Park. In 2011, he had a contentious seven-month tenure as North Palm Beach manager that ended with his dismissal, without cause. Some Town Council members complained of morale problems with staff.

“I was never actually given a reason (for the firing),” Titcomb said, “other than I wasn’t a good fit.”

He deflected criticism about morale problems under his leadership: “I have a knack for putting very good teams of people together.”

Titcomb’s settlement agreement with North Palm Beach prohibits both sides from commenting about the reasons for his termination. 

Ocean Ridge commissioners were impressed by the good reviews he got for his work in Melbourne Beach and Lake Park, and Commissioner James Bonfiglio thought the connections Titcomb made through his 13 years with the League of Cities would benefit the town.

“He knows all the people we have to work with,” Bonfiglio said.

Commissioner Richard Lucibella worried that Titcomb was “overqualified” for the job — he earned $135,000 with North Palm Beach and likely will receive about $30,000 less from Ocean Ridge — and that his recent history suggests he might not be willing to commit to the town for much longer than the short term.

“I don’t move by default,” Titcomb said of his job-changing. “I move by design.”

The other candidates commissioners interviewed were: David Harden, the former Delray Beach city manager; Mark Kutney, former town manager of Loxahatchee Groves; Violet (Lee) Leffingwell, former town manager of Mangonia Park; and Joseph Gerrity, the former Fernandina Beach city manager.

Gerrity was the choice of a majority of commissioners but after interviewing, he withdrew from consideration, telling town officials the Ocean Ridge area was “too urban” for him.Ú

By Rich Pollack

Ocean Ridge police say they have every intention of patrolling county parks within the town limits, but they’re hoping the county will lend a hand to help those parks — as well as an adjacent one in a county pocket — be safer during holidays and special events.

Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins met recently with Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Director Eric Call to discuss the possibility of the county’s providing additional security at two parks — Ocean Inlet Park and Ocean Ridge Hammock Park — during high-volume times. 

“It’s not that we’re going to stop patrolling the parks within Ocean Ridge,” Hutchins said. “We merely want to ask the county to enter into a dialogue to determine if there’s a better way to provide security during high-volume times.” 

Ocean Ridge police routinely patrol Ocean Inlet Park, south of the Boynton Inlet, and also keep an eye on a recreational area for fishermen — immediately south of the inlet but north of town limits — that falls under the jurisdiction of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. 

Hutchins’ department also patrols Ocean Ridge Hammock Park, an 8.5-acre beachfront park that includes a small parking lot. 

“During certain periods of time there is a high increase in the usage of those parks,” Hutchins said. “It’s during those times that patrolling the parks takes away from our ability to patrol other areas of town.” 

Hutchins drew an analogy to a stadium or arena routinely patrolled by local police when no out-of-the-ordinary activity takes place but which requires additional security provided by the venue during games or special events.

“We’re asking the county to please consider the safety and security of the people in the parks and the people who live in surrounding areas,” he said. 

Hutchins’ initial inquiry, in an Aug. 31 email to Call, came after the chief learned the county had contracted with the Sheriff’s Office to patrol three parks in Riviera Beach during holidays, following that city’s decision to no longer patrol those parks. 

Policing of county parks had been the responsibility of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office until 2010, when the department’s parks unit was disbanded because of budget cuts. Since then, responsibility for patrolling the parks has fallen on the shoulders of local police departments. 

Hutchins said the Sheriff’s Office works well with his department and provides some added patrol on selected holidays.

He said that his department will continue to patrol the parks within its jurisdiction, regardless of the outcome of discussions with the county.

“Even if they provide additional security, it’s not going to change what we do now,” Hutchins said. 

By Dan Moffett

Mayor Geoff Pugh has a plan to create a waterfront promenade and change the traffic flow in Ocean Ridge. And town commissioners say they like what they’ve heard so far.
Pugh’s idea is to make Old Ocean Boulevard a one-way street running south from Corrine Street to Tropical Drive. He proposes making Thompson Street, Adams Road and Beachway Drive dead-ends at Old Ocean.
The mayor sees at least two benefits from the plan: It is likely to funnel more nonresident traffic to Highway A1A and away from neighborhoods; and it would turn Old Ocean Boulevard into a friendly thoroughfare for pedestrians and bicyclists.
“You get the thinking out of the box award,” said Commissioner Richard Lucibella, on hearing Pugh at the Sept. 10 meeting.
“A really exciting beginning,” said Commissioner Lynn Allison.
Commissioner James Bonfiglio said variations of the idea had surfaced in previous years but never advanced.
“I liked it back then,” Bonfiglio said, “and I like it now.”
Police Chief Hal Hutchins said he believes the proposed configuration would allow emergency vehicles adequate access and also work for bicycle traffic. Because the town owns Old Ocean, no approval from state or county officials appears necessary.
“There’s no doubt in my mind we have to do some studies,” Hutchins said, however.
Commissioners instructed Town Manager Ken Schenck to investigate the cost of a traffic engineering study and bring back estimates for this month’s meeting. Pugh says he believes the cost of the plan will be minimal, requiring little more than some signs and plastic barriers to implement.
“If you put all the stuff up and it doesn’t work,” he said, “you just take it down.”

Town to pay legal fees

  In other business, commissioners unanimously approved paying $82,080 to cover Lucibella’s legal fees in defeating the recall movement against him earlier this year. The town still hopes its insurance carrier will cover the amount above a $50,000 deductible, or about $32,080.
The matter had been tabled twice during previous meetings, at Lucibella’s urging, because Allison was absent. She has been the commission’s most vocal critic of Lucibella’s role in the ouster of former Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi, the event that triggered the recall effort.
“This has been a really upsetting time for this town because of this circumstance,” Allison said. “This has felt very divisive.” 
She stood by her assertions that Lucibella’s behavior toward Yannuzzi was “inappropriate and disrespectful” and the recall organizers acted responsibly. She said that, though the court threw out the recall petitions and ruled them legally insufficient, “that doesn’t mean that the substantive issue” was insufficient.
“Both sides had the right to do what they did,” Allison said. “It was extremely unfortunate that it escalated to the point that it did. It certainly could have been resolved in a more peaceful way.”
Lucibella reiterated his criticism of the commission for not defending him earlier. He said he had no choice but to hire an attorney to defend himself and ensure the “sacred election process be honored.” He disagreed with Allison that the recall was legitimate.
“You may only bring a recall action if you can stipulate that someone broke the law,” he said. The organizers’ petition had claimed that Lucibella’s conduct “did not reflect the values of the town,” a claim that the court dismissed as vague and insufficient.
• The commission also rejected a request from developer William Swaim to allow an easement behind Town Hall. “I don’t know why this is even on the agenda,” Pugh said. Swaim has been unable to get permits from state agencies and easements from land owners to access a parcel he wants to develop. Until that happens, Pugh says, the town won’t act.