The Coastal Star's Posts

Along the Coast: Democrat captures Republican Mike Caruso's former statehouse seat

Posted by The Coastal Star on March 24, 2026 at 21:02

House District 87 includes most of Manalapan, the eastern part of Lantana, plus South Palm Beach and points north to Juno Beach.

Source: Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office, unofficial results

Boca Raton: Liebelson will not challenge outcome of mayor’s race

Posted by The Coastal Star on March 23, 2026 at 18:59

By Mary Hladky

Boca Raton mayoral candidate Mike Liebelson will not contest the election of Andy Thomson as mayor.

The race was so close that no winner could be declared when polls closed on March 10. Liebelson indicated at the time that he might challenge the results.

Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link held both a machine and manual recount of the ballots on March 13.

The final result: Thomson won by only 5 votes, 7,572 to 7,567.

Liebelson did not immediately indicate if he would follow through on a challenge to the results.

But on March 23, the deadline to file a challenge, Liebelson said he would not do so.

“I got into this race with one clear objective: to help take Boca Raton back from the influence of big developers, support Save Boca, and return the City Council to the people who live here,” he said in a statement. “That mission was accomplished.”

Even so, Liebelson said the tiny margin of Thomson’s victory demonstrates the importance of every resident voting in elections.

“As an outsider candidate in my first race, coming this close sent a message,” he said. “People are paying attention. They want leadership that puts residents first, and they want real accountability when it comes to growth and development.”

But first-time candidate Liebelson continues to have concerns about vote-by-mail ballots that he said put Thomson over the top.

Florida statutes, he said, are insufficient to accurately determine the winner of a close election. The last batch of vote-by-mail ballots that were tabulated in the mayoral race were heavily skewed in favor of Thomson, he said.

“There are a number of anomalies related to vote-by-mail and same-day registration,” he said. “But it wasn’t something we wanted to pursue to contest the election.”

Doing so, he said, would potentially divide the community, obscuring the fact that Save Boca candidates swept City Council seats and voters also rejected the city’s plan to redevelop the downtown campus.

Liebelson also has filed a lawsuit against Thomson in which he restates complaints he made before the election that Thomson’s campaign consultant made false and misleading statements about him in political flyers sent to residents.

The lawsuit, filed on March 3, alleges that Thomson and other defendants in the case acted to “adversely affect his mayoral campaign.”

Thomson could not be immediately reached for comment.

Boca Raton: After nail-biting recounts, Thomson declared mayor

Posted by The Coastal Star on March 13, 2026 at 18:45

Andy Thomson and his attorney Leonard Feuer review the results of the accuracy test that was performed on the tabulation machines prior to the official election recount Friday morning at the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections office.The elections office completed the final recount for the Boca Raton mayor's race shortly after 5 p.m. Following that process, Thomson was confirmed as Boca Raton's newly elected mayor. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

Andy Thomson has won Boca Raton’s mayoral race, narrowly edging out challenger Mike Liebelson.

In official results posted shortly after 5 p.m. Friday, Thomson had prevailed — but just barely — in both a machine and a manual count of the ballots.

The machine count showed that Thomson, first elected to the City Council in 2018, won by one vote — 7,568 votes to 7,567. In the manual count, Thomson received 7,572 votes to Liebelson’s 7,567.

Thomson and Liebelson could not immediately be reached for comment after the final count was announced.

The election results were so close that no winner could be declared after polls closed on March 10, requiring Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link to hold both recounts.

Left unclear, however, is whether Liebelson will challenge the results.

His attorney, Ricardo Reyes, sent a letter on March 12 to Link, saying he had found a “huge discrepancy” in vote-by-mail ballots.

When the final batch of vote-by-mail ballots were tallied on election night, 32 were for Liebelson and 63 were for Thomson. That difference, he wrote, was “highly unusual and concerning” since the overall election results showed Thomson and Liebelson were nearly tied.

“Accordingly, please be advised that, as of now, Mr. Liebelson intends to contest the results of the Mayoral Election,”… the letter stated.

Boca Raton mayoral candidate Mike Liebelson asks Wendy Sartory Link, Palm Beach County supervisor of elections, a question about the recount process Friday morning at The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections office. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Liebelson did not respond to The Coastal Star to clarify his intentions after final results were posted on Friday.

Thomson beat back a challenger who was not a member of Save Boca but strongly supported many of that grassroots organization’s goals. Those included opposition to redevelopment of the downtown campus by developers Terra and Frisbie Group, which had rebranded as One Boca.

Thomson also opposed the redevelopment plan and called on fellow City Council members in September to allow residents to decide whether the project would go forward or be scrapped. They agreed the matter should be decided by voters.

The final tally after the last recount on Friday. It shows Andy Thomson won the mayor's race by five votes. Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections Office

The vote results in the City Council races are clear that the council now is firmly in the hands of Save Boca members Jon Pearlman, the group’s founder, Michelle Grau and Stacy Sipple.

Current council member Yvette Drucker was not up for re-election.

Thomson is no stranger to a narrow victory. In 2018, following six hours of recounting, he won by 32 votes.

The election winners will be sworn into office on March 31.

Boca Raton: Margin in mayoral race shrinks to 2 votes; recount on tap

Posted by The Coastal Star on March 12, 2026 at 20:04

By Mary Hladky

Mayoral candidate Andy Thomson gained seven votes when the final votes were counted in the city's election on Thursday, while opponent Mike Liebelson gained 11 votes.

As a result, Thomson, with 7,569 total votes, remains two votes ahead of Liebelson’s 7,567.

But such a slim margin doesn’t cinch the election for Thomson yet.

The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office has at least one more recount to make -- and probably two -- that will take place on Friday.

The election results first posted after polls closed on March 10 showed Thomson trailing by 26 votes. But a final update that night showed him ahead by six votes.

That lead has now dropped to two votes.

The Thursday tally was done after determinations were reached on provisional ballots that had been cast on Tuesday, It also included problem mail-in ballots where voters "cured," or corrected, signature problems on their ballots by Thursday's 5 p.m. deadline.

The first Friday recount will be a machine recount of the votes. If the two candidates are still within 0.25% of each other after that, then there will be a hand recount of overvotes and undervotes. Overvotes take place when voters select more ballot choices than they are permitted to. Undervotes are when they choose too few.

The election was a watershed event for Boca Raton, with three City Council candidates backed by anti-development group Save Boca winning election.

Voters also soundly defeated the city’s effort to redevelop its downtown government campus and also killed city plans to replace its old police headquarters with a new police campus on city-owned land.

First-time candidate Liebelson is not a Save Boca member but supported many of that grass-roots group’s positions. Thomson is an incumbent first elected to the council in 2018.

In a strange twist of fate, Thomson also faced a recount that year.

Sixty-seven hours after the polls closed and following six hours of recounting ballots, Thomson won by 32 votes.

Boca Raton: City manager pushes out police chief, two deputy city managers

Posted by The Coastal Star on March 12, 2026 at 18:46

By Mary Hladky

New Boca Raton City Manager Mark Sohaney has revamped the city’s leadership in a massive executive-team shake-out.

Gone are Police Chief Michele Miuccio and Deputy City Managers Chrissy Gibson and Jorge Camejo, the city announced on March 12.

The city since has launched a national search for a new police chief.

“We are looking for a leader who understands the importance of service, community accountability, and relationships, and who can help guide the department into the future,” Sohaney said in a March 24 statement.

The position will be posted through the beginning of April. Assistant Police Chief Elizabeth Roberts has been appointed acting police chief and will be involved in the hiring process.

But the 20-year department veteran is not expected to stay with the city for long. She has received a conditional offer for a new professional opportunity, the city said.

Miuccio joined the Police Department 37 years ago and rose through the ranks to become deputy chief and then police chief in 2020.

Most recently, Miuccio had pressed for a new police headquarters to replace the current facility, which is old and in poor condition.

Voters in the March 10 city election voted down financing a new police campus on city-owned land at the intersection of Spanish River and Broken Sound boulevards. The new buildings, which also would have included a firing range and building to store evidence, would have cost as much as $190 million.

Gibson is a longtime employee who served as assistant city manager until her promotion in 2024. She oversaw the office of city clerk, emergency management, sustainability, public art, and communications and marketing.

Comejo is the city’s former Community Redevelopment Agency director who left to head up Hollywood’s CRA before returning to the city last year. His focus was on Boca Raton’s CRA.

The city’s announcement did not say why the three were pushed out. But it said that the city has conducted a review of its leadership structure over the past five months “to ensure it aligns with operational needs and long-term priorities.”

“These changes are being implemented as part of this strategic realignment to ensure continuity of service, maintain public safety, and position the city to move forward with a strong and effective leadership team,” the city statement said.

Sohaney joined the city in September, replacing City Manager George Brown, who retired.

Gulf Stream: Familiar faces are returned to Town Commission chambers

Posted by The Coastal Star on March 11, 2026 at 16:04

Gulf Stream's incumbent town commissioners all won re-election on March 10. They are, in order of their finish: Mayor Scott Morgan and Commissioners Tom Stanley, Joan Orthwein, Michael Greene and Robert Canfield.

By Steve Plunkett

As they’ve done in the past, Gulf Stream voters March 10 chose to keep the five incumbents running for Town Commission.

Returning to the dais are Scott Morgan, Tom Stanley, Robert Canfield, Michael Greene and Joan Orthwein, all unofficially receiving at least 293 votes, according to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office.

Newcomer Michael Glennon, who campaigned on bringing “a fresh perspective” to the commission, garnered 241 votes, more than double the 112 that Julio Martinez got in his losing effort in the last contested election in 2017, but 53 shy of winning a seat.

It was the first time Greene and Canfield stood for election after being appointed to the commission. Greene had 304 votes; Canfield 293.

Morgan, Stanley and Orthwein each received the most votes they’ve ever had. Morgan had 339, or 14 more than in 2014; Stanley clocked in with 332, up 15 from 2014; and Orthwein had 317, or 4 more than in 2014.

A PAC supporting the five incumbents took out an ad telling voters that “results require a team” and listing the commission’s accomplishments over the years, including zero tax increases for 10 years and 25% lower costs for drinking water once Gulf Stream switches to Boynton Beach’s system in 2027..

Commissioners will choose a mayor and vice mayor from among themselves on March 13.

Boca Raton: Voters overwhelmingly elect anti-development candidates

Posted by The Coastal Star on March 10, 2026 at 23:20

Outcome of mayor's race could still change

FAU students Owen Servetas (partly behind sign), Cameron Jones, center, and Tony Cedeno display “Save Boca” election signs to passing cars in front of Grace Community Church in Boca Raton. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

Save Boca trounced establishment candidates in the city’s March 10 election, with its own candidates sweeping City Council races and soundly defeating the city’s effort to redevelop its downtown government campus.

Voters turned out in droves to cast ballots in the most consequential city election in memory, with the almost 19,100 voters casting ballots — a 31% voter turnout — vastly outpacing the more typical city election turnout of about 12,000.

Initial, unofficial election results showed two council members vying to become mayor heading for defeat. First-time candidate Mike Liebelson, who is not a Save Boca candidate but supported many of its goals, appeared to narrowly edge out Andy Thomson, while Fran Nachlas trailed far behind.

Thomson, then seemingly losing by 26 votes, said he would seek a recount. But shortly thereafter, updated results showed him ahead by 6 votes.

The results become official once any ballots that have been mistakenly rejected are counted.

Because Thomson’s victory margin is so small — less than one-half of 1% of total votes cast — a machine recount is required. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections has scheduled it for March 13, beginning at 10 a.m. As of March 11, the office also planned to conduct a manual recount.

Thomson could not be immediately reached for comment.

“The citizens of Boca Raton have spoken clearly. They want our city to head in a new direction,” Liebelson said in a statement. “We need to make sure every vote is counted so citizens get the leadership they deserve.”

Andy Thomson, center, looks at his phone after his friend Alex Price, second in from left, tells him that the latest numbers have him up by 6 votes just a little before 10 p.m. on March 10 at Thomson's election night gathering at Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant in Boca Raton. After leading most of the evening, Thomson appeared to fall behind as the final votes were tabulated, only to move ahead in yet another elections office update. Rachel O'Hara/The Coastal Star

Besides Nachlas, also losing out was incumbent Marc Wigder, who was trounced by Save Boca founder Jon Pearlman. The third candidate in that race was Meredith Madsen, the founder and CEO of Sunshine & Glitter, which makes sunscreen and beauty products.

“We did it!” Pearlman said in a statement on Save Boca’s social media site on March 11. “Thanks to you, 75% of voters stood with us in the voting booth yesterday to Save Boca!

“Today, we celebrate this milestone in the fight to preserve the city we love. Tomorrow, the work begins to ensure City Hall responsibly manages our hard-earned tax dollars on the things that will best serve us, the residents of this city and not developers and private interests.”

Pearlman swept into Boca Raton politics last summer as he launched a grassroots effort to defeat the city’s redevelopment plans.

His supporters flocked to City Council meetings, demanding that the city scrap its plans. In short order, they managed to force significant changes that reduced the project’s size and density and preserved green and recreation space on the western portion of the city's 31.7 acre downtown campus site.

Save Boca also fielded two other election candidates.

Michelle Grau, a certified public accountant, convincingly defeated her two opponents, Christen Ritchey, a family law attorney and former member of the Planning and Zoning Board, and Bernard Korn. a real estate broker and a perennial candidate who has never won election.

Stacy Sipple, a clinical oncology pharmacist, easily prevailed over her two well-known opponents — former City Council member and County Commissioner Robert Weinroth and former Community Appearance Board and Planning and Zoning Board member Larry Cellon.

The defeat of the government campus redevelopment means that more than a year of city planning goes up in smoke.

Council members had promised residents that they would make the final decision on whether that project would live or die. Nearly 75% of voters killed it.

Now, the new council will have to decide, at the very least, how they will go about replacing the old and crumbling City Hall and Community Center.

If they do so, it will undoubtedly mean more modest and cheaper buildings than what the former council had envisioned.

Voters wait in line at Grace Community Church. Citywide, more than 19,000 people cast ballots, while a typical election draws about 12,000 to the polls. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Also killed decisively by the voters are city plans to replace its old police headquarters building by building a new $190 million police campus on city-owned land at the intersection of Spanish River and Broken Sound boulevards.

Nearly 55% of voters said they did not want to finance the construction by paying for most of it with a modest property tax increase.

The mayoral race determined who would replace term-limited Scott Singer. Singer now is seeking to defeat U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz to represent Florida’s 23rd Congressional District.

Nachlas supported the redevelopment, while Thomson is the only council member who opposed it. Liebelson also is opposed.

The mayoral candidates raised an astonishing amount of money for their campaigns, stunning election observers.

Nachlas and Thomson will top a combined $1 million in contributions once the totals raised by their political action committees are tabulated and reported in April.

Liebelson, who has had leadership roles with energy companies, has raised $203,390, mostly from loans and donations he had made to his campaign, as of year’s end. He said in March that his PAC had received another $25,000.

The city had entered into a public-private partnership with developers Terra and Frisbie Group, now known as One Boca, to implement the downtown redevelopment project.

After One Boca reduced the size and scope of the project several times to appease Save Boca, the developers would have leased from the city 7.8 acres on the east side of Northwest Second Avenue immediately east of the current City Hall.

Save Boca denounced the project as allowing overdevelopment, traffic woes and ruining the character of a beloved downtown property that would turn Boca into another Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

Originally, One Boca planned redevelopment across the entire 31.7-acre downtown campus.

Over time, the developers agreed to leave nearly 17.3 acres west of Northwest Second Avenue largely as recreation and park space. Their plans include turning a section of that land, known as Memorial Park, into an actual commemoration of veterans.

However, a new City Hall, Community Center and police substation would have been built there. Based on city project presentations, residents were led to believe that One Boca would pay for that.

It then turned out that the city would assume that $201 million cost, although it would eventually have gotten that money back from land lease payments and increases in property valuations.

Development would have been confined to the east side land south of the Downtown Library and Brightline station.

It would have included an office building, grocery store, parking garage, hotel, four apartment buildings and a condo.

Source: Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections Office

South Palm Beach: Mayor, two council members ousted as newcomers win

Posted by The Coastal Star on March 10, 2026 at 22:09

March 13 update: After a machine recount on Friday, the South Palm Beach Town Council race stayed the same as it had been on election night on Tuesday. Adrian Burcet expanded his second-place lead to four votes, creating a big enough spread between him and third-place finisher, incumbent Sandra Beckett, so that a manual recount was not needed. Burcet and first-place finisher Francesca Attardi have been elected to four-year terms and Beckett will serve the remainder of a two-year unexpired term.

South Palm Beach Town Council member Sandra Beckett, center, listens intently to the details of how the recount would be handled Friday afternoon. South Palm Beach was part of the March 13 recount to settle the election results for Town Council. After a machine recount, the county canvassing board determined that newcomers Francesca Attardi and Adrian Burcet had won seats on the Town Council, and council member Sandra Beckett had won reelection. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

The final vote in the South Palm Beach Town Council race after the March 13 machine recount. The top three finishers were elected. Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office

March 12 update: The Supervisor of Elections office will conduct a recount in the South Palm Beach Town Council race, where only three votes separate the second- and third-place council candidates. While both are elected -- newcomer Adrian Burcet and incumbent Sandra Beckett -- as there were three council openings, the second-place finisher will receive a full four-year term and the third-place finisher an unexpired two-year term.

The latest South Palm Beach Town Council results released March 12. A recount will be held March 13 because of the closeness of the race for the second- and third-place spots. The second-place finisher gets a four-year term and the third-place finisher a two-year unexpired term.

By Brian Biggane

In a surprising vote that almost certainly puts the prospects of the South Palm Beach Town Hall project in jeopardy, mayoral candidate Rafael Pineiro and his slate of two other council candidates swept to victory in Tuesday’s town election.

While results from the Supervisor of Elections Office are unofficial, Pineiro ended the 11-year run of Mayor Bonnie Fischer with about 52% of the vote, while newcomer Fran Attardi led all five Town Council candidates and newcomer Adrian Burcet was second.

Pineiro and Attardi won four-year terms. Unless a recount changes the order of finish, Burcet as the second-place council finisher would also get a four-year term, while Council member Sandra Beckett, who finished third in the unofficial results of the council election, would serve the remaining two years of an unexpired term. Ray McMillan was the lone incumbent not up for election; his term runs until 2028.

None of the three newcomers have any experience in town government.

Vice Mayor Monte Berendes, who finished fourth in the council election, said the results caught him totally by surprise.

“I am in complete shock,” Berendes said. “This just blows me away. I did not expect this at all.”

Fischer, who had served on the council since 2011, including the last 11 years as mayor, was more subdued.

“It’s a disappointment,” she said. “We had a good council, working together, and it will be interesting to see now what happens with the town.”

The council spent much of the past two years working toward building a new Town Hall to replace the existing one. Fort Lauderdale-based CPZ Architects was hired and delivered drawings for a new two-story building expected to cost about $6-7 million. One of the agenda items for the upcoming March 17 meeting is to review bids from applicants for the general contractor position.

Pineiro, who did not return two phone calls or text messages asking for comment, made the focal point of his campaign a push to hire an engineering firm to study the possibility of renovating the existing building. He and his fellow challengers are expected to dismiss CPZ and essentially start over.

Berendes and Fischer have both gone on record in the past saying Pineiro didn’t have all the facts and that, after nearly 10 years of planning, the time for a new building had come.

“I feel like Rafael misled a lot of people,” Berendes said, “putting out a lot of misinformation on what was going on. But it’s on him now.”

“It’s just very unfortunate,” Fischer added. “We were finally moving forward. It’s just unfortunate to have this change in council.”

Fischer said she was “calmer than I thought I would be” upon getting the results and reflective as she looked back on her 15 years in town government.

“I’ve had a good run,” she said. “I would have liked to have done more, especially with the beaches and the things I was working on. I’ve spent many years on beach issues.

“I never looked at it being a burden, I really didn’t. I enjoyed it, My position allowed me to meet a lot of people I probably wouldn’t, and that’s very important to me.”

Delray Beach: Mollica wins commission seat, upsetting mayor’s favored candidate

Posted by The Coastal Star on March 10, 2026 at 21:42

By John Pacenti

You’ve heard of the luck of the Irish? Well, now there’s the curse of the Carney.

Real estate broker Judy Mollica, a familiar face in local civic circles, defeated well-funded political newcomer Andrea Keiser Tuesday in a race she believed hinged on voter turnout and her long‑term ties to the community.

Her victory came in a three‑way race in which Mollica argued that roots and record should matter more than last‑minute campaign gloss.

Mayor Tom Carney endorsed Keiser, saying she was the most qualified candidate on budget and policy matters.

Mollica replaces Rob Long, who left the commission to become a state representative for District 90. Mollica captured 40% of the vote to Keiser’s 34%. A third candidate, Delores Rangel, a former executive assistant for the city, had 26% to finish third.

Commissioner Angela Burns won her seat without opposition.

“I think it’s just the work I’ve done in the community and that many of the residents saw my commitment,” Mollica said after the votes were counted. “I am incredibly grateful for the voters putting their trust in me.”

Mollica -– a member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Board -– got some key endorsements from the police and fire unions. She opposed the city's ousting of the nonprofit that ran Old School Square and praised the Downtown Development Authority, often criticized by Carney as wasting taxpayer dollars.

On coastal issues, Mollica campaigned that the city should pursue reef‑based shoreline protection guided by marine scientists, rather than relying solely on trucked‑in sand and offshore dredging. She also backed exploring noise‑camera technology to ticket modified exhausts on vehicles on State Road A1A and address a long‑running quality-of-life complaint on the island.

In an era where campaigns often measure strength in the number of lawn signs lining major intersections, Mollica intentionally bucked that strategy. She said she refused to “litter the world with lawn signs,” opting instead for targeted yard placements only where homeowners specifically requested them.

“I'm door-to-door every single day, and I’ve got groups making phone calls, so we’re fighting till the end,” she told The Coastal Star before the vote.

Mollica also openly questioned Keiser’s $102,000 investment of her own money in the race, saying it showed her opponent did not have name recognition or a track record of civil service in the community.

Mollica is president of Friends of Delray, which has the motto “accountable government, sensible growth and civic pride.” She said she closed the gap with some late donations but ran her campaign “on a shoestring budget.”

On the trail and in interviews, Keiser framed herself as the most technically prepared candidate for a commission that spends much of its time on development and budgeting. The land-use and zoning attorney has touted that she is a board member of the Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County, which manages a $300 million budget with 5% administrative costs.

She also promised to address permitting delays for residents.

"Although this election did not end the way we hoped, I remain incredibly optimistic about the future of our city," Keiser said. "This campaign brought together many residents who care deeply about Delray Beach, and I look forward to continuing to stay involved in our community and working to make our city even stronger."

Rangel was hampered by the flu during a key stretch of candidate forums and struggled with public speaking, failing at times to get her positions across. However, in a one-on-one interview, Rangel showed her expertise on a wide range of issues.

At one point, a meme surfaced on Delray Beach social media circles asking, “Where’s Delores?” showing a Where’s Waldo scenario with Rangel in front of the “Invisibility Office.”

Rangel, before the election, told The Coastal Star that the direction of the city regarding development and policies was at stake. She said she was the “only candidate who does not have donors hidden in a PAC, and I’m not supported by any developers and special interest groups.”

Mollica says she has no hard feelings towards Carney – who sent out a long memo endorsing Keiser.

“I’m not one of those vindictive people,” she said. “I just want to work and get the work of the city done.”

Update: This story was updated to include post-election comments from Andrea Keiser.