By Dan Moffett

Ocean Ridge commissioners are hoping to have a mass public notification system up and running before the hurricane season begins in June.
The commission unanimously approved on April 1 a proposal by the Massachusetts-based company CivicPlus to install the alert system in the town for $2,065, with an annual renewal charge of $965.
With the CivicPlus technology, officials will be able to rapidly send alerts to the town’s residents by text, voicemail and email. The service is free for residents, but they must register with the town to participate.
Police Chief Hal Hutchins got an assist in screening prospective vendors from Ocean Ridge resident Janet Schijns. A former Verizon executive, Schijns recommended CivicPlus over competitors CodeRED and Nixle because of the company’s range of features, secure database and attractive fee structure.
“In speaking with my connections, they were at the top of every list and have replaced CodeRED in numerous cities,” she said of CivicPlus.
• Acting Town Manager Tracey Stevens and Mayor Steve Coz will lead a goal-setting workshop for the commission on April 18, beginning at 2 p.m. Commissioners will discuss a number of critical long-term issues, including sewer system options, vacation rentals, street flooding and sea rise.
At March 4 meeting:
• The process of getting Ocean Ridge a separate ZIP code from the U.S. Postal Service appears to be even more complicated and arduous than commissioners first thought.
Besides potentially many months of bureaucratic negotiation with Washington, the town could face some tough negotiation with Boynton Beach. Ocean Ridge currently shares a ZIP code with Boynton, and the city likely would have to work with commissioners to change that.
Robert Sloat, who was appointed to fill the commission seat vacated by James Bonfiglio in November, said without Boynton’s cooperation to continue services, Ocean Ridge might need to get its own mail office, delivery truck and postal officer to serve the separate ZIP area.
Insurance is another potential complication.
Insurance companies often use ZIP codes to set rates, Sloat said during the meeting, and if separated from Boynton, Ocean Ridge residents might see the cost of property and auto insurance increase.
Coz asked Sloat, whose partial term on the commission expired with the March 12 election, to be the town’s one-man “exploratory committee” and investigate the unintended consequences of the ZIP code idea.
“I’ll talk to the postal authorities,” Sloat said.
The plan has gained support in recent months as a way for the town to deter online searches for vacation rentals in Ocean Ridge.
• After three and a half years in Ocean Ridge, Jamie Titcomb left the town manager’s job to take a similar position in Loxahatchee Groves.
“I have really enjoyed working here,” he told the commission March 4.
“I’m very sad to leave this town but I’m very confident we’ve left a very good team of professionals in place that will work in camaraderie with the programs we’ve worked so hard on.”
Titcomb and the commissioners had a bumpy ride early in his tenure because of budget preparation problems — so much so that they changed his contract term to a month-to-month agreement.
But after replacing the town’s outdated budget software and getting the numbers in line, Titcomb earned glowing reviews from the commission.

By Steve Plunkett

Court transcribers are busily typing what they anticipate will be 1,800 pages detailing former Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella’s recent criminal trial.
Lucibella, 65, is appealing his Feb. 21 sentence, in which he was ordered to pay $675 in court costs. A six-person jury found him guilty of misdemeanor battery, a lesser charge, instead of felony battery on a law enforcement officer; he also was found not guilty of resisting arrest with violence.
And on March 25 he offered to pay Ocean Ridge police Officer Nubia Plesnik $100 if she drops her civil lawsuit, which accuses him of battery and negligence.
“I can’t get my reputation back, but I will have my record cleared,” Lucibella said. “What was done to Barbara and I was wrong, and we intend to address every last vestige of this false arrest.”
Barbara Ceuleers is Lucibella’s girlfriend.
West Palm Beach lawyer Leonard Feuer filed Lucibella’s notice of appeal Feb. 26 but did not pay the transcript costs until March 18. That started a 30-day clock for the transcribers, who must type about 78 pages a day to finish by April 17.
Meanwhile, Richard Slinkman, Plesnik’s lawyer, demanded “better answers” from Lucibella in the civil case. Lucibella claimed his “Fifth Amendment right to remain silent” 77 times, Slinkman said in a Feb. 25 court filing. Those responses were given in November 2017, almost 15 months before the criminal trial.
Lucibella disputed Slinkman’s characterization of his responses about Plesnik. “I’ve not plead the Fifth at all,” he said. “I affirmatively denied her allegations.”
He also said Slinkman does not want better answers. “He actually wants a sleazy payday for him and his client, in that order,” Lucibella said.
Slinkman bristled at Lucibella’s statements, saying he only wants justice for Plesnik and calling Lucibella “a sad, little, entitled man who feels that, because he is wealthy, he is above the law and doesn’t need to take responsibility for his own improper actions.”
Slinkman previously had submitted his own settlement proposal in the case. Under Florida law, whichever side loses will pay the winner’s attorney fees from the date the proposal was filed.
Slinkman said he and Plesnik “are not concerned” with Lucibella’s proposal for a settlement. “We are confident in the jury system and confident that we will prevail at trial,” Slinkman said.
Florida court guidelines say most civil lawsuits should reach the jury in 18 months.
In the felony trial, Plesnik testified that Lucibella was loud and belligerent during his Oct. 22, 2016, arrest. Plesnik, Officer Richard Ermeri and Sgt. William Hallahan went to Lucibella’s backyard that night to investigate reports of gunfire.
“I was trying to put him down like a child, sit down!” Plesnik told the jury.
She has since missed reporting for police duty for several months because of shoulder problems caused by his actions, she testified.
Slinkman said that instead of throwing out insults, Lucibella should turn his critical eye inward.
“When a person gets drunk, acts like a fool, embarrasses himself, and in the process injures an innocent person who was simply out doing her job and protecting the public as a law enforcement officer, he should take responsibility for his own actions ... instead of passing the cost of these medical bills and other losses onto the citizens of Ocean Ridge,” he said.

Misdemeanor appeal months away
Appealing a misdemeanor to a District Court of Appeal is so rare, Florida does not keep statistics, said Paul Flemming of the Office of the State Courts Administrator in Tallahassee.
“The number of misdemeanor cases filed in the district courts would be extremely small, since the appellate divisions of the circuit courts have jurisdiction over most misdemeanor cases,” Flemming said.
But Lucibella’s was a felony case heard in Circuit Court that led to a misdemeanor conviction, so the appeal goes to the 4th DCA.
Lucibella’s appeal should carry the case into 2020. Generally, it takes two to three months after the last document is filed to get on the court’s calendar, the court’s website says. A three-judge panel renders its decision in most cases within 180 days, the website advises.

By Mary Hladky

The possibility of a second Tri-Rail station in Boca Raton has all but evaporated.
Steven Abrams, executive director of the South Florida Regional Transit Authority, which operates Tri-Rail, told the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations on March 5 that the idea is on permanent hold.
Tri-Rail began considering a second Boca Raton stop in 2007, and the idea got traction when a coalition of landowners near the Town Center mall proposed a “live, work, play” redevelopment that included as many as 2,500 apartments near the CSX railroad tracks that run roughly parallel to Interstate 95.
A 2016 Tri-Rail study found the station would attract enough riders to be economically viable. In July, Tri-Rail chose as its preferred location a site in the center of the proposed Midtown project. The former King’s Deli property sits along the tracks at the intersection of Military Trail and Northwest 19th Street.
But even as Tri-Rail was selecting a site, momentum stalled after the Boca Raton City Council last year did not enact land development regulations that would have allowed Midtown redevelopment to proceed.
The council’s decision also made it unlikely that landowner Crocker Partners, which led the Midtown coalition and owns the King’s Deli site, would donate the land for the station.
Crocker Partners has sued the city, seeking $136.7 million in damages, for not adopting the land development regulations.
Without residential development and land donation, “I don’t envision [the station] happening,” Abrams said after the meeting.

Coastal Link vision
But as Tri-Rail celebrates its 30th birthday this year, it is moving ahead on other fronts under Abrams, a former Palm Beach County commissioner and Boca Raton mayor who became the transit authority’s executive director in December.
The authority is negotiating with Boca Tri-Rail LLC, which is not affiliated with Tri-Rail, to build a transit-oriented development on 7.5 acres it owns adjacent to the Yamato Road station. The company’s proposal calls for an orthopedic surgery center, restaurant and other retail, but no residential.
The area already has the maximum amount of residential allowed by the city. Abrams said uncertainty about whether the City Council would be willing to raise the residential cap led the transit authority board to shy away from a project that includes housing. The City Council must approve the project once plans are finalized.
The transit authority has long wanted to create Coastal Link, with trains running on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks from Miami to Jupiter. The FEC tracks run roughly along Federal Highway through city centers where stations would be more conveniently located for many riders.
The agency has built a link from the CSX tracks to downtown Miami, and its Miami station is anticipated to open at the end of this year.
“That is the first step of an envisioned Tri-Rail Coastal Link,” Abrams said. “It is a strong vision for the future. It is something I think there is demand for.”
Coastal Link would share the tracks with privately owned Brightline, which now runs from Miami to West Palm Beach and is seeking financing to expand to Orlando. Brightline rebranded as Virgin Trains USA on April 4.
The FEC would charge Tri-Rail to use its tracks, but negotiations over price have not yet started.
“We would anticipate ridership would explode” if Coastal Link becomes reality, Abrams said.
Coastal Link would build gradually, he said. Initially, he sees running trains possibly to Wynwood and then to Aventura.
Tri-Rail would not abandon its service on the CSX tracks if Coastal Link comes into being.
The two rail lines “serve two different areas of South Florida,” Abrams said. “There will be ridership on both.”
Tri-Rail is funded by Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the Florida Department of Transportation and rider fares, but has been chronically underfunded since its inception.
When Abrams became executive director, Tri-Rail had a $15 million deficit. It has since been trimmed to less than $10 million with “lots of belt-tightening,” including hiring and travel freezes, he said.
Ridership was up 2 percent in January compared to last year, with 16,000 to 16,500 passengers riding the trains each day. Tri-Rail has long been criticized for running late, but Abrams said on-time performance has improved greatly and is now at 95 percent.
Both Tri-Rail and Brightline share a problem: people who trespass on the tracks or use the trains to end their lives.
Tri-Rail wants to use drones that would fly ahead of its trains to spot anyone on the tracks, so the train has time to stop.
Legislation has been introduced in Tallahassee that would end the practice of treating a Tri-Rail train as a crime scene when it strikes a person. The crime scene designation means the train cannot move and passengers cannot enter or exit until the investigation is completed — a process that can take four hours.
Tri-Rail also hopes to replace its outdated ticket machines.
The launch of Brightline passenger service last year has not had an impact on Tri-Rail ridership, Abrams said. The two rail lines have different markets, he said, with Brightline catering to tourists and Tri-Rail to blue-collar and hospital and medical office workers.

Related Stories: Leadership timeline | Interim manager making progress on city reorganization

By Rich Pollack and Jane Smith

It’s back to square one for Delray Beach as a familiar pattern in the quest for stability in city leadership persists.
Once again, the chair behind the city manager’s desk is vacant — for the third time in six years — following one forced resignation, one earlier-than-expected retirement and one termination.
Once again, the city is spending money on a search firm hired to scour the country in hopes of finding qualified candidates.
And once again, an interim city manager is back overseeing a workforce that has not had steady leadership of more than two years at a time since the January 2013 retirement of David Harden, who served as city manager for 22 years.
“It is incomprehensible that this city has gone through three city managers since 2013,” says Joycelyn Patrick, a longtime follower of city government who served as chairwoman of the West Atlantic Redevelopment Coalition and is past president of the Northwest Neighborhood Alliance. “It is impossible to forge a relationship with the community at large when such instability exists.”
Differing opinions exist from those who follow municipal government about why Delray Beach has a revolving door at the city manager’s office, what that means to the community and what can be done to ensure the city’s next top administrator has a long tenure.
“I look at the reasons, not the numbers,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia said. Don Cooper resigned in 2016 because of family health problems, she added.
Everyone agrees, however, that Delray Beach needs to find the right person to fill the vacancy — someone who will be a fixture in City Hall for years to come.
“Having a city manager who has the ability to garner trust with the community and elected officials is what you want,” says Bill Branning, chairman of the board of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce.
The latest city manager to leave Delray Beach was Mark Lauzier, whose departure came quickly — just two months after he was given a raise. Hired in November 2017, Lauzier was fired by unanimous vote during a special commission meeting March 1.
Lauzier’s departure came after an internal auditor’s report pointed out issues with the city manager’s employment practices, including Lauzier’s rewriting of procedures for hiring people who directly report to him without informing commissioners.
In what could feel like déjà vu to many in City Hall, Fire Chief Neal de Jesus has been named interim city manager for a second time.
“It’s not as concerning to me because of the way we dealt with Lauzier. It was done publicly with total transparency about why he had to go,” Petrolia said.
Lauzier’s hiring came just shy of a year after Cooper retired early. Commissioners brought in de Jesus for his first run as interim manager.
The first city manager to leave quickly after Harden’s retirement was Louie Chapman Jr., who resigned under pressure after being suspended for 90 days because he ordered $60,000 worth of garbage carts four months before commissioners approved the request.
While each case is different, some common denominators exist.

Familiarity can help
For instance, all three of the managers — and Harden as well — were hired from outside and were not deeply familiar with Delray Beach and the workings of the city before they arrived.
Contrast that with the city managers in neighboring and similar-sized Boca Raton and Boynton Beach, who both have longer tenures than the last three Delray Beach managers combined.
Boca Raton’s Leif Ahnell has been city manager for 20 years and moved into the job after nine years of rising through the ranks on the finance side. He served as an assistant city manager for just four months before getting the job permanently.
In Boynton Beach, City Manager Lori LaVerriere has been in her job since February 2013 after serving as an assistant city manager and interim city manager. She joined the city in 2008 after serving as Manalapan town manager.
Coming into the manager position after serving in other roles within the city can be a plus, LaVerriere said.
Speaking in her role as the District 4 director for the Florida City and County Management Association, LaVerriere said that spending time in a community before taking the top position gives an administrator time to get to know the community and people the manager will depend on to succeed.
“It allows you the opportunity to learn about the organization and the city,” she said.
It also allows a prospective city manager the time to build trust with the staff and with elected officials.
“A key component is trust,” LaVerriere said.

ABOVE: Mark Lauzier was fired as Delray Beach city manager after commissioners scheduled a meeting to discuss his performance. BELOW: Fire Chief Neal de Jesus became interim city manager for the second time. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Another common denominator with Chapman and Lauzier is that both came under fire from commissions that were significantly different in membership from those that hired them.
In Lauzier’s case, current commissioners Bill Bathurst, Ryan Boylston and Adam Frankel were elected after Lauzier was hired.
Angie Gray, who was on the commission when Chapman was hired but not when he left, said the makeup of the commission can play a role in tenure. “It can sometimes depend on who the city manager is beholden to,” she said.
In Delray Beach that factor can be magnified, according to former Commissioner Mitch Katz, because many factions and influential individuals work behind the scenes.
“Our city managers are being pulled in 20 different directions because of additional outside influences,” said Katz, who was on the commission when Lauzier was hired.

Stability, progress affected
While commissions hope to maintain continuity and stability within city government, the constant turnover of managers can take its toll on staff and on projects in the works.
“It kind of freezes the forward movement of the city’s goals,” the chamber’s Branning said.
As an example, he said the chamber has been working with Lauzier and city staff on the possibility of partnering to promote Delray Beach as a tourist destination. Now, he said, the chamber will have to work with someone else who will first need to be brought up to speed.
The mayor and representatives of other organizations, however, say they do not see the turnover as having a significant negative impact.
“While a new city manager requires a learning period, our members are rarely affected by the change of one person,” said Bob Victorin, president of the influential Beach Property Owners Association. “Importantly, the BPOA has maintained a positive working relation with every city manager.” 
Laura Simon, executive director of the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority, also expects her organization to see little impact with the change of manager.
“With any change in upper-level leadership in major organizations, there will be a few steps backwards or shift in lanes,” she said. “However, the city team is filled with strong leaders comprised of diverse practitioners who work collectively and collaboratively with the DDA staff, board, business owners and property owners.”
LaVerriere says high turnover at the top almost always affects the staff.
“Frequent turnover is disruptive to work flow,” she said. “When you have disruption of management at the top, it becomes very unsettling to staff.”
Moving forward, city leaders will have to choose a city manager from a pool of applicants who will most likely know about the tumultuous track record of previous managers.
Former commissioner Gray thinks one way to improve the chances of a city manager’s staying longer would be to once again require a super majority of four commissioners to fire a city manager. In 2014 voters approved a measure reducing the required votes to fire a city manager to three.
“I think we need to go back to the super majority to remove a city manager,” she said.
In Lauzier’s case, however, the super-majority issue would not have been relevant because the vote to fire him was unanimous.
Patrick, the community leader, thinks outside help could be useful in training city commissioners to better manage themselves and the city manager.
She also thinks the city should continue to look inward during its search for a new manager.
“I find it difficult to believe that we cannot find a qualified individual in house as opposed to having headhunters conduct nationwide searches on behalf of the city,” she said.
De Jesus, at a March 12 City Commission meeting, gave an indication that he would like to see more movement from within — although not speaking specifically about the city manager position — saying he will look from the ranks to fill vacancies.
As the search goes on, the track record of previous city managers could be a roadblock. Gray, however, thinks the right message will attract good candidates.
“We have to get the message out that Delray Beach is not a difficult city to work in,” she said. “It’s just that we’re not going to tolerate people making bad decisions.”

Briny Breezes resident Martin Poock, a professional opera singer, belts out The Star-Spangled Banner during a Houston Astros-Washington Nationals spring training game at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Rachel O’Hara/The Coastal Star

SEE HIM SING: Watch video

By Ron Hayes

In 1993, Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis was roundly booed when he sang The Star-Spangled Banner off-key at a New Jersey Nets game.
In 2001, pop star Macy Gray sang it off-beat at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game.
In 2003, Michael Bolton came to Boston’s Fenway Park with the words written on his hand, then forgot them anyway.
And the less said about Roseanne Barr’s obscene assault at a 1990 San Diego Padres game the better.
Clearly, The Star-Spangled Banner can be a challenge.
Where can a professional ballpark find someone who will bless our national pastime with a national anthem that’s on key, on beat and sung with a touch of class?
On March 10, the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches found that someone in Briny Breezes.
Martin Poock — it’s German, pronounced “poke” — is a professional opera singer who performs regularly with Chicago’s Lyric Opera and Grant Park Music Festival.
He’s also a son of the late Lowen Poock, a longtime Briny resident who served as chairman of the town’s audit committee. After his father’s death in 2012, Martin began visiting regularly, sharing his father’s former home with his aunt, Doris Studer, and performing in the chorus of Palm Beach Opera, where he’s been heard in such classics as The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Die Fledermaus.
On Feb. 9, Poock came to the ballpark at Haverhill Road and 45th Street in West Palm Beach hoping to add major league baseball to his résumé.
“I had sung it for the Iowa Cubs, a minor league team in Des Moines, and the Sugar Land Skeeters in suburban Houston, but never for any major league teams, so I thought it would be fun,” he recalls.
He wasn’t alone.
“I had a rehearsal for Don Giovanni that morning, so I got there a little late [for the audition]. This was for the entire spring training season, so there were about 30 people there waiting to audition. They give you a number, like at the Publix deli, so I was probably No. 30.”
The 30 hopefuls were asked to list four or five game days they’d be available if chosen. Numbers were called, and one by one the singers came to a microphone behind home plate to face a panel of four judges.
When No. 30 was called, Poock stepped up to the plate and sang.
“You have to sing it a cappella and in under one minute, 30 seconds. But they were appreciative,” he remembers, “and then they asked if I could sing God Bless America.”
Poock had not come prepared to sing God Bless America, but he did his best.
Driving home to Briny Breezes, he was not especially hopeful.
“Palm Beach Opera has a young artists program, and I know some of them automatically get scheduled to sing in Jupiter, so I was kind of thinking maybe that would preclude me,” he thought.
Two weeks later, he got the call saying he’d been chosen to sing at the March 10 spring training game between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals.
The game was scheduled for 1:05 p.m. that Sunday. Poock was told be there at 10 a.m.
Three hours early to sing for 90 seconds.
“They did a sound run-through that lasted just a couple of minutes, and then I walked around and explored the stadium.”
In the team shop, he bought a refrigerator magnet of the Florida Grapefruit League for his sister and a Ballpark shot glass for a friend in Texas.
Finally, it was 1:05 p.m. In the stands he had a Briny Breezes fan club waiting, consisting of his Aunt Doris Studer and her friends Lorraine Lavoie and Judy Winkowski.
Dressed in white shorts, sandals and a Palm Beach Opera T-shirt, Poock stepped up to home plate, raised the microphone and sang it his way.
“I do have a theory about the anthem,” he explains. “I try to sing it as straightforwardly and unornamented as possible. I don’t try to jack it up or slow it down. I don’t add swoops and swirls.
“The whole point of the national anthem at a sporting event is so the other people can sing along. It’s not ‘I’m singing the national anthem.’ It’s ‘We’re singing the national anthem.’
“You’re not celebrating yourself, you’re celebrating America.”
So that’s how he sang it — on key and on the beat, in less than 90 seconds.
And when he was done, the announcer asked all the fans to “Thank Mr. Pook.”
“They mispronounced my name,” he said, more amused than annoyed.
He was back again during the seventh-inning stretch to sing God Bless America, and he was done.
The Nationals beat the Astros, 6-4, and Poock was paid with one complimentary ticket and a parking pass.
“I thought that was kind of cheap,” he said. “They could give two tickets so you can bring a friend. But it was a great experience. I got all the right words in the right order, and no one booed.”

Related Stories: Leadership timeline | Why can’t Delray keep city managers?

Delray Beach is working with a firm from California to find candidates for city manager as interim manager Neal de Jesus reorganizes city staff. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

Neal de Jesus continues to plow forward with staffing changes as interim city manager of Delray Beach.
Since the March 1 firing of Mark Lauzier from the city government’s top position, de Jesus has reorganized upper management with firings and promotions. He also found a search firm to locate a new city manager.
On March 12, he received City Commission approval to hire Ralph Andersen & Associates of Rocklin, California, which has 47 years of executive search experience. De Jesus estimated that the total cost would be less than $50,000 because the firm’s executive vice president, Robert Burg, lives in Sarasota.
Burg will want to meet with each commissioner to find out the type of experience the commission wants in manager candidates, de Jesus said at the March 12 commission meeting. Then, the job will be advertised, allowing inside and outside candidates to apply.
“I reminded the staff of what we are called to do — serve residents, businesses and visitors of Delray Beach,” de Jesus said.
When city commissioners appointed de Jesus as interim manager on March 1, he agreed to serve for 90 days and then return to his fire chief position.
In one of his first moves, Shona Smith, executive assistant in the city manager’s office, was suspended without pay on March 1. She resigned in mid-March, as did Nora Emmanuel, the city’s public information coordinator.
Assistant City Manager India Adams, though, is fighting her firing and has hired an attorney to ask for 90 days’ severance pay, as well as payment for her unused vacation and sick time. The hearing date was not set as of press time. She had been recruited from Lauzier’s former office in Tacoma, Washington.
When Adams first came to the city in January 2018, she was an assistant to the city manager. Her salary was $82,350, plus benefits.
On Aug. 1, Lauzier promoted Adams to be assistant city manager, raising her salary by about 45 percent to $120,000.
De Jesus finished reorganizing the city manager’s office by firing Vince Roberts, the city’s management fellow.
A report by Julia Davidyan, the city’s internal auditor, found that Roberts and Adams were not qualified to be in their city positions, according to their job descriptions.
In other top management moves:
Laura Thezine, assistant finance director, will step up as the interim finance director while de Jesus looks for a longer-term finance director through the Government Finance Officers Association.
De Jesus also wants to move the city’s Office of Budget back under the Finance Department.
“We will look internally to fill vacancies. In the past, we have looked outside,” de Jesus said.
He promoted Suzanne Fisher to be an assistant city manager from her post as Parks and Recreation Department director.
Sam Metott then stepped into the open parks director position. Metott, who had been assistant director, had been looking for other jobs and had said his goal was to run a parks department, de Jesus said.
At the end of March, Utilities Director Marjorie Craig and Public Works Director Susan Goebel-Canning resigned.
Davidyan, who had previously been assigned a closet-like space, has moved to a private office across from the city manager on the second floor of City Hall, de Jesus said.
Delray Beach voters approved the internal auditor position in a March 2016 referendum, although Davidyan was hired on Aug. 27, 2018. She reports directly to the commission, independent of the city manager.
Lauzier became city manager on Nov. 6, 2017, at a salary of $235,000. On Jan. 15, he received a 4 percent increase, retroactive to his anniversary date of Nov. 6. The salary increase was approved 3-2 by the City Commission. Mayor Shelly Petrolia and Deputy Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson voted no.
Davidyan never met with Lauzier despite repeated attempts on her part. As recently as the Feb. 5 commission meeting, Petrolia asked Lauzier “to meet with the internal auditor once a month.”
At the March 1 special City Commission meeting called to discuss Lauzier’s performance, Davidyan said “certain red flags” were raised earlier this year. She began investigating the “tone at the top” after the Feb. 5 meeting, when Lauzier announced he had hired his third assistant city manager, Susan Grant.
Davidyan noticed that several key department head positions were open in early 2019. Lauzier had declared a partial hiring freeze in late January and then two weeks later announced he hired Grant.
In her review, Davidyan found:
• On Dec. 7, 2017, Lauzier rewrote the personnel manual so that it did not cover his hiring of people who report directly to him, including executive staff in his office and the department heads. He did not update the city charter as was required, post the changes or alert the commission.
• In January 2018, Lauzier hired Adams to be assistant to the city manager. Adams listed only one year of experience as a management analyst II and two years of intern/fellowship experience on her résumé.
• On March 29, 2018, Lauzier hired Roberts, with a master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina, at an annual salary of $53,174, with $3,800 in moving expenses and $1,200 in housing assistance. Roberts also received full city benefits.
• On Aug. 1, Lauzier promoted Adams to be assistant city manager. The City Commission learned about the promotion in Lauzier’s July 31 memo when he released a revised organization chart. Adams did not have the required five years of experience for the position.
On Jan. 30, the city had a partial hiring freeze, but Lauzier hired another assistant city manager, Grant from Coral Springs. Her start date was Feb. 19.
Grant resigned on March 1, rather than go on unpaid leave, de Jesus said.
The March 1 meeting was conducted as a quasi-judicial hearing that provided the required 72 hours of notice to the public. Davidyan’s “Concerns with the tone at the top,” though, were not posted until one hour before the meeting started.
City Attorney Lynn Gelin said at the meeting that the county Office of the Inspector General wanted a copy of Davidyan’s notes.
At the March 1 meeting, Lauzier received time to respond.
“I have not violated any code of ethics,” he said, adding that he took over a city that was in chaos.
He defended Adams “as the most talented management fellow, who proved herself in the mettle. People have a problem with excellence.”
He asked for time to respond to the report or to allow him to work up an amicable separation agreement.
“It’s not appropriate to attack my staff and me and call me incompetent,” Lauzier said.
He ended his 15-minute speech by telling commissioners, “I love you guys and I love this city.”
City commissioners voted unanimously to fire Lauzier with cause.

2013

Jan. 3 David Harden retires after 22 years as city manager. Douglas Smith, assistant city manager, becomes interim city manager.
Outgoing mayor Woodie McDuffie resigns after running unsuccessfully for county Supervisor of Elections. Vice Mayor Tom Carney becomes acting mayor.
Commissioners are Angie Gray, Al Jacquet and Adam Frankel. Christina Morrison is appointed to the commission.
Brian Shutt is city attorney.
March 12 Voters elect Cary Glickstein as mayor and Shelly Petrolia as commissioner. Frankel is re-elected without opposition. Gray and Jacquet remain commissioners.
April 1 Louie Chapman Jr., ex-town manager of Bloomfield, Connecticut, becomes city manager starting at $160,000.

2014

Jan. 3 Shutt leaves his position as city attorney to work in the private sector. Terrill Pyburn, assistant city attorney, becomes interim city attorney.
March 12 Jordana Jarjura defeats Gray for a commission seat. Jacquet is re-elected. Commission seats now have three-year terms.
May 13 Commissioners suspend Chapman for 90 days after he ordered $60,000 worth of garbage carts four months before commissioners had approved the request.
Assistant City Manager Bob Barcinski fills in for one month before his planned retirement on June 14, and then Assistant City Manager Terry Stewart takes over.
Commissioners attempt to fire Chapman for cause, but vote fails because at the time the commission needed four votes.
June 17 Pyburn takes city attorney position in Coconut Creek.
July 1 Assistant City Attorney Janice Rustin steps in as acting city attorney.
July 9 Noel Pfeffer, former Broward County deputy attorney, becomes city attorney at a starting salary of $149,500.
July 15 Chapman resigns as city manager and receives about $73,000 in severance pay. Rustin negotiated the settlement and both parties sign a mutual release of liabilities.
Aug. 26 Voters approve a charter change reducing to three the number of commissioners needed to remove the city manager.

2015

Jan. 5 Don Cooper becomes city manager, starting at $170,000. Glickstein is mayor. Commissioners are Frankel, Jacquet, Jarjura and Petrolia.
March Mitch Katz replaces Frankel, who is term-limited.
August Cooper outlines purchasing problems in a memo that says the County Inspector General and State’s Attorney offices are investigating. Six employees receive reprimands. The purchasing manager retires in June before the investigation is finished. Three department heads, overseeing police, fire and finance departments, are docked a day’s pay.

2016

February Former city employees Orlando Serrano, Cesar Irizarry and Harold Bellinger are arrested on charges they ordered products that the city paid for but did not receive. Serrano pleads guilty and is sentenced to 12 months in the county jail. Irizarry pleads guilty to grand theft and is sentenced to three years’ probation. Bellinger dies before his case goes to trial.
June 24 Pfeffer resigns and goes into private practice. Assistant City Attorney Rustin is name interim city attorney.
Nov. 1 Jacquet leaves the commission after being elected state representative. The commission is deadlocked when trying to appoint his replacement.
Commissioners agree to hire Max Lohman’s firm as the city attorney at $300,000 annually. Glickstein is mayor. Commissioners are Jarjura, Katz and Petrolia.
Dec. 30 Cooper resigns as city manager for family health reasons. Fire Chief Neal de Jesus becomes interim city manager.

2017

March 14 Jim Chard and Shirley Johnson are elected to the City Commission with Glickstein as mayor. Commissioners Katz and Petrolia remain.
Nov. 6 Mark Lauzier, former assistant city manager in Tacoma, Washington, becomes city manager, starting at $235,000.
Dec. 7 Lauzier changes the city charter to have his direct hires and department heads be exempt from the policy and procedures for hiring employees and doesn’t notify anyone, as required in the city charter.

2018

March 13 City voters elect Petrolia as mayor, Bill Bathurst as commissioner to fill the two years of Chard’s term (who resigned to run for mayor), and Ryan Boylston. Frankel is re-elected to the commission. Johnson remains a commissioner.
Aug. 1 India Adams, hired in January as an assistant to the city manager, receives promotion to assistant city manager.
Aug. 27 Julia Davidyan starts as internal auditor. She reports directly to the commission.
Nov. 6 Max Lohman resigns as city attorney after a heated exchange with Mayor Petrolia.
Nov. 13 Deputy City Attorney Lynn Gelin becomes interim city attorney.

2019

Jan. 15 Lauzier receives a 4 percent raise, retroactive to the Nov. 6 anniversary of his hiring.
Jan. 30 Lauzier institutes partial hiring freeze at Executive Team Leadership Meeting.
Feb. 5 Lauzier introduces Susan Grant as assistant city manager at the City Commission meeting. She starts Feb. 19.
Gelin becomes city attorney.
March 1 Lauzier is fired with cause.
— Compiled by Jane Smith

SOURCES: Archives of The Coastal Star, City of Delray Beach and South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Mark Weissman, a newcomer to the South Palm Beach council, is sworn in. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

Former state Rep. Mark Weissman and incumbent Bill LeRoy claimed the two contested seats on the South Palm Beach Town Council in the March 12 municipal election, denying Councilwoman Elvadianne Culbertson another two-year term.
Weissman led the four-candidate field with 134 votes, roughly 29 percent of those cast, and LeRoy was close behind with 127 votes, or 27 percent. Culbertson, a three-year veteran of the council, got 109 votes (23.5 percent) and Kevin Hall, property manager of Palmsea Condominiums, 94 votes (20 percent).
Bonnie Fischer, who has served as mayor since 2015, was unopposed and returns for a third term. Council members unanimously reappointed Robert Gottlieb as vice mayor during their March 19 meeting.
Weissman, making his first run for office in South Palm Beach, appeared to resonate with voters because of his experience as a public official. He served as a state legislator from west Broward County during 2000-2002 and was a Parkland city commissioner for 14 years.
Weissman, 70, said “getting the people of our town to be more participatory” is one of his goals. He proposes reaching out to each condo building and creating a council of condo presidents to consider issues for council action.
“Not only so they know each other,” Weissman said, “but also so they know that the council is concerned about the same things the buildings are.”
Voters reelected LeRoy, a 3 1/2-year resident of the town who joined the council last year after winning a partial term created by the sudden death of Vice Mayor Joe Flagello in 2017.
LeRoy, 66, is an advocate for raising police salaries, which on average rank among the lowest in Palm Beach County.
He said, with roughly $3.5 million in cash reserves, the town can easily afford to boost officers’ pay.
“We’ve got all this money and we take care of our people so poorly,” LeRoy said. “We’ve got to take care of our people. If you don’t, they’re going to leave.”
In all, 285 South Palm voters cast ballots in the March election, a turnout of 22 percent.

By Dan Moffett

South Palm Beach council members are looking for a lobbyist to get behind their beach project. Never mind that they don’t have a beach project to get behind.
The plan to stabilize the town’s shoreline with concrete groins fell apart in February when county officials pulled out their support because of soaring costs and opposition from neighbors to the south.
That left South Palm Beach scrambling to find an alternative project that would do something to address residents’ concerns about their eroding beachfront.
“We’re looking at other options,” said Mayor Bonnie Fischer. “Nobody is giving up.”
Fischer said during the March 19 town meeting that she wasn’t ready to disclose those options. She also said she wasn’t ready to hire a lobbyist.
“I’m not against a lobbyist. But I think it’s a little premature.”
Despite her reluctance, Fischer grudgingly supported the proposal from newly seated Councilman Mark Weissman to find a lobbyist who can convince state and county officials that the town needs help to save its beach. Weissman’s motion passed 4-0 with Councilwoman Stella Gaddy Jordan absent.
“It’s good to have a lobbyist,” said Vice Mayor Robert Gottlieb. “But we also need a project to lobby for.”
Weissman argued the town should search for the right person now so the council is ready to go when it settles on an alternative project.
“Perhaps in the investigation we can find out who we want to engage, who’s available, who doesn’t have a conflict,” Weissman said. “Perhaps there’s somebody who’s done this at another municipality along the coast.”
Because condo buildings in South Palm Beach sit on a rocky ledge so close to the waterline, traditional beach renourishment projects are not feasible, environmental engineers say. Without groins to hold it, sand trucked in and deposited on the beach would quickly wash away.
“One little, tiny rainstorm and there goes the beach,” Fischer said. “It’s very disconcerting.”
Residents of Manalapan and farther south oppose groins because of concern they will interrupt the natural downstream flow of sand to their beaches. Manalapan and the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa threatened to sue to block the project.
Despite the opposition, Fischer said the town and the county “still have momentum” to move forward and find a plan that works for everyone.
In other business, the council honored police officers David Hul and Adam Farrish for lifesaving efforts.
Farrish provided aid to a heart attack victim walking along State Road A1A on Jan. 21.
Hul was first to respond in front of the Imperial House condominium on Jan. 24 when a motorist struck Rinaldo Morelli and his wife, Lena, police say, as they walked along A1A. Rinaldo Morelli, 75, died despite Hul’s efforts to save him with CPR. Lena Morelli was treated at Delray Medical Center and released.
Investigators from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office have not finished their report on the incident. Police believe the driver, Janet J. Reynolds, 91, of Palm Beach, drove her 2009 Lexus off the road and struck the couple. Officials say the investigation is likely complicated because of efforts to look into the driver’s health and medical background.

Retired avian veterinarian Greg Harrison holds a pelican found March 2 in front of the Dune Deck Condominium. A South Palm Beach resident, Harrison observed the bird for some time and intervened when it became obvious the bird was ill. After he called several rescue organizations, which were unable to provide pickup service, a driver for the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary happened to be nearby and transported the pelican to Jupiter for care. Harrison believes the bird, which is now doing well, was disoriented because of hunger, after the sanctuary representative suggested the quantity of fish for food is decreasing in this area. The Busch Wildlife Sanctuary is a donation-based organization and is open to the public: 575-3399; buschwildlife.org. Photo provided

Susan Simpson, Beverlee Schnellenberger and Kathy Jeffers (l-r) were the talk of Howard Schnellenberger’s 85th birthday celebration at the Schnellenberger home in Boynton Beach. When Tim Schnellenberger and his wife, Anyssa, started a genealogy project last year, they discovered his mother, Beverlee, had three half-sisters she never knew existed. The third, Jan Close, did not attend the celebration. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Beverlee and Jan met for the first time in February. ‘They’re so happy with me, thank God, and I’m so happy with them,’ Beverlee says of her sisters. Photo provided

By Brian Biggane

A genealogy project Tim Schnellenberger and wife Anyssa started last year “just for fun” turned serious when they discovered his mother, Beverlee Schnellenberger, had three half-sisters she never knew existed.
“It’s so exciting,” Beverlee said March 16 at a party celebrating the 85th birthday of her husband, legendary football coach Howard Schnellenberger, at their home in east Boynton Beach. “They’re so happy with me, thank God, and I’m so happy with them.”
Beverlee, 81, invited about 50 guests to mark Howard’s milestone; among them was newfound sister Kathy Jeffers of Toronto, whom she had never met. Also on hand was younger sister Susan Simpson of New Jersey, who by coincidence has been visiting Palm Beach County for the last several years to compete in equestrian competitions in Wellington. The third sister, Jan Close of Chicago, didn’t make the trip.
“Everybody is so happy for us,” Susan said. “The story is amazing.”
Tim Schnellenberger said he “wasn’t looking for close relatives” when he initiated the process on the website 23andMe.com last summer.
“My dad is from Kentucky and my mom is from Montreal, and we don’t spend a lot of time up there to know who is who and what’s what,” he said. “So we saw where we came from and our background, and didn’t think much of it.
“But there was a message there that I didn’t see, and then I got a Facebook message from Susan’s daughter, who turns out to be my cousin. She said, ‘We did 23andMe as well and have a high-percentage match; we think your mom might be related to my mom and her sisters.’”
As it turned out, back in the mid-1930s Beverlee’s father had a brief affair with her mother, then moved on and never looked back. The baby was placed with a family and Beverlee was never told of her background, believing the couple that raised her were her birth parents.
“My father that raised me probably thought I was his child,” Beverlee said. “We think; we don’t know.”
Seven months later her biological father got married and raised a family with three girls. Both families resided in the Montreal area but never had knowledge of the other.
“Our father would have been thrilled to have a fourth daughter,” Kathy said. “He adored his girls.”
As weeks passed by and the evidence mounted, Tim remained skeptical. He decided to send a 23andMe kit to Beverlee’s sister Lynn in Montreal to determine whether they were actually sisters.
“And two weeks later it showed less of a match with Lynn than with these people,” he said.
Now it was time to tell his mother, and he chose the family’s Thanksgiving get-together at his parents’ house to do it.
“I said, ‘Would you be OK if it turned out Piff, the father you grew up with, wasn’t your dad?’ She said yes. Then I said, ‘I think you have some sisters.’ So I explained the story and she said, ‘You mean I have sisters?’ I said ‘Yes.’ So she started crying. I said, ‘You’re happy about this, right?’ She said, ‘I’m so happy.’”
Within moments they were on the phone calling Susan in New Jersey. “She picked up,” Tim said, “and they started talking, and haven’t stopped talking since.
“They’re really awesome people,” he added. “I would have loved to have had them as a part of our family the whole time.”
As the three lined up for photos at the party, it was Howard who noticed not only the physical resemblance but that they all even dressed similarly.
Said Kathy, “We always thought Jan was the bossy one because she was the oldest. Now we know Beverlee is the oldest, and she’s bossy too.”
Whatever hesitation there was among the sisters belonged to Kathy, who admits she’s the most conservative of the family.
“I was very concerned that it was my mother’s (child), and she had given the baby away,” she said. “So I was very hesitant to do it.” The testing proved otherwise.

The Schnellenbergers renew their wedding vows before chaplain Leo Armbrust ahead of their 60th anniversary in May. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

The party guests, many of whom have been friends since Howard’s stint of founding the football program at Florida Atlantic University and at least a few who date back to his national championship season at the University of Miami, were buzzing about the sequence of events that brought the sisters together.
Susan’s husband, Rick Simpson, who describes himself as a huge football fan, said he “really didn’t know what to say” when he first heard the story.
“It took a while to digest,” he said. “Susan was ecstatic from the first minute, and then she and Beverlee got together and it’s like they’ve known each other for 30 years. I don’t even know how to explain it. I tell other people and they say, ‘Naw. It just doesn’t work this way.’”
Simpson, who owns a recruiting business, had some fun when he told his employees the story, purposely leaving out the Schnellenbergers’ last name.
“So one of the guys wants to know, and I tell him, ‘Well, he was involved with football.’ So he says, ‘What’s his last name?’ I tell him and he says, ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me.’ He was all over it. He knows more about Howard than Howard does.”
In another nice touch to the evening, Leo Armbrust, who has served as chaplain to both the UM and Miami Dolphins football teams, took the opportunity to renew Howard and Beverlee’s wedding vows as they approach their 60th wedding anniversary in May.
Moments after the ceremony ended, Tim Schnellenberger stepped out the front door of the house, lit a cigarette and told the story of how 23andMe had just changed the lives of himself and his parents.
“This 23andMe thing is pretty amazing,” he said. “There’s really a whole new world out there.”

By Jane Smith

Starting April 1, the Delray Beach Fire Department began sending letters to East Atlantic Avenue restaurants reminding them of city rules.
The owners will be required to comply with set occupancy limits and follow a city code provision that does not allow a restaurant to become a nightclub after food service ends. The city approves only restaurants or stand-alone bars, not hybrid operations.
Repeat offenders will have to pick up the cost for the fire inspectors’ time to make sure the restaurant follows the occupancy rules, said Neal de Jesus, the interim city manager. Up until March 31, the city taxpayers paid for the fire inspectors’ time.
The city has five inspectors already trained to look for problems that arise when a restaurant changes over to become a club after hours. In April, 65 fire-rescue department paramedics will be trained to assist, de Jesus said. Repeat offenders could lose their city operating licenses, he said.
The cost charged to restaurants will vary by the inspectors’ overtime rate and will be for a minimum of four hours. Inspections will be done from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., primarily on Friday and Saturday nights, acting Fire Chief Keith Tomey wrote in an email.
At least two inspectors will be sent for each establishment’s inspection. Thursday and Sunday inspections may be included, he wrote.
This situation “has been going on for a few years,” de Jesus said at the March 28 City Commission workshop. He likened it to speeding every day: Even if you don’t get caught, it’s still illegal.
Commissioners gave him approval to enforce the city rules about occupancy and not allow the restaurants to transition to nightclubs by pushing the tables against the walls, in the kitchen or alleys.
Some even have put the tables in hallways leading to the exits, said Capt. Joe Cafone, who is a fire inspector and works weekend nights.
“We’ve seen restaurants with double the occupancy than allowed,” Cafone said.
The fire inspectors started working in the downtown area in January. They had not been authorized to inspect in the downtown area in past years.
Restaurants are coming into compliance, Cafone said. Most of them don’t understand that the occupancy also includes their staff.
“I see this as two different issues,” Vice Mayor Adam Frankel said. “There’s a capacity issue that you have to enforce. … But the morphing has been going on a long time. I can point to the now-closed Tryst restaurant, next to the Bull Bar, which used to do it all the time.”
Frankel stressed that it’s changing the nature of Atlantic Avenue on weekend nights.
“It’s turning into a show, like on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale and Clematis Street in West Palm Beach,” he said. “No one wants that.”
De Jesus said managers and owners of restaurants have told him that it’s been going on for years. “Now that we know, we can’t turn a blind eye to the occupancy problems,” he said.
The latest problem erupted during the SantaCon pub crawl, held Dec. 18 on Atlantic Avenue, de Jesus said. For $25, patrons received free drink coupons to five restaurants and bars. The crawl ended at 2 a.m.
The crowds pushed the restaurants and bars beyond their capacities and police had to be called.
Commissioner Ryan Boylston talked about a recent change in Boca Raton that allowed restaurants to change over to nightclubs after a certain time.
That idea was quashed by the four other commissioners, who said they wanted to protect Atlantic Avenue as a valuable economic driver to the city. The restaurants are spread out in Boca Raton, not concentrated in a five-block strip like Delray has, Mayor Shelly Petrolia said.
“We are in the known economic cycle of a destination location,” Commissioner Bill Bathurst said. “We have to manage it well.”
He talked about the Doxey Irritation Index, which says residents initially like tourists coming into their city. Then they become apathetic, after which irritation grows and is often followed by downright hostility. Canadian economics professor George Doxey created the index in 1975 when he was studying tourist economies in Canada and the Caribbean.
“If you do it the right way, you will make more money,” Bathurst said to the two rows of restaurant owners and their representatives in the commission chambers.

ABOVE: Paul Redclift and John Girard gave good reviews to the FPL crew that installed a transformer on Redclift’s property on Las Casas Road in Boca Raton. FPL thinks underground lines will ease power outages, but everyone in each selected small area must agree to have the work done. BELOW LEFT: Lines no longer run through the air in the neighborhood. BELOW RIGHT: Part of the power pole is gone; cable service still needs to be buried. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

Every time a strong storm blew through Palm Beach County, Boca Raton resident John Girard would lose power for 11 or 12 days while neighbors across the street had power restored in a matter of hours.
So when Florida Power & Light Co. asked if he would participate in a pilot project to place power lines underground in a section of his Palm Beach Farms neighborhood, Girard didn’t hesitate.
“I said sure. The best news I have ever heard,” he said.
The work was completed about a month ago and involved about 50 customers. Girard is hopeful that even if he does lose power during future storms, outages won’t last as long.
“All I can say is the crews they hired were polite. They were neat. They were thoughtful,” he said. “The proof will be in the pudding. We will see what happens when hurricane season comes and any storms hit.”
Since FPL started the three-year pilot project last year, it has finished burying power lines in five neighborhoods: Girard’s between Southwest 20th and 21st streets and Las Casas and Gonzalo roads, three apartment buildings near the corner of South Ocean Boulevard and Osceola Drive in Boca Raton, and in Sarasota, Pompano Beach and Fort Pierce.
The company plans more than 300 other projects across the state, including 14 in Boca Raton, 12 in Delray Beach and six in Boynton Beach. Each of the projects will be small, involving an average of 30 customers.
The goal is to test new methods of placing power lines underground that are more efficient and less expensive and disruptive than methods used in the past.
FPL will then analyze how well the underground lines perform during future storms as it decides how best to further harden the energy grid.
“I think we are going to see positive results,” said FPL spokesman Bill Orlove.
The reason for optimism is that underground lines in neighborhoods performed 95 percent better than overhead lines during Hurricane Matthew in 2016, 83 percent better than during Hurricane Irma in 2017, and 50 percent better in day-to-day operations, according to FPL.
FPL customers can’t ask to be included in a pilot project. The utility already has selected the locations based on the number of outages during Matthew and Irma, outages due to vegetation that blew into overhead lines, and day-to-day reliability.
Being selected by FPL doesn’t mean a specific project will be completed. All customers in the area must agree to participate. They also must grant easements so transformers can be placed in their yards and the lines put underground. If all don’t agree, FPL moves on.
“We have walked away from some projects because we were not able to get consensus,” Orlove said.
But most selected customers have been willing.
“Customers were happy to see we were taking their concerns about reliability seriously,” he said.
The work is completed at no extra cost to the selected customers, but that doesn’t mean it is free. The cost is included in the electric rates all customers pay.
FPL offers no guarantee that burying power lines will eliminate outages.
“Undergrounding is not a magic elixir,” Orlove noted.
FPL operates a hybrid system. Nearly 40 percent of its 68,000 miles of distribution power lines are underground, with the rest overhead. If a tree falling into an overhead line knocks out power where the underground lines link up with overhead lines, the customer with buried lines will lose power.
The utility has been placing more lines underground for years, but the work has been very expensive.
That is less of an issue now because FPL has been able to reduce the cost, in part by using methods that install the lines more efficiently without digging up ground. That coincides with the data showing that underground lines perform better, giving more incentive to place lines underground.
But underground line outages also can be triggered by flooding and storm surges, and it can take more time to locate a problem and fix it. Damage to overhead lines can be easier to spot and repair.
Another benefit of burying power lines is aesthetic.
Typical power lines run along Las Casas Road until the block where Girard and his next-door neighbor, Paul Redclift, live.
“The power lines are all gone now,” Redclift said.
Other than that, both men said there is little sign that a crew recently did the work.
The crew used a bore to place the lines underground, so the men’s yards were not dug up. A 3-foot by 3-foot transformer box is located behind a hedge, Redclift said.
“I barely noticed they were here,” he said of the crew.

By Mary Thurwachter

Like all parks in Lantana, the beach is officially shut from sundown to sunrise. But the gates are not closed and cars can drive into the parking lot and people still have access to the shoreline.
Council member Ed Shropshire wonders whether that shouldn’t change and proposes that the gates close from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
During a discussion at the March 25 council meeting, Shropshire said he had gone to the beach several times before it opened at sunrise and was concerned about what he saw.
“There seems to be a group of individuals that like to go there at night, particularly on weekends, and the behavior is less than exemplary,” he said. “I think we may want to consider closing the beach from like 10 o’clock at night to 7 in the morning. This will also eliminate some illegal parking by certain entities that use the beach as a private parking lot. It would also keep it cleaner and probably make it safer for residents.”
Shropshire said he had found enough beer bottles and hypodermic needles during beach cleanups to think that closing the gates at night might be warranted, but he wanted feedback from other members of the council as well as residents.
Mayor Dave Stewart said the town had contractual obligations to the Dune Deck, a beachside cafe that opens at 7 a.m. but has employees coming in an hour earlier.
Council member Lynn Moorhouse said not much could be done to change morning hours because of the Dune Deck, but he thought if something could legally be done regarding night hours it might be safer to have the beach closed. Opposition to the nighttime shutdown came from council member Phil Aridas, who said he didn’t want police walking the beach to clear it at night. “I just don’t see it happening,” he said. “Leave our beaches open. Some people work at night and want to go and watch the moon.”
Vice Mayor Malcolm Balfour said he likes to occasionally visit the beach at night and had been there recently to watch a full moon.
Police Chief Sean Scheller and Town Manager Deborah Manzo will study the matter to see it there is a problem and report back to council.
In other news, the council:
• Witnessed the swearing in of Moorhouse and Balfour, who were unopposed in the recent election.
• Chose Michelle Donahue as a regular member of the planning commission. Donahue had been an alternate member. A replacement for her position as an alternate will be filled at a later date.

Janet Schijns of Ocean Ridge holds Cassie Jo, her 5-year-old Labradoodle, and shows her collection of Star Wars and Wonder Woman figurines. Schijns runs her own company, the JS Group, a technology consultancy, and was recently recognized by the IT industry as Channel Partners magazine’s 2019 Channel Influencer of the Year. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

Janet Schijns grew up in a small town in New Jersey, the daughter of the police chief. One thing she learned there, the Ocean Ridge mother of two says, was that it is important to give back to the community.
That giving-back philosophy remains strong with Schijns, who is CEO of the Ocean Ridge-based JS Group.
“We consult with firms who need help with their go-to-market plans,” she said of the company. “That means routes to market (sales), marketing and business development.”
Schijns, 56, enjoys helping her community look more beautiful as a member of the Ocean Ridge Garden Club. But her favorite cause is the Elle Foundation, dedicated to the idea that terminally ill kids need one more great memory before their time is up.
There’s a reason she is so passionate about Elle.
In 2008, the closest friend of Schijns’ daughter, Ashlyn, was Lauren “Elle” Richmond of New Jersey. Diagnosed with cancer six years earlier, Elle Richmond had achieved her dream of swimming with dolphins through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
But as Elle’s days grew short, Schijns became amazed to see her focus turn outward.
“The parents had spent almost all of their savings, done fundraisers and all these things, and it was at the worst part where there’s no hope left,” Schijns said. “And what made Lauren special is rather than think about her diagnosis, the last few months of her life were spent working toward how she could make it better for other people. She did some fantastic things.”
Out of that determination came the Elle Foundation.
“We were all good friends, but it didn’t really involve the social connection,” said Schijns. “Here was this child, who had these dreams that were never going to come true, and yet she wanted to do something more. She would constantly say, ‘I want to take care of the really sick kids.’ So that’s why I support it. To give a second wish to these kids.”
More about the Elle Foundation, which during the past decade has given a so-called “third wish” to 52 children, can be found at ellefoundation.org.

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: Not really sure any of us, myself included, are ever fully grown up — sounds boring to a techie like me.  I was, however, born in Mendham, N.J., and graduated from Montclair State University with a B.S. in finance. Growing up in a small town in New Jersey showed me how important it was to contribute to the community. My father was chief of police when I was a child, and this heavily influenced my life — showing me that you serve with honor and dignity whenever you are called upon to help.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: Well, I did work three whole days in finance when I first graduated from college, and then realized it wasn’t for me (despite the degree my hard-working parents paid for!), but then I quickly transitioned to a career in technology marketing and sales.
As for actual leadership positions in my field, I am currently CEO of the JS Group, and have been honored to also have had leadership positions in several very large public companies, including EVP of solutions and services at Office Depot, chief channel executive and chief marketing technologist at Verizon and VP of channels at Motorola.
I’ve always been most proud of having raised two wonderful children, Sean and Ashlyn, who are both great adults.
Most recently I am very proud to have been named “Channel Influencer of the Year” by Channel Partners; it’s quite an honor in my industry.  

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: Pick something you truly want to do with your life, make it your career choice and then outwork your competition. Nothing beats hard work at the start of your career in the race to get ahead. Do it when you are young so that later in your career you can better balance your work and life. 
I would also say that every connection you make with people is valuable. Save your contacts and keep in touch with them. Offer to help them and do it. Treat them as well as you would treat money in your wallet; they matter just as much. As your career grows, having the right contacts to reach out to for help will make all the difference in your getting ahead.

Q: How did you choose to make your home in Ocean Ridge?
A: My son, Sean, went to Lynn University and is an active real estate investor and broker. He called me and said, “Put this address in your GPS and go see this house.” We saw the house and loved it. We then attended a town hall to get a feel for the town and met a few neighbors and we were hooked. It’s a great town and it’s been incredibly welcoming.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in Ocean Ridge?
A: My husband, Roy, and I truly enjoy the sense of community. The people in the town care about each other and our environment and take action to ensure that things happen. I’ve joined the Ocean Ridge Garden Club as well, and am so proud of what the group does to help preserve and enhance the local community. Of course, I also love the beach. It’s just my favorite place to go and relax and unwind.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: Darknet, and before you read it make sure you are OK with being truly frightened at the implications of artificial intelligence and its potential impact to our daily lives in the very near future. It seems futuristic when you first read it, but do your research and you will see many of the elements of the book (like voice-spoofing your likeness) are happening today.  

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: Country music is my go-to feel-good music. It’s simple and easy to sing along with. For inspiration, Queen, always Queen. If you aren’t a fan yet, go see the movie Bohemian Rhapsody and you will be.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who inspired your life decisions?
A: I have been so blessed to have some truly great mentors. Great mentors spend the time to really get to know you and to help. Two of my most influential mentors were Mike Bauer, CEO of ScanSource, and John Stratton, COO of Verizon. They both helped me to succeed and to see the options open to me throughout my career.
My mother was always my biggest inspiration; she was a working woman long before it was popular. When I lost my mom a few years back my daughter, Ashlyn, stepped right up to be my biggest inspiration. She has challenged me to get back to being an entrepreneur and to take risks like joining the boards of startup tech firms and taking ownership shares in these firms as well.

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: I always say go big or go home, so let’s say Sandra Bullock. I think she would bring that fun spirit to my story.

Q: Who/what makes your laugh? 
A: A silly knock-knock joke will always make me laugh, but to get me really going my husband, Roy, is the trick. He’s simply hysterical (it’s the Dutch birthright, I assume). He can make me laugh in any circumstance and takes every chance he gets to make me burst out laughing in public.

By Rich Pollack

After years of discussions, studies and lobbying of state officials, Highland Beach is taking a first step toward getting lighted crosswalks on State Road A1A. And it’s being done with the apparent blessing of the Florida Department of Transportation.
During a meeting April 2, commissioners gave Town Manager Marshall Labadie the green light to have a contracted engineering firm begin designing a crosswalk lighting project in collaboration with FDOT staff.
Labadie said the improvements the town hopes to see in the plans include pedestrian-activated, flush-mounted LED crosswalk lights as well as solar-powered, pedestrian-activated flashing lights and minor crosswalk landing improvements.
If the project can be completed as Labadie envisions, pedestrians hoping to cross State Road A1A could push a button and activate a pole-mounted light. At the same time, lights embedded in the crosswalk would be activated to further alert motorists of a pedestrian either entering the crosswalk or already in it.
“With pedestrian safety being a paramount concern for the community for many years, the goal is to make improvements to the existing eight crosswalks in the town,” Labadie said in a memo to commissioners.
Because A1A is a state road, any improvements the town makes must get FDOT approval.
Labadie, who met with state officials late last month, said that does not appear to be a problem as long as Highland Beach pays for the improvements.
Determining estimates for the cost of the project — as well as designing it and creating plans — are part of the responsibility of the civil engineering firm Keith & Schnars.
The firm will be paid not more than about $47,000 for the work, which must be completed within 180 calendar days from the date of the town’s approval.
Labadie said FDOT has standards for what can be used on state roads to enhance safety based on the volume of traffic and, in this case, the number of pedestrians using crosswalks.
Because the crosswalks in Highland Beach don’t meet those standards, FDOT is reluctant to foot the bill. FDOT officials, however, are OK with the town’s paying for the job.
“They will allow us to go farther, but it’s on our dime,” Labadie said.
The issuing of a work order to the engineers and the expected approval from FDOT are good news for resident John Boden, who has been pushing for lighted crosswalks for years.
In the past, FDOT hasn’t seen the need for lighted crosswalks. That has changed, according to Boden, due in large part to Labadie’s reaching out to FDOT and his building of a working relationship with its regional leaders.
“I’m delighted that the most-qualified person in the town has taken over moving the crosswalk lighting project to completion,” Boden said. “Nothing happened for two and a half years until Marshall got involved and he was able to get effective communication and cooperation with DOT.”
Labadie cautioned that while the project is moving ahead, certain variables could affect the final outcome. One of those variables will be costs that could be incurred in removing and reinstalling embedded road lights when the state repaves A1A in three to five years.
Another issue could be the need to put funding for the project in front of voters if the estimated cost exceeds the town’s $350,000 spending cap before a referendum is required.
Labadie thinks it is in the best interest of residents to light the crosswalks, even if the money has to come from the town’s budget.
“Taking these steps to protect our residents, even on our dime, is warranted,” he said.

By Rich Pollack

The absence of Betty Cabral — her warmth and her kindness — is still being felt at the Penthouse Highlands condominium a year after her death.
Cabral, a 22-year resident of a community with just 82 units, was found murdered in her apartment one year ago this month. She was 85.
Although detectives and prosecutors have charged Cabral’s financial adviser with siphoning off close to $3 million from her accounts, no arrest has been made in the homicide.
“I miss her sweetness,” said Helen Krantz, the condo’s office manager. “I miss her coming down every day and visiting.”
Those neighbors who knew her well say Cabral, a woman short in stature but with a big heart, was a giving person who focused much of her love and attention on her husband of more than 50 years, William, who died in 2017 after suffering from dementia.
“Her Billy was the love of her life,” Krantz said. “She used to say, ‘I love him wicked.’”
Neighbors said that William Cabral took care of the finances during the marriage, and his death left her vulnerable.
“She felt lost without him,” Krantz said.
Others in the condo complex agreed.
“She took care of Billy and Billy took care of everything else,” said neighbor Pat Acampora, who remembers Cabral’s walking back and forth in the condo’s pool every day for exercise until she began having difficulty getting around following an ankle injury.
Neighbors said that Cabral cared about others in the community and that feeling was returned, especially after her husband died.
“She had the cutest smile and everyone cared about her,” Acampora said. “She was just a good soul.”
Krantz said Cabral was always nice to those she came in contact with, including aides who helped her get around in the last few years.
“She was always happy to see people,” Krantz said. “She was always a pleasure and she made you feel good inside.”
Acompora said that Cabral frequently talked about her family members who were still in the Northeast.
“Betty loved her family,” she said.
She also loved holidays, especially St. Patrick’s Day, where she was known to get a little tipsy now and then after condo celebrations.
According to family members, the Cabrals lived in Cambridge near Boston for many years with Billy working for the city of Cambridge, mostly with veterans, while Betty held administrative positions at a hospital nearby.
The couple never had children, but Cabral was close to several nieces, including several in the Boston area who came to Florida to testify in a bond hearing for David Del Rio, who is charged with the theft of her life savings.
Del Rio, of Lee County, has been charged with several counts of grand theft, exploitation of the elderly, money laundering and fraudulent use of personal identification information, stemming as far back as 2013.
He was arrested in late September during a traffic stop near his home, which was later searched by police. Lee County sheriff’s deputies confirmed at the time that the bomb squad was called to assist, most likely because Del Rio reportedly had several weapons.
Del Rio’s attorneys have said that their client had no connection with the homicide.
“He’s unequivocally not involved in the homicide,” attorney Michael Salnick said at the time of his arrest.
Betty Cabral’s body was found April 30 when a Highland Beach police officer went to check on her after her car was found in Broward County. According to a prosecutor in the theft case, her throat had been cut.
Cabral’s death shook the community, which is still a bit on edge despite enhanced security measures, including additional cameras.
“Betty was an honest innocent person who believed in people,” said Alan Croce, president of the condo association. “When Betty came to an event there was sweetness.”

OCEAN RIDGE — Patrice B. Mahon, 84, died March 15 at her home in Ocean Ridge surrounded by her loving family.
She is survived by her husband, Neil, her sister Helen, her four children (Mary Pat, Steve, Cathie and Neil Jr.) and nine grandchildren.
The youngest of seven children, Mrs. Mahon was born on Jan. 22, 1935, in Pittsburgh to Peter and Anne Flaherty.
Always happy and full of energy, she was aptly described in her high school yearbook caption, “A sunny smile always has this gay gal.”
After receiving her bachelor’s degree at Carlow College (Mount Mercy) in Pittsburgh, she moved to New York City, where she met her husband, Neil.
With their four children, the couple settled in Chappaqua, N.Y., where Mrs. Mahon made a loving home as they built a full and rich life for their family.
In addition to leading her household, she was a community leader serving on the Parish Council of St. John & St. Mary as well as councilwoman of the New Castle, N.Y., town board.
With their children grown, the couple migrated to Quechee, Vt., in 1992. In retirement they became full-time residents of Ocean Ridge, where Mrs. Mahon served her community at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church as a eucharistic minister and in her garden club.
With her sisters, Helen and Catherine, always close by, Mrs. Mahon enjoyed life traveling with her husband, playing cards with her grandchildren and golfing.
Quiet strength, ever-present glow and happy attitude defined Mrs. Mahon as she cared for the love of her life. She will be sadly missed by all who were blessed to have known and loved her.
Her family would like to thank Dr. James N. Harris for his years of compassionate care.
In lieu of flowers, the Mahon family requests that well-wishers make donations to the Florida Cancer Specialists Foundation at foundation.flcancer.com (5204 Paylor Lane, Sarasota, FL 34240).
— Obituary submitted by the family

By Jane Smith

The Downtowner open-air vehicles will return to Delray Beach streets in May.
The same company received a fixed-route contract to replace the downtown trolley at the March 28 Community Redevelopment Agency meeting. The two contracts carry a total value of slightly more than $1 million in the first year.
For the fixed-route service, the Delray Downtowner will supply three, 14-passenger vans.
Eventually, these vans will be powered by propane. The current trolleys run on diesel fuel, more efficient than regular gas but more polluting. The CRA wants to switch to a clean-burning fuel, such as propane.
It might be difficult to get customized propane vans by May 1, said Steve Murray, chief executive officer of the Downtowner. In that case, gas-powered vehicles would be used for the first month or so.
For its point-to-point service, the Downtowner firm will lease nine global electric motorcars, or GEMs, enabling four to be on the street and picking up passengers within the CRA area — including the Northwest and Southwest neighborhoods.
Since the CRA is paying for the service, it can operate only within the CRA boundaries. An exception is made for the fixed-route pickup from the Tri-Rail station, since those riders are transported into the CRA district and are seen as providing an economic benefit.
When the Downtowner ran its free service, it was subsidized by ads, Murray said. Its advertisers wanted only to be on the main streets in Delray Beach, such as Atlantic Avenue and Ocean Boulevard.
The electric vehicles will not carry ads in the first year, Murray said. If the CRA wants to continue with the program and allow ads on the vehicles in future years, it will split the advertising revenue with the Downtowner’s advertising partner, Vector Media, based in New York. Vector serves transit companies in six Florida cities, according to its website.
Residents supported the Downtowner offerings at the March 28 CRA meeting.
“We are a resort town. I like the look that the Downtowner is providing,” said Mavis Benson, who runs the Avalon Gallery on Atlantic and serves on the Downtown Development Authority’s board.
The Downtowner firm wowed most of the CRA board members with its woody-look vans that can carry up to 14 passengers. Two wheelchair-users also can ride.
It’s a fresh concept, said Mike Monaco, chief technology officer for the Downtowner. “We took the 1950s woody and reimagined it,” he said. “It’s not the old trolley.”
The vans, each decked out to look like a surfboard with a fin on the roof, will stop at the Old School Square garage after leaving the Tri-Rail station to pick up people who want to go east and eventually to the beach.
“That will create a park-and-ride for passengers from outside the city,” Monaco said.
That route will not travel east on Atlantic into the often-clogged downtown core. Instead, the vans will go north on Swinton Avenue, make a right at Northeast First Street, stop at the OSS garage and then continue east on Northeast First Street to Federal Highway.
Angie Gray cast the lone vote against the Downtowner’s receiving the fixed-route contract. She preferred First Transit, the current trolley operator, and its focus on safety. Its drivers have commercial licenses needed for carrying more than 15 passengers.
The company’s proposed Starcraft Allstar Ford vehicles would carry 20 passengers each and have a camera running to record sound and video. The two vans would be powered by propane.
One proposed route went to Publix on Federal Highway, which Gray thought would be useful to residents of the Northwest and Southwest neighborhoods.
The Downtowner was ranked first by the CRA’s selection committee because it submitted the lowest price of three bidders.
The trolley contract with First Transit ends April 30. The city owns the trolleys.
For the point-to-point service, the Downtowner won over Miami-based BeeFree Holdings, which was ranked first by the selection committee. Its transit offerings are operated under the name Freebee.
Both proposals offered GEM vehicles. The Downtowner’s won’t have windows; BeeFree’s offered roll-up windows.
Both companies offered apps for smartphone users that promise to say when the vehicle will arrive. The Downtowner folks said their app is better because it provides updates, has a list of popular locations based on drop-offs inside the app and reduces the wait times.
The Downtowner also held an edge because its principals live in Delray Beach, it has four electric vehicle charging sites adjacent to its offices on Northeast Fourth Avenue, and it knows the streets from six years of operating in Delray, the CRA commissioners said when explaining their votes.
Last fall, the Downtowner stopped offering its free open-air shuttle service in Delray when it changed its business model to require partnerships with the cities it served.
Next year, the city is in line to receive an $860,000 federal grant to cover the cost of four trolleys.
If the grant will cover the alternative vehicles in the Downtowner’s fixed-route service, that will lessen the burden on city taxpayers, CRA Chairwoman Shelly Petrolia said after the meeting.
She also would like to see the point-to-point service expanded to the Lake Ida area and along the beach, north and south of Atlantic Avenue.
Those areas sit outside of the CRA boundaries, so the city may have to pay for the point-to-point service expansion, while the CRA pays for comparably priced items within its taxing district, Petrolia said.

BOCA RATON — Ruth Richards McGoldrick died March 13 at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, the fitting place for her last breath. She was 100.
Her daughter Pamela Smith and trusted companion, Eva Dias, were at her side when she died in the hospital at which she volunteered for over 40 years.
She was born Ruth Eleanor Richards on July 20, 1918, to Sarah Currie Richards and George Daniel Richards in Pittsburgh. Her sister Sarah Richards Crowe and brother George Palmer Richards predeceased her.
Miss Richards married Francis M. McGoldrick in 1951 and spent the next 35 years at his side. Retired Maj. Gen. McGoldrick died in 1986.
As Frank rose to major general in his Army career, Ruth was his constant companion and support. Their tours of duty included the Pentagon and commands based in El Paso, Texas, Colorado Springs, Seattle, Chicago and Seoul, South Korea.
While in Korea, Ruth led the growth of the Girls’ Vocational School in Seoul and the Paraplegic Village for Korean War veterans. She was recognized for her outstanding service by Korean President Park Chung-hee with the Public Welfare Medal.
Ruth and Frank retired to Florida in 1966 and made Boca Raton their home.
Mrs. McGoldrick’s passion for service continued in Boca Raton, where she totaled more than 40,000 hours of volunteer work at the hospital.
In addition to serving as the ninth president of the Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League (1976-1978), Mrs. McGoldrick led the Thrift Shop for over 40 years, making many friends while raising money for the hospital.
She and her husband also served as Boca Raton Community Hospital Ball chairmen in 1976.
Mrs. McGoldrick was Dame of Honour in the Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller Malta. In 1989 she was honored as Boca Raton Woman Volunteer of the Year and was chosen for the Boca Raton Historical Society’s Walk of Recognition in 2004.
Mrs. McGoldrick was active in the National Society of Arts and Letters and the Garden Club. The highlight of each week was her bridge game with neighbors at St. Andrews, a community she loved.
Mrs. McGoldrick earned her bachelor of arts degree from Florida Atlantic University and was a proud member of the Majestic Owls Society.
Her greatest love was her family. She is survived by daughters Patricia Murphy (Tom), Pamela Smith (George, deceased), Deborah Tannenbaum (Jerome) and son John (Bonnie), grandchildren Mary Lampmann (Peter), John Murphy (Rocio) and Mark McGoldrick, and great-grandchildren James Lampmann, Ryan Murphy and Aidan Murphy.
She is also survived by sister-in-law Thelma Richards, nephew Jeffrey Richards (Denise), their children Joshua, Stephen, Cassandra and Rebecca and nephew Bradley Richards (Joanne). Also: nephew John Crowe (Jennie Belle), their children John Crowe III and Kristin Dussault (Dave), and their children (Deacon, Tristan, Audrey, Harper and Landon).
Ruth is also survived by cousins Jennifer Samuels, Karen Sims Franke (William) and Barbara Conover (David) and their children Kathy and David. McGoldrick nieces and nephews include Keven McGoldrick, Karin Nelson, Elizabeth Ringo, Peter McGoldrick, Blanche Bancroft, Charles Schulz and Edward Schulz.
A memorial service was held at St. Andrews Estates South, Boca Raton, on March 23.
Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery. The family requests, in lieu of flowers, donations to the Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League Thrift Shop.

— Obituary submitted by the family