State Rep. Mike Caruso won the District 89 seat by a mere 32 votes. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Bonfiglio has no regrets about narrow defeat

By Steve Plunkett

Lawsuits. Machine recounts. Protests. Overheated ballot machines. Manual recounts.
November’s general election again had all the elements to push the state into the national spotlight. But while most people across the country focused on Florida’s U.S. Senate and governor’s contests, an even closer race was being decided in south Palm Beach County.
In the end, Republican Mike Caruso defeated Democrat Jim Bonfiglio by a slim 32 votes out of 78,474 cast, but not before the totals went to automatic machine recount, a state-required hand recount and a successful effort by Bonfiglio to have the Florida House District 89 results tallied before those of the governor’s race.
“I felt like I won twice,” Caruso said after leading Bonfiglio on election night by 37 votes only to see his lead shrink slightly in the following days.
“It was very stressful,” Caruso said. “I’ve never been charged with murder or anything like that, but it felt like I was waiting for a verdict from the jury. It was a tough process.”
Caruso’s 50.02 percent winning total was narrower than those for U.S. Sen.-elect Rick Scott (50.05) and new state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (50.04).
“A win’s a win,” said Caruso, a CPA from Delray Beach.
Bonfiglio, a lawyer who resigned as mayor of Ocean Ridge to run, said he has “no regrets” over how he conducted his campaign and that his 32-vote deficit was a strong showing for a Democrat in a typically Republican-leaning district, which stretches from Boca Raton to Singer Island.
“Obviously my message resonated well,” Bonfiglio said, citing his calls for raising teacher pay, expanding Medicaid and protecting women’s rights.
“The process worked,” Bonfiglio said. “The point is, every vote matters. That is the essence of representative democracy.”
Caruso said he was shocked that the results were so close.
“We knocked on 29,000 doors, we made 9,000 phone calls, we won the sign war 1,000 to one,” Caruso said. “I thought I had outworked my opponent by far.”
But he did not foresee the enthusiasm generated by Democrats for their gubernatorial candidate, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who narrowly lost to Ron DeSantis.
“I can’t control the Gillum wave of excitement,” Caruso said.

Mike Caruso (in tie) celebrates with (l-r) his campaign manager Auston Molina, strategist Blake MacDiarmid, attorney Robert Fernandez and staffer Nick Cannon after Susan Bucher, county supervisor of elections, declared him the winner in state House District 89. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

One of the first issues Caruso plans to tackle at the state Capitol is fixing problems he saw in his election.
“I understand why people stand out in front of these [elections] offices and protest,” Caruso said. “We’ll be trying to revamp the system so we don’t have this debacle every two years.”
Even though he won, Caruso said candidates and voters deserve a better process.
“When I see ballots being transferred by staff without supervision, making decisions on voter intent without the canvassing board reviewing them, in the back of the warehouse, it’s alarming,” Caruso said. “It breeds contempt by the public.”
Bonfiglio said he will “keep an eye on” the Legislature to make sure the issues that got him almost 40,000 total votes are addressed.
“Right now I’m sitting back enjoying my life and not having to run around campaigning,” he said.
Bonfiglio said voters might consider amending the state constitution to change the swearing-in date of legislators and give election offices more time to count ballots. “There’s no real need to swear in representatives on Nov. 20,” he said.
Andy Thomson, who won his seat on the Boca Raton City Council in August, also by a 32-vote margin, empathized with Caruso’s having to wait out a recount.
“It’s territory that I’m very familiar with,” Thomson said.
Thomson trailed rival Kathy Cottrell by about 200 votes most of that Election Night; the margin narrowed to 37 votes, then shortly after midnight he was three votes ahead. He said nobody remembers that after three days of “nerve-racking” recounts, he won by 32 votes.
“They all remember the three,” Thomson said. “I cannot tell you the number of people who said, ‘I saw that you won by three and I came, I dragged my college-age daughter out to vote, she wasn’t going to vote otherwise, so me, my husband and her gave you the three-vote margin.’”
Thomson said he’s never had the heart to tell people his true margin.
“You know what, they’re right. You take those three, and you add another three and you add another three, and all the people who combined to say that my household was the three-vote margin, they added up to 32 votes,” he said.
Thomson said close elections like his and Caruso’s convince people that their vote matters.
“A number of people have said that ‘You, Andy, and your election was like a civics lesson for my kids or my class or the young people who had disengaged,’” Thomson said. “Because to them, that election reflected the fact that every vote does matter, and that never, ever think that your vote won’t make a difference because it can, and in my case did.”

Chiara Clark, president of the Parents Auxiliary at Gulf Stream School, has three children at the school: Finley, 10, Fletcher, 5, and Francesca, 8. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rick Pollack

Chiara Clark had just moved to Florida from Manhattan after she and her financier husband, Tom, had found the home of their dreams in tiny Gulf Stream.
Knowing that her two daughters at the time would soon be going to Gulf Stream School, but not knowing where it was, Clark put the address into a GPS hoping to get an idea of how long it would take to get the kids from the kitchen to the classroom.
She was shocked when it came back “too close to calculate” and discovered that the school was just a stone’s throw away.
Before long, Clark as well as her children were making the short walk to campus often. The kids went to class and their mom became part of the school’s Parents Auxiliary — Gulf Stream’s version of a PTA.
In fact, Clark went to her first auxiliary meeting just three days after moving to the area — with purple streaks of color in her hair — and was pleasantly surprised by what she saw.
“It was my first sense that I was part of something that could benefit my children and my community as a whole,” said Clark, 41. “Everyone here reaches out. We don’t wait for you to come to us, we reach out for all kinds of things from play dates, dinners and volunteer opportunities — sometimes all three.”
Clark became deeply involved in the Parents Auxiliary, working her way up the ladder and currently serving a second year as auxiliary president.
While the school is her main focus, Clark is also active in the community as a whole, serving on several boards and taking the reins as chairwoman of several fundraising events, including the Laugh at the Library event in February. That event benefits the Delray Beach Public Library, where she is on the board.
She is on the board of the Delray Beach Historical Society and chaired the recent Fall Festival.
Clark was on the committee for the recent Women of Grace luncheon benefiting the Bethesda Hospital Foundation, is involved with Impact 100 Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition and the Magnolia Society, which benefits Bethesda’s Center for Women and Children.
On Dec. 2, she planned to serve as a celebrity chef at Empty Bowls Delray Beach, benefiting the Palm Beach County Food Bank.
Clark has a background as an event planner, having worked in that arena and as a publicist before moving to Florida.
In whatever time she has left, she volunteers as a soccer coach for her children’s teams.
“I love to be busy with things that make me happy,” she said. “I make time to do all of this because it’s important to show my children the value of being community oriented.”
The mother of three kids at Gulf Stream School — 10-year-old Finley, 8-year-old Francesca and Fletcher, 5 — Clark is frequently on campus helping to organize fundraising events and other activities.
As auxiliary president she’s involved with more than 30 events throughout the year that support the school. She makes sure that all new parents are welcomed. The auxiliary also hosts Grandparents and Special Friends Day, as well as the Golf and Tennis Classic and the school’s annual auction, a major fundraiser.
“We’re the social backbone of the school,” she said. “We give this school a feeling of family.”
One of Clark’s most visible accomplishments at Gulf Stream School is a new playground for lower school kids. With input from Head of School Joe Zaluski as well as students, Clark led the team that raised $350,000 for the community-built playground.
“I will walk away most proud of that,” she said.
With three energetic children, a busy husband and a hectic volunteer schedule, you might think that Clark would look forward to taking a little break from community service once her term as auxiliary president is over at the end of the school year.
That, however, would be a wrong assumption.
“I can’t wait to do more,” she said.

The coming holidays have me contemplating the meaning of a gift.
In searching for a definition, I turned to Merriam-Webster (of course).
The dictionary’s first description calls a gift “a notable capacity, talent, or endowment.”
I take this to mean something that is often already given; a type of privilege granted by birth, position or nurture.
For example, although my family didn’t have a lot when I was young, I consider my parents’ push for education to be a gift that has returned ongoing rewards. I learned to read, to write and to share this gift with others. This was my parents’ legacy. I learned that not all endowments are trust funds.
The dictionary’s second definition of gift is “something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation.” I suppose the presents under the tree fall into this category.
But so do acts of volunteering — of assistance or energy, skills or talents. These are not easy gifts to give: They take time and effort, and might be outside of our comfort zone.
But the rewards reaped prove over and over again that not all gifts arrive via Amazon Prime.
And finally, Webster defines a gift as “the act, right, or power of giving.”
This may be the most relevant to the season. It’s the act of giving that lifts us out of the self-absorption of day-to-day life and drives us to honor the wishes and dreams of others — friends, family and, yes, even strangers.
So, as December begins and we brace for the holiday rush, my hope is to embrace both the power of giving and the graceful acceptance of gifts from others.
I hope you’ll join me. What better way to celebrate the spirit of the season?
Happy Holidays.

— Mary Kate Leming, Editor

The Coastal Star racked up 10 awards — one first-place, four second-place and five third-place— at the 68th annual Excellence in Journalism Competition sponsored by the Florida Press Club.
The awards were handed out at the Press Club’s annual banquet Nov. 3 in Mount Dora.
The Coastal Star took home honors in the Class C and Class D divisions, which encompass daily, nondaily, community, tribal and college newspapers. Florida magazines and newspaper supplements are also included in the class.
The first-place award went to Ron Hayes, writing/environmental news.
Second-place awards went to Cheryl Blackerby, writing/environmental news; Ron Hayes, writing/minority reporting; Jerry Lower, photography/features; and Dan Moffett, writing/government news.
Third-place awards went to Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley, writing/environmental news; Mary Hladky, writing/business writing; Willie Howard, writing/sports column; Arden Moore, writing/public safety reporting; and Rich Pollack, writing/government news.

— Henry Fitzgerald

By Rich Pollack

Could Highland Beach have designated bike lanes and lighted crosswalks along State Road A1A in the not-too-distant future?
Would it be possible and financially feasible to have underground utility lines instead of unsightly power poles and wires along the roadway, as well as improved drainage facilities to minimize street flooding?
These questions and many more related to improvements along A1A are expected to be addressed in a $147,000 “Complete Streets” study the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council is conducting for the town.
Focused on providing design plans for a multitude of improvements along the roadway as well as cost estimates, the study is being fast-tracked to meet several deadlines.
Commissioners and representatives from the planning council are hoping to have enough information available in time to bring plans before voters in March during the municipal elections and in time to commit to improvements by a mid-March state deadline.
This month, residents will have a chance to hear more about the project — and have some say in how it is developed — during a public design workshop set for 6 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Highland Beach Public Library.
“This is an opportunity for the community to address many of the issues residents have expressed concerns about through public forums,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie said. “Those include crosswalks, flooding, sidewalk improvements and bike lanes.”
The workshop will include an opening presentation, a discussion of opportunities and challenges and “table sessions” with facilitators designed to generate ideas, according to a proposal Kim DeLaney, director of strategic development and policy for the planning council, presented to the town.
“We’re asking people to sit at a table and tell us how they want the corridor to look,” DeLaney said during one of several presentations she made to town commissioners.
The driving force behind the discussion of major improvements to A1A throughout the town is a Florida Department of Transportation “Three R” project that essentially includes repaving the roadway through the 3 miles of Highland Beach.
A five-year process, the project includes refurbishing, replacement and repair along A1A and is an opportunity for the town to ask for any improvements residents would like to see along the roadway.
Because the state has overall authority for the roadway and final say for any improvements, any plans presented by the town would require FDOT approval.
In the past, the state has been slow to grant the town permission to make changes, especially in the area of crosswalk improvements, but Labadie said he recently met with Gerry O’Reilly, who oversees the region for FDOT, and came away optimistic.
“They were not only very welcoming to us, but they were also welcoming to the ideas we were presenting,” Labadie said.
Labadie said the town hopes to implement some interim crosswalk improvements, including improved signage and possible pedestrian-activated signals.
“FDOT said they are willing to work with us,” he said.
How much of the funding for the overall improvements for the project will come from the state and how much will come from the town is still to be worked out, but should residents approve all or part of the project, chances are they will see an impact on their municipal taxes, Labadie said.
He said the town will probably need to borrow money to implement the improvements and that it is exploring financing options.
“At the end of the day, it will likely cost residents,” he said.
DeLaney said that through the study, her organization will present the town with costs of individual items and present the Town Commission with “a range of options.”
How the project will be presented to residents in the referendum is still up in the air, but Labadie said the commission appears to be willing to break the overall project into logical categories, which are likely to be the streetscape project, drainage improvements and underground utilities.
Although commissioners have shown support for developing plans, some want to be sure the town is following the wishes of its residents and is being fiscally responsible.
“This really depends on what the town wants,” Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman said. “The worst-case scenario is that we can’t come to a consensus as a community and everything goes to hell in a handbasket.”
Commissioner Elyse Riesa said she is concerned that the overall project could be a drain on town finances.
“I’m not in favor of going into debt to where we don’t have funds to do anything but work on the road,” she said. “If we do, we might as well be known as Highland Road instead of Highland Beach.”

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream resident Martin O’Boyle might get to inspect more text messages from Mayor Scott Morgan’s personal cellphone after winning part of an appeal of a state Sunshine Law and public records case against the town.
In a written opinion, the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach sided with O’Boyle’s argument that the town may not have turned over all Morgan texts that relate to his work as mayor and ordered the trial judge, David French, to examine those messages in his chambers.
Both the Florida Constitution and the state’s Public Records Act “ensure that citizens may review (and criticize) government actions,” the appellate court wrote in its eight-page opinion. “That purpose would be defeated if a public official could shield the disclosure of public records by conducting business on a private device.”
The decision reverberated at government meetings across South Florida. Jacob Horowitz, an attorney for the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Parks District, gave district commissioners a “cautionary reminder” at their Nov. 19 meeting. “If you engage in text messages by public or private phone doing public business, they’re public records,” said Horowitz, whose firm also represents Delray Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency and other government bodies.
The appellate court said O’Boyle met all the steps required to have the trial judge review Morgan’s text messages, especially when he “complained that a later response by the town revealed several additional texts that were not released upon the first request, leading to the belief that there may be more available.” The court used the italics for emphasis.
In an interview, Morgan said he rarely sent text messages in the time covered by the underlying lawsuit, March through October 2014, and that town staff “properly handled’ the public records request.
The 4th DCA “affirmed the significant part of the decision,” Morgan said, adding that Gulf Stream will challenge O’Boyle’s remaining claim. “I’m confident that the town will prevail.”
Gulf Stream also may have to pay O’Boyle’s attorney fees for his efforts to see what the town’s lawyers charged to defend it against his and resident Chris O’Hare’s numerous public records complaints, the 4th DCA ruled.
Citing work product privilege, the town first gave O’Boyle redacted copies of the lawyers’ bills; O’Boyle asked for an in-camera review and a week later the town provided unredacted copies. It then argued that that part of the appeal was moot and should be dismissed.
But the appellate judges said it was not moot, because French had not determined “whether the town’s initial redactions of the bills were proper, and whether any reasonable attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses, should be awarded.”
In a victory for Gulf Stream and its outside attorneys Joanne O’Connor and Robert Sweetapple, the 4th DCA upheld French’s dismissal of Sunshine Law claims and allegations of public meeting violations. “I thought it was a totally bogus claim. I didn’t think there was any merit in the case in the beginning,” Sweetapple said.
O’Boyle’s side quickly asked the judges to explain their decision in writing or send it on to the state Supreme Court. Sweetapple’s attorney filed a response opposing the motion.
“It is of great public import for the citizens of Florida and public boards alike to have a final and conclusive answer to the question presented in this case,” O’Boyle’s lawyer and son, Jonathan O’Boyle, wrote in a motion filed Nov. 7.
At issue, the O’Boyles say, is what they call a “secret meeting” by Morgan, Commissioner Joan Orthwein, then-Town Manager William Thrasher and perhaps then-Vice Mayor Robert Ganger at which Morgan was authorized to take action against the O’Boyles.
Jonathan O’Boyle says the minutes of the Town Commission’s meeting on Dec. 12, 2014, make several references to a previous meeting. “I have scoured the record to try to find any such meeting, none was on an agenda and none was discussed at Town Hall,” he said.

Attorney sues for legal fees
Meanwhile, Robert Rivas, the attorney who originally filed the 4th DCA appeal, has severed his professional relationship and is suing Martin O’Boyle over $120,019 in unpaid legal fees.
Rivas, who separately has represented The Coastal Star on First Amendment and other issues, said O’Boyle provoked him into terminating their attorney-client arrangement.
“In late 2017 and early 2018, O’Boyle continually attempted to persuade the law firm to use its good offices to represent him in a course of conduct that would have been dishonest, repugnant, and imprudent,” Rivas said in his lawsuit.
In an email, O’Boyle said he has “great fondness” for Rivas: “He is always invited to our home, and if I were in town, I would invite Rob over for Thanksgiving dinner.”
A previous lawyer, Daniel DeSouza, sued O’Boyle for unpaid bills of more than $150,000. They agreed to settle their dispute for $90,000 in April, but O’Boyle did not immediately pay and in May DeSouza asked the Broward County judge to intervene. Five days later DeSouza dismissed the lawsuit.
O’Boyle’s Citizen Awareness Foundation Inc. was a shell company that he used “fraudulently or for an improper purpose,” DeSouza said in his suit, “namely, O’Boyle used CAFI to inundate the town of Gulf Stream . . . with hundreds if not thousands of public records requests designed specifically to cripple the small community and to trigger public records lawsuits upon the municipality’s inability to keep up.”
O’Boyle and O’Hare started flooding Gulf Stream with requests for public records in August 2013. They made more than 2,000 requests and filed dozens of lawsuits. The town raised property taxes 40 percent to pay for lawyers and additional staff and equipment to handle the requests.

Regarding the Florida Ethics Commission investigation of Lantana Mayor David Stewart:  

He has represented Lantana fairly and honestly for about 20 years.  

Under his tutelage as mayor, the town has grown and prospered without any hint of scandal or ethics violations.

Mayor Dave occasionally says earthy, witty or old-fashioned comments but he would absolutely never suggest sexual favors in exchange for a vote. 

He has been known to turn down offers for lunch or even a cup of coffee if this could be misconstrued as trying to sway a vote.

I hope the Florida Ethics Commission does a really thorough investigation of this accusation.

Lyn Tate
Lantana

LETTERS: The Coastal Star welcomes letters to the editor about issues of interest in the community. These are subject to editing and must include your name, address and phone number. Preferred length is 200-500 words. Send email to editor@thecoastalstar.com.

By Dan Moffett

The Manalapan Town Commission and the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa are teaming to lawyer up against a planned beach stabilization project that would install seven concrete groins along the oceanfront in South Palm Beach.

Mayor Keith Waters and the commissioners have repeatedly expressed their opposition to the project, saying it would disrupt the natural flow of sand southward and damage Manalapan’s beaches. Now they’re preparing to make their case in court, if necessary.
Representatives of the Eau have complained about the potential environmental damage and the negative impact on guests during tourist season, when construction would have to be done to avoid turtle-nesting season.

Working together, the commission and the resort can share legal expenses, the mayor said.

“At the end of the day, we need to fight to protect the asset we have and we need to do it collectively,” Waters said during the Nov. 13 town meeting. “We need to fight the fight we need to fight.”

Waters and the commissioners say they would prefer not to litigate, but think the project’s sponsors, Palm Beach County and South Palm Beach, have shown no signs of reversing course.

“If they’re looking for a fight,” said Commissioner Jack Doyle, “they’ve found one.”

Some 13 years in the making, the stabilization plan calls for installing seven groins on the beaches from South Palm’s northern line to Lantana Municipal Beach.

The county has committed to paying 30 percent of the $6 million project with tourism tax revenue, and South Palm is to cover 20 percent. The state has pledged to pay the other 50 percent.

County environmental managers, who are overseeing the project, say it is in the final stages of review to obtain a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

A target date for starting construction in November 2019 remains possible, though unlikely.

Manalapan and the Eau intend to hire the West Palm Beach law firm of Foley & Lardner to argue their objections. Town Manager Linda Stumpf said legal fees could run between $525 and $740 an hour. Waters said he wants to solicit support from the town’s southern neighbors, Ocean Ridge and Gulf Stream, which also have expressed concerns about the project.

“Let’s make sure we have our team in place all the way down the coast,” he said.

In other business:

• Commissioners gave unanimous final approval to a six-month moratorium on construction projects in the town’s southern end.

The moratorium affects about 30 property owners with land on both sides of State Road A1A.

The commission wants to use the timeout to allow the Planning and Zoning Board to review building rules — particularly those that restrict the size and use of beach houses and cabanas along the ocean.

Commissioners requested the review after approving a new cabana request in September on property owned by Jeffrey Lee. That property already has a beach house at 3070 S. Ocean Blvd.

• Efforts to expand the town’s Police Department have gotten a boost from the commission’s approval of a defined benefits retirement fund for employees. Chief Carmen Mattox said the town is receiving more applications for openings from candidates who are better qualified because the pension plan is more desirable.

“We used to have to chase people,” Waters said. “Now they chase us.”

By Sallie James

GULF STREAM — Joyce K. Slominski, a retired educator and philanthropist whose influence helped get mammography screenings covered by health insurance, died on Nov. 14 after a long battle with Benson’s syndrome. She was 73.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., on Aug. 20, 1945, she married Edward Slominski on July 2, 1978. The two had met two years earlier on July 2 and had moved in together two days later on July 4. It was a love story that lasted 42 years.
“I was a lucky guy,” said Edward Slominski, who recalled meeting Joyce at a New York party and being smitten as soon as she walked in. She cut a striking figure at 6 feet tall with blond hair and a megawatt smile.
She turned heads everywhere she went, he said. “She looked like a model. She would captivate a room.”
But Mrs. Slominski never traded on her good looks. She was smart, compassionate and genuinely interested. She loved talking to people and had a special passion for children, her husband said.
Joyce Slominski attended the State University of Buffalo, where she earned a bachelor of arts in English, a master of arts in English education and became a doctoral candidate in French and English literature. The only reason she didn’t earn her Ph.D. is that they moved.
She taught in the inner-city schools of Buffalo in the early years of her career and earned a reputation for being dedicated, passionate and caring.
She was dubbed “Wonder Woman” after preventing a small girl from being injured by a heavy oak door that fell after some mischievous students removed the hinge pins.
“She put up her hand and stopped the door from crushing the girl,” Edward Slominski said. “The kids really loved her. She really related to kids.”
She was recognized for her teaching skills by schools in Texas, New York and Massachusetts. She also taught at Simmons College in Boston and Richland College in Dallas. Her range of skills included teaching English literature, French and Spanish and running a GED program for single mothers.
Mrs. Slominski was also a civic activist. In Florida, she served on the boards of directors for the Lupus Foundation and the Sandoway Discovery Center in Delray Beach.
“Sandoway was dear to her because it was a nature center for children and an educational center. That spoke to her,” Edward Slominski said. “She liked the fact that they bused in inner-city kids and she liked the women she worked with.”
Her struggle with Benson’s syndrome — a rare malady with fewer than 4,000 documented cases — was valiant and courageous, her husband said. The disease affected the part of her brain that controlled motor skills, affecting her vision and eventually her ability to walk.
She never gave up, participating in a book club until she could no longer read, then turning to books on tape so she could enjoy her love of reading in another way.
Mrs. Slominski’s friends marveled at a person who had only good thoughts for her family and those she worked with or just the casual everyday acquaintances, as she believed each person was a special gift.
Longtime friend Mary Lou Schillinger said Mrs. Slominski never complained about her illness and did whatever she could to remain involved. She was an avid cyclist and when she could no longer ride alone, her husband bought a bicycle-built-for-two so she could continue the cycling she loved.
When she could no longer drive, she walked wherever she could, Schillinger said.
“She had pep and vigor and a good sense of humor,” she recalled. She also never forgot a birthday and always sent cards. And when she lost her vision, she enlisted help from others to make sure birthday cards always got mailed, Schillinger said.
Mrs. Slominski’s influence on women’s health care is little known but significant, her husband said. Back in the late 1980s, their company, Anadyne, built what became one of the first mobile mammography clinics in the country, Mr. Slominski said.
They took the clinic to an inner-city neighborhood and conducted cancer screenings, detecting an early case of cancer in a woman who went on to serve in the Texas Senate.
Mrs. Slominski asked the senator to pass a bill that would require insurance companies to pay for mammography screenings as part of routine health care. The senator did and the bill was copied by states across the nation, so insurers were required to cover mammography, Edward Slominski said.
“She saved millions of women,” her husband said proudly.
Mrs. Slominski is survived by her husband, a son, Aaron, and daughter-in-law, Danielle, of Coral Springs; sisters Nancy Nelson of Jacksonville, Ginny Clarcq of Phoenix, and brother Walter Parcheta of Lake Worth.
A funeral Mass was scheduled for 10 a.m. Dec. 1 at St. Vincent Ferrer in Delray Beach, with a celebration of her life afterward at her home.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Sandoway Discovery Center of Delray Beach.

Piles of scrap steel and aluminum lie in the parking lot that used to serve the Boynton Beach City Hall and police station. Open since 1958, the City Hall was the last public building to be razed to make way for the Town Square redevelopment project. On the first day of its demolition, the city held a watch party Nov. 15 at the historic Schoolhouse Children’s Museum. Town Square, a public-private partnership, will create a downtown for Boynton Beach with new civic buildings: combination library and City Hall in a 4-story building, Fire Station No. 1, amphitheater and parking garages. The estimated completion dates are in late 2019. The historic high school, which sits next to the Children’s Museum, is undergoing renovation that will enable it to host events on the top floor that can seat up to 500 and recreation classes on the bottom floor. The city’s share of Town Square will cost about $118 million. Demolition began in September when the Civic Center was bulldozed. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

For the fourth time in as many years, South Palm Beach is beginning a search to find a town manager.

But another search just ended before it started. The Town Council thinks it has found the police chief it’s been looking for. And it turns out he’s been wearing a uniform in the town for the last 17 years.

After some emotional debate in a room packed with residents and uniformed officers on Nov. 13, council members voted 3-2 to give the open chief’s job to Sgt. Mark Garrison, the department’s longest-serving member. He held the top position on an interim basis since Carl Webb stepped down in January.

“We’ve had Mark for 10 months and he’s done a great job,” Councilman Bill LeRoy said in pushing for Garrison’s promotion.

“We’ve had no problems with Mark. … I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t have the job.”

LeRoy, with the vocal support of the sergeant’s backers, succeeded in persuading Mayor Bonnie Fischer and Vice Mayor Robert Gottlieb to vote for Garrison’s approval.

Councilwomen Stella Gaddy Jordan and Elvadianne Culbertson voted no.

The applause and congratulations for Garrison had barely subsided when the council accepted the resignation of Town Manager Mo Thornton, who is retiring in December after 11 months in the position.

“It came out of the blue,” said Fischer, who found out about Thornton’s decision only days before the meeting.

The last two managers, Jim Pascale and Bob Vitas, were forced out of the job after disputes with the council. Pascale lasted six months and Vitas just under two years.

Council members said they were pleased with Thornton’s work, but she said the direction of her life changed and it was time to go.

“Things came together in my life that allowed me an opportunity that I felt I just had to take,” she said. “I want to leave the town in a better place than when I found it. We’ll leave everything in as good shape as we can.”

The council directed Town Attorney Glen Torcivia to develop a list of candidates to replace Thornton temporarily and bring it for discussion to the Dec. 11 meeting. Torcivia said it’s likely that finding and hiring a permanent replacement would take at least several months.

To help fill the administrative void at Town Hall, the council unanimously approved promoting Town Clerk Yude Alvarez to assistant to the town manager and raised her annual salary about $4,000 to $56,425.

Hiring process criticized

Garrison had ample support in the room during the council’s deliberation. Representatives from the police union and Lantana Police Department spoke on his behalf, as did a half-dozen residents.

Seven members of the South Palm force were there to congratulate him. Also there was Robert Rizzotto, who was a commander in the department under Webb until moving out of state two years ago. Rizzotto also had applied for the chief’s job.

Jordan and Culbertson praised Garrison’s performance but each cited reservations. Jordan said Garrison needed more experience and more training. Culbertson was troubled by the process, or lack of it. The town received dozens of applications for chief but the council reviewed none of them and held no interviews.

“What we’re failing to understand is the process going from 31 candidates to one candidate and that had no involvement with the council,” Culbertson said. “By law, the screening of applicants in the decision-making process needs to be done in public. This did not happen.”

At first, Gottlieb proposed postponing a decision but then changed his position after hearing comments from the public. Some council members said they should wait until the new town manager is in place to weigh in on the chief’s hiring.
Fischer said early on she was “concerned that Mark is not quite ready” for the job, but wound up casting the deciding vote for his approval.

Thornton was an enthusiastic supporter of Garrison. “I wanted to give Mark the opportunity to succeed and he has been succeeding,” she said. “He’s stepped up and done everything that’s been asked of him.”

Garrison said he’s learned a lot about running a department since taking over. “I’ve had a lot of experience in the last year,” he said. “I’ve grown a lot.”

By Mary Thurwachter

Mayor David Stewart says he will continue to fight the ethics complaint filed against him in January by Lantana resident Catherine Padilla.
In October, the Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause that Stewart misused his position to attempt to obtain a sexual benefit for himself. Probable cause also was found to believe he solicited sex from a constituent based on an understanding his vote, official action or judgment would be influenced.
While not a determination that Stewart violated ethics law, the probable cause determination finds that there is enough evidence of a violation to allow the investigation to proceed to a full evidentiary hearing.
Stewart says he will have an evidentiary hearing (before the Division of Administrative Hearings), likely sometime in the next three months.
While he declined further comment, Stewart has consistently maintained that Padilla’s accusations were totally false and that he has never asked for, or accepted, anything in exchange for a vote.
Another option for Stewart, who has been mayor for 19 years, would have been agreeing to a settlement, the terms of which would be decided by the commission’s advocate and Stewart and his legal representative.
Padilla, 54, filed the ethics complaint in January. She claims she and Stewart, 65, had become friends when both attended meetings of the Hypoluxo-Lantana Kiwanis Club.
According to Padilla, their relationship took an objectionable turn in 2015, when, after a morning Kiwanis meeting, the two had lunch, after which he drove her to a motel and propositioned her for sex. Padilla said she “wasn’t interested” and that Stewart drove her back to her car.
She said Stewart called her a week or two later and said he would guarantee her street would get speed tables, a safety measure for which she had lobbied, if she would have sex with him at the motel.
In August 2015, the Town Council voted in favor of the traffic-calming speed humps for Padilla’s street. Another unanimous vote to approve the speed humps came this year on Sept. 24.
Padilla filed an amendment to her first complaint on Jan. 11, when the mayor came to her house to talk to her about the complaint and she called police.
Stewart, according to the police report, told officers he had learned of the ethics complaint filed with the state and had gone to Padilla’s house to talk with her about it.
Padilla, according to the police report, said that when she opened the door and saw Stewart, she shut it, locked it and took a photo of Stewart in his car before he left. The two never spoke during the incident, both told police.

By Dan Moffett

In a busy night of changes and decision-making, Ocean Ridge commissioners saw a mayor step down, elected his replacement, removed a construction moratorium, enacted a bundle of new building rules and advanced four proposed charter amendments to the March 12 municipal election.

The three-hour meeting on Nov. 5 began with Mayor James Bonfiglio resigning to run for the state House District 89 seat in compliance with Florida’s resign-to-run statute.

Bonfiglio said he decided to step down as mayor early in the meeting and finish the night as a commissioner to ensure a seamless transition to his successor.

The commission chose Steve Coz as that successor on a 3-2 vote. Bonfiglio and Commissioner Phil Besler threw their support behind Coz, who voted for himself. Vice Mayor Don MaGruder and Commissioner Kristine de Heseth voted for MaGruder, who retains his vice mayor’s seat.

Commissioners, at their next meeting on Dec. 3, are expected to consider appointing someone to fill the remainder of Bonfiglio’s unexpired term until the March election.

Bonfiglio lost the state House race to Mike Caruso.

With their passage of multiple ordinances governing building rules, commissioners removed a moratorium on new construction that had been in place since June. The most significant and extensively debated change was a town-wide requirement that developers set aside 35 percent of their lots for pervious, drainable materials such as landscaping.

MaGruder said that with rising seas and increasing development, “35 percent is absolutely mandatory” for Ocean Ridge. The town’s engineer, Planning and Zoning Commission and outside planning consultant recommended the higher standard, up from the current 25 percent, to reduce drainage problems.

The commission also approved tighter new-construction requirements that call for more parking spaces for bigger homes and more green space to promote better drainage. Bonfiglio said the new rules were necessary to close loopholes in the building code. Last spring, the town received plans for a nine-bedroom, 111/2-bath home on Island Drive South, and the commission enacted the moratorium.

Commissioners also gave final approval to four charter amendment questions that will go on the March 12 ballot. Voters then will decide the amendments’ fate, with more than 50 percent approval needed to pass each one.

The most contentiously debated proposal failed to advance, however.

The commission rejected by a 3-2 vote a provision to require a four-vote supermajority to change the town’s density or height requirements for new construction projects. The measure was offered by the charter review committee as a way to protect the town from excessive development and discourage ambitious developers.

Bonfiglio, who weeks ago expressed support for the supermajority idea, changed his vote to no, joining Coz and Besler in opposition. MaGruder and de Haseth voted the other way, believing residents should get to have a voice in March.
Bonfiglio said he worried requiring the four-vote majority would create legal problems and come with unintended consequences. He said the charter isn’t the place for building restrictions.

“Generally speaking, a supermajority is a bad idea in any legislative proceeding,” Bonfiglio said. “I am against placing any of the zoning issues in the charter.”

Coz argued that requiring four votes gives too much power to minority positions because two commissioners could obstruct the majority.

“The supermajority actually puts the minority in control,” Coz said. “It’s counterintuitive.”

Besler was concerned the proposal would tie the hands of future commissions.

“I don’t think any commissioner here wants skyscrapers or anything like that,” Besler said. “But we don’t know what the future holds. It sets us up for something in the future that we’re not anticipating now.”

Also on a 3-2 vote, the commission approved an amendment proposal for term limits that would restrict commissioners to three consecutive three-year terms, after which a one-year absence from office would be required before a person could run again.

Coz, MaGruder and de Heseth thought term limits would encourage more people to participate in government and bring fresh ideas to the commission. They supported putting it before the voters.

Bonfiglio and Besler said the proposal might force effective officials to leave government when they still could contribute.

Three other amendment proposals won unanimous approval: a measure that would give the town manager hiring and firing authority over all employees except for the police chief position, which commissioners would oversee; a provision that requires more notice for special meetings and sets a three-vote minimum for commission approvals; and a collection of mostly language clarifications to the town’s election rules.

By Jane Smith

A July medical emergency in the County Pocket has led to an updated mutual aid agreement and could lead to faster response times for life-threatening emergencies in that 16.5-acre enclave just south of Briny Breezes.

Boynton Beach and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue chiefs updated their mutual aid agreements, according to a letter signed Aug. 10. The agreements say Boynton Beach Fire Rescue — because of its proximity — should be the first responder in life-threatening situations.

The County Pocket sits in an unincorporated section and receives county fire and police services. Emergency service is provided through mutual aid agreements with both Delray Beach and Boynton Beach.

The new agreements list 15 types of emergencies when Boynton Beach Fire Rescue should be the first to respond, including cardiac arrest, choking and when a person is unresponsive. The list also has a general life-threatening category.

It is similar to the agreement put in place after County Pocket resident Bill Dunn choked to death in 2009 while eating. It took county fire rescue paramedics more than 12 minutes to respond from their station at Woolbright Road and Military Trail.

This time, the chiefs agreed to meet with dispatch center staffs to make sure they follow the protocols of when Boynton Beach Fire Rescue would be called.

“We did meet with dispatch center staff to review the protocols for emergency calls that we will respond to in the County Pocket,” said Glenn Joseph, Boynton Beach fire chief.

County fire rescue administration staffers met with their alarm office staff on Aug. 23 to discuss the latest mutual aid agreements, according to Derek Wiley, captain with county fire rescue.

On July 4, a 48-year-old man fell off the back of a golf cart and hit his head near Mike Smollon’s house in the County Pocket.
A retired Boynton Beach fire battalion chief, Smollon held the unconscious man’s head until Delray Beach Fire-Rescue paramedics arrived about 10 minutes after the incident, which one of the man’s friends called in.

Delray Beach paramedics transported the man to Delray Medical Center, a trauma center in the western part of the city. The man recovered and was able to leave the next day, Smollon said.

Delray Beach Fire-Rescue usually responds to emergencies in the County Pocket that are not life-threatening, such as a fall.

The city has an automatic aid agreement to provide services to county pockets, either in the city or outside, said Kevin Saxton, Delray Beach Fire-Rescue spokesman. “The county reciprocates when our services are depleted,” Saxton said.

After Smollen questioned the response time and agency responding, the chiefs eventually agreed to re-examine the mutual aid agreements and how first responders are dispatched.

“The problem is how the caller describes the emergency,” said Joseph. “In the July 4 incident, the initial call was described as a fall with injury.”

Joseph said his paramedics can’t run on every call for a fall outside their service area. “That would result in a lot of calls that the county would not reimburse us for handling,” he said.

Smollon agreed that how the caller describes the emergency is important. At a Nov. 13 meeting with Briny Breezes and County Pocket residents, he reminded listeners to “make sure you describe the nature of the emergency accurately when you call 911.”

Mutual aid emergency types
Cardiac
Cardiac arrest
Choking
Trouble breathing
Seizure
Unresponsive
Allergic reaction
Electrocution
Vehicle accident: rollover/extrication
Shooting
Stabbing
Drowning
Open water incident
Structure fire
Aircraft incident
And any other type that seems to be life-threatening

SOURCE: Palm Beach County and Boynton Beach Fire Rescue

By Mary Thurwachter

A portion of the development site for Water Tower Commons has been sold to the Related Group for $14.76 million from Lantana Development, a partnership of Kenco Communities’ Ken Endelson and Wexford Capital.
The sale, registered early in November, came after Lantana Development and the Related Group won approval from the Lantana Town Council to build 360 apartments on 16 acres at the north end of Water Tower Commons, the mixed-used development on Lantana Road east of Interstate 95.
To finance the apartment complex project, Related of Miami, one of the country’s largest real estate conglomerates, took a $52.2 million loan from Regions Bank.
The anticipated completion date is expected in 2020, according to commercial real estate broker Jay Bailyn, who represented the buyer and seller.
“This was expected,” said Lantana Mayor David Stewart, who said the Related Group, which has about 4,000 multifamily units in its development pipeline, was just waiting for some approvals from the town before the closing.
Lantana Chamber of Commerce President Dave Arm said another reason for the timing of the purchase is that developers were waiting for the entrance lane off of Lantana Road to be paved. That has happened.
“You should see building happening soon,” Arm said.
The first phase of the residential building will include 360 apartments in 14 multifamily buildings, a clubhouse with a resort pool, recreation areas and other amenities such as carports and garages. A 6-foot wall will surround the residential development.
A second phase of residential development received approval from the Town Council on Sept. 24. That project will have 348 units on 18 acres, which are also expected to be purchased by the Related Group before construction begins. The plan calls for four multifamily buildings, 18 big houses, a main clubhouse, resort pools and open recreation areas.
Water Tower Commons has been in the offing since 2014, when Lantana Development and Wexford Capital bought the land, which previously housed the A.G. Holley tuberculosis hospital, from the state for $15.6 million.
The commercial portion of the project lags behind the residential due to a challenging retail climate, Ken Tuma, a principal with Urban Design Kilday Studios, said in September. Walmart showed interest in an upscale store, but the idea never materialized.
Tuma said the project has been on the wrong side of a change in the retail industry, but that things are more positive now, especially as the residential buildings come to fruition.
Having the residential units on site, Tuma said, has made the commercial development “much more marketable because of potential for people living within the community.”

By Mary Thurwachter

After perusing Town Manager Deborah Manzo’s list of accomplishments from the past year, the Lantana Town Council was all set to award her a 5 percent raise, the top end of merit raises available to town employees this year. But before a vote was taken Nov. 26, Police Chief Sean Scheller stepped behind the podium to encourage the town to do better, or risk losing its prized manager to another municipality sure to come after her, he said.
“Over the last six years since I’ve been chief, she has taken me under her wing and showed me so much I wouldn’t have known. I guarantee you’re never going to find another manager like her,” Scheller said.
Town Attorney Max Lohman pointed out that the manager wasn’t able to get the 2.4 percent cost-of-living raise other employees receive.
After more discussion, council members decided on 7 percent (upward of $9,000).
Her current salary is $138,825, which Mayor David Stewart said was in line with pay for other managers of similarly sized municipalities in Palm Beach County.
“She’s one of the hardest working individuals I have come across,” said Vice Mayor Edward Shropshire, who made the motion for 7 percent.
Stewart praised her work to secure multiple grants for the town, find federal money to make repairs to town buildings after Hurricane Irma hit, get properties on the tax rolls, renegotiate the garbage pickup contract with Republic Services, participate in the League of Cities and routinely balance the budget.
“She brought in $2 million in grants alone,” said council member Lynn Moorhouse. “I grade her above and beyond.”
Stewart had proposed a 5 percent raise and voted against the larger increase.
“It does not send the right message when some employees only get a 2.4 percent raise, even though she maybe deserves it,” he said.
But council members made it clear Manzo is a valuable asset they don’t want to lose.
At Stewart’s recommendation, the terms of Manzo’s agreement changed to require that instead of 12 weeks’ notice, as her current contract dictates, if she chooses to leave, she would need to give 20 weeks. Her severance pay, if the town dismissed her, would cover 20 weeks instead of 12.
Manzo, who worked previously as assistant manager in Greenacres, was hired by Lantana in 2012 with an annual salary of $97,476. Within six months, she had refinanced the town’s water and sewer bonds, saving Lantana about $1 million over nine years. Her glowing evaluations translated to top raises.

By Jane Smith

Construction work to replace the pavers in four barrier island crosswalks on East Atlantic Avenue has stopped for the season and will resume in May, according to a Delray Beach department head.
The four crosswalks at the intersections of Gleason Street and Venetian Drive with East Atlantic have reopened, Susan Goebel-Canning, Delray Beach public works director, wrote in mid-November.
“During the project, we identified a water main leak,” Goebel-Canning wrote. “The leak needed to be addressed prior to construction of the crosswalk, so it appeared that construction ceased.”
The project was on a tight schedule with an anticipated Dec. 3 completion date. Fixing the water main leak pushed the crosswalk work into the holiday season, according to Goebel-Canning.
“As a result, two-thirds of the project was completed before we needed to open the road again,” Goebel-Canning wrote. “You will see fresh asphalt, which allowed the road to be open.”
Some East Atlantic Avenue merchants had complained to the City Commission about the road work during high season.
Sales were off about 30 percent compared with the same period last year at C. Orrico Delray Beach, said store manager Sue Vidulich.
“We were absolutely affected,” she said. “Customers could not turn left onto Seabreeze Avenue to enter our parking lot. They had to drive down Atlantic and make a U-turn. Guests at the Seagate Hotel could not find a safe place to cross Atlantic to get to our store.”
Vidulich is happy the construction ended in time for the Holiday Beachside Stroll on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The women’s clothing boutique, which sells Lilly Pulitzer fashions, planned to make it a festive day.
The Florida Department of Transportation owns Atlantic Avenue on the barrier island. The crosswalk pavers have shifted, creating an uneven surface, and need to be replaced.
FDOT does not permit the use of pavers in its streets, although the department did allow the pavers at the time the crosswalks were installed about 10 years ago, said Barbara Kelleher, FDOT spokeswoman.
Under FDOT rules, cities can use stamped concrete, which looks like pavers.
The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency will cover the $329,965 cost to R&D Paving LLC of West Palm Beach for the upgrade.

By Jane Smith

Construction work at the Woolbright Road interchange in Boynton Beach has yet another completion date.
The contractor is now saying end of December for most of the work to be finished, said Andi Pacini, Corradino Group community outreach spokeswoman for Interstate 95 projects. “Punch list items will most likely push final acceptance into 2019,” she said.
Corradino Group contracts with the Florida Department of Transportation.
The substantial work remaining includes finishing the widening of the I-95 northbound entrance ramp, finishing the widening of the southbound exit ramp to provide free flow of right-turn traffic onto westbound Woolbright Road, building sidewalks and adding lighting and traffic signals.
“Crews have been on site working on these activities,” Pacini said.
Woolbright and Hypoluxo Road interchanges are part of a $32.5 million, five-interchange bid in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Construction work on the Hypoluxo Road interchange started in June 2015, and work on the Woolbright Road interchange began in January 2016, Pacini said. The other three projects are in Palm Beach Gardens, Lake Worth and Deerfield Beach.
The contract end date for all five projects was Nov. 3, 2017. As a result, FDOT has been fining the contractor $8,491.01 per day for all five since Nov. 4, 2017, Pacini said.
At Hypoluxo Road, the contractor needs to finish striping, complete the pedestrian signal wiring at the I-95 southbound entrance ramp and complete punch list activities. FDOT is anticipating an end of December completion for the five projects, Pacini said.
Work at the five locations is taking place mostly overnight to ease the impact on traffic.

ABOVE: The construction fence was gone, but the dumpster and portable toilet remained at the 3140 Polo Drive construction site Nov. 23. BELOW: The sign above Peter Klein’s front door vents about the duration of the 3-year-old project.

Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

The green-shrouded chain-link privacy fence surrounding 3140 Polo Drive, what is easily the town’s longest-running single-family home construction project, came down just before Thanksgiving, but there’s no promise of when the front lawn will be green.

“The last thing that’s going in is the grass because [the new owners] don’t want anybody walking on it, any other contractors walking on it,” Town Manager Greg Dunham said in a Nov. 9 update for town commissioners.

Dunham, who had been lobbying owners James and Jennifer Cacioppo to grade and landscape their property as soon as possible so the fence could be removed, said the latest delay came from installing columns and a wall around the two-story house’s paver driveway. Each column had a specially sized cap for the top, and workers cemented them into position while the construction manager was away.

“Each piece has a specific spot they’re supposed to go, and they put them on in the wrong place. So they had to take them off,” Dunham said.

Redoing the caps delayed putting in landscaping, which delayed grading the front yard, Dunham said. But “they are landscaping in the back. You just can’t see it,” he said.

Dunham said the Cacioppos got the building permit for their 8,560-square-foot house in February 2016. Town Commissioner Paul Lyons noted that meant the three-year anniversary of construction is coming.

“They’re in a race with the house [at 528 Palm Way] at this point in time,” Dunham said half-seriously. The contractor for Gary Cantor, that home’s owner, filed notice of demolishing the previous structure in late May. The shell of Cantor’s new one-story Bermuda-style home is already up.

Lyons and Commissioner Joan Orthwein both have said residents are complaining about the slow progress at 3140 Polo Drive.
Peter Klein, who lives across the street, says the work passed its three-year mark months ago. Site-clearing started in February 2016, he said, but the previous home was demolished in August 2015.

“We have been looking at that cyclone fence for years,” said Klein, who hung a yellow banner on the front of his house exhorting the Cacioppos to “Finish the Job!”

Klein and his wife, Jennifer, bought their property in 2011 and tore down and rebuilt in just over 12 months, he said.
The Cacioppos have given their contractor more than 100 change orders, he said he has been told. “Entire rooms have been ripped out and redone. I have seen it firsthand,” Klein said.

By Rich Pollack

Before he launched his career as a senior administrator at independent schools in Maryland, Gray Smith was an English teacher and lacrosse coach who would come to South Florida on spring break to visit with family.

Occasionally, Smith would visit Gulf Stream School — where cousins were students — and lead a lacrosse clinic.

“Everyone was so warm and friendly, and the setting is pristine,” he said. “I remember thinking, ‘If I ever become a head of school, this would be a great place to be.’”

Fast forward a couple of decades and what seemed at the time a long-shot wish has become a reality.

In late October, Gulf Stream School’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name Smith — now Dr. Gray Smith — as its newest head of school. He will take the reins in July from Joe Zaluski, who is retiring after 14 years of leading the faculty and staff.

Smith says his time visiting in the 1990s and his three years as an English teacher and football and lacrosse coach at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale gave him an opportunity to learn about the Gulf Stream School and what makes it special.

“I’m incredibly excited to come back and be the head of school,” he said.

Smith said he saw a posting for the opening for a head of school at Gulf Stream and jumped at the chance to be considered.

“It was such a great opportunity, it couldn’t be ignored,” he said.

However, Smith wasn’t the only one who sought to lead the 80-year-old school that serves about 250 students from pre-kindergarten to the eighth grade. In all, 35 candidates applied.

During the nine-month national search, led by a committee working with educational consultant Heads Up and search firm Triangle Associates, the group of applicants was whittled down to six finalists.

“All six of them were fabulous,” said parent Tandy Robinson, who led the search committee along with co-chair Penny Kosinski. “We would have been lucky to have any one of them lead the school.”

In the end, however, after three of the six visited the school to meet with faculty, parents and students, Smith was the board’s unanimous choice.

“After close examination of each of the candidates, it became clear that Dr. Smith with his significant previous experience ... is the right person to guide Gulf Stream School into its next exciting era of growth,” board of trustees President Devon Coughlan wrote in a letter to parents and others in the Gulf Stream School community.

“Dr. Smith has the wisdom, experience and leadership skills necessary to preserve our heritage, nurture our first-class team of faculty and staff and fulfill our mission of empowering students to succeed by inspiring intellectual curiosity and celebrating both efforts and accomplishment.”

Prior to accepting the position at Gulf Stream School, Smith, 46, served four years as the head of school at the Harford Day School in Bel Air, Md. He previously served as head of the middle school at Severn School in the Baltimore area and before that served as assistant head of the upper school and dean of students at The Boys’ Latin School of Maryland.

He also held teaching and coaching positions in Kentucky and at Pine Crest, where he was a teacher and assistant lacrosse coach in 2002 when the team won the state championship. He later served as head coach in 2003.

Smith hopes to follow Zaluski’s tradition of teaching a class on a regular basis. While he won’t coach lacrosse, he said he might take to the field to host an occasional clinic.

He and his wife, Sarah, have two sons, James, 8, and Ward, 5, who will both attend the school.

Smith said that during his visit to the school earlier this year, he was once again impressed by the staff and faculty and by the school community as a whole.

“It’s evident that the school has benefited from excellent stewardship,” he said. “The teachers are among the best I’ve ever met and it’s clear that everyone is aimed at doing what’s best for the kids. What else could a head of school ask for?”