Jason McCobb, his wife, Denia, and daughter, Reese, in a sunflower field on their farm.

Blooming nasturtiums in the raised bed gardens at the Farmer’s Table in Boca Raton are not only pretty but edible.

Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

    At the Farmer’s Table restaurant in Boca Raton, you’ll see a small patch of land between the parking lot and the restaurant building that’s now a kitchen garden.
    Here, cedar boxes filled with rich dirt support stems of fragrant rosemary, rattlesnake pole beans grow toward the sky and the frilly tops of fennel bulbs blow in the breeze.
    This isn’t just the handiwork but the mission of Jason McCobb (also known as Farmer Jay), who is out to fill any empty space he can with a vegetable patch.
    “The food system begins in your back yard. A vegetable patch should be as common at restaurants and homes as bathrooms,” he said.
    It doesn’t matter whether you plant a fruit tree out front, a tomato patch in a corner of the yard or a full kitchen garden instead of a lawn, as long as you participate.
    “Everybody can do their part and grow something,” he said.
    And that’s why since about 2010 McCobb has worked with restaurants, schools and homeowners to create and plant box gardens. You can see his handiwork at Tanzy in Mizner Park as well as the Farmer’s Table, where we talked to him.
    He builds the cedar boxes in a wood shop on his 2 ½-acre farm in Lake Worth. He fills them with his own mixture of soil and fertilizes them with his private recipe of chicken manure, worm castings, volcanic rock dust and coral calcium. Then he installs an irrigation system that uses micro-sprayer heads.
    Of course, this 1,200-square-foot garden with its 17 boxes can’t supply all the produce for the Farmer’s Table. “I could plant the whole thing in romaine and it still wouldn’t be enough,” he said.
    Instead, he views his restaurant garden patches as an opportunity to educate the public about what can be achieved in small spaces and how food looks in the field.
    And it gives the chef a chance to try new things. For example, this garden contains such uncommon offerings as moluccan spinach, Japanese parsley and Italian red-stemmed dandelions.
    Also, the chef can harvest the produce when he needs it to assure freshness, and he can select the vegetables at the maturity he desires. For example, the turnips growing here can be taken when they are young or as they grow larger. And the chef not only gets the turnip itself but also the greens.
    “Nothing goes to waste here,” Farmer Jay said, even if some of the spent plants he pulled out today are fed to the chickens on his farm.
    As the seasons turn and the crops are used up, new ones must be planted. Farmer Jay works with the chef to decide what to grow. During the growing season from September to May, you might find frisee, romaine, mizuna, onions, oregano, thyme and mint.
    He also likes to grow edible flowers such as pansies, marigolds and nasturtiums, not only to eat but to add color and attract pollinators.
    In the heat of the summer, he grows native Everglades tomatoes the size of marbles, some varieties of romaine lettuce, amaranth greens and okra, among other things.
    On this day, he did maintenance at the garden, a service he offers only to restaurants. He cleared out beds of marigolds that had gone to seed as well as Japanese parsley and heirloom broccoli to be replaced by rows of mint and basil.  
    As he worked, a couple leaving the restaurant stopped to admire his handiwork.
    “I love this,” said Angela Vernon, who with her husband, Tim, was visiting her mother-in-law in Boca Raton. “My dad was a real gardener and we were just talking about getting started growing vegetables this summer at our house.”
    Little did Farmer Jay know that the seed of an idea he sowed here will bloom halfway across the country when this couple returns home and plants their garden in Chicago.
    
Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley is a certified master gardener who can be reached at debhartz@att.net when she’s not digging in her garden.

Boys and girls can spend time with Batman and Sleeping Beauty during Princesses and Superheroes Day

on April 22 at the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum in Boynton Beach.

Photo provided by Capehart

By Janis Fontaine

    Calling all superheroes! Princesses, too!
    Kids who love to dress up can wear their best princess gowns or superhero costumes and join the fun at the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum in Boynton Beach when it celebrates Princesses and Superheroes Day on April 22.
    “This is our fourth year doing it,” said executive director Suzanne Ross. “It’s a really family-focused event and it brings new people to the museum, and it raises a little money.”
    Ross says the nonprofit museum, which marked its 15th anniversary in November, has been a success because the team of educators and the program manager are always adding new elements, “which brings a freshness to the center and keeps the vision of the founders in focus.”
    That vision? “Children will embrace lifelong learning through the joy of discovery.”
    Located in the historic Boynton School building, the museum has two floors of exhibits and opportunities for interactive play, exploration, imagination and creation. It offers exposure to art, music and the sciences through free weekly programs, affordable classes and specialty workshops.
    Ross has served as executive director of the museum since October 2013 and says the number of visitors has increased from about 28,000 then to more than 36,000 last year. She credits the new art classes and says “it’s so unique and so child-friendly. When the door opens and a child runs in yelling, ‘Yay,’ that makes our day.”
    For Princesses and Superheroes Day, the game plan has games and crafts, dancing and face painting and the chance to meet a grown-up princess and, though not the real Batman, a close personal friend of his.
    “We’ll definitely have a female superhero, too,” Ross said. “We don’t want the girls to think they can only be princesses.”
    Some local heroes — police officers and firefighters — will come by to meet the kids and talk about their jobs of helping people in times of trouble, just like superheroes do. Ross says the plan is to have a police car or fire engine on site — if the vehicle is not too busy working.
    “We want the kids to know these are the good guys, the real heroes,” Ross said.
    Ross worked for several nonprofits before joining the museum. “I found my home. Happy children,” Ross said, “that’s the reward.
    “We’re in it for the giggles.”
    Teenagers and retirees interested in volunteering for the event should call the museum at 742-6780.  
    Princesses and Superheroes Day runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 22 at the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center, 129 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach.
    Tickets: $10 or $7 for members. Info: 742-6780; www.schoolhousemuseum.org

A most unusual egg hunt
    The Easter Egg Hunt at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens is going to take on a surreal feeling when egg hunters and their parents discover Sophie Ryder’s giant bunny sculptures resting in the garden.
    Children will hunt for hidden eggs among the 2 acres of sculptures, ponds, palms and native plants. To make sure everyone has fun, hunters will be separated into three age groups: 3 and younger, 4 to 6 years and 7 to 10 years. In each age group, there is one distinct hidden egg with a special prize inside.
    The gardens contain more than 250 rare palm species, as well as cycads and unusual tropical flora, and have one of the largest public plant collections in Florida. Carefully positioned among this wealth of plants are Ann Norton’s sculptures, monolithic stone pieces created by London artist Sophie Ryder.
    Ryder, 54, studied painting and combined arts at the Royal Academy of Arts, where she began to create a world full of mystical creatures, animals and hybrid beings. She says she sculpts the world as she would like it to be.
    Like Norton, “working big” is part of her craft, and like Norton, she’s a diminutive woman dwarfed by her pieces. Rising is more than 13 feet tall and The Kiss is 19. Six other pieces are positioned in the gardens. Eight smaller works are on display in the studio.
    Also on display in tribute to Norton’s dedication to preservation and conservation are Todd McGrain’s sculptures of extinct birds.
    Norton planned the garden to serve as a quiet retreat for humans, a respite for migrating birds and a home for native wildlife. McGrain’s exhibition spotlights the loss of bird species due to environmental changes and includes five bronze sculptures of extinct North American birds.
    While children seek secreted eggs, adults can enjoy lemonade in the garden. A visit from the Easter bunny is planned.
    The Easter Egg Hunt will begin at 10 a.m. April 15 at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, 2051 Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach. Tickets: $15 adults, $10 for ages 65 and older, $7 for students, and free for children younger than 5. Tickets must be purchased in advance.
 Parking is at Palm Beach Day Academy, 1901 S. Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach.
 Info: 832-5328 or www.ansg.org.

Students at FAU’s Karen Slattery Educational Research Center for Child Development celebrated Pi Day

on March 14 outside the university’s Social Science Building on the Boca Raton campus. Why March 14?

Because pi is 3.14. Here, Dean Elmaleh puts a pie in the face of Koray Karabina, an assistant professor

in FAU’s department of mathematical sciences.

Photo provided

The Advent Gators competed in the Lutheran Basketball Association’s national tournament in Valparaiso, Ind.,

after finishing the season 13-5 and placing second in the state tournament. Members are (l-r) first row:

Brian Blackmon, Oxo Schreiber, Omar Williams, Kyle Martin, Greg Kovacs, Cooper Franklin.

Second row: Coach Dave Franklin, Jeremiah Martin, Joseph England, Bryson Leidy, Coach Dusty Pflugner and Ryan Horton.

Photo provided

Cats don’t have a sense of humor but can be quite hilarious to watch.

Photo provided

By Arden Moore

    If you share your home with a dog or a cat, I’m wagering that your pet’s antics pop a smile on your face at least once a day. In fact, pick a day and count how many times your pet makes you grin, chuckle and even unleash a full belly laugh. I bet your pets make you laugh more than your spouse, kids or best friend.
    Admit it (I will) that those short videos posted on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube that make you laugh until you nearly cry always seem to feature a dog, cat or other pet doing something goofy and unexpected.
    Pets don’t aspire to be standup (on all four legs) comedians. Their needs are simple and sincere: All they want is healthy chow, a comfy bed and a big heaping of our love.
    So, if you are in a snit over bumper-to-bumper traffic, bored by leftovers lingering in your fridge or stressed by work projects, head over to the Palm Beach Improv in West Palm Beach on April 9 to take in the comedy act of rising star Adam Ferrara.
    Yep, he is “that guy” who has appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, earned two nominations for best male standup by the American Comedy Awards and has appeared on many television shows, including NBC’s Law & Order, ABC’s Ugly Betty and starred opposite Denis Leary in ABC’s The Job.
    Not sure if Ferrara will work pets into his routine that night, or if there may be a surprise onstage appearance by a four-legger, but he earns my applause for making this a special night for shelter animals. That’s because the Lowe’s I Promise To Care Foundation officials are sponsoring Ferrara’s time at the mic and will be giving 50 percent of all ticket sales to the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League.
     In any given month, this West Palm Beach-based shelter strives to find forever homes for 700 dogs and cats under their care.
    “We are always appreciative of any group offering to conduct a fundraiser for us and we are grateful to be chosen by Lowe’s I Promise To Care Foundation,” says Rich Anderson, executive director of the Rescue League. “We expect a great turnout.”
    Countless studies confirm that pets do a body good, by elevating our feel-good hormones, lowering our blood pressure and even reducing cholesterol. And, who needs Prozac to restore a healthy mindset when you’re blessed to have a purring cat on your lap or a fun-looking dog begging you to toss that ball across the living room just one more time?
    “We say there is never a dull day at Peggy Adams because we have natural entertainment value of hundreds of animals here,” Anderson says. “If you are feeling a little stressed, the opportunity is here to spend time with our dogs and cats, who are instant stress relievers.”
    Inside Anderson’s home are a pair of Chihuahua-Yorkshire terrier mix siblings named Rex and Roxie. He adopted them when they were abandoned as litter mates nearly 10 years ago and every day since, the doggy duo keeps smiles on the faces of Anderson and his family.
    “We affectionately call Roxie the spaz because she is a very hyper little dog who loves to harass her bigger brother, Rex, who puts up with her,” says Anderson. “And, for some odd reason, Rex loves to howl at train horns — nothing else. I love my goofy pets.”
    So do I. When I teach my pet first-aid classes, my orange tabby Casey draws chuckles from students each time he dives headfirst into my partially opened first-aid kit bag to grab the bag of treats and dash behind my podium. He acts as if we can’t hear him crunching his stash of treats.
    And my Jack Russell terrier mix Kona loves to perform. Sometimes she gets wobbly legged when she does a series of body spins too quickly. She plops on the floor and recovers by leaping into my arms and showering my face with kisses.
    There is no question that pets keep you happier and healthier. And laughter is good medicine, especially when the source is an ever-loyal canine or feline.
    
Got a funny story, video or photo of your pet tickling your funny bone? Share on our site, www.thecoastalstar.com. Just click on Talk, Videos or Photos.

    Arden Moore, founder of www.FourLeggedLife.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author, professional speaker and master certified pet first-aid instructor. Each week, she hosts the popular Oh Behave! show on www.PetLifeRadio.com. Learn more by visiting www.fourleggedlife.com.

The Elegant Mouse,
by Brian Biggane;
Coastal Star Books, 80 pp, $19.95

By Steve Pike
    
    Except for one season on the old PGA Tour (1954), Bob Toski was an average player. But Toski’s golfing life, which spans some 85 years and counting, is far from average, as we discover in Brian Biggane’s new book, The Elegant Mouse: The Bob Toski Story, which details the life and times of one of golf’s great teachers and gentlemen.
    Biggane details Toski’s path from hitting balls as a youngster at Northampton Country Club in Haydenville, Mass. (he was one of nine children, whose mother died when he was 5) to the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame (1990) and the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame (2013).
    Along the way Toski, who lives in Boca Raton, competed and traveled in the early days of the PGA Tour with the likes of Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and, later on, a swashbuckling young player from Latrobe, Pa., named Arnold Palmer.
    Nicknamed “the Mouse” by Snead because of his 5-foot-7-inch, 118-pound frame, Toski took home his biggest check  — $50,000 — for winning the 1954 World Championship of Golf.
    “He was a good player, but for a very short time,” said Biggane, a retired 35-year veteran of The Palm Beach Post.
    The Elegant Mouse is full of stories and pictures of Toski’s days competing and socializing with golf’s elite. As much as the book is a look into the life of one of golf’s most important figures of the past 65 years, it also shines a light on a long-lost era of American sporting life.
    Golf insiders will love the book for Biggane’s painstaking research into Toski’s career as an average PGA Tour player (five victories in 19 seasons) and for some 60 years as one of the world’s most famous golf instructors. Toski, it can be argued, was golf’s first superstar instructor — a man who paved the way for the likes of David Leadbetter, Butch Harmon and Hank Haney.
    In the book’s foreword, the legendary Jack Nicklaus (a North Palm Beach resident) tells of how Toski — born Robert John Algustoski in 1926 — reminds him of his fabled coach, Jack Grout. Each, the Golden Bear writes, “pounded away’’ at the fundamentals of the game.
    Among Toski’s students: a child prodigy named Judy Torluemke. As Judy Rankin, her married name, she became one of the best and classiest players of all time.
    “I was his first successful student,” Rankin told Biggane. “And there have been a lot since.”
    Toski also is credited with bringing to the U.S. a young British golf instructor named Martin Hall, whom he helped get a job at St. Andrews Country Club in Boca Raton. Hall now is one of the game’s leading instructors, a fixture on The Golf Channel and director of instruction at The Club at Ibis in West Palm Beach.
    “Bob worked with thousands of people across the country and around the world,” Biggane said. “Most people who know something about golf know a little bit about Bob. But most of them don’t know his big story.”
    After reading The Elegant Mouse, they’ll know Toski’s big story and, more important, they’ll know the man who helped shape golf as we know it today.

For sale locally at Gulfstream Pharmacy in Briny Breezes.

Order online at www.bobtoskibooks.com.

Michael Wood holds the 51.5-pound kingfish he caught using a live goggle-eye off Jupiter last yearto win heaviest fish in both the Sail Inn KDW tournament and the Lantana Fishing Derby. Both events were held on May 15.

Photo provided

By Willie Howard

    With the warming water and generally calmer seas of spring and summer come a series of ocean fishing tournaments targeting kingfish, dolphin and wahoo.
    Most of the tournaments benefit charitable causes and give friends and family members a chance to fish together in hopes of catching a big one — and, if they’re lucky, taking home a check.
    To be sure, there are some big fish in the Atlantic waters off South Florida.
    The Bootleggers fishing team rocked last year’s tournament scene and won $10,000 with an 86-pound wahoo caught May 21 in the Downtown Showdown KDW tournament based in West Palm Beach.
    This year’s KDW tournament season kicks off April 15 with the Boynton Beach Firefighters Fishing Tournament and Firehouse Chili Cookoff based at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, followed by the Lantana Fishing Derby on April 29.
    Fishing teams usually start planning their KDW season in the late winter or early spring. Most tournaments offer discounts for early entry.
    Here’s a list of ocean fishing tournaments coming up in Palm Beach and northern Broward counties:
    April 15: Boynton Beach Firefighters Fishing Tournament and Firehouse Chili Cookoff based at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, Boynton Beach. Captain’s meeting 5 p.m. April 13 at Bru’s Room Sports Grill near the Boynton Beach Mall. Entry fee $250 per boat by April 8 or $300 thereafter. Call 252-0769 or www.boyntonbeachfirefighters.com.
    April 22: St. Clare Catholic School family fishing tournament for kingfish, dolphin, wahoo and snapper based at Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach Shores. Captain’s meeting 6 p.m. April 21 at Sailfish Marina. Entry fee $200 per boat by April 3 or $275 thereafter. Call 622-7171 or www.stclareschool.com.
    April 29: Lantana Fishing Derby. Weigh-in at the Old Key Lime House restaurant on Ocean Avenue, Lantana. Captain’s party 6 p.m. April 27 at the Lantana Recreation Center, 418 S. Dixie Highway. Awards party April 30 at the recreation center. Entry fee $200 per boat by April 15 or $250 thereafter. Call 585-8664 or www.Lantanafishingderby.com.
    May 6: Sail Inn KDW tournament based at Boynton Harbor Marina. Captain’s meeting 5 p.m. May 4 at Sail Inn Tavern, 657 George Bush Blvd., Delray Beach. Entry fee $200 per boat by April 15 or $250 thereafter. Call 276-5147 or www.sailinnkdw.com.
    May 6: Anglers for Autism tournament featuring inshore and offshore divisions. Entry fee for offshore KDW event $400 per boat. Inshore catch-photo-release tournament for snook, redfish, sea trout and jack crevalle. Inshore entry $250. Weigh stations at Square Grouper in Jupiter and Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach Shores. Details: www.anglers4autism.com.
    May 13-14: Pompano Beach Fishing Rodeo. Kickoff party and captain’s meeting 5 p.m. May 11 at Alsdorf Park Boat Ramp in Pompano Beach. Fishing out of Hillsboro Inlet. Weigh-ins at Alsdorf Park. Awards party May 15. Early entry fee $400 per boat by May 6, $500 thereafter. Call 954-942-4513 or www.pompanofishingrodeo.com.
    May 13: Grand Slam KDW. Weigh-in stations at Square Grouper in Jupiter and Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach Shores. Captain’s meeting May 12 at Riverwalk Events Plaza in Jupiter. Details: www.fishgrandslamkdw.com.
    May 20: Downtown Showdown KDW tournament and Seafood Festival based at the city docks on Flagler Drive in downtown West Palm Beach. Captain’s meeting 6 p.m. May 18. Entry fee $350 per boat. Details: www.downtownshowdownkdw.com.
    June 3: KDW Classic tournament presented by the West Palm Beach Fishing Club and based at Riviera Beach Municipal Marina. Captain’s meeting 6 p.m. June 2 at Riviera Beach Marina. Entry fee $200 per boat for fishing club members or $225 for nonmembers by May 19. All entries $300 per boat after May 19. Call 832-6780 or www.kdwclassic.com.
    June 24: Lake Worth Fishing Tournament for kingfish, dolphin, wahoo and snapper. Weigh-in at Palm Beach Yacht Center in Hypoluxo. Captain’s meeting 6 p.m. June 23 at Tuppen’s Marine & Tackle in Lake Worth. Awards barbecue June 25 at Dave’s Last Resort in Lake Worth. Early entry $175. Regular entry $250. Details: www.Lakeworthfishingtournament.com.
    July 8: Big Dog, Fat Cat KDW Shootout based at Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach Shores. Pre-tournament party 7 p.m. June 27 at Sailfish Marina. Captain’s meeting July 7 at Sailfish Marina. Entry fee: $150 per boat through June 25, $200 per boat through July 2 and $250 thereafter. Details: www.bigdogfatcat.org.
    Aug. 12: Mark Gerretson Memorial Fishing Tournament in Delray Beach. Captain’s meeting 6 p.m. Aug. 10 at Hurricane Bar & Lounge, 640 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. Entry fee $200 per boat. Call 927-8092 or www.mgmft.net.

Goliath grouper debate
    Goliath grouper have been the subject of much debate in recent years.
    Overfishing reduced their numbers substantially in the 1980s. The harvest and possession of goliath grouper have been prohibited in state and federal waters off Florida since 1990.
    After reports of high abundance in Florida waters in recent years, including many encounters by divers, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission is taking public comments on management options for the large grouper.
    Options include the possibility of limited harvest, which could be restricted by seasons and geographical areas as well as by size and bag limits, and possibly sales of harvest tags such as those used for tarpon.
    These giants of the grouper family live as long as 40 years, possibly longer, and reach 8 feet in length and 800 pounds, according to the FWC.
    FWC commissioners are not expected to discuss management options for goliath grouper until September, possibly later.
    Meanwhile, the public can comment on management options by going to www.myfwc.com/saltwatercomments.
    To read a presentation on goliath grouper by the FWC staff, go to www.myfwc.com/commission. Select commission meetings, then click on the meeting of Feb. 8-9, 2017.

Shark numbers low
    Blacktip and spinner sharks that typically move through the shallow water along Palm Beach County beaches during the late winter were relatively scarce during February and early March.
    So says Florida Atlantic University researcher Stephen Kajiura, a biology professor who tags the sharks and often finds thousands of them moving in shallow water during aerial surveys of the South Florida coastline.
    “The numbers this year are a small fraction of what they should be, and I think it can be attributed to the warm water,” Kajiura said.
    “This year may be an indication of what is to come as global water temps continue to rise. We may no longer have the seasonal influx of blacktips each winter, or they will be in much smaller numbers.”

Coming events
    April 1: Basic boating safety class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the headquarters building at Spanish River Park, 3939 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton. Fee $35 for adults, $20 ages 12 to 19. Register at the door. Bring lunch. Call 391-3600 or email fso-pe@cgauxboca.org.
    April 8: West Palm Beach Fishing Club’s annual yard sale featuring fishing rods, reels, lures, boating and diving gear and clothing, 7 a.m. until noon at the fishing club, 201 Fifth St., West Palm Beach. (Tax-deductible donations accepted before the sale to benefit the Palm Beach County Fishing Foundation.) Call 832-6780.
    April 22: Boating safety class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the classroom building next to the boat ramps, Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2010 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Fee $20. For ages 14-18, $10. Family rate for three or more people: $50. Younger than 14 free with a paid adult. Register at the door. Call 704-7440.
    April 26: Capt. George Gozdz discusses fishing for cobia and permit on wrecks and reefs at meeting of West Palm Beach Fishing Club, 7 p.m., 201 Fifth St., West Palm Beach. Free. Call 832-6780 or www.westpalmbeachfishingclub.org.
    
Tip of the month
    Anglers hoping to set a world fishing record, take note.
    The International Game Fish Association’s board of trustees recently approved changes to the IGFA’s angling rules and world record requirements.
    Two key changes took effect April 1.
    First, a bystander can touch or briefly hold an angler to prevent him or her from falling. But the catch is disqualified if someone holds or touches the angler “in a manner that assists them in fighting the fish or takes pressure off the angler.”
    The second change pertains to backing attached to the fishing line. The old (and often-contested) rule stated the catch would be classified under the heaviest line strength on the reel.
    The new line and backing rule states that the catch will be classified under the breaking strength of “the first 16.5 feet (5 meters) of line directly preceding the double line, leader or hook.”
    For details, go to www.igfa.org. (Click on Fish and pull down to International Angling Rules).

Willie Howard is a freelance writer and a licensed boat captain. Reach him at tiowillie@bellsouth.net.

Linda Geller-Schwartz, shown here in her office, was recognized by the county chapter

of the National Organization for Women for her community service.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack
    
    Linda Geller-Schwartz has made standing up for those who can’t stand up for themselves her life’s work.
    An advocate of causes ranging from protecting victims of human trafficking to the push for equal pay for men and women, Geller-Schwartz tirelessly fights against injustice.
    “If I see something that upsets me, I have to do something about it,” she says.
    For her work in the community, including her efforts as the Florida state policy advocate for the National Council of Jewish Women, Geller-Schwartz, of Boca Raton, last month was named the recipient of the 44th annual Susan B. Anthony Feminist of the Year Award by the Palm Beach County Chapter of the National Organization for Women.
    “Linda is an advocate against every injustice — social or political — in our state,” says Arlene Ustin, president of the local NOW chapter. “She is a role model of advocacy and activism and she’s my hero.”
    Geller-Schwartz’s volunteer work on behalf of the nonprofit National Council of Jewish Women focuses on advocating for women, children and families and often overlaps with the core issues identified by NOW nationally.
    “Everyone knows that she’s at the forefront of all the issues we advocate,” Ustin said of Geller-Schwartz, who’s a member of the local NOW chapter. “You name any issue of urgency or importance and she’s not only a voice, she’s a leader.”
    That leadership, Ustin said, played a big part in Geller-Schwartz’s selection for the award, presented during the NOW chapter’s Susan B. Anthony Luncheon last month.
    As state policy advocate for the NCJW, Geller-Schwartz often teams with leaders of other organizations to persuade lawmakers to support certain issues and not support others.
 “We’re working with legislators trying to get good legislation passed and bad legislation stopped,” she says.
    Geller-Schwartz, who is married and has one son, has frequently reached out to the staffs of state lawmakers — and to lawmakers themselves — to speak in favor of voting rights and against legislation that treads on women’s reproductive rights.
Her efforts have had the most visible impact in the arena of supporting efforts to stop human trafficking in Florida, raise awareness and improve advocacy for the issue.
    As the former leader of Partner Organizations Against Sex Trafficking, and as an advisory board member for 1HTC, a Southeast Florida anti-human trafficking consortium, Geller-Schwartz has worked to get legislation passed that requires the posting of the human trafficking hotline number in public places. That number is 888-373-7888.
    Geller-Schwartz, who did not wish to share her age, has advocated for education in schools about the human trafficking problem in the state.
    While contacting legislators is a big part of Geller-Schwartz’s advocacy efforts, so is communicating with others and encouraging them to write letters or otherwise show their support of causes.
    She writes an electronic newsletter, distributed to other members of the National Council of Jewish Women in Florida, keeping them informed on important issues in Tallahassee and Washington.
    For Geller-Schwartz, who has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Toronto, working on behalf of the rights of women and children has been an important part of her life.  
    Before moving to Florida two decades ago, she was director general of the Women’s Bureau in the federal Department of Labor in Canada, and a senior policy adviser in the government.  
    In Palm Beach County, she served as an adjunct professor at Florida Atlantic University in the Women’s Studies Center and the Department of Sociology until her retirement.
    “It’s been in different roles, but the issue of equality has always been central in my life,” she says. “We’ll all be better off in a society where equal rights are available to everyone.”

By Jane Smith
    
    South County election mavens will be watching the role mail-in ballots play in this month’s municipal elections.
    Some groups have learned how to win local elections by asking voters to use mail-in ballots and collecting them, saving voters the postage cost.
    Previously called absentee ballots, the mail-in ballots were the deciding factor in three South County municipal races in the past 10 years.
    Last year, in the Boynton Beach City Commission Seat 3 race, incumbent Mike Fitzpatrick thought he was headed to a runoff election. Then, after mail-in ballots were counted, newcomer Christina Romelus was the winner.
    In 2015, Gail Adams Aaskov won her Ocean Ridge commission seat despite having the fewest in-person votes on Election Day. She had the highest mail-in votes at 35, making her the top vote-getter and knocking out challenger Ed Brookes. Geoff Pugh was second and secured the other open commission seat.
    Al Jacquet won his 2014 Delray Beach City Commission seat by setting a record of the most mail-in votes by a commission candidate. He bested challenger Chris Davey, who had more in-person votes.
    “Jacquet put a huge amount of time into the Haitian-American community,” Davey said. “It’s not unusual for a candidate to target a racial or an ethnic group they belong to.”
    Born in St. Martin, Jacquet moved to Delray Beach when he was 10. He went on to become a lawyer and sit on the city’s Planning and Zoning Board. During his commission election in 2012, he won at the polls and was the leader in mail-in ballots at 318. Two years later, he collected nearly triple that number, but his votes at the polls trailed Davey’s by 429.
     “I absolutely thought I would win when the poll results were counted,” said Davey, a real estate broker who has served on the city’s Planning and Zoning Board. “Most prognosticators said I won. … The absentee ballot count came in late that evening.”
    Jacquet won the seat by 265 votes. He could not be reached to explain how he pulled off the stunning victory.
    At the first City Commission meeting last September, Jacquet spoke out against allegations of voter fraud in his August win to be state representative. Nearly half of his votes were mail-ins.
    His opponents raised questions about voter fraud in the Haitian-American neighborhoods in Delray Beach and Boynton Beach. The questions prompted Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies to show up at the doors of Haitian-American residents in Delray Beach, Jacquet said.
    “Black folks are voting too much, something must be wrong,” he said sarcastically.
    Davey said the signatures on the absentee ballot envelopes cannot be compared to the ones on the voter registration card during a challenge.
    But Susan Bucher, Palm Beach County supervisor of elections, said they can be compared, but her office has to charge for staff time to do it. The first 30 minutes is free, but any ballot envelopes reviewed over that time would be charged $100 per hour, she said.
    Vote by mail now accounts for one-third of how ballots are cast in general elections, Bucher said. The other two methods are early voting or in-person voting on Election Day.
    Cities and towns have opted out of early voting, Bucher said.
    The vote-by-mail application is valid for two general election cycles or four years.
    Condo dwellers, church groups and Haitian-American voters use the vote-by-mail option more frequently, Bucher said. The candidates go door-to-door asking for the person’s vote, she said. The ballots have to be returned to the main elections office by 7 p.m. on Election Day, according to state law. Branch offices close at 5 p.m. on Election Day.
    By state law, a person collecting ballots cannot be paid. That law was enacted in 1998 in Florida. Before then, ballot brokering was popular.
    Collecting the ballots saves the voter postage. It costs about $1.21 to mail a ballot back to her office, Bucher said.
    When Fitzpatrick ran for re-election in Boynton, he thought he would win as the incumbent or head to a runoff.
    A retired city firefighter, he spoke in his first term of the need to reform the police and fire departments’ pension plans.  The Boynton Beach Firefighters and Paramedics union then donated $1,000 to Romelus.
    Fitzpatrick also said he was part of Boynton’s Sister City delegation that went to Haiti. Romelus had promised in the summer of 2015 to be his interface with the Haitian-American community, Fitzpatrick said.
    That September, she invited Fitzpatrick to her house to hear a pitch about a home business she was running with her husband. He declined, saying his wife handles those decisions.
    The next thing he heard was that she had filed to run against him for the District 3 seat.
    Romelus, who was born in Haiti, used Jacquet as her campaign manager. Jacquet donated $250 to the Romelus election campaign.
    She sent this response via email, “I choose not to comment at this time” to a series questions about her upset victory.
    In Ocean Ridge, Brookes said Aaskov was helpful in 2011 when he first ran for the commission, taking him  around the condominiums she manages and introducing him.
    But in 2015, she was on the same slate as Brookes and Pugh. Aaskov said she was too busy to discuss her strategy then.
    “Gail is the property manager for condo associations. People who live there may not be here during the election,” said Brookes, a self-employed, furniture sales representative. “They look to Gail for info about who to vote for.
 “Snowbirds listen to one voice, it’s the easiest path.”
    Ocean Ridge has about 1,100 registered voters, enough for one precinct. Since the elections office recounts one precinct in each town, “I didn’t have to ask for a recount,” Brookes said.
    He was able to review the mail-in ballot envelopes, but they don’t indicate which candidate the voter selected.
    “If I could have had my friends understand the game, just vote for one of the three on the ballot, I could have won,” he said.
   

    Voters in Gulf Stream will elect all five members of the Town Commission on March 14. Commissioners each serve a three-year term and this is an at-large election. The top five vote getters will win the seats, with no runoffs. Once elected, the commissioners will appoint a mayor and vice mayor.

Profiles compiled by Steven J. Smith

Paul A. Lyons Jr.
(incumbent)

    Personal: 70; graduate of Georgetown University with a B.S. in business administration; resident of Gulf Stream for 13 years; married, two children, five grandchildren.

    Professional: Financial services specialist working 16 years with Irving Trust Co., five years with Mitsubishi Trust & Banking; participated in private equity businesses in Denver and Vail, Colo., since 1992; retired last year.

    Political experience: Member of the Gulf Stream Town Commission since 2014; former chairman of the Gulf Stream Architectural Review and Planning Board for four years.

    Positions on issues: Selection of a new town manager; maintaining the architectural integrity of the districts within the town; focusing on a comprehensive plan regarding town infrastructure; maintaining financial oversight.

    Quote: “The town government needs to be responsive and consumer friendly to its constituents. I want people loving to come to Town Hall and feeling that any question they have is a good one and any way we can possibly help them, we will.”

Julio M. Martinez

    Personal: 57; graduate of the University of Miami with a degree in general studies; resident of Gulf Stream for 14 years; married, two children.

    Professional: Retired from medical sales position with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in 2015 after 24 years; currently works for pharmaceutical company Depomed in its oncology division.

    Political experience: None.

    Positions on issues: Wants town government to be accountable to its citizens; streamline government.

    Quote: “I was former president of the Place Au Soleil homeowners association for four years, so I have experience as a leader. If I’m elected, I want to make sure everybody’s voice is heard. If we face challenges, I want to be sure we focus on solving them. I want to cut down on the red tape and get things accomplished in a very harmonious way. I want anyone walking into Town Hall to go in there with good thoughts.”

Scott Morgan
(incumbent)

    Personal: 59; graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a B.A. in general art/science; graduate of the Dickinson School of Law with a J.D.; resident of Gulf Stream for over 20 years; married, three children.

    Professional: Practiced law in Pennsylvania for 25 years; started Humidifirst Co., a manufacturing company in Florida, 12 years ago.

    Political experience: Mayor of Gulf Stream for the last three years; former chairman of Gulf Stream Architectural Review and Planning Board.

    Positions on issues: Improving the roads in Place au Soleil and the core town areas; enlarging an outdated Town Hall to improve service to town residents; concluding the remaining public records lawsuits; achieving a timely completion of the utilities burial project.

    Quote: “Over the last three years, I spearheaded Gulf Stream’s legal strategy that achieved significant judicial success toward concluding the onslaught of litigation filed against the town, as well as stopping the filing of new public records lawsuits. In addition, our commission has built Gulf Stream’s financial reserves up to historically high levels and can now focus on the road and building projects requested by our residents. My goal is to continue working with our residents to preserve the special quality of life that defines the town of Gulf Stream.”

Martin E. O’Boyle
    Personal: 65; Completed the 11th grade then left school to start a business and help his parents. Later obtained a G.E.D. ; Gulf Stream resident for 36 years; married, six children, 11 grandchildren.

    Professional: Owner of Commerce Group, Inc.; has been a shopping center developer for the last 48 years; has owned over 200 shopping centers in every state except Alaska, Hawaii, Montana and Wyoming.

    Political experience: Ran for Gulf Stream commission in 2014.

    Positions on issues: Concerned with the current litigation going on in town; wants to reduce the legal budget.

    Quote: “I offer a voice with a different view. My No. 1 goal is to end the unnecessary and economically wasteful and distasteful litigation that is now going on. Also, currently the town allows you to speak for three minutes. They refuse to answer questions. My next goal would be to answer those questions and when the meeting is over, to convince the commission to stay overtime if necessary and answer any and all questions that any and all residents have — and do my best to assist them. I also want to bring the legal budget down from $1 million per year to $5,000 per year. It used to be $3,400 per year. If I’m elected — and I don’t think I will be, because the civic association runs the town — all votes will be 5-0 or 4-1. They’ll be 5-0 if I think they’re doing the right thing, 4-1 if I don’t.”

Joan Orthwein
(incumbent)
    Personal: 61; graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia with a B.S. degree in civil engineering; Gulf Stream resident for 33 years; married, three children.

    Professional: Civil engineer with York, Pa., division of manufacturing firm Borg-Warner for a year, then five years with Southwestern Bell. Retired in 1984.

    Political experience: 20 years as Gulf Stream town commissioner; also served as head of the Architectural Review Board. Past mayor.

    Positions on issues: Focused on the completion of the utilities burial project; overseeing the timely management of public records requests; replacing the town manager.

    Quote: “I think everything is running well in Gulf Stream. If reelected, my focus will be on keeping Gulf Stream great as the well-rounded, beautiful town it is. We have a great community and a great community sense. We have a wonderful mix of older and younger people and we want to keep it that way.”

Thomas Stanley

(incumbent)
    Personal: 39; graduate of Princeton with a B.A. in history; J.D. degree from Florida State University; resident of Gulf Stream for seven years; married, no children.

    Professional: Attorney specializing in trusts, estates and real estate with the law firm MacMillan and Stanley since 2002.

    Political experience: Town commissioner from 2012-present; member of the Gulf Stream Architectural Review Board for one year (2012); served on the Delray Beach Historic Preservation Board from 2007-2012. Currently vice mayor.

    Positions on issues: Improving infrastructure and public works projects; continuing to protect the town and its employees from frivolous public records lawsuits; supporting the town and its districts in their needs relating to neighboring development.
Quote: “The biggest thing looking forward is to continue working on a long- range plan for a phased repair and replacement of our water system. We’ve been bogged down with other issues and I’m really interested in turning our attention to infrastructure improvements — especially the water system.”

Donna S. White

(incumbent)
    Personal: 69; graduated from Catholic University with degrees in psychology and English; Gulf Stream resident for 15 years; widow; two children, two stepchildren.

    Professional: Office manager for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Corp. for five years; purchasing agent then assistant manager for EMBRAE Air; currently retired.

    Political experience: Town commissioner from 2013-present; Architectural Review and Planning Board member from 2006-2010. Also a current board member of the of the Place Au Soleil homeowners association.

    Positions on issues: Concerned with potentially invasive redevelopment plans Gunther Volvo has in town; achieving a timely completion of the utilities burial project; renovation of Town Hall and hiring additional in-house staff for currently outsourced work.

    Quote: “I want to continue to generate a sense of respect and cooperation between Place Au Soleil, the barrier island, the town staff and the Police Department. We’re all one town, working for the common good of everyone. Positive solutions are based on positive communication.”

By Steve Plunkett

    Neighbors of former Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella who answered police questions the night of his arrest and then answered questions for an Ocean Ridge police internal investigation are finding they will spend more time answering still more questions.
Marc Shiner, Lucibella’s defense attorney, scheduled 17 depositions in late February and early March of witnesses listed in officers Richard Ermeri and Nubia Plesnik’s initial reports of the Oct. 22 shooting incident at Lucibella’s oceanfront home.
    Besides neighbors and passersby, those deposed included the Boynton Beach Fire Rescue team that was summoned to the scene, Boynton Beach’s fire chief and the MD Now doctors who treated Ermeri and Plesnik after Lucibella’s arrest.
    Lucibella, 63, is charged with felony battery on a police officer and resisting the officer with violence. He also faces a misdemeanor count of using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol. He has pleaded not guilty.
    Prosecutor Danielle Grundt issued subpoenas to the same group of witnesses plus Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins and a third MD Now physician to be at the courthouse in West Palm Beach for the jury trial, which is set to start at 9:30 a.m. April 10.
    Circuit Judge Charles Burton has blocked off four weeks for the proceedings, the subpoenas say.
    “Failure to appear will subject you to contempt of court. This subpoena is binding day-to-day and week-to-week until the case is closed,” Grundt says in the subpoenas.
    Jerry Lower, publisher of The Coastal Star, went to Lucibella’s house that night to photograph the incident for the newspaper and is fighting subpoenas for a defense deposition and the trial.
    Lower’s motion to quash the subpoenas says that under state law, case law and the First Amendment, a professional journalist has a qualified privilege “to not be a witness or disclose information the journalist has obtained while gathering news.”
    Town police went to Lucibella’s home after neighbors reported hearing gunfire and said they found the vice mayor and one of their supervisors, Lt. Steven Wohlfiel, “obviously intoxicated” on the patio.
    They confiscated a .40-caliber Glock handgun and found five spent shell casings on the patio. Police also took a semiautomatic pistol they said Lucibella had in his back pocket.
    According to their reports, when Ermeri and Plesnik tried to block Lucibella from entering his house, he resisted. They wrestled him to the paver-covered ground and handcuffed him. Lucibella needed treatment for facial injuries, they said, though he declined help from the Boynton Beach paramedics at the scene.
    Lucibella claims he is the victim of police overreaction. Through Shiner, he has said that the officers should not have entered his backyard and that they used excessive force, cracking three of his ribs.
    Lucibella resigned his posts as vice mayor and town commissioner Dec. 7, the same day the State Attorney’s Office filed formal charges against  him.

Former Ocean Ridge police Lt. Steve Wohlfiel talks with his attorney, Ralph King, at a special commission meeting called to confirm Wohlfiel’s firing. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

    Former police Lt. Steve Wohlfiel wants Ocean Ridge to reconsider his firing with an appeal hearing that includes testimony from witnesses who may be reluctant to come forward.
    In a declaratory judgment complaint to Palm Beach County Circuit Court, Wohlfiel’s attorney, Ralph King, says that the town is not following the employee rules in its charter by denying his client a hearing during which he could “present and confront witnesses and other evidence.”
    But Brian Shutt, an attorney for the town, says Ocean Ridge hasn’t conducted appeals that way before, and it’s up to the Town Commission to decide the format.
    “In the past the process followed is one where the person appealing can present their case and if they have some witnesses, who agree to testify, then they may present them,” Schutt told King in an email. “There was no cross- examination or calling of witnesses that do not agree to testify, as this is an appeal.”
    Commissioners decided to postpone a February hearing for Wohlfiel after King, an attorney with the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association, filed suit, charging the town had violated his rights and denied him due process.
    The commission voted unanimously to fire the veteran officer in January over his alleged involvement in an October shooting incident at the home of former Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella. Town police said they found the two men “obviously intoxicated” in the backyard after neighbors called to report gunshots.
    Lucibella resigned his seat after county prosecutors charged him with felony battery on an officer and resisting an officer with violence, as well as a misdemeanor firearms offense. Wohlfiel, who was off-duty at the home, was not charged, but an internal affairs report was critical of his behavior, citing the sworn testimony of two witnesses who claimed he admitted firing the shots.
    Commissioners agreed to take no action on Wohlfiel’s appeal until the court rules on the disputed process.

By Steve Plunkett
    
    Martin O’Boyle, who has plastered Gulf Stream with public-records requests and lawsuits over the past four years, is running a second time for a seat on the Town Commission.
    O’Boyle, whose entry in 2014 made that election the town’s first contested one in 21 years, will be joined on the March 14 ballot by Julio Martinez, former president of the Place Au Soleil Homeowners Association. Martinez’s candidacy, along with incumbent Donna White’s, means voters for the first time can choose two commissioners from among the 93 homes on the town’s west side of the Intracoastal Waterway.
    The four other incumbents — Paul Lyons, Scott Morgan, Joan Orthwein and Thomas Stanley — also qualified to run for office. It is the first time Lyons has stood for election. Commissioners chose the then-chairman of the Architectural Review and Planning Board in August to fill the seat of Vice Mayor Robert Ganger, who resigned for health reasons.
    Each voter will choose up to five of the seven candidates. Commissioners are unpaid; their terms last three years.
    O’Boyle and fellow resident Chris O’Hare have filed thousands of public-records requests and dozens of lawsuits against Gulf Stream since spring 2013 after O’Boyle was denied variances for a remodeling project on his Hidden Harbour home.
    “I entered this election to win and effect change, and with the help of the people, I accomplished all goals,” O’Boyle wrote his supporters after his 2014 loss. He got 122 votes that year; the winners received vote totals ranging from 313 to 325.
    Martinez said all the incumbents were doing a good job, but he became a candidate to offer voters a choice.

By Steve Plunkett
    
    Town commissioners promised their Place Au Soleil constituents they would throw their weight behind an effort to block Gunther Volvo from building a three-story garage next to them in neighboring Delray Beach.
    “We are extremely concerned about the effect on our community of a vertical, heavy-commercial, vehicular traffic garage,” Chet Snavely, president of the neighborhood’s homeowner association, told commissioners at their Feb. 10 meeting. “It’s clearly an inappropriate proposal.”
    Snavely said the homeowners will be happiest if Gunther relocated the garage to the west side of Federal Highway, where it would back up to railroad tracks instead of abutting a residential area.
    But the dealership could also reposition the structure elsewhere on its property and perhaps make it two stories instead of three, he said.
    Another major concern of Place Au Soleil is a proposed water retention pond with a bottom at 10 feet of elevation surrounded by a 5-foot berm, Snavely said. The floors in the closest house to the dealership are 12 feet above sea level.
    “One of the three cardinal rules of plumbing, I believe, is that water flows downhill. And 15 feet to 12 feet is downhill,” Snavely said.
    The homeowners group met with Volvo representatives Jan. 23 to get information about the project before deciding to strongly oppose it. Also attending were Mayor Scott Morgan, Town Manager William Thrasher and the town’s staff attorney, Trey Nazzaro.
    “Very tall parking garage, lighting on top — no way that could be screened. That was most obvious,” Morgan said at the commission meeting. “The Volvo people said they could screen it some way. They talked about putting plants up the side of the parking garage to look more aesthetically pleasing, but it was pretty obvious it would have a terrible impact.”
    Commissioners voted unanimously to authorize Morgan to send a “strong” letter of opposition to Delray Beach planning officials, who are reviewing the plans, and to confer with Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein and others in hopes of a regional solution.

Penny Davidson, known around South Palm Beach as the town’s unofficial artist-in-residence,

unveiled her latest mosaic on Feb. 24. Davidson has created dozens of public art pieces

installed throughout the town over the years and says this one depicts ‘the warmth and friendliness

of our wonderful town.’ The Town Council honored her with a resolution recognizing her contributions on Feb. 28.

Dan Moffett/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

    Max Lohman continues to impress the Delray Beach city commissioners with his legal knowledge,  leadership skills and willingness to answer their questions. At the Feb. 21 City Commission meeting, he gave the update he promised when he was hired on Nov. 1. He began by praising the support staff of Sue Kiminas and Cathy Inglese. They have been with the city more than 20 years each.
    “They are invaluable,” Lohman said. “They make the office work.”

    That comment went over well with Mayor Cary Glickstein. “I appreciate that you acknowledge the support staff,” he said. “You’re the quarterback that department needs.”
    Lohman also gave kudos to the assistant city attorneys who work for Delray Beach. He is revising the city’s purchasing policy so that it becomes a checklist that an assistant city attorney can review.
    He’s streamlining other procedures to be able to hand them off to the assistant city attorneys.
    Then, Lohman told commissioners what they wanted to hear: His average cost per month was less than $25,000. In the first three months, through Jan. 31, he has billed the city for $74,445.
    January’s bill was higher than average with so many legal needs, Lohman said. He billed a total of $31,741, which included $2,950 for settlement negotiations in the Atlantic Crossing lawsuit.
    Vice Mayor Jordana Jarjura said, “You obviously have the technical knowledge and the personality to do the dual role” — acting as the city attorney and running that department.
    Shelly Petrolia thanked him for making her commissioner’s job easier to do.
    Commissioner Mitch Katz said: “A lot of times you tell me what I don’t want to hear. But you are willing to explain why.”
    Lohman replied, “It’s never wrong to ask a question.”

Additional parking will ease a space crunch.

Rendering by Currie Sowards Aguila Architects

By Jane Smith
    
    Presbyterian parishioners will soon have a more comfortable church-going experience on the barrier island.
    The First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach just received city approval for its $3.5 million renovation.
    Four outer, non-historic buildings on its property were demolished in early February. The bulk of the renovation will start in May, a few weeks after Easter, when the church goes on a summer schedule of holding only one service on Sundays, said Senior Pastor Doug Hood.
    “The church has grown so much in the past four years,” Hood said. Parking for services is at a premium, especially for religious holidays.
    In place of the demolished buildings, the church will add 34 parking spaces. “The city has a new code that dictates space between the cars and landscaping,” he said. That’s why the church was disappointed it could not add more parking, he said.
    “We worked on quite a few renovations to make the parking work. Angle parking is a nightmare for churches with people coming and going for services,” architect Jess Sowards told the city’s Site Plan Review and Appearance Board in late January.  “The 90-degree parking works better. It’s the most efficient for churchgoers.”
    During most of the year, the church rents the 135 parking spaces to the beachfront Caffe Luna Rosa for its valet parking operations.
    The church also owns a parking lot on the west side of Gleason Street that it rents to the city for about $1,720 a month.
    The lot has 39 spaces that are restricted to First Presbyterian parishioners on Sunday mornings and all day on five religious holidays, including Christmas and Easter. One space is reserved for the pastor.
    Most of the $3.5 million has been raised and Hood is confident the remaining $400,000 will be acquired. He told a story of how one elderly couple willingly gave $50,000 when they heard the number of restroom stalls would increase from one to four for both men’s and women’s rooms, which are handicapped-accessible.
    The sanctuary will be enlarged and the porte-cochère entrance will be moved to the middle of the south side of the church with a circular driveway. Lowering that driveway will increase the clearance that rescue vehicles need, Sowards told the board.
    “We will be removing the ridge and lowering the entrance,” he said. To make that change, the church needed only permits from the South Florida Water Management District about the quantity of water runoff.
    The building addition and its new roof will match the existing structure of the historic sanctuary, Sowards said.
    The rear parking area will be level to the church entrance to allow parishioners to avoid using stairs to the sanctuary.

By Dan Moffett

    Manalapan town commissioners will be watching election results in Hypoluxo on March 14 with unusual interest — and unusual impatience.
    The resolution of the Hypoluxo mayor’s race will enable the towns to resume talks over a new water contract. Manalapan is hoping to lock its neighbor into a renegotiated long-term deal for services that will solidify the future of the town’s utility system.
    Negotiations came to a standstill in November when long-term Hypoluxo Mayor Ken Schultz died. Manalapan commissioners hope to jump-start talks with Schultz’s successor, either interim incumbent Mike Brown or challenger David Karpinia.
    Manalapan Vice Mayor Peter Isaac says the delays are costing Hypoluxo’s 550 customers.
    “I mean, it’s ridiculous that government stops when there’s an election,” Isaac said during the Feb. 28 town meeting. “They’re losing $1,000 a day.”
    A Manalapan consultant’s report estimated that a revised deal with lower rates on the table since last fall could save Hypoluxo residents roughly $30,000 a month.
    Manalapan Town Manager Linda Stumpf said as soon as the new mayor is seated, she will try to elicit a response to the proposal.
    In other business:
    • Commissioners unanimously approved a landscaping contract for $46,900 with Chris Wayne and Associates of Jupiter to finish the Audubon Causeway bridge project. Wayne was the only bidder, and commissioners are wondering why the town has had problems attracting bids.
    Stumpf said she invited 30 landscaping companies to submit bids, but only eight did. Outgoing Mayor David Cheifetz wondered if the applications are too complicated.
    Town Clerk Lisa Petersen said she would contact the seven companies that didn’t return applications and ask why.
    • Incoming Mayor Keith Waters said he would look into complaints about management of the La Coquille Club and its relationship with the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa. Waters said he hoped to have a report ready by the March 28 town meeting.
    • Waters commended Cheifetz, who decided not to run for a third term, for his service, citing his success in guiding Manalapan through some contentious issues.
    “You were able to bring calm, elegance and a certain sense of order to this town,” he told Cheifetz.

By Dan Moffett

    A divided South Palm Beach Town Council grudgingly voted to give itself a modest pay raise on Feb. 28, ending months of vacillation and often spirited debate.
    With final approval of the new ordinance, council members will see their pay rise from $250 to $300 a month and the mayor’s position from $250 to $500.
    The vote was 3-2, with Vice Mayor Joe Flagello and Robert Gottlieb opposing the measure, largely on procedural grounds. Flagello and Gottlieb said the council should take up the raises in workshops during the next budget cycle and then implement them next fiscal year.
    Mayor Bonnie Fischer, at the council’s urging, has changed the mayor’s position to one that is more interactive with other agencies and communities. Fischer has represented the town’s interests as member of an exploratory group looking at coastal fire-rescue systems and also spearheaded the town’s beach stabilization project, working with state, county and local governments.
    “She certainly deserves a pay raise because of how hard she works — countless hours,” Councilwoman Stella Gaddy Jordan said.
The council’s salaries have been frozen since the town went into an economic tailspin during the last recession.
 
    In other business:
    • Town Manager Bob Vitas told the council that he expects an architect’s report on the condition of Town Hall by mid-March and then the council will have to consider one of two courses to take: either develop a plan to renovate the existing building, or demolish it and build a new structure from the ground up. Vitas said he told architect Steven Knight that the town will need some time to make that choice.
    “I told him that I haven’t put a hard brake on this project but I have put a soft brake on it,” the manager said.
    Council members plan to discuss Knight’s findings at the March 28 town meeting.
    • For more than a year, council members have put off deciding whether to give a new contract to Town Attorney Brad Biggs. They passed on the issue again during the February meeting, but at least decided on a format for the attorney’s evaluation form.
Council members said they would schedule a workshop  — time and date to be determined — to evaluate Biggs’ performance and discuss renewing his contract.
    Biggs has been caught in an administrative and political limbo with the town since early last year when Jordan criticized his performance. She said he was slow to respond to the council’s questions and wasn’t aggressive enough in defending the town’s interests during discussions with developers.
    Flagello, however, called Biggs’ work “outstanding” and disputed Jordan’s claim that he was unresponsive.
As part of a new contract proposal, Biggs offered to work out of an office in Town Hall to allow the council more access. He has asked for a raise from $170 an hour to $180.
    • There will be no election in South Palm Beach in March because no candidates came forward to challenge incumbents Fischer, Flagello and Elvadianne Culbertson.
    “I’d like to think it reflects that residents think we’re doing a good job,” said Flagello of the absence of opponents.

 By Dan Moffett

    There will be no March election in Manalapan because all Town Commission candidates went unopposed.
    But residents will see a sweeping overhaul of government leadership just the same.
    Three new commissioners, a new mayor and a new mayor pro tem are expected to be seated before the end of the month.
    Stepping down as mayor is David Cheifetz, who announced in December he wouldn’t be seeking a third term.
    Commissioner Keith Waters, who was appointed to the Seat 7 Manalapan point position in June, will replace Cheifetz after drawing no opposition in the March race.
    Mayor Pro Tem Chauncey Johnstone, holder of the Seat 3 ocean commission seat, and at-large Seat 5 Commissioner Basil Diamond also decided not to seek reelection. Johnstone will be replaced by Jack Doyle and Diamond by Hank Siemon.
    Both Doyle and Siemon are veterans of the town’s Architectural Commission. Doyle assumes Johnstone’s commission seat but not necessarily his mayor pro tem title, which commissioners are expected to fill through appointment during their March 28 meeting.
    Also at that meeting, the commission is expected to appoint someone to take over Seat 7, which Waters vacated when he resigned to run for mayor.
    Vice Mayor Peter Isaac also was unopposed and returns to his point seat for another term.
    Commissioners Clark Appleby, an at-large representative, and ocean seat holder Simone Bonutti aren’t up for reelection until next year.
    Waters, 57, and wife Valerie moved to Manalapan in 2006. He served on the Architectural Commission from 2007-12, and on the town’s Zoning Commission from 2012-16.
    Waters is chairman and CEO of WPO Development, a national planning and campaign management company that works with nonprofit groups. Originally from Kentucky, he worked in broadcasting with CBS Sports before coming to Florida. Waters holds a communications degree from the University of Kentucky and earned a master’s degree from the University of Miami.
    Among the first orders of business for Waters will be helping to chart the future for the town’s water utility system. Manalapan wants to renegotiate a long-term contract to sell water services to Hypoluxo, and in recent months the new mayor has supported an aggressive approach for getting the deal done. Waters also has been a strong backer of efforts to bring a Publix supermarket to Plaza del Mar.