By Janis Fontaine

Boca Beach Chabad brings Alex Clare to Sanborn Square in downtown Boca Raton at 7 p.m. Dec. 13, the seventh night of Hanukkah.

Clare is a devout Orthodox Jew who has chosen his faith over the music business over and over again.

To some, the sacrifices were astronomical: He said no to joining Adele on tour because too many dates fell on the sabbath or holy days. His record label dropped him because he wouldn’t work during holy weeks. But the singer/songwriter, who once dated Amy Winehouse, was stalwart and secure in his faith and trusted God to take care of him and his family.

Clare charted an unexpected hit record when his song “Too Close” was featured in some ads for Internet Explorer. Listeners sought out the song and it hit No. 7 on the

U.S. Billboard Hot 100. That success brought Clare back into the record business, and he made a second album, Three Hearts, in 2014, and a third album, Tail of Lions, in 2016.

But again, feeling too separated from his faith, he moved with his wife and child to Israel to reconnect.

Clare’s life may be full of prayer and religious study, but his music is solidly secular, of the “blue-eyed blues” genre with raspy vocals and a growly low range. Clare calls it music for the soul. His most recent release, 2021’s “Why Don’t Ya,” is a lamenting lost-love song, which is likeable enough with a catchy refrain, written for his wife.

At first listen, his music doesn’t seem to have anything to do with faith; it does simply because his life does.

Clare said “Why Don’t Ya” was his way of encouraging his wife to properly “acknowledge her feelings” following the death of her grandfather around the same time that one of their children was sick in the hospital. He said in an interview with BBC.com that “As a songwriter you’ve got to channel your emotion or your empathy or your pathos, whatever it’s going to be, without a filter. The song is the filter.”

He closed by saying, “Everyone really just wants to have their sense of oneness and sameness — that’s what people relate to and what people connect to. And the more that we can see our similarities with each other, as opposed to all the divisions and things that separate us, the better.”

Which is a perfect holiday message, no matter what holiday you celebrate.

If You Go
What: Alex Clare in concert
When: 7 p.m. Dec. 13
Where: Sanborn Square, Boca Raton
Cost: Free; reserved seating, $36; VIP, $180
Info: chabadbocabeaches.com, click on events

Seraphic Fire performs Dec. 12 at the Kravis rather than at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton. Photo provided

Seraphic Fire changes venues this year
The Seraphic Fire choir, which features professional singer-scholars from around the country, usually performs around the holidays at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton, but church renovations have forced a change of venues.

You can see the choir perform at 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Kravis Center. The concert, “A Seraphic Fire Christmas,” also serves to celebrate the release of the choir’s new album of Christmas music.

The Kravis Center is at 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Tickets start at $50 at kravis.org/events/seraphic-fire-presents-a-seraphic-fire-christmas/

Littering sentence can be hate conviction next time
Jon Minadeo II, the leader and founder of the antisemitic Goyim Defense League, was sentenced to 30 days in jail in November for littering.

Minadeo and his minions were arrested for tossing antisemitic literature into yards around West Palm Beach from the back of a pickup in March. Police arrested the men, and “we used this charge of littering because it was the only tool in our arsenal against these hate-mongers,” Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said in a news conference.

Since then, the state has put a new law on the books. House Bill 269, sponsored by Rep. Mike Caruso, makes it a felony to distribute hate speech.

Under the new law, “If a person … intentionally dumping litter onto private property for the purpose of intimidating the owner, resident, or invitee of such property and such litter contains a credible threat, the person commits a felony of the third degree.”

The state doesn’t have to prove that the person making the threat had the intent to actually carry out the threat.

Minadeo, 40, is a longtime voice in the bastion of Neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers. Goyim Defense League’s flyers blame Jews for everything from 9/11 to COVID-19 to the immigration crisis. In May 2020, he co-launched GoyimTV, a video streaming platform focused on antisemitic content. In September 2022, he was arrested in Poland for hate speech after holding up derogatory posters at Auschwitz.

In May, RollingStone.com published a story about Minadeo that began, “When Neo-Nazi Jon Minadeo II encounters children on the video chat platform Omegle, one of two things typically goes down. Either: Minadeo subjects the kid to a torrent of abusive slurs. ... Or: He coaxes the child into making a heil Hitler salute, and attempts to groom them into adopting, and even promoting, his rancid ideology of racism and antisemitism.”

Other Hanukkah, Kwanzaa celebrations
Chabad South Palm Beach Hanukkah Celebration: 5 p.m. Dec. 10, Plaza Del Mar, 250 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan. Food, music, games and a menorah lighting. www.facebook.com/ChabadSouthPalmBeach

Grand Delray Beach Chanukah Festival and Menorah Lighting: 5-7 p.m. Dec. 7, Old School Square Pavilion, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Join Chabad of East Delray and the City of Delray in a celebration of the first day of Hanukkah with a DJ and music, pizza by the Gifted Crust, latkes and donuts, bounce houses, face painting, crafts and games, all capped by the grand menorah lighting. See delrayoldschoolsquare.com/events/menorah-lighting

Kwanzaa: 2:30 p.m. Dec. 26, Spady Museum, 170 NW Fifth Ave., Delray Beach. Kwanzaa is a pan-African holiday celebrating African culture and heritage. Families make their own gifts and enjoy art activities, storytelling for children, and food outside on the museum grounds. To demonstrate umoja (unity), seven local families, consisting of three generations, share their perspectives on the seven principles. To demonstrate nia (purpose), ’Ms. Tea’ Tammeric Itson-Scurry from the Delray Beach Public Library hosts story time for the children and will read Seven Spools of Thread by Angela S. Medearis. Demonstrating ujima (collective work and responsibility), youths will create an African-inspired dwelling and decorate the interior walls with their own artwork; and demonstrating kuumba (creativity), Spady Museum’s Kuumba Village will be ready to help guests create gifts to give or keep. Free, but RSVP at 561-279-8883 or spadymuseum.com.

By Jan Engoren

It’s “the most wonderful time of the year,” but not for everyone.

While many people look forward to the holidays, for some the season brings up feelings of loneliness, dread, stress or sadness. Maybe you are single or without family nearby, or have experienced a recent loss of a loved one.

While others are making travel arrangements, partying, buying gifts or swapping cookie recipes, you may be struggling to get through the season without feeling sad, isolated or alone.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, holiday blues are temporary feelings of anxiety or depression that can be associated with extra stress, unrealistic expectations or even memories that accompany the season.

Symptoms often begin in November and last until the start of the new year. A NAMI study showed that 64% of people with mental illness report holidays make their conditions worse.

Losing a loved one, especially a child, is never easy and the loss may be compounded during family holidays. This is the case for two families who share the premature loss of a loved one.

For part-time Fort Myers resident Suzanne Zafonte Sennett, who lost her son, Andrew, a talented musician and artist, in 2009 just before his 21st birthday during the Christmas season, the loss is especially acute.

He was celebrating a friend’s 21st birthday and, after mixing drugs and alcohol, he crawled into a friend’s bed to sleep and never woke up.

Suzanne and her husband, Peter, had plans to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary that January. Andrew and his sister, Brigid, were to act as witnesses at a vow renewal ceremony.

“Over the next years — the Christmas tree and decorations were mothballed,” she recalls. “We found ways to muddle through.”

It wasn’t until the birth of her first granddaughter in 2014, and later a second, that they began to feel joy and celebrate the holidays again.

“All of the old ornaments — with pictures of both my kids — hang alongside photos of my grandkids,” she says. “We have learned to allow our sadness to be intermingled with joy.”

Focus on helping others
John and Michelle Makris of Boca Raton have also learned that lesson.

They lost their son Brice in 2020 at the age of 23 to an accidental fentanyl overdose.

“We live with anticipation, but our grief is every day,” Michelle Makris says. They have found joy through their 2-year-old grandson who lives in Seattle, but “we always feel Brice’s presence.”

She has learned to give herself permission to feel loss, grief and sadness and to indulge in what she calls “Glamour magazine therapy,” or to indulge in regular massages, practice meditation and to be tended to.

To honor their son’s memory, they host an annual brunch each December to raise money for the Brice Makris Endowment Fund, which provides scholarships and addiction prevention programs at the Hanley Foundation in West Palm Beach. This year’s brunch is Dec. 10 at Boca West Country Club.

A focus on helping others helps the couple deal with feeling powerless over their loss, says Michelle Makris.

Celebrating both Jewish and Catholic traditions, for this holiday they plan to invite family and friends for the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve and will light the

Hanukkah menorah and say the blessing each night.

“We know Brice would want us to be happy,” John Makris says.

The couple have created a circle of strength, love and “warm feelings” with their support network.

“The best thing I can say is to be authentic, reach out if you need help and know that your friends want to be of service,” Michelle Makris says.

Stay in the moment
Tips for self-care during the holidays include getting enough sleep, taking time for yourself and spending time with supportive, caring friends or family.

Minimize excess food, alcohol or spending, get some exercise and set reasonable expectations for your holiday activities.

Set aside time to relax, meet with friends, write in a journal, do yoga, sing, dance or laugh, take a walk or plan something else you like to do.

Alli Jimenez, 36, a mental health counselor at the Hanley Foundation and mother of four in a blended family, says “holidays can bring up difficult feelings.”

She notes that blended families have to deal with differing traditions and separate visits such as splitting the holidays between parents.

She plans to have family and friends over for a low-key Christmas dinner and to enjoy it without feeling stressed.

“Family dynamics have changed a lot,” she says. “We don’t often talk about how this affects families.”

To cope with these stressors, Jimenez suggests staying in the moment.

“Be mindful of the good in your life, and what you do have,” she says. “Pause and reflect on the good and show grace and a bit of kindness to yourself and others.”

Jan Engoren writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to jengoren@hotmail.com.

 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recently recommended getting COVID-19 vaccines that had been granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Sept. 11.

These were issued to Moderna and Pfizer for their new and updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to combat the new variant that natural or acquired immunity does not confer protection.

In published commentary, researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine noted:

“The war on COVID-19 continues to be fought valiantly and selflessly by health care professionals in communities and hospitals across the nation,” said Allison H. Ferris, M.D., chair of the college’s Department of Medicine and director of the internal medicine residency program. “As competent and compassionate physicians, we must redouble our efforts to promote evidence-based clinical and public health practices, including vaccination of all eligible U.S. adults and children with the new vaccine.”

The updated COVID-19 vaccines are now available at most pharmacies. Sources can be accessed at vaccines.gov. 

Health care providers can reassure patients that the Affordable Care Act mandates that insurance companies reimburse the cost for the updated COVID-19 vaccine, as well as all other vaccines that are endorsed by the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

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The JFK Breast Center team includes (l-r) Keziah Geneve, Lisa Addesa, Tonnica Sanassas, Maria Nieto, Dawn Paynter, Dr. Georges Hatoum, Dr. Beth-Ann Lesnikoski, Dr. Dianne Georgian-Smith, Sharon Wilson, Rolando Perez, Terry Eggenberger and Eunide Destine Joseph. Photo provided

HCA Florida JFK Hospital was recently named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for cardiac surgery, and one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for cardiac care, orthopedic surgery and spine surgery by Healthgrades.

Also, HCA Florida JFK Hospital Breast Center was re-accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers administered by the American College of Surgeons. It has been accredited since 2010. Patients receiving care at this accredited center have access to comprehensive care, a multidisciplinary team approach to coordinate the best treatment options, and information about ongoing clinical trials and new treatment options.

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Delray Medical Center achieved numerous five-star ratings for specialty care by Healthgrades. For treating heart failure, it has been a five-star recipient for 22 consecutive years. Achieving ratings for the first time for 2024, it is a five-star recipient for valve surgery, treating heart attacks, defibrillator procedures, and coronary intervention procedures.

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FloSpine, based in Boca Raton, has achieved 510(k) clearance for its KeyLift Expandable Interlaminar Stabilization System from the FDA.

This device addresses spinal stenosis, a condition that occurs when the spinal canal narrows, causing pressure on the nerves and leading to back and leg pain, weakness and numbness. Traditional treatment options for spinal stenosis have often involved invasive surgical procedures with long recovery times. The KeyLift system is a less invasive alternative and can be administered in an outpatient surgery center.

The design is the result of years of research, development and testing by the FloSpine team, anchored by the late Luis Escobar, lead design engineer.

FloSpine has also moved to a new location, said Andrew Duffell, president of the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University, expanding from the Global Ventures incubator into its own space at the Research Park.

FloSpine’s growth is “an inspiration to health-tech entrepreneurs and Florida Atlantic students who see their classmates excel in an exciting, growing industry,” Duffell said.

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Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing with Cross Country Healthcare has launched two new continuing education certificate courses designed to train health care professionals and caregivers on compassionate care of persons with dementia and nurses caring for patients in telemetry/progressive care units.

Send health news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

Director Liz Ryan (l-r), teachers Kathy Yates and Cary Tobias, retired director Patti Daniell and the Rev. Paul J. Kane were part of the 60th anniversary celebration at St. Paul’s Day School. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Faran Fagen

The children at St. Paul’s Day School took a collective deep breath before singing in unison: “I’ve Got That Joy, Joy, Joy, Down in My Heart.”

It was the apex of the 60-year anniversary celebration of the Delray Beach preschool that brought current and alumni families together on Oct. 29 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

Since 1963, more than 1,200 families have entrusted their young children to the intimate classrooms at Children’s Village at St. Paul to begin a journey of learning, laughing, play and prayers.

“They say ‘it takes a village’ to raise a child,” director Liz Ryan said. “We believe that to be true, so St. Paul’s has provided the Children’s Village as the blessed environment for 3- and 4-year-olds in our community. We surrounded them with adults who help them learn to love school.”

St. Paul School’s teaching philosophy is to embrace the whole child, addressing social, emotional, intellectual and physical development while creating life-long learners. Cognitive, social and spiritual growth are evident in the way the children succeed when they move on to elementary schools, Ryan said.

In that spirit, one of the most important St. Paul’s values is “kindness matters.” Kindness awards are delivered each week to allow the children to learn what kindness is and inspire them to show it. The Children’s Village helps children build strong and lasting friendships.

The Day School is located on the serene campus of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on historic Swinton Avenue, two blocks south of Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. A small school of approximately 34 students, it allows for individualized attention to each child’s needs.

St. Paul’s reputation is built on word-of-mouth recommendations from parents and alumni. Kathy Yates has taught there for 25 years, and her children and grandchildren have attended.

The 4-year-olds’ classes fall under the state’s Voluntary Prekindergarten Education program, or VPK. The Day School has been accredited through the Florida Association for Child Care Management and has received its gold seal for quality of care.

Patti Daniell was director from 1995 to 2016, when she retired. She succeeded Rolene Gent, who was the first director from 1963 to 1995.

Longtime director Rolene Gent with a class of children in 1972. Photo provided

Daniell first became involved with the school in 1989, when her oldest son attended. In addition to the low teacher-to-student ratio (six faculty for 34 kids), she is most proud of the fact that St. Paul’s welcomes all faiths.

“They come to the chapel because it’s child-centered,” Daniell said. “Our mission is to reach young children and create an environment of love and learning.”

Both Daniell and Ryan have seen the classrooms augmented over the years, with “centers full of learning toys and materials and child-sized furniture to inspire curiosity, exploration and imagination,” Ryan said.

While the children are familiar with technology (and use it frequently at home), their primary development is advanced through play and discovery and hands-on learning.

“We reserve use of ‘high-tech’ tools for special units,” Ryan said. “Our educational model is ‘classic.’” 

The biggest change came in 2010 when they started the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education program.

Though the school does offer scholarships, the addition of VPK opened doors wider to families that couldn’t afford the school and allowed the school to offer after-care. Prior to offering after-care the school was open only from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

All the kindness, change and progress were celebrated at the anniversary just prior to Halloween.

On this Sunday, in addition to “I’ve Got That Joy, Joy, Joy, Down in My Heart,” the children sang “This is the Day that the Lord Has Made” and “My God is So Great.”

The children learn songs of all sorts each week in their music class, taught by Diane Gray, who imparts music terminology to enhance their singing.

Because the celebration fell right before Halloween, the children and alumni were invited to wear costumes. After receiving a Blessing of the Trick or Treaters, they were given special treat bags with candy “to start them off,” and a copy of the Blessing prayer. That was followed by a reception outdoors in the Day School playground and Trunk or Treat in the school parking lot.

“It was so wonderful and full of joy, and the church was full of life,” Daniell said. “Young children, parents, grandparents — all those generations in one place was so special.”
For more information about St. Paul’s Day School, visit https://stpaulsdelray.org/day-school.

For more information about St. Paul’s Day School, visit https://stpaulsdelray.org/day-school.

A cat named Cat cuddles with a resident at a senior center. Photo provided by Paige Finkelstein

By Arden Moore

The time is long overdue to salute a small but vital population group: certified therapy cats. Yep, it turns out that while these cats are small in numbers compared with therapy dogs, the impact they make on people is huge in terms of boosting our attitudes and more.

Just ask Paige Finkelstein, a medical doctor who has logged dozens of therapy visits at senior centers in Boca Raton and New York City with her tri-colored feline she named Cat.

Yes, Cat.

“I adopted her in 2020 from the Broward Humane Society and I named her Cat after the feline named Cat from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” says Finkelstein. “Cat has a great demeanor and greets everyone she meets with a loud, audible purr.”

Paige, whose parents, Pam and David Finkelstein, reside in Boca Raton, is now in New York City completing her surgical fellowship. She and Cat completed the therapy cat certification through Pet Partners, a major organization that has supported thousands of therapy pet-people teams all over the world.

“Cat did a great job in her therapy training and evaluation and is naturally well mannered,” says Finkelstein. “I take her on a pink harness and leash to senior living places. Some residents seeing and petting her begin talking about their cats that they loved so fondly. Therapy cats bring back happy memories.”

I, too, know the impact a therapy cat can make. Casey, my long-legged orange tabby, has been making visits to senior centers, schools, animal shelters and other places since 2018 with another national group called Love on a Leash.

Like Cat, Casey sports a loud purr. He loves learning new tricks and is always game to sniff out a new place and meet all types of people. On our second visit to a memory care center, one of the residents named Peggy spotted Casey entering the activity room. According to staff, Peggy rarely spoke, but her eyes lit up and she yelled, “Peggy loves Casey! Peggy loves Casey!”

The staff and I were stunned — in a good way — by this reaction. Since then, Casey has earned the nickname Pet Safety Cat Casey, as he teams up with Kona, my terrier mix, to conduct hands-on, veterinarian-approved pet first-aid classes with my Pet First Aid 4U program. Casey has traveled now to 15 states.

“Anecdotally, we’ve always known that people share meaningful relationships with cats, reflected in the number of requests we receive from facilities wanting therapy cat visits,” says Taylor Chastain Griffin, Ph.D., national director of the animal-assisted interventions program at Pet Partners.

Pet Partners recently completed a one-of-a-kind study on the impact therapy cat teams make by partnering up with Cat Person, a company that donates 1% of its sales of cat food and other products to study the connection between cats and people.

“We teamed up with Pet Partners to put data behind what we know to be true — that cats are loving, intuitive beings that improve the mental health and wellness of humans,” says Meghan Knoll, CEO of Cat Person.

Study researchers interviewed 63 certified cat therapy teams and received input from managers at senior centers and other places that welcome therapy cat visits. About 200 cat-therapy teams are certified through Pet Partners. In the study, most therapy cats were 6 years or older and had been adopted from a rescue group or animal shelter or found as strays.

“We are excited to have completed, to our knowledge, the most comprehensive study on cats as therapy animals and to share results that call for a greater appreciation of the cat-human bond,” says Griffin.

You can see the complete study by visiting petpartners.org and clicking on “publications.” It reports these key findings:

• None of the participants reported that they ever feel having a cat visit is more trouble than it’s worth. These included residential treatment centers, assisted living/nursing homes, schools and hospitals.

• Residential facility managers reported that depression and anxiety in clients decreased by more than two-thirds after therapy cat teams began making regular visits. By lesser margins cat visits increased verbalization among senior center residents and improved their willingness to eat.

• Both cat team handlers and facility managers noted that therapy cat visits increased the sharing of stories about their own cats among residents.
Griffin’s hope is that this study helps to dispel stereotypes that all cats are standoffish and unable to be trained.

For Paige Finkelstein, sharing her life with Cat provides her with daily benefits.

“Being in my surgical fellowship, my days are long and can be very stressful,” she says. “But when I come home, Cat is there doing her butt wiggles and being happy and excited to see me. She definitely helps me with stress relief.”

Arden Moore is an author, speaker and master certified pet first-aid instructor. She hosts a radio show, Arden Moore’s Four Legged Life (www.fourleggedlife.com), and the weekly Oh Behave! podcast on PetLifeRadio.com. Learn more by visiting www.ardenmoore.com.

Got a therapy cat in the making?

If you believe your cat has the temperament and willingness to be a goodwill ambassador to people in senior living centers, hospitals, schools and other places, here are two major therapy training organizations to check out:
• Pet Partners: https://petpartners.org
• Love on a Leash: www.loveonaleash.org

Each of these nonprofit organizations offers guidelines on their pet-people therapy team programs for dogs, cats, horses and other companion animals.

Boynton Beach Garden Club members decorated the 85th- birthday cake with leaves and blooms; dressed up the Boynton Hills park with a new sign and landscaping; and provided plants as gifts for the celebration’s raffle. Photos by Tao Woolfe/The Coastal Star

By Tao Woolfe

Linda Anderson, president of the Boynton Beach Garden Club, fretted about how to condense 85 years of accomplishments into a short speech.

Because they rarely rest on their laurels, garden club members are busy every week with myriad activities and civic responsibilities — and it has always been thus.

Anderson, clad in a white sundress dappled with peonies and roses, decided to allow the club’s historian to steal the show — which was held at the First Presbyterian Church of Boynton Beach on Nov. 14.

After welcoming the audience and speaking briefly about the club’s growth and enduring values, Anderson stepped aside to let Sonja Zalutko, the club’s historian, plant rows of colorful images in the minds of the 50 or so audience members.

Zalutko spoke about the club’s formation in 1938 by Bertha Williams Chadwell, and its mission to “encourage home and civic beautification.”

Many of the club’s efforts, she said, can still be seen throughout the city.

The club has planted notable trees — including two Ceiba pentandras, of the kapok family, that stood in the west yard of Boynton Beach High School. One of those trees is still in the yard of what is now the Arts & Cultural Center. The other tree was moved across the street.

In another beautification project, the garden club worked on creating a proper cemetery for the city, Zalutko said.

“Members worked tirelessly for many years clearing, planting and beautifying the grounds,” she said. “In 1952 the cemetery located at the southwest corner of Woolbright and Seacrest, which was presented and turned over to the city of Boynton Beach.“

During World War II, when Federal Highway was widened, 2 miles of that road were tended by garden club members, who also donated books on plants and gardening to the city’s first public library.

And in more recent years, the club has created public gardens that everyone can enjoy.

“A large component of our service to the community is a maintenance of two public gardens in Boynton Beach,” Zalutko said.

“In 2010 the club was asked to take on the responsibility for a garden plot on the east side of the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum on Ocean Avenue. Over many years of labor in love, a prized butterfly garden has brought pleasure to all that walk its path.”

In 2018, then-Mayor Stephen Grant asked the club to spruce up a small, damaged conservation area in the Boynton Hills neighborhood at Northwest Sixth Avenue and Seacrest Boulevard.

The former mayor attended the Nov. 14 luncheon. While Zalutko spoke about the club’s growing civic involvement, Grant looked through his cellphone photos to show other luncheon guests how time, and a hurricane, had affected the Boynton Hills neighborhood’s wilderness area.

It was wildly overgrown and the paint was peeling from the park’s white, wooden welcome sign. Another sign, announcing that the area was a community garden, lay broken on the weed-choked ground.

“You can see why I asked them to get involved,” Grant said.

And the garden club members relished the assignment, Zalutko reported.

Working alongside city parks and recreation employees, garden club members cleared hurricane-damaged trees and shrubs, defined planting areas using salvaged bricks, lined pathways with ferns and oyster plants, and replaced the welcome sign.

As their involvement deepened, the club members decided to go native.

“They introduced native plantings, including a Simpson’s stopper, the lovely beautyberry bush, the once-endangered coontie, wild coffee, aloe, vinca and croton,” Zalutko said.

Today, not only has the community garden been rejuvenated, the garden club is about to announce a new feature for Boynton Hills.

“The community garden is slowly being created into a small bird sanctuary for the neighborhood,” Zalutko said.

The unveiling will be held on Jan. 19.

Another commitment the garden club members enjoy annually is a post-Thanksgiving visit to veterans at an assisted living facility called Rustic Retreat. The garden club members bring poinsettias, doughnuts, magazines, books and puzzles they have collected for the veterans.

“We’re look forward to visiting Rustic Retreat,” Zalutko said.

Zalutko finished her history with a look at the future.

“We continue to work on our goals to expand the knowledge of gardening, cultivate an appreciation of floral arts, and realize beautification efforts in our community that impact our state and nation,” Zalutko said.

“We plant locally and think globally. We study, support and practice wise conservation measures, fight against pollution, and help protect our sensitive ecology in South Florida.”

A TowBoat US employee tosses a tow line to another employee to secure it on Delray Beach, where the 92-foot Viking sportfishing boat Pastime was beached on Nov. 3 after losing power. It took multiple attempts and three towing vessels to remove the boat on Nov. 5. Peter W. Cross/The Coastal Star

By Steve Waters

When a 92-foot Viking sportfishing yacht lost power and drifted onto the beach in Delray Beach last month, it raised questions of what boaters can do when such situations arise.

The first thing, said Capt. Chris Lemieux of Boynton Beach, is to drop your boat’s anchor to prevent a powerless boat from heading into the beach or drifting far offshore.

According to a statement posted on Facebook by Viking Yacht Co., the vessel lost power because of a fuel interruption to its generators and main engines. The boat’s crew was unable to manually release its anchor because it was “lodged into the deployment chute, rendering the anchor unusable.”

After several days on the beach, the boat was towed to the Viking Yacht Service Center in Riviera Beach, where it is being repaired and, according to the statement, will be “back fishing, hopefully by the New Year.”

Capt. Bouncer Smith noted that even after dropping anchor, boaters need to keep in mind that anchors don’t always hold the bottom. One of his close calls during the 54 years that he ran fishing charters out of Miami was when he anchored his 25-foot boat offshore and went to the back to fish for bait.

He tried to pull up the chum bag, which is used to attract baitfish, but it was hung on a fish hook. Smith didn’t know that and when he reached over to free the chum bag, the hook in the bag got stuck in his finger. Then the anchor broke free from the bottom.

“The boat was drifting toward the beach and I was hooked to the transom,” Smith said. “So I took my fishing pliers and grabbed the hook and yanked it out of my finger and ran and got the boat started before I got any closer to shore.”

The majority of boats in South Florida are a third of the size or smaller than the 92-footer and powered by one or more outboard motors. Lemieux, who runs fishing charters out of Boynton Inlet, said those boaters should be prepared in case their marine batteries die and the motors won’t start.

“I keep one of those cheap battery jump starters on my boat,” Lemieux said. “If you ever lose power offshore, you can attach it to the battery and jump-start your motor. For $50, it can save your day and get you back to the dock.”

Boats can also run out of fuel. Lemieux said that he’s seen fuel gauges go bad, indicating that his boat had more gas than it actually did. As a result, he fills his 27-foot center console with gas every time he goes fishing, or at least makes sure that he has enough fuel to fish offshore and get back to the dock.

Lemieux stressed the importance of keeping your boat’s engines in tip-top condition. A dirty motor that stops running and can’t be started might require your boat to be towed in.

“Be up on your maintenance and change your fuel separators frequently,” said Lemieux, explaining that the separator is a filter that removes water and particles from fuel. “Dirty gas, that’s usually what people have an issue with in motor breakdown. I change the filters every 100 hours” that he runs his outboard motors.

Both Lemieux and Smith said boaters need to watch the weather before they head offshore. If your boat or your boat-handling skills are not prepared to operate in rough seas, it’s better to stay home and wait for nicer weather to go boating.

“I can’t tell you how many boats I’ve seen sitting on the beach over the years, from freighters down to row boats,” said Smith, who recalled when hazardous conditions resulted in several occupants of a 21-foot boat drowning.

The tragedy was that the boat didn’t have a VHF radio or an EPIRB, an emergency beacon that, when activated, sends a distress signal to a satellite that is monitored by rescue agencies. Both provide location coordinates. The boaters used a cell phone to call the Coast Guard, but provided the wrong location, and it took too long for the boat to be found.

Outdoors writer Steve Waters can be reached at steve33324@aol.com.

 The great room’s open floor plan evokes a comfortable lifestyle and has adjacent living and dining areas that overlook the covered patio through floor-to- ceiling impact glass walls. Photos provided

Influenced by the breezy architecture of Bermuda and the West Indies, the 14 home sites in Bluewater Cove at Place Au Soleil in Gulf Stream provide peaceful havens of ease and well-being. Developed and constructed by a collaboration between Courchene Development and Ironwood Properties, the homes range from single level to two-story and were designed by Affinity Architects.

The large covered patio has a complete outdoor kitchen for al fresco dining and entertaining. A custom pool and spa help to create a paradise for outdoor living.

The newly constructed home at 2911 Bluewater Cove is a 4-bedroom, 4½-bath, 2½-car garage design. It has hardwood floors throughout the main living areas and bedrooms and has crown molding throughout as well. A substantial mahogany front door with tongue and groove ceiling at the entryway welcomes you into the great room. Off to the right is the gourmet kitchen with island and Thermador appliances, including a 30-inch refrigerator and 30-inch freezer, dual ovens, six-burner gas cooktop and all the requisite culinary amenities including dual wine coolers and walk-in pantry.

The club room provides a secondary retreat to be utilized as a TV room and office.

The whole house is equipped with impact windows and doors, custom millwork and built-ins, as well as being a Smart Home featuring LED 4-inch-square recessed lighting, and a Crestron low-voltage lighting system.

The expansive owner’s suite has an oversized shower and free-standing tub. The suite overlooks a lush, private garden and has His and Her spacious walk-in closets with built-in shelving.

Offered at $4,875,000.

Contact Linda Lake, Sales Associate, Corcoran, 561-702-4898, linda.lake@corcoran.com or Kelley Johnson, Sales Associate, Corcoran, 561-703-3839, kelley.johnson@corcoran.com

Each month, The Coastal Star features a house for sale in our community. The House of the Month is presented as a service to our advertisers and provides readers
with a peek inside one of our homes.

Flowers left beside State Road A1A in South Palm Beach to memorialize a pedestrian who was killed on Friday, Nov. 10, after being struck by a vehicle.  There were no apparent skid marks or any other evidence easily visible at the scene that showed there had been an accident. The Barclay condominium building is in the back to the right.  Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

A 73-year-old South Palm Beach woman crossing State Road A1A on Nov. 10 was struck and killed in a hit-and-run incident just north of the Barclay condominium.

The woman, who lived on the sixth floor of the Barclay, has been identified on Facebook postings and by a New York funeral home as Hatixhe Laiqi.  A black 2016 GMC Terrain hit her at about 6 p.m. Friday, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue dispatched units to the scene. Responding paramedics pronounced Laiqi dead at the scene and the investigation was turned over to the PBSO homicide division.

PBSO did not release any details of the incident over the weekend and did not return repeated calls to its media relations office by The Coastal Star. On Nov. 13, PBSO released its log of the event, which included information about the victim, the car and the incident.

The GMC Terrain was traveling north in the 3500 block of South Ocean Boulevard when it struck Laiqi as she was crossing the road, the report said, with Laiqi landing on the west shoulder of A1A.

PBSO said late Monday it had recovered the vehicle, which it said had Maryland plates. It identified the driver as Amneris Ramos, 43, of Boynton Beach. Charges are pending.

Mayor Bonnie Fischer said she received a call from Sgt. Mark Garrison, who commands the South Palm Beach post of PBSO, shortly after the incident and walked to the scene.

“We saw the body, we saw the shoes in the road, and the PBSO homicide van,” Fischer said. “I know she lived in the Barclay. She was crossing (the road) from the Barclay.”

The Pleasant Manor Funeral Home, Inc. in Thornwood, New York, is handling arrangements.

By Larry Barszewski

The Ocean Ridge Town Commission on Nov. 9 appointed David Hutchins and Ainar Aijala Jr. to fill two upcoming vacancies on the commission.

Hutchins, a retired airline pilot who currently sits on the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission, and Aijala, a retired longtime executive with the auditing and consulting firm Deloitte, will be sworn in at the commission’s January meeting.

“I would like to thank you guys for putting some faith in me,” Hutchins said after the 3-0 vote for him. “I think the experience I got at P&Z will be helpful and I’ll do everything I can and I’m sure I will learn a lot more.”

Aijala was not present at the special meeting. He was appointed on a 2-1 vote. Former Commissioner Robert Sloat, who served for three months in 2019 in an appointed capacity, also received a vote.

The two appointees will replace Commissioners Ken Kaleel and Philip Besler, who turned in their resignations effective Dec. 30.

Kaleel is resigning rather than be forced to submit a more comprehensive financial disclosure form that the state will be requiring from elected municipal officials beginning in 2024. Besler said he was resigning for personal reasons.

Kaleel and Besler were appointed to their positions in May, following the resignations of Commissioners Martin Wiescholek and Kristine de Haseth. Both had previous experience as commissioners.

This time around, Sloat was the only applicant to have served on the commission.

Kaleel and Besler were not allowed to vote for their replacements, so the decisions fell to the same three members who appointed them: Mayor Geoff Pugh, Vice Mayor Steve Coz and Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy.

The three made their selections from eight applicants—five who originally applied when the two seats were open in April and three who submitted their names in October.

The other applicants were Nicolas Arsali, Craig Herkert, Victor Martel, Mike Mullins and Peter Wolf.

The new appointments will last until the March 19 election. The candidate qualifying period for the March election is currently underway for the two seats and the one held by Pugh. The qualifying period ends at noon Nov. 17. For more information, contact Town Clerk Kelly Avery.

Both Hutchins and Aijala said they plan to submit papers to run in March.

Aijala served 38 years at Deloitte, including four years as CEO of its world leading global consultant practice. He retired in 2020 and has lived in town since 2019.

Aijala has served on the global board of Junior Achievements Worldwide.  He serves on the board of governors at The Little Club in Gulf Stream.

“I have always been committed to serving the communities in which we live, but until my recent retirement I was only able to fulfill this commitment through my involvement with charitable and not for profit organizations. I am now able to serve the residents of Ocean Ridge without conflict and would be eager to do so,” Aijala wrote in his application for the position.

Hutchins has been a town resident since 1990. He has been a member of the planning commission since 2017 and was an alternate member 2015-17.

By Steve Plunkett

Thom Smith resigned his position as a Gulf Stream town commissioner at the end of the panel's Nov. 9 meeting.

"I have been honored and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to serve the town I feel so strongly about," Smith read from his prepared resignation letter. "We have a very special place to live and recreate and I look forward to it remaining so for many years to come."

Outside the meeting, Smith said he quit to have more time to devote to his accounting business and to family members who live outside of town.

He was not worried, he said, about having to disclose his net worth and other financial details on the state's Form 6 had he still been on the dais on Dec. 31. Filing the Form 6 is a new requirement this year for municipal officials.

"I could have handled it," Smith said.

Smith was appointed to the commission in April 2022 after serving as chairman of the town's Architectural Review and Planning Board. He replaced Donna White, who moved to Palm Beach Gardens.

By Rich Pollack

The battle between Delray Beach and Highland Beach over who owes who money in a dispute over fire service fees is heating up after a preliminary report from state auditors showed the city failed to bill the town $2.2 million, mostly for pension contributions dating back several years.

At the same time, Highland Beach leaders are sticking to their claim, made before the state’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee earlier this year, that Delray Beach owes the town money because the city used the wrong calculation to determine fire-rescue service fees.

How the two conflicting viewpoints will be resolved could end up being decided through mediation or even in a courtroom, with Highland Beach Town Manager Marshall Labadie telling commissioners on Tuesday that the town is developing a pre-litigation strategy.

“If we have to go to mediation, so be it,” he said, adding that he spoke to an attorney specializing in these types of issues within days of the preliminary audit report being made public last week. The audit was ordered by the state committee in March.

While Delray Beach officials have not come right out and said that they will seek to get the $2.2 million that they should have billed Highland Beach, City Manager Terrence Moore said that the city will be using forensic auditing services to determine the precise calculation of the balance due to the city.

“Final data analysis from this exercise will be reported to the City Commission, enabling consideration relative to mediation and/or other opportunities available to both parties,” Moore wrote in a note to his commission.

In Highland Beach, town leaders said if it turns out the state auditors are correct and the city didn’t bill the town properly, the town shouldn’t be responsible for resolving the issue.

“Because they underbilled us, doesn’t mean we should have to pay,” said Highland Beach Commissioner Evalyn David, an attorney. “There’s an argument to be made that this is on them.”

 In the preliminary operational audit report, which focused on the financial processes used by Delray Beach’s Fire Rescue Department as part of its agreement with Highland Beach, the auditor listed a handful of findings that showed flaws in how numbers were calculated. 

“During the period October 2019 through December 2022, the City experienced significant turnover in certain key management positions, which may have contributed to the control deficiencies and instances of noncompliance disclosed in this report,” the auditor from the State Auditor General’s Office wrote.

Among the findings were:

• Firefighter salary and benefit amounts recorded in the city’s accounting records and billed to the town did not agree with employee timekeeping records.
• City purchasing policies and procedures did not ensure that goods and services ordered, received and distributed to the town’s fire station were accurately billed to the town.
• The city didn’t perform timely collection efforts on the town’s nonpayment of billed services totaling $517,654.

The auditors also found that Delray Beach didn’t use consistent actuarial information to calculate how much Highland Beach should have contributed to the pension fund for the firefighters that were assigned to serve the town.

While some members of the Delray Beach commission have portrayed the report as a win for the city in published reports, Highland Beach leaders say it is just the opposite.

“I would be embarrassed if I was Delray,” said Town Attorney Glen Torcivia. “Delray looks like it wasn’t mismanaged, it looks like it wasn’t managed at all.”

Labadie told commissioners that Delray Beach’s financial issues and inability to provide the town with adequate records was one factor behind Highland Beach’s decision to start its own department, which will take over from Delray Beach in May.

“That’s one of the reasons we wanted to leave,” he said.

Going forward, Labadie said he and Torcivia are writing a letter to the legislative committee expressing concerns with the report, including that no one from the state auditor’s office contacted the town.

 That committee is expected to review the audit at a meeting in the near future.

Gov. Bob Graham presents an A1A sign to Jimmy Buffett in 1981 after they founded the Save the Manatee Club. Florida Memory

By Ron Hayes

After Jimmy Buffett died on Sept. 1, too many national news reports reacted as if Florida’s beloved balladeer of boats, beaches and bars had written only two memorable songs in his 53-year career.

There was Margaritaville, of course, the most famous, and Cheeseburger In Paradise, the cleverest. But nestled within his 32 albums are gentler tunes — wistful, romantic and wise — that capture perfectly the Florida those of us living here know so well.

You could even argue that Jimmy Buffett once wrote a song about South Palm Beach and Briny Breezes, Delray Beach and Boca Raton.

There’s something ’bout this Sunday,
It’s the most peculiar gray,
Strollin’ down the avenue
That’s known as A1A

That song is called Trying To Reason With Hurricane Season, from his 1974 album A1A, and if the state Legislature agrees, A1A the state road will gain a new name when A1A the album turns 50 next year.

On Sept. 29, Rep. Charles Clemons Sr., a Republican from Alachua County, introduced a bill to rename the entire 338.752-mile stretch between Fernandina Beach and Key West “The Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway.”

The name change would be only honorary, of course, with the Department of Transportation erecting “suitable markers,” like the 20 signs that appeared in 1998 when Florida’s Turnpike became the honorary “Ronald Reagan Turnpike.”

The Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway.

Well, what do you think?

***

Jake Soderberg, vacationing from Key West, calls the proposal to rename A1A for Jimmy Buffett ‘a disgusting idea!.' Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

“That’s a disgusting idea!” Jake Soderberg fairly spat.

Soderberg, 42, was perched on a wall at Palm Beach County’s Ocean Inlet Park one Wednesday morning in October. He was vacationing from Key West, the town that made Buffett famous, so you might expect some affection for the proposal. But no.

“His songs promote alcohol,” Soderberg sputtered. “All his songs are all about drinking.”

Well, not all his songs.

“Jimmy Buffett is just the same tired old songs,” Soderberg charged on. “He had a couple one-hit wonders that are old and tired now.”

At Lantana’s Municipal Beach, Mayra Mir of South Palm Beach wasn’t crazy about the honorary designation either, but for a different reason.

“I love Jimmy Buffett,” she began, “but it should stay A1A. It’s like nowadays they want to change history. It’s frustrating. Ever since I was born it’s been A1A.”

Mir declined to reveal her age, but was happy to note that she’s a grandmother.

“I don’t agree with a lot of the things that happened in the past,” she added, “but it’s history.”

Angel Bartoszewicz of Lake Worth Beach likes the idea. She grew up listening to Jimmy Buffett and loves his take on Brown Eyed Girl. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Taking the sun nearby, Angel Bartoszewicz, 49, of Lake Worth Beach welcomed the idea.

“Yeah, why not?” she said. “I grew up listening to Jimmy Buffett. I’ve been to his Margaritaville restaurant in Key West. And, oh, the one in Hollywood, too. And isn’t there one in Orlando?

“His version of Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl …” She struggled for words to describe just how much she loves that song, and failed.

At the BurgerFi across from the pavilion in Delray Beach, Marvin and Vickie Chambers, vacationing from Blue Ridge, Virginia, were happy to chat while their BurgerFi burgers cooked.

“I’ve been playing drums in bar bands for 50 years,” said Marvin, 65. He’s drummed in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, mostly in a band called Wasted Acres, so he had a professional opinion about the proposed name change.

“I can tell you,” he said, “you always get heckled for Jimmy Buffett. Well, not heckled, but requests, I mean. Jimmy Buffett always goes over, and Margaritaville packs ’em in.”

***

‘He’s part of South Florida. He’s part of history,’ Tom Montgomery says of Buffett. Montgomery likes to ride his bike on A1A, here in Boca Raton. Tim Stepien / The Coastal Star

In Boca Raton, Tom Montgomery and his electric bike were taking a break in the shade of the South Beach Park pavilion. Three weeks ago, he pedaled that bike to Miami and back, so he knows A1A.

“It’s a great idea!” exclaimed Montgomery, 56. “He’s part of South Florida. He’s part of history. I’m from the Bronx, where they name highways for people I’ve never heard of, so I don’t have any problem with it.”

Montgomery has a point. You’d have a hard time finding any sentient American who hasn’t at least heard of Jimmy Buffett, and most could no doubt name at least one of his songs. Guess which one. But some honorees have a tenuous connection to their namesake roads at best, and some are long forgotten.

In 1989, the Gulf Stream Republican Club bid $25,000 at a public auction to have Northeast Eighth Street in Delray Beach renamed George Bush Boulevard after the incoming president traveled that short stretch en route to a brief weekend respite with a friend in Gulf Stream.

Perhaps you don’t remember Ben Sundy, but you’ve probably driven the Ben Sundy Memorial Highway. Sundy was a Delray Beach mayor in the 1950s whose memorial highway is better known as West Atlantic Avenue.

Highland Beach is home to one woman with a special relationship to the proposed name change. State Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman will be voting yea or nay when the bill comes up in the next session, beginning Jan. 9.

Jimmy Buffett was a lifelong Democrat, and Gossett-Seidman, 70, is a Republican. But also a big fan.

“It’s a brilliant idea!” she gushed by phone between meetings in Tallahassee. “He’s Mr. Florida. I remember seeing him at the old West Palm Beach auditorium when I was young.

His music resonates with everyone, man, woman and child.”

***

In his 76 years, Jimmy Buffett recorded more than 300 songs on 32 studio albums that sold more than 20 million copies, but none of those songs ever reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Even Margaritaville, which made him a billionaire balladeer through numerous licensing deals, reached only No. 8 in 1977.

I blew out my flip-flop
Stepped on a pop top
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home.
But there’s booze in the blender
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on

Two weeks after his death at home in Sag Harbor, New York, of skin cancer, Margaritaville returned to the Hot 100 and reached the top of the Billboard Digital Song Sales chart.

At No. 1. At last.

Related: Manalapan: Mayor, half of commission say they’ll resign before year’s end | Briny Breezes: Mayor, council president resign effective Dec. 15

By Charles Elmore

Half or more of the governing council members in some southern Palm Beach County coastal towns say they are considering resignation before Dec. 31 because they worry a new state financial disclosure law amounts to, as resigning Ocean Ridge Commissioner Ken Kaleel put it, a “Nosy Neighbor statute.”

It puts local governments in a massive hustle mode to keep functioning, whether that means appointments, special elections, rethinking of resignation plans or other solutions to keep the chairs filled.

Municipal leaders are attending workshops and meetings to figure out if they want to file the more rigorous Form 6 that discloses net worth and other details for the public to access. Records requested by The Coastal Star shed light on at least some aspects: Nearly 95% of officials in Palm Beach County filed required disclosures of the current form, but among those who did not, fewer than 10% who were assessed fines in the last five years actually paid them as of early October.

That’s an unpaid pile of more than $236,000 in fines, including 11 past-due bills sent to collection efforts, according to data from the Florida Commission on Ethics.

In time, some fines do get paid. They include $1,500 collected from former Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie in 2021.

Then again, in addition to ethics concerns, she was criminally charged with failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in alleged income from a commercial landowner.

She eventually pleaded guilty to lesser, misdemeanor counts of misuse of public office and failure to disclose a voting conflict.

For many, the issue in past years has been failure to file the less-nosy Form 1 that applies to a number of municipal officials, as opposed to the tougher Form 6 mayors and town council members face in 2024.

“The requirement to complete Form 6, whether contemplated by the legislators or not, will limit the effectiveness of local government,” said Bill Thrasher, who served for 17 years as town manager in Gulf Stream and now works part-time as the town manager in Briny Breezes. “In some cases, it may stop local governance altogether.”

In Manalapan, the mayor and three of the town’s six commissioners said on Oct. 24 that they would be resigning before the end of the year so they would not have to meet the new financial disclosure requirements.

Briny Breezes has been wrestling with whether it will be left with a quorum.

In other places, few people appear deterred.

In Delray Beach, the new filing requirements have not stopped 10 candidates from opening up campaign accounts for mayor and two other commission seats that will be decided in March. Ditto for Boca Raton, where at least four people are running for two City Council seats.

In Highland Beach, three incumbent commissioners who are up for reelection said they plan to run again. 

To keep things in perspective, most people who are required to file financial disclosures comply. In Palm Beach County in 2022, 94.8% did so, according to the Ethics Commission. That compared to 98.1% statewide.

What of willful disregard?
OK, but what about those deemed to have demonstrated a willful failure to file?

Removing someone from office is rare, but it has happened. Then-Gov. Rick Scott signed a 2016 order to remove Daniel Fils-Aime Sr. as a member of the CareerSource South Florida Region 23 Board in Miami-Dade County, for example.

In recent years, the Ethics Commission recommended removal from office in at least four cases around the state involving failure to file, but records show no action by Gov. Ron DeSantis. His office did not respond to a request for comment.

SB 774, signed into state law in May, requires mayors and commission members to disclose their net worth, assets and liabilities worth more than $1,000, the aggregate value of art and jewelry and other goods, and in some cases clients.

The required Form 1 for most municipal officials asks for sources of income, liabilities and business investments, with less emphasis on specific dollar amounts.

It may get a bit uncomfortable, but some say they are staying.

South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer said, “It is what it is. If we have to do it, we have to do it. I don’t think there’s any way out of it. I’m not resigning. That won’t make me resign.”

Vice Mayor Bill LeRoy agreed, despite concerns about the law.

“This is a unique town and I’m in a unique position here, because I am retired,” he said. “I own very little. I’m not afraid of it. I don’t think it’s necessary. You don’t need anything to scare people when running for public office. It’s hard enough to find people as it is, and we don’t need something like this to make it even more difficult.”

The Form 6 filing deadline for those holding office as of Dec. 31, 2023, is July 1, 2024, state officials say.

Late-filing penalties start at $25 a day, after a grace period that ends Sept. 2, 2024, to a maximum of $1,500. The commission can impose a greater fine, up to $20,000, if a third party files an ethics complaint and it is found to have merit.

Since Jan. 1, 2018, 312 office-holders in Palm Beach County have been fined for not filing, according to Florida Commission on Ethics records.

Records show 20 of those fines were fully paid over about half a decade.

Fines were waived in at least 25 cases. Two fines were written off for people who died. The majority are listed as “active” or under appeal.

‘Service requires sacrifice’
Some city and town elected officials have already suggested all of this is too rich for their blood, especially in towns where the salary may amount to modest or zero dollars.

“Every meeting I’ve been to I’ve had questions about resignations, and from my unofficial tally I think you’re going to see 20% of the county’s elected officials resign before the end of the year,” Town Attorney Glen Torcivia told South Palm Beach’s council Oct. 10, mentioning several smaller municipalities. “I hope 20% is not too conservative.”

Kaleel, the Ocean Ridge commissioner who says he is resigning, calls the law a “Nosy Neighbor” affair because it primarily benefits busybodies, while elected officials determined to reap ill-gotten gains often can find a way to hide them.

“Somebody that’s bad is going to be bad, and they can hide it in a number of ways — gold bars, cash in closets — we’ve already found that out,” Kaleel said.

Proponents of the law say it is helpful and a step in the right direction. Plenty of money and economic activity can flow through towns regardless of size, through contracts or project approvals. Indeed, many towns sit on coastal land highly prized by developers.

Supporters call attention to the fact that the same Form 6 disclosure rules currently apply to state legislators, the governor and even many local officials, and life has not come to a standstill.

“Please note that for years county commissioners, school board members, sheriffs and others on the local level have been required to file the Form 6, and this has not been a deterrent to the government attracting and retaining qualified individuals to serve in these positions,” Caroline Klancke said.

She is executive director of the Florida Ethics Institute in Tallahassee, a nonprofit organization that says it was founded to protect and advance the cause of ethics.

Some see it connected to a bigger picture of Tallahassee imposing its will on cities and towns.

In Briny Breezes and previous stops, Thrasher’s career has featured plenty of pushback against what he regarded as state efforts to take power from local governments.

“For years, local governments have seen the pre-emptive efforts of the state in weakening and chipping away at home rule,” he said.

Lantana Mayor Karen Lythgoe says she doesn’t know what other council members will do, but she has no problem providing the financial information.

“Public service requires sacrifice and I’m willing to make it,” Lythgoe said. “There’s no private data you have to provide, no Social Security number, no taxpayer ID number, no bank account numbers, nothing that could be used to steal your identity. They want to know what you have and what you owe.”

She continued, “I have no trouble saying this is my net worth and what my liabilities are, but everybody’s going to make up their own mind. I’m not quite grasping what people are trying to hide. I guess some people are touchy about their net worth. Maybe because I don’t have any I’m not so concerned.”

Is it really a deterrent?
At least one Lantana council member, Kem Mason, said he is still thinking about whether to fill out the form. 

“I don’t have a lot of details except what I picked up from the Florida League of Cities meeting and I’ve read somewhat about it,” Mason said. “My concern is that our personal information is going to be out there for everybody to have. I don’t even understand why the governor and all the other officials all the way down to the sheriff have to do it themselves. It’s nonsensical to me.”

As he sees it, “If somebody’s going to be unethical, or do any kind of criminal act, they’re going to do it. They’re not going to put it down on paper. They’re not going to admit to it if they have that inclination in the first place. So, where’s the logic there? If there is any kind of unethical goings-on, wouldn’t a discovery in a court room bring all that out?”

Mason said the new law is “a smokescreen for the public to make them feel better about themselves that their officials are ethical people but in reality, it really doesn’t do anything.”

Larry Barszewski, Brian Biggane, Steve Plunkett, Rich Pollack and Mary Thurwachter contributed to this story.

Related: Along the Coast: Is new law ‘nosy’ or advancing the cause of ethics? | Briny Breezes: Mayor, council president resign effective Dec. 15

Successor is hired for retiring manager

By Larry Barszewski

Seismic tremors are rumbling in Manalapan’s town government, where the mayor and at least half of the Town Commission say they will resign before the end of the year.

In addition, long-serving Town Manager Linda Stumpf retires in a year, which will change the dynamic in Town Hall as well.

Town officials hope to avoid any major aftershocks, but they realize the town could find itself in a precarious situation.

At their Oct. 24 meeting, commissioners opted for a seamless Town Hall transition when they agreed Eric Marmer should be hired as Stumpf’s heir apparent. Marmer, 34, who currently serves as human resources and risk management director in Highland Beach, will join the town as assistant town manager this year and move into Stumpf’s position when she retires in September 2024.

The path forward isn’t as clear when it comes to the mayor and Town Commission, which was evident at a workshop immediately following the commission meeting. The issue being considered was a new state requirement for elected municipal officials to disclose additional personal financial information.

At the workshop, a majority said they will resign before Dec. 31 so they will not have to comply with the new financial disclosure requirements. And they said they’re not sure the town will be able to find others to serve who will be willing to fill out the more intrusive disclosure form that will be posted online for anyone to access.

Mayor Stewart Satter, elected to his position in March with no opposition, said he may have “the shortest mayorship in history.” Also indicating they will resign rather than comply are three of the town’s six commissioners: Kristin Rosen, who also took office in March without opposition; Aileen Carlucci, appointed to her seat in March 2022 after no one ran for an open commission seat; and Richard Granara, initially appointed to the commission in 2019 to fill an unexpired term.

The three other commissioners — Simone Bonutti, Chauncey Johnstone and Vice Mayor John Deese — said, as of the Oct. 24 meeting, they had not made a final decision on whether they would stay or go.

“It does sadden me that we’re all in this position,” Carlucci said. “You live here because you want a quiet life and not be in Palm Beach where everyone knows everything about you. You’re in Manalapan because you want to be understated. So, we do live in a community of understated individuals and I don’t see us being able to fill a commission.”

Small pool of candidates
The town had only 384 voters as of September, limiting the number of people eligible to serve. Rather than candidates coming forward to run, Stumpf frequently must go out and find potential candidates and encourage them to offer their service. There has not been a contested election in town since 2011.

It’s not always convenient to serve and commissioners receive no pay. Often during the off-season, members of the commission fly in from their homes up North to ensure that there is a quorum for commission meetings.

Commissioners have had to file a disclosure, known as Form 1, that is less detailed than the newly required Form 6, which is already required of the governor, state legislators, county commissioners and others.

The new requirement may make it more difficult to find people willing to serve, but Stumpf is optimistic she can at least get enough commissioners to reach a quorum so the commission can operate. A quorum is four of six commissioners.

The mayor is a separate position and not part of the quorum since the mayor votes only in case of a tie.

“I do believe if two of my commissioners stay, I will be able to find two others,” Stumpf said after the workshop. Four commissioners are needed to conduct business, but the Town Charter says if there are as few as two commissioners remaining, they can appoint additional commissioners until a quorum is reached, Town Attorney Keith Davis told commissioners.

The town also plans to contact residents about the situation and to see if some are willing to come forward and serve under the new requirements. Carlucci’s and Granara’s seats are up for election in March. Any replacements appointed for them would serve only until March, so the town also needs the appointees or others to file for the election — or the seats will become vacant again.

The qualifying period is Nov. 7 to 21, but Davis said the county supervisor of elections has offered to hold a second qualifying period in January if needed because of unexpected departures due to the new requirements.

While the commission may survive the imminent departures, officials said the Town Charter may have to change to improve the odds that the town can continue functioning as a local government in the future.

The commission could form a charter committee to look at potential changes, although those wouldn’t likely get on a ballot for voters to decide until 2025, Davis said. One possibility includes reducing the number of commissioners, which would leave fewer seats to fill.

Unincorporating an option?
Davis said if the town can’t find enough people willing to serve, there is the potential it could “unincorporate and be consumed by a neighboring municipality,” such as Ocean Ridge or Lantana, or become an unincorporated part of the county under control of the County Commission — though Stumpf and several commissioners said those weren’t options they would consider.

At the workshop, commissioners were open to suggestions.

“We could just not file and roll the dice, and suffer the consequences,” said Satter, who said he even considered offering to pay the fines for commissioners who don’t file, which could reach $20,000 each.

“I had very reliable counsel suggest to me there would be a conflict of interest if I paid everyone’s fine,” Satter said.

If all commissioners resigned, Davis said, the charter charges the governor with appointing an interim commission, which would then call for a special election not less than 60 days from its appointment.

Two issues with that: Davis said it’s not certain the governor’s appointments would have to be town residents and it still leaves the same problem — would anyone file to run in the special election given the new disclosure requirements.

Another thought surfaced — get rid of the elected positions altogether — but Davis said he’s not aware of any option that doesn’t include an elected governing body.

“This will become real to most of the people in the town of Manalapan after there is no commission, because this commission does more than just budgets and managing the town,” Granara said. “There’s so much construction activity going on here now that requires variances. And that stops. That all halts.”

If most commissioners leave, Deese wondered what the remaining commissioners would be getting themselves into.

“If Simone and I would stay, I’m afraid it’s going to be a nightmare for us trying to deal with it, trying to figure out what to do next,” Deese said.

Town Hall newcomer
All the discussion led Satter to think of Marmer, who attended the workshop.

“I want him to understand what he’s buying into,” Satter said. Marmer said he did.

“The town will be in good hands. It’s going to be an unusual time,” Satter said. The town plans to prepare a contract with Marmer for the commission’s consideration at its Nov. 14 meeting.

Marmer, who has a master’s degree in public administration from Florida Atlantic University, has been with Highland Beach for almost four years. He moved quickly through the ranks, coming in as financial services manager and then being promoted to interim finance director and assistant town manager before moving into his current position in May.

Previously, he served as a senior buyer for Boynton Beach for two years.

“I have had the opportunity to meet the current staff in Manalapan, and from what I have seen, they have a professional staff that is well-suited to adapting to any changes that may come,” Marmer said in an email to The Coastal Star. “I am incredibly excited about the challenges that lie ahead. I believe challenges invite progress, and that’s why I want to come to Manalapan.”

The uncertainty caused by the new financial disclosure requirements was partially behind the decision to hire Marmer before the end of the year. The town considered five applicants for the position.

“We’re very fortunate that we’ll get this done before the end of the year,” said Stumpf, who has been town manager for 13 years and was first hired as the town’s finance director in 2003. “Due to Form 6, I felt it was wise to get someone in that could work with me. … He will be ready to go when I leave.”

Related: Along the Coast: Is new law ‘nosy’ or advancing the cause of ethics? | Manalapan: Mayor, half of commission say they’ll resign before year’s end

By Steve Plunkett

At least one alderwoman will stay on the dais next year, but different people will fill two and perhaps more of the Town Council’s six seats.

Mayor Gene Adams and Town Council President Christina Adams have resigned effective Dec. 15, avoiding a new state requirement to reveal in detail their personal finances.

How the council will fill those spots is an open question. It is scheduled to meet only once more this year, on Dec. 7, though one or more special meetings could be called.

“It has been my honor and privilege to serve the town of Briny Breezes,” Christina Adams wrote in her resignation letter, which was read aloud along with her husband’s at the council’s Oct. 26 meeting.

Alderwoman Liz Loper took the opposite tack.

“I am staying on board. I’m fine, not going to resign,” she said.

State law now requires local elected officials holding office on Dec. 31 to list their net worth, assets and liabilities in detail next July. The electronic paperwork, called the Full

Disclosure of Financial Interests, or Form 6, has for years been a requirement for Florida’s governor, state legislators, county commissioners and school board members.

Local officials, on the other hand, submitted a Statement of Financial Interests, or Form 1, which asks for information in broad brushstrokes. Mayor Adams, for example, on his Form 1 for 2020 reported that his primary source of income was his job at Target Corp. and that he has a 401(k) retirement account and owns Target and Pfizer stock.

The new Form 6 requirement has created a time crunch in Briny Breezes.

The Adamses and Alderwoman Kathy Gross were already up for reelection in March, with qualifying set for Nov. 14-28. Town Attorney Keith Davis encouraged the other council members to decide as soon as possible if they will stay or quit.

“The elephant in the room is the question of OK, are there residents in the town who will be willing to be Form 6 filers,” he said.

Davis said under the Town Charter, the council does not need a quorum to appoint people to fill council vacancies, though he said having a quorum would be preferable.

The council passed a resolution “expressing opposition” to the new disclosure requirement. It also told Davis to prepare resolutions to ask the supervisor of elections for an additional election qualifying period the first two weeks of January and to raise the limit on Town Manager Bill Thrasher’s spending authorization so he could pay for more things without council approval.

Susan Brannen, president of the Briny Breezes Inc. board, was much in favor of having a second qualifying period for candidates.

“We don’t have everybody in Briny at this point, so it’s very hard to reach out and inform our Briny residents of what’s happening. And this would perhaps give additional time for people who are truly interested in stepping forward,” Brannen said.

In other business, the council approved paying consultant Engenuity Group Inc. $265,000 to perform what Thrasher called “the next level” of planning for Briny’s proposed sea wall and drainage improvement project.

“We’ve not heard any word on our construction grant (application) which is $14.4 million,” Thrasher said.

ABOVE: Deborah Dowd reads ‘With Lots of Love,’ written by Jenny Torres Sanchez, to teacher Jill Quiggin’s fourth- grade class at Plumosa School of the Arts on Oct. 26 as part of Delray Reads Day and the Read for the Record campaign by the nonprofit Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County.
RIGHT: Melissa Bauerlein and her children, Donovan, 1, and twins Parker and Cameron, 3½, listen to the same book at Boca Raton’s Downtown Library.

BELOW: Boca Raton City Council member Yvette Drucker and Mayor Scott Singer read ‘With Lots of Love,’ by Jenny Torres Sanchez, to children at Boca Raton’s Downtown Library on Oct. 26 as part of the Read for the Record campaign by the nonprofit Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Thankful. That’s the word for November. In today’s world, I think we can all be thankful for health, home and safety.

In this edition, readers will find our annual Philanthropy Season Preview. This special section provides information and contacts for organizations in our area dedicated to assisting our community.

Locally, there are staggering unmet needs for children and families, seniors and animals. Art and science, historic preservation, and our endangered environment are also in need of financial assistance. Organizations that promote health and wellness are critical and worthy of your support.

Many of the groups you’ll read about inside this paper will be familiar since they’ve been supporting our community for years. A few are new. With your financial help, all are well-positioned to reach the members of our community most in need in the coming year.

As I consider my own end-of-year giving, I’m drawn to situations outside of my daily scope of knowledge: children who need comfort at a crime scene, seniors without means to buy groceries, families living in cars because they can no longer afford rent. And to the groups that simply provide joy to people with little, through literacy, music, clean laundry or visits with furry friends.

Helping just one person improves our entire community.

At The Coastal Star, our hope is you will also consider this newspaper an essential member of the community. We, too, could use your financial support.

Although the paper provides more than municipal reporting, what sets us apart from other publications in our coastal area is a steadfast focus on spotlighting the decisions made by our local officials: good, bad and messy. Professional reporting doesn’t come cheap.

All donations will help pay for stories we’re working on right now and hoping to pursue in the coming year.

As part of your year-end giving, we hope you will consider a donation to The Coastal Star. Like a donation to the other local organizations featured in this month’s Philanthropy Season Preview, your support helps to make our community healthier, safer and more secure.

Please give.

Mail your contribution to The Coastal Star, 5114 N. Ocean Blvd., Ocean Ridge, FL 33435.

Or donate online at https://supportfloridajournalism.com/newspaper/the-coastal-star/

Donations made online to The Florida Press Foundation benefit The Coastal Star Community News Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit fund. They are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law and are subject to a 5.5% administration and processing fee.

Contributions made directly to The Coastal Star have no processing fee and are not tax deductible.

— Mary Kate Leming, Editor

Jeff and Aggie Stoops, shown at home in coastal Delray Beach, donated $5 million that helped HomeSafe renovate in Boca Raton and Lake Worth Beach. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

Earning her undergraduate and master’s degrees in social work proved to be excellent preparation for Aggie Stoops’ current role as a member of the board of directors and one of the key benefactors of HomeSafe of Palm Beach County.

Established in 1979 before evolving into its current mission in the 1990s, HomeSafe offers four group homes around the county for children ages 7-17, as well as an apartment complex for ages 18-23, serving about 80 at-risk youth and young adults a year.

“HomeSafe deals with difficult cases,” said Jeff Stoops, Aggie’s husband. 

“We’re pretty much one step away from lockdown,” Aggie added. “There are only five agencies working in therapeutic home care in the state of Florida and HomeSafe is one of them.”

Aggie worked at Florida Baptist Children’s Home and did placement for the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch while a student at Florida State University. She left the health care industry to raise her own four children, but with them out on their own she sought out an opportunity to return to the field and has found it.

Jeff, 65, and Aggie, 64, who live in coastal Delray Beach, began their involvement with HomeSafe in 2014, and Aggie was named to the board two years later. In 2021, the couple made a $5 million contribution to the organization.

Marketing and Events Director Chere Camus Brodi said those funds have been instrumental in recent renovations of HomeSafe campuses in both Boca Raton and Lake Worth Beach.

Other campuses are in West Palm Beach and Royal Palm Beach, and HomeSafe’s 13-unit Palm Place apartment complex in Palm Springs is for aged-out participants.

Most of the children, all of whom are referred to HomeSafe from other agencies, have spent much of their lives in substandard family environments or foster homes and are down to their last chance. For that reason, the campuses house only 12 residents, with each getting a room to themselves, as well as a dedicated therapist 24 hours a day.

“We’ve gone from shared rooms to independent rooms, because the current science says giving them control and independence is the best thing,” Aggie said.

Residents typically attend local schools and are otherwise not restricted to campus. “We have outdoor facilities and a basketball court, acres of space at most of our campuses.

They can run away, but most don’t have a place to run to,” she said.

The program has produced many success stories, with students moving on to higher education at schools such as the University of Florida and Palm Beach State College.

While the residences are very different from sober homes, Jeff Stoops said some municipalities have pushed back rather than welcome them.

“We were in protracted negotiations in Wellington,” he said, referring to the Royal Palm campus. “A lot of people were like, ‘We’re very sympathetic to your cause but we don’t want you in our backyard.’ It was pretty intense.”

Nonetheless, Aggie said, the authorities relented and there have been no complaints since.

The Stoopses’ philanthropic endeavors stretch far beyond HomeSafe. Jeff, who will retire in December after serving as CEO and president of SBA Communications for the past 22 years, is also chairman of the board of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties. SBA Communications is a worldwide owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure based in Boca Raton.

The couple supports numerous other organizations through their Stoops Family Foundation. Jeff earned his law degree from Florida State and is a board member of Seminole Boosters. The couple makes a point of attending every home FSU football game.

As for HomeSafe, its initiatives include Healthy Beginnings, which attempts to assess the status of every child born in Palm Beach County before the mother even leaves the hospital.

“We come in with our information and brochures, letting them know we’re there,” Aggie said. “Most parents are fine, but there are those who need assistance.”

For more information on HomeSafe, visit www.helphomesafe.org.

NOMINATE SOMEONE TO BE A COASTAL STAR
Send a note to news@thecoastalstar.com or call 561-337-1553.

During a Sept. 6 unveiling event for the Center for Arts and Innovation, CEO Andrea Virgin stands with board member Matt Cimaglia (left) and Antoine Chaaya, the partner in charge of the project for the architect Renzo Piano Building Workshop. No renderings of the latest plans have been released yet. Photo provided

By Mary Hladky

The Center for Arts and Innovation has raised enough money to meet initial requirements set by Boca Raton during negotiations to complete a deal that allows a performing arts complex to be built on city-owned land in Mizner Park.

If center officials had failed to meet the requirements, the city could have halted the project by terminating a development agreement and the lease of 1.8 acres of city land on which the complex will be built.

The fundraising deadline was Oct. 21, one year after the City Council approved the deal. Center officials needed to raise $25.4 million, which is 25% of the hard construction costs for the project. They also had to show that they had a minimum of $12.7 million in cash.

Center officials surpassed those requirements, raising $26.4 million for hard construction costs that includes $12.8 million in cash, according to a report sent to the city.

“On behalf of all the tremendous supporters who made this threshold moment possible, we thank you and look forward to continuing our partnership with the City of Boca Raton,” center chair and CEO Andrea Virgin wrote.

“Based upon the information provided, the center is currently in compliance with the requirements” of the development agreement, Deputy City Manager George Brown wrote in an Oct. 25 email to the City Council.

Virgin will report on the project’s status at the Nov. 27 Community Redevelopment Agency meeting. Council members also sit as CRA commissioners.

The city has set additional fundraising deadlines in 2024 and 2025, as well as deadlines for matters such as submitting detailed plans for the project, obtaining building permits and raising money for reserves and endowments.

The project will transform the north section of Mizner Park. Plans call for completely renovating the run-down city amphitheater and building a performing arts center, jewel box theater, rooftop terrace, outdoor performing arts spaces and a garage. The complex would accommodate 6,000 people in all its venues.

Under the deal, the project must be completed by 2033. But Virgin wants to start construction in 2025, the year that marks the city’s 100th birthday, and complete it in 2028.

An architectural firm, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, whose partners include Pritzker Architecture Prize-winner Renzo Piano, has started work designing the complex. The firm’s worldwide projects include the Shard in London and the new Whitney Museum in New York.