By Steve Plunkett

    The City Council changed the land-use designation and zoning of its Wildflower site to accommodate a proposed restaurant, even as a Nov. 8 ballot question looms on whether the site should be commercial or green space.
    “I want to hear from the people on this in November, so I’m going to withhold my judgment,” Mayor Susan Haynie said before joining a 4-1 majority authorizing the changes. The northern portion of the waterfront parcel was coded for residential use, which Haynie said was inconsistent with the southern part.
    More than 20 members of the public spoke at the July 26 council meeting before the votes were taken.
    Resident and business owner Bobra Bush urged the council to support what would become the city’s only eatery on the Intracoastal Waterway.
    “Build a beautiful, Boca-worthy waterfront restaurant venue which can be enjoyed by residents and tourists alike, and make some money doing it,” Bush said. “That additional revenue will benefit all of Boca’s residents in work and play.”
    Another resident, artist Kim Heise, favored a park.
    “I would like to think we’re not kind of strapped for cash so much that we need to have so much revenue, we need to think like that has to be our top priority. I’d like to think that we can kind of consider, you know, environmental things as well,” Heise said.
    Council member Scott Singer, who voted against the changes, also weighed in for preserving the site.
    “There are plenty of restaurants; there’s not enough green space,” Singer said.
    In response to a citizen initiative, the council also introduced an ordinance to keep city-owned land on the Intracoastal only for “public recreation, public boating access, public streets and city stormwater uses.”
    Members will vote on the ordinance Aug. 9. If they do not approve the ordinance, they will vote on a resolution to place the question on the Nov. 8 presidential ballot.
    The July 26 votes changed the land-use designation of the northern part of the site from residential to commercial and rezoned it from single-family residential to local business district. The southern portion was already zoned local business.  The former Wildflower nightclub got special permission to put a parking lot on the then-residential portion, something that would not be allowed today, city senior planner Ingrid Allen said.
    Jeremy Rodgers, the council’s newest member, who had never taken part in a Wildflower vote, said there was a clear pattern in the history of the issue stretching back to 2006.
    “We’ve shown specific intention to move forward with this [restaurant] plan year after year, most recently in 2014, to move forward with this lease negotiation with good intention. ... I think we move forward with our original commitment and do, you know, stay true to our word,” Rodgers said.
    The city bought the 2.3-acre parcel on the north side of Palmetto Park Road in 2009 for $7.5 million. Council member Robert Weinroth said Boca Raton officials were not driven by a profit motive.
    “This has never been about [return on investment], this has never been about how much value can we get out of this land. If that’s what we were looking to do, we’d be building a condominium on there,” Weinroth said.
    City officials have tentatively scheduled a council vote on leasing the Wildflower site to the Hillstone Restaurant Group on Dec. 13 if the citizen initiative does not pass.

By Rich Pollack

    Highland Beach residents will see their municipal tax rate drop for a second consecutive year, after town officials gave tentative approval to a change in the operating rate from $3.50 per $1,000 of taxable value to about $3.28 per $1,000.
    During a special meeting last month, commissioners voted to approve the tentative rate but added that it could probably be even lower once the process of reviewing the town’s proposed 2016-17 budget begins this month.
    “I feel we can probably go down from there as we start tweaking,” Commissioner Carl Feldman said.
    The overall tax rate, with debt service included, would decrease to $3.88 per $1,000 of taxable value from $4.14.
    The reduction in the operating tax rate to the rollback rate — the rate needed to generate the same amount of property tax revenue the town received in the prior year — was made possible by an increase in the overall taxable value of property within the town.
    That number increased from $2.07 billion last year to $2.2 billion this fiscal year.
    Last year, Highland Beach commissioners cut the operating tax rate from $3.95 per $1,000 of taxable value — where it had been for three consecutive years — to $3.50.
    In addition to recommending that commissioners accept the rollback rate as the tentative tax rate, Finance Director Cale Curtis presented a proposed $11.02 million 2016-17 general fund budget.
    That budget is an increase of about $200,000 from the current year’s budget with about $31,000 in additional tax revenue as well as about $25,000 in revenue from licenses and fees.
    Curtis said the town can expect an additional $244,000 in expenses due to a newly negotiated contract for fire service with Delray Beach, which would be offset by reductions in personnel expenses and capital expenditures.
    Commissioners agreed to hold public hearings on the budget at 5:01 p.m. on Sept. 14 and Sept. 27.

By Rich Pollack

    After months of complaints from a handful of residents who say town codes are not being properly enforced, frustrated Highland Beach town commissioners agreed in July to revamp the code inspection process and hire a full-time code enforcement officer.
    Currently, the town has a building department office manager who spends about 10 hours a week investigating code violations. She passes the results of her investigation to the town’s contracted building official, Mike Desorcy, for follow-up.
    For the past several months, the firm that provides building inspection services — SAFEbuilt — has also provided a part-time code enforcement inspector who works three days a week.
    During a workshop late last month, however, commissioners learned the town was paying $48 an hour for the part-time code enforcement inspector and also paying additional fees when Desorcy provided code enforcement services.
    “We’ve been misled here,” Vice Mayor Bill Weitz said. “Our code enforcement person was an office manager? And we’ve been getting complaints for years? No wonder we don’t get code enforcement.”
    Commissioners said they were under the impression that SAFEbuilt was providing the part-time code inspector at no charge. “This is incredible to me,” Weitz said. “This is not a failure to communicate, this is miscommunication.”
    Commissioner Rhoda Zelniker, who has been speaking out for weeks about concerns with how town codes are enforced — specifically when it comes to new construction — said she, too, was upset to discover that the town didn’t have a full-time code enforcement inspector.
    “This really is unbelievable,” she said. “It’s disheartening to me.”   
    During the meeting, commissioners heard that before the recession, the town had a full-time building official and a full-time code enforcement officer. During the building slowdown, however, the town decided to outsource building inspection services.
    “Somehow we went from a department that had two functional people in it to a department that is dysfunctional,” Weitz said.
    In a recent follow-up meeting, commissioners agreed to begin the process of hiring a full-time code enforcement officer immediately.
    “For $48 an hour, we could certainly get a very fine person,” said Commissioner Lou Stern, who earlier had brought up the need for a full-time inspector. “We need to make sure people know we mean business.”
    Commissioners recommended the new code enforcement officer report to the Police Department. Police officers already assist with code enforcement during, after or before regular business hours.  
    In addition to discussing code enforcement, the commission also discussed renewal of the SAFEbuilt contract. SAFEbuilt receives 50 percent of building permit fees collected by the town. It also receives $48 an hour for planning and zoning consultation and any after-hours meetings or inspections.
    Commissioners agreed to the contract after being assured by Town Attorney Glen Torcivia that it could be terminated without cause by either side with 30 days’ notice.

By Rich Pollack

    Concerned about cuts to their benefits and the potential for more, Highland Beach’s civilian town employees have begun the process of forming a union.
    “On behalf of all the non-sworn and civilian employees, we are very upset at the fact that the town of Highland Beach has been reducing our employee benefits,” Fraternal Order of Police state representative Joe Puleo wrote in an Aug. 1 letter to town commissioners. “The employees have now chosen to join the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police as union members and the FOP will be placing the town on notice to refrain from reducing benefits.”
    Puleo’s request not to change employee benefits drew a heated response from Vice Mayor Bill Weitz, who has been one of the strongest proponents of trimming benefits he thinks are unnecessary.
    “This is nothing more than a move to stop this commission from moving forward with legitimate changes,” he said. “This is a deliberate attempt to undermine the authority of this commission.”
    Puleo, whose organization currently represents Highland Beach’s sworn police officers, said civilian town employees concerned about changes to their health benefits approached him several weeks ago. He said they approached him again late last month after town commissioners discussed additional cuts to benefits.
    “Highland Beach is a town that has always treated its employees well,” Puleo said. “These are hard-working people and for the town to mistreat them is just not fair.”
    He said an election on whether or not the employees should join the union can be held if 33 percent of eligible employees agree to begin the process of forming a bargaining unit.
    At an Aug. 2 meeting, Town Attorney Glen Torcivia said 14 of the 16 eligible employees had submitted cards indicating they were in favor of exploring whether to join a union.  
    Among the full-time employees who would be covered — if employees voted to have a union — are six employees in the town’s water treatment plant, three public works employees and two each in the public library and the building department. One employee each in the finance department, Police Department and in the clerk’s office would also be eligible.
    Puleo said it is not uncommon for non-sworn employees to choose to be represented by the FOP, adding that the union represents similar groups in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
    Town commissioners have been chipping away at employee benefits for several months, beginning last year when they cut employee raises.
    “The benefit reduction is uncalled for and has left all employees of the town no choice in forming a union,” Puleo wrote.
    Since 1992, non-union employees received an annual 5 percent merit raise and a cost-of-living adjustment. Beginning in October, the salary increases for this fiscal year were limited to 3 percent with no cost-of-living increase.
    In addition, commissioners previously agreed to eliminate an education bonus employees received for having college degrees.
    At a meeting early this month, commissioners agreed to eliminate deferred compensation ranging from $250 to $500 given to employees who do not have family members enrolled in the town’s health insurance plan.
    That change goes into effect Oct. 1.
    Commissioners this month also adopted a personal time off policy that would combine sick days, vacation days and non-federal paid holidays into a fixed number of days off calculated for each employee based on their longevity.
    That change goes into effect Jan. 1.
    The next step, according to Puleo, is for the employee’s cards to be submitted to the state Public Employees Relations Commission, which is authorized to host the election.

By Steve Plunkett

    The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District plans to keep taxes at the same amount it collected last year despite requests from city parks officials for nearly $4 million extra.
    “We did not exact out one dollar from any of the requests of the city of Boca Raton. We have acceded to their requests and are giving them every dollar that they are asking for,” Arthur Koski, the district’s interim executive director, said at a budget discussion Aug. 1.
    The district’s $50.4 million budget for fiscal 2017 includes $7 million to build four grass fields at the city-owned Spanish River Athletic Facility at Countess De Hoernle Park and $3 million for three artificial-turf fields at district-owned Patch Reef Park.
    “We’re going to commit to that [Patch Reef] project irrespective of what the City Council may decide on phase 2 at Spanish River. But we are prepared in this next fiscal year to construct phase 2 at Spanish River and to put the artificial fields in at Patch Reef Park,” Koski said.
    The council and beach and park commissioners agreed on both projects at a June 2015 joint meeting. But no work was started while the governments tried to craft a contract. In May, City Council member Robert Weinroth said “that ship has sailed” when asked if he still favored the Spanish River work.
    Commissioner Steven Engel asked Koski whether the city would ever approve the project.
    “I want everybody to know that from our perspective, that ship is still at the dock and we’re ready to go,” Koski replied.
    City officials seek $1.1 million more than they spent this year for operation and maintenance of parks and $350,000 more for administrative, supervisory and technical costs, a 33 percent boost.
    The district can absorb the city requests because some previously budgeted projects have been delayed. It owns and operates its own parks and pays for operation and maintenance of some city-owned facilities. It also pays half the costs of beach renourishment and makes other contributions to the city.
    In late July, commissioners set the tentative tax rate at 91.47 cents per $1,000 of taxable value. The owner of a $500,000 home would pay $457 in beach and park taxes, the same as in fiscal 2016. Most district residents also pay city taxes.
    The district’s first public hearing on its budget will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 12, the same night the city will have its first budget hearing.
Boca Raton wants $636,000 more than it spent last year to maintain Red Reef Park, a 17 percent increase. The amount includes hiring a turtle rehabilitation assistant, a park ranger, a maintenance supervisor and a part-time volunteer coordinator. The city also seeks $2.5 million for capital improvement projects, including $1 million for a dune crossover at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, $220,000 to renovate Red Reef’s restrooms and $100,600 for information technology.
    The district will spend $2.8 million on improvements at the Swim and Racquet Center and also put $300,000 in a beach renourishment sinking fund.

By Steve Plunkett

    The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District has alerted the city in writing that it wants a voice in developing Boca Raton’s comprehensive waterfront plan.
    “As stakeholders of vacant beachfront and Intracoastal property, the district would like to request a cooperative role with the city in the development of the plan financially and also with regard to the preparation of the plan and its implementation,” Robert Rollins, the district’s chairman, said in a July 18 letter to Mayor Susan Haynie.
    The district owns Ocean Strand, almost 15 undeveloped acres between Spanish River and Red Reef parks. District commissioners fretted that they have not been updated on the city’s request for proposals from consultants, which were due June 1.
    Boca Raton seeks “an experienced firm” to develop a waterfront master plan “for city-owned properties adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway and/or the Atlantic Ocean.” A contract has not been awarded.
    Rollins’ letter follows his appearance at a May 9 meeting where he told City Council members the same thing.

By Steve Plunkett

    The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District is poised to freeze its annual contribution to the downtown Community Redevelopment Agency, meaning the CRA would get at least $132,000 less each year to keep the area pretty.
    “This is a business decision. I want that to be emphatically clear, that we’re looking at it from the standpoint of what’s fair for our community,” District Chairman Robert Rollins said.
    Other commissioners agreed.
    “If we don’t have to pay the money, why are we going to pay the money? Because we can use it for other projects,” Commissioner Dennis Frisch said. “I as a taxpayer would take offense at the district paying more money than we’re required to for anything.”
    “This is strictly a financial decision; it’s not a relationship decision,” Commissioner Earl Starkoff said.
    The beach and park district gave the CRA $894,000 last year and has been making contributions to its redevelopment trust fund since 1992. State law governing CRAs allows the district to freeze the amount it pays after 24 years. This is the first year it’s had the option to do so.
    The Beach and Park District money can be used only to beautify and maintain parks downtown, not to pay off debts.
    Arthur Koski, the district’s interim executive director, cautioned commissioners that while they are permitted to freeze the payments, Boca Raton officials might take offense.
    “I’m not quite sure if it’s an appropriate way to try to gather cooperation from the city, but it certainly is an opportunity for us,” Koski said.
    Commissioners will hold a special public hearing Aug. 22 on whether to use the freeze option on CRA payments.
    “If we exercise it now we will save our constituents over $1 million by 2024,” Starkoff said.

By Sallie James

    A decision by the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections to remove a mosque from a list of polling places and switch the locale to a public library has riled voters, both pro and con.
    Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher made the decision to move the polling place out of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton and designate Spanish River Library as the Precinct 4170 polling place after receiving complaints from voters.
    Bucher said in an email that she received a call that “individuals planned to impede and maybe even call in a bomb threat to have the location evacuated on Election Day,” so she moved the site about two miles away to the library, at 1501 Spanish River Blvd.
    “My responsibility as the supervisor was to open 445 polling places on Election Day that were adequate and accessible to the voters,” Bucher wrote. “I was not in a position to address world issues.”
    Bassem Alhalabi, president of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton, could not be reached for comment despite several phone calls.
    The Islamic Center of Boca Raton is at 3480 NW Fifth Ave.
    The switch upset many who said the move smacked of racism, with many voters emailing Bucher asking why churches and synagogues were acceptable polling places but a mosque was not.
    “How is this not the definition of discrimination?” wrote Samir Kakli in an email. “I urge you to do the right thing and re-open ICBR … as a polling station in the upcoming elections.”
    Wrote Carol Esser and Joseph Herko: “I am saddened and disgusted by your response to xenophobic interests. If our polling place was in a black neighborhood, would you change it? If it was in a Jewish facility, would you bend to people’s biases and change it to another location? … Shame, shame, shame on you.”
    Wrote Karen Howell: “Thank you for moving election poll site from a Mosque. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Everyone I know agrees with the move. We thank you.”
    Wrote Becky Dymond: “I would not be comfortable entering into the Islamic Center of Boca Raton to vote … It is not Islamophobia to be concerned about public statements supporting Sharia law which are contrary to the basic tenets of democracy as practiced by our nation.”
    The mosque, which sits adjacent to Florida Atlantic University, opened in July 2012 for the rapidly growing Muslim population in southern Palm Beach County. It serves as a place for prayer, as an education center and a place for community gathering.

By Henry Fitzgerald

    In addition to voting for their choice of Democratic or Republican members of Congress in the Aug. 30 primary election, Boca Raton voters will be deciding how to fill council vacancies or whether council members should get a raise.
    One referendum question was added to the ballot at the request of Councilman Scott Singer. He said council vacancies take too long to fill and that voters should elect the person for the open seat.
    Under the current rules, the council selects a person to fill the seat, but Singer has said an unelected person could hold the seat for two years of a three-year term.
    “Shouldn’t residents have the greatest say?” he has asked.
    Councilman Mike Mullaugh pushed for the second question, saying better-paying council jobs might attract a wider field of candidates. The proposed raises would boost the mayor’s pay to $38,000 a year from $9,000, and a council member’s pay to $28,000 a year from $7,200. If approved, the pay hikes would become effective in October 2017.
    The questions read as follows, with “yes” and “no” options for voters:

City Of Boca Raton Referendum Question No. 1
    Proposed charter amendment filling of vacancies in the City Council
    The city charter provides: vacancies on City Council are filled by appointment until the next regular city election. The proposed charter amendment would provide: Vacancies on City Council, including the office of mayor, will be filled by special election for the unexpired term. The special election will generally be no later than the Tuesday following the 90th day after the vacancy (or on a scheduled election date if within 150 days of the vacancy).
    Shall the charter be amended?

City Of Boca Raton Referendum Question No. 2
    Proposed ordinance mayor and City Council member salaries
    The proposed ordinance provides that the annual salary of the mayor shall be increased to $38,000.00, and the annual salary of the other council members shall be increased to $28,000.00.
    Shall the above described ordinance be adopted?

See related stories on Seat 1 and Seat 3 candidates.

By Steve Plunkett

    Candidates for the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District took off the gloves Aug. 2 in their first public forum.
“How can we expand our green space? … We need to focus this district on things that are bigger picture,” said Craig Ehrnst, who is challenging Dennis Frisch for Seat 1.
    “Unfortunately there’s this miscommunication between the Beach and Park District and the city of Boca Raton,” said Shayla Enright, who is also running for Seat 1. “I’d like to work to improve that communication issue.”
    “I am all about communication. I will take any call; I’ve taken any call. We are transparent,” Frisch said.
    Seat 3 incumbent Earl Starkoff, who faces challenges from John Costello and Erin Wright, said, “Our relationship is not as troubled as the current narrative would have you believe. Our relationship over 40 years has grown working with the city.”
    The Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations sponsored the forum at the Downtown Library. Costello and Wright were on vacation.
    The candidates tackled communications with the city first. Starkoff said he wants three joint meetings a year between the City Council and the district, and biweekly meetings for the district’s executive director and the city manager.
    On Ocean Strand, Ehrnst called for development of an oceanfront park now.
    “Build it as a park. Use it,” he said. ”All of our green space is disappearing. To sit back and say, ‘There’s nothing else we can do,’ would be a shame.”
    The other candidates were content to hold off.
    “I have no problem with putting a few picnic tables down there so that the public can access it now if they wish. … That said, we don’t need to have anything there just because we own the property,” Frisch said.
    Starkoff said, “We need to do something to clear the exotics. If you don’t take care of it, it only gets worse. If there’s an economical way to make that space available, we should do something.” He added that Ocean Strand could make an ideal stop for a future water taxi.
    “I believe basically we should keep our green spaces green. I don’t think that we should develop all the property. Basically the property should be accessible to the public,” Enright said.
    There were a few gaffes. Most notably, Enright said the proposed Lake Wyman restoration should not be solely a district project. The proposal comes from the county, the Florida Inland Navigation District and the city. Frisch noted the district is not yet involved. And Ehrnst said the district should take advantage of low interest rates to acquire more parkland. The district prides itself on not borrowing money, although Frisch said he would not be against it if the right opportunity came up.
    Ehrnst apologized on Wright’s behalf for her absence and asked the audience to vote for both of them. Ehrnst and Wright held a joint fundraiser July 25; attendees included Mayor Susan Haynie and City Council members Michael Mullaugh, Jeremy Rodgers and Robert Weinroth.
    Wright leads the other candidates in raising campaign donations, with $3,385 collected as of Aug. 1, most of it from firefighters. Wright is married to a Boca Raton firefighter.
    Ehrnst was second in fundraising, reporting $3,135. His total included $100 from Haynie’s husband and several contributions from firefighters.
    Other finance reports show Starkoff with $1,485; his contributors include Beach and Park District Chairman Robert Rollins and former City Council members Al Travasos and Cormac Conahan.
    Frisch has collected $1,050, including $100 from a podiatrist in Connecticut and $250 from local architects Mummaw and Associates. Rollins has promised a donation, Frisch said.
    Enright and Costello had not filed reports by Aug. 1.

Live debate
    WHAT: Citizen watchdog group BocaWatch will host a debate for all six candidates.
    WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 11, 6:30 p.m.
    WHERE: Boca Raton Community Center, 150 Crawford Blvd. (next to City Hall)

    Beach and park commissioners serve four-year terms beginning Jan. 1 and are paid $80 for each meeting they attend. There are usually two meetings each month. The election will be Aug. 30.

John F. Costello
Age: 47
Occupation: accountant
Education: Bachelor’s in forest resources and conservation, University of Florida
Marital Status: Married, one son, one daughter
Political/Community Service Experience: first run for office
Biggest challenge? “I want to bring people out to the parks and engage our youth especially in activities away from cellphones and computers. The parks should be real destinations that provide people and families a way to have connected and vibrant lives.”

Earl Starkoff
Age: 67
Occupation: information technology services executive
Education: Master’s in business administration, University of Miami
Marital Status: Married, two children, two grandchildren
Political/Community Service Experience: commissioner, Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, since 2004; past president, Soccer Association of Boca Raton
Biggest challenge? “The district has a broad agenda to improve and modernize several of our older parks, build new parks and facilities that are needed now and as thousands of new residents arrive in the next few years, and have funds available for beach renourishment. We must continue our steady, responsible fiscal management to balance all of these projects with annual maintenance and operating expenses, so we pay as we go and remain debt-free.”
Website: EarlStarkoff.com

Erin A. Wright
Age: 37
Occupation: co-owner, home inspection service; former environmental health and safety specialist, Florida Atlantic University
Education: Master’s in exercise science and health promotion, FAU
Marital Status: Married, two sons
Political/Community Service Experience: past member, Boca Raton Green Living Task Force/Green Living Advisory Board
Biggest challenge? “Communication with city staff. There needs to be regular communication, weekly or every-other-week meetings, between city staff and district staff. There needs to be a full-time executive director for this exact reason. If I win the election, I will be the new voice for our young families in the community and speak up in regards to opening these lines of communication.”
Website: www.eriniswright4u.com

Craig F. Ehrnst
Age: 52
Occupation: corporate treasurer, NCCI in Boca Raton
Education: Master’s in business administration, University of Michigan
Marital Status: Married, two sons, one daughter
Political/Community Service Experience: Board of directors, Boca Raton YMCA and Boca Raton Children’s Museum; three years on the city’s Financial Advisory Board; unsuccessful run for City Council in 2014
Biggest challenge? “Communication. ... The district and the city are simply not communicating. Each part has their own priorities and their own direction. A good example is the closed Sugar Sand playground. The district closed the community-built playground abruptly in January 2015 and did not start construction work until months later (actually I believe sometime in 2016). ... Because neither party is communicating, my 9-year-old son will miss 2 years of his life not playing on one of the best playgrounds in the area.”
Website: craigehrnst.com

Shayla Enright
Age: 26
Occupation: medical physicist
Education: Dual bachelor’s degrees in physics and chemistry, Florida Atlantic University; Professional Science Master’s degree in medical physics, FAU; master’s in biomedical engineering, University of Miami
Marital Status: single
Political/Community Service Experience: first run for office
Biggest challenge? “The biggest challenge is the communication issue with the city which prevents projects from getting completed and budget goals from being met. They need to have a face-to-face meeting, which hasn’t happened in over a year. Additionally, the district is constantly backpedaling on ideas discussed and decisions made during City Council meetings. District representation at city meetings would help prevent this and keep the district in the loop before it’s too late. I would be proactive about improving communication and attending city meetings.  Finally, the residents need to be more aware of the district in order to hold the commissioners more accountable. This can be achieved by having a district online blog or discussion site, Facebook page, or having the meetings at times which are more convenient for working residents.”

Dennis R. Frisch
Age: 61
Occupation: podiatrist
Education: Medical degree from Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine, North Chicago
Marital Status: Married, two adult children, one grandchild and another due in November
Political/Community Service Experience: commissioner, Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, since 2008; member, Boca Raton Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, since 2007
Biggest challenge? “My opponents have both declared that they will improve relationships with the city of Boca Raton. Neither has been involved enough to fully understand this issue nor others facing the district. They have made only token appearances at our district meetings and are basing their election campaign on media reported issues that are not nearly as great as believed. I have eight years of experience in this position. During that time we have developed a new park, upgraded our current parks and had countless successful interactions with the city. I have the desire to continue, and pledge to work effectively on behalf of ALL people living in the Beach and Park District which includes people that live outside Boca Raton.”
Website: www.electdennisfrisch.com

By Sallie James

    The controversy surrounding a proposal to build an Orthodox synagogue and Israel museum east of the Intracoastal Waterway continues to swirl in a legal game of back-and-forth.
    The winner in the latest round? Chabad of East Boca. But it’s likely not over yet.
    The saga took another twist in late July when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that claimed the city gave Chabad of East Boca special treatment when it approved plans for the ambitious project, at 770 E. Palmetto Park Road, in May 2015.
    The lawsuit, filed by city activists Kathleen Barr MacDougall and Gerald Gagliardi in February 2016, accused the city of ignoring parking deficiencies and approving a building that exceeded allowed sizes and approving deviations and variances that did not meet legal criteria.
    “This is just one step in what will probably be a lengthy process,” MacDougall said.
    In his ruling on a motion to dismiss, U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra said MacDougall and Gagliardi had no standing to challenge the city’s decision because they failed to prove that they had suffered an injury as a result of the city’s actions. The duo specifically failed to demonstrate how the change in zoning laws harmed them and failed to prove how a building can be “injurious” without stating how it causes injury, according to the ruling.
    “Plaintiffs failed to prove any injury at all, let alone one that is concrete and polarized,” Marra wrote in the July 21 decision. “Plaintiffs’ argument that they have established injury in fact lacks merit.”
    Arthur Koski, attorney for MacDougall and Gagliardi, said he planned to file an amended complaint.
    Rabbi Ruvi New acknowledged the possibility of facing an amended complaint in the federal lawsuit but said he is confident Chabad of East Boca will prevail.
    “It’s not ending as quickly as we would have liked. We would have preferred to not be in any litigation. It will, God willing, come to an end and we will build,” New said.
    In early June, a separate lawsuit went against the Chabad when a three-judge Palm Beach Circuit Court panel ruled that Boca officials erred in giving officials permission to build.
    The judges said the city should have disallowed the project outright or followed a city code requiring 239 parking places.
    “The city may not pick and choose which sections of the City Code will apply to the ‘My Israel Center,’” according to their June 6 decision.
    David Roberts, the owner/broker of Royal Palm Properties across the street from the proposed synagogue, asked the court in the August 2015 lawsuit to review the City Council’s approval of the site plan, saying it “departed from the essential requirements of the law.”
    Plans for the sprawling 18,000-square-foot synagogue and museum have been a sore spot with homeowners who live on the barrier island and complain the project provides too little parking and will snarl traffic. Residents are also upset that council members voted to allow the proposed synagogue’s height to exceed the 30-foot limit allowed by city code and rise to 40 feet, 8 inches, claiming the project’s increased height would set a precedent for future, taller developments that could ruin the area’s ambiance.
    The Chabad has been trying to find a larger place to meet for years, and Roberts’ lawsuit was the second time parking tripped up its plans. In 2008 the congregation wanted to move into a 23,000-square-foot building near Mizner Park, but was not able to meet parking requirements there.
    Proponents claim the open parcel on East Palmetto Park Road is perfect for Chabad of East Boca’s state-of-the-art synagogue and world-class, interactive Israel museum and will increase area property values. They disagree with claims of increased traffic, noting that Chabad members walk to services per their religion.
    Opponents insist that such a facility’s use will be too intense for the site and will drive extra traffic into an already congested area also critically affected by the ups and downs of the Palmetto Park Road drawbridge. They also claim the height will be intrusive.

Boca Raton Deputy Mayor Mike Mullaugh pushes Heather Taylor, Ms. Wheelchair Florida 2016,

along one of the city’s mobility mats at Spanish River Park.

Photo provided

By April W. Klimley   

    For Heather Taylor, a visit to the beach at Boca Raton’s Spanish River Park was about something bigger. To Taylor, who is Ms. Wheelchair Florida 2016, it was about beach access for disabled people everywhere.

    “It’s just so thoughtful — these beautiful beach mats. I’m so grateful to the city of Boca Raton,” Taylor said toward the end of her visit.

    Taylor, who lives near Daytona Beach, visited on July 21 as part of her Takes Flight campaign to advocate on behalf of people with disabilities and to see what Florida communities have been doing to make life easier for those who use walkers, wheelchairs and canes.

    “This honor allows me to reach other people, especially women, with my message,” she said. “Being in a wheelchair represents freedom, and isn’t something to be ashamed of.

    “My mother told me something when I was only 6, and I never forgot it. She told me, ‘Never give up,’ and I never have. You never know what’s coming next. That’s what I tell people.”
    Her message was inspiring to everyone who had come to Spanish River Park to watch Taylor demonstrate Boca Raton’s mobility mats, which allow people in wheelchairs or who use walkers to move over sand to very near the water line — or even into the water when the conditions are right.   
    The welcome party included Deputy Mayor Mike Mullaugh. He took a turn pushing Taylor’s wheelchair up and down the mats and noted that the city bought the mats “so that any resident of Boca could use as many of the fine resources of the city as possible, even if they are unable to walk.”  
    The Boca mobility mats are now installed at several beach locations. But they are taken up during sea turtle egg-laying and hatching season, which runs from March through November. They were put down especially for Taylor’s visit.  
    The city bought and installed these bright blue mats in November at a cost of $11,900. The mats run from the beach entrance toward the water, forming a T at the water’s edge.

    A number of people joined Taylor for this event. They included Helene Schwartz, 49, of Boca Raton, a lively woman whose legs were amputated below the knee because of an MRSA infection.  
    “I always wore my prosthetic legs before,” she said. Now, on the beach at least, she doesn’t use them. Schwartz was there with her boyfriend, Bill Nagle, whom she met when using mobility mats installed at Deerfield Beach.
    Arthur Cohn, 79, is another Boca Raton wheelchair user who joined the group. His daughter told him of the event.  
    “She lives in Maryland,” he said. “But she reads our local papers on the internet each day. She told me about this event, so I came over.”  
    Cohn suffered a back injury 22 years ago, but has required a wheelchair only the past two years.  
    Taylor preceded her official remarks with information about her own disability — POTS, a variation of a genetic condition called dysautonomia. Those with dysautonomia have trouble regulating the autonomic nervous system.  
    Taylor, 33, at first had only a mild version of dysautonomia. She forged ahead, earning a degree in psychology from the University of Florida, and then a master’s degree in counseling for victims of domestic violence and suicide prevention.
    Along the way, she took flying lessons. That’s where she met her husband, Randall Taylor, a flying instructor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Jupiter campus.  
    Embry-Riddle is a strong supporter of the Ms. Wheelchair Florida contest, and provided a plane for Taylor to fly to Boca Raton and the other cities on her tour, which took place July 18-26. She was accompanied by her husband, who flew the plane, as well as her daughter.  
    It was only after the birth of her daughter, Grace, now 6, that Taylor’s condition became severe. One consequence was that she had to keep her feet elevated.  “I couldn’t even walk,” she said. So she crawled around on the floor to take care of her 8-month-old baby.  
    “I knew there had to be a better way,” she said.  
    A wheelchair proved to be the key to liberation, allowing her to better move around and take care of her daughter.  
    Now, explaining her mission as Ms. Wheelchair Florida, she said she wants to help other moms who are afraid that using a wheelchair means they have limit themselves.  
    “No matter what, I want women to know they have support,” she said. “I tell them, ‘Never give up on the life you have.’ There is beauty in life. If you give up, you’ll never know what’s going to come up next.”
    Taylor has packaged her message in some innovative ways. She has created a positive mantra based on the acronym for her condition.  
    “I don’t consider POTS to be something that can take away my quality of life,” she said. “Instead, I consider it a Perfect Opportunity To Shine — P-O-T-S.”
    She tells people, “Don’t go into self-pity. Every breath you take is a reason to make your life better. You need to go out there. Wheelchairs are freedom, not scary. They are a way to access the world.”  
    Taylor’s brief talk inspired everyone listening.  
    “She is doing wonderful things,” Mullaugh said. “She recognizes there is a need out there, and she can do something about it. She’s a bright, articulate and intelligent person.”  
    Next for Taylor comes Ms. Wheelchair America, Aug. 8-14 in Grand Rapids, Mich.  
    The parent organization was formed in 1972 to recognize the accomplishments of women who use wheelchairs for mobility.

By Steve Plunkett

    Lake Wyman’s closest neighbors are renewing their call for further study of the park’s renovation now that the project has been revived.
    Golden Harbour residents’ main concern remains submerging 4 acres of land to make a seagrass mitigation pond without doing “a proper engineering study,” said Christine Cherepy, of the Golden Harbour Homeowners Association.
    The neighborhood fears the pond could become a mosquito breeding spot.
    In 2011, the county’s Environmental Resources Management Department and the Florida Inland Navigation District were ready to fund a more than $3 million restoration of Lake Wyman and Rutherford parks. Golden Harbour opposition and City Council concerns about having little say in the plan scuttled it.
    “Our neighborhood has consistently asked the city, FIND, Palm Beach ERM, this body [and] other groups to do an independent engineering study to ensure that if you submerge 4 acres of land on the FIND parcel in Lake Wyman Park that the flushing is adequate, both immediately after this project is done, a year afterwards, three years afterwards, 10 years afterwards,” Cherepy told the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District at its July 11 meeting.
    She asked the district to pay for the engineering study, which in 2011 was estimated to cost $50,000, or 1.7 percent of the total project.
    “So for 1.7 percent you could ensure that anything that is submerged doesn’t become swampland over time,” Cherepy said.
    She also revived concerns that an access road is too close to the canal that separates the park from her neighborhood and that day slips for boats will endanger manatees.
    Golden Harbour resident Steve Reiss, who lives on the 14th Street canal, said the proposal has no provision for a restroom and will change the dynamics of getting to Lake Boca, with boaters stopping at the day slips to pick up passengers.
    “All of a sudden like ants they’ll be coming through there,” Reiss said.
    In June, Boca Raton’s environmental advisory board told the City Council that the county should be considered an expert at turning spoil islands into seagrass and mangrove habitat, with successful projects in Ocean Ridge, West Palm Beach and Jupiter.
    “We’re not launching a space shuttle here. We just need to make a good habitat. That’s exactly what this is doing,” Steve Alley, chairman of the environmental board, said in urging the council to pursue the renovation.
    The basic plan is to remove four spoil islands in Lake Wyman, clean out canoe trails in Rutherford and Lake Wyman parks, extend a boardwalk and add some amenities.
    In 2011, the estimated cost of the restoration was just more than $3 million, with FIND contributing $2.1 million and the county and city $450,000 each. The Beach and Park District agreed to fund half of Boca Raton’s share.
    To get the deal done, FIND wants all permits in hand by September 2017. Boca Raton has to reapply for a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, which will take a year if there are no big changes to the original plan.

By Henry Fitzgerald

    Boca Raton property owners will see a slight decrease in their tax rate after the City Council tentatively approved a rate of $3.6789 per $1,000 of taxable value, down just a tick from the current $3.6799 per $1,000.
    But with that reduction comes a proposed $20 increase in the fire assessment fee for homeowners, from $85 to $105.
    “As you know, costs increase each year for public safety services,” City Manager Leif Ahnell told council members July 26. “Fire services cost about $18 million a year, and with the fee the city will recoup nearly 50 percent of that cost, or about $8.9 million.”
    The last increase was five years ago, he added.
    If the proposed tax rate is approved, the owner of a $500,000 home would pay $1,839.45 in property taxes, down 50 cents from $1,839.95 under the current rate.
    The proposed tax rate can’t go higher, but the council could lower it before final approval.
    The first 2016-2017 budget hearing is set for 6 p.m. Sept. 12 at City Hall, 201 W. Palmetto Park Road.
    City residents also pay the beach and park district about 91 cents per $1,000 in property taxes.

Saved by an experimental treatment, Boca Raton
woman works for a cure for multiple myeloma

Lori Alf was the first volunteer for a clinical trial using immunotherapy

to fight a blood cancer called multiple myeloma.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Lona O’Connor

    She is a striking woman who turns heads when she walks into a Boca Raton Starbucks. But there is something else that makes Lori Alf stand out, and it cannot be seen.
    “Lori is a force of nature,” said Dr. Carl June. Like others who know her, June is referring to her energy and tenacity. But it may also turn out that she is a force for the cure of multiple myeloma, one of the most devastating cancers.
    Alf, 50, of coastal Boca Raton, was the first person to volunteer for a medical trial at the University of Pennsylvania in 2014, using a new technique developed by June’s research team. Within weeks, she was free of cancerous myeloma cells, which were crowding out her healthy blood cells and well on their way to killing her.
    Scientists are now studying her tissue samples, because finding the reason for her remarkable recovery may lead to a cure for others.
    Alf was 43 in 2009 when she got her diagnosis. She had three young children, a husband and a busy life. She was running Palm Beach Ice Works in West Palm Beach, a facility for competitive and recreational skaters. Her daughter, Caterina, 18, is a competitive skater and her son Christer, 16, is a hockey player.
    Multiple myeloma starts in the bone marrow, where lethal “mother cells” send “daughter cells” into the blood. As the disease progresses, healthy blood cells dwindle almost to nothing.
    About 30,000 Americans will be diagnosed with multiple myeloma this year, and 48 percent will survive, according to estimates by the National Cancer Institute.

Lori Alf’s son Christer and dog Versace sleep with her while  Alf was still receiving

chemotherapy, before she began the immunotherapy clinical trial at the University of Pennsylvania.

Photos provided

    Alf did not even remotely fit the profile for multiple myeloma. Those most likely to have the disease are over 65, male, often African-American. What could have caused it?
    “The doctor asked me right away if I had been exposed to radiation,” said Alf.
    She grew up in rural New York on her father’s vineyard, ice skating on the nearby pond in winter. The family farm was near Niagara Falls, N.Y., and two toxic dumps: The first was the infamous Love Canal, site of a chemical dump that caused a number of cancers in nearby residents in the 1980s and is still leaching carcinogenic substances into the earth.
    Also nearby was the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, near Lewisburg, N.Y. At least 10,000 tons of radioactive material from the Manhattan Project had been stored there since 1944, when scientists were building the first atomic bomb. Some of the waste was stored in a concrete silo, but some of it was left on open ground near waterways that lead to Lake Ontario.
    Those working on the Lake Ontario radiation cleanup say it will be completed in 2025. Others estimate that the radiation could linger for another 10,000 years.
    Lori Alf feels that the radiation dump was the source of her cancer.
    By far the most familiar treatment of many cancers, including myeloma, is to poison them with strong drugs — chemotherapy. Alf received her treatments at the prestigious Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, but years of chemotherapy and blood transfusions barely kept her alive.
    Alf’s family rallied round, according to their abilities, even her youngest child.
    “I don’t remember too much about it,” says her son Chapin. “I was only 6.”
    But his mother remembers. Chapin, like his brother and sister, took on the role of constant companion. “He’s still very protective of me,” says Alf, as Chapin sits next to her in a Boca Raton coffee shop.
    Her husband, Chris Alf, who runs an air transport company, was her partner on medical decisions. After five years of chemotherapy, Alf was only just hanging on, living from one blood transfusion to the next. Her body was no longer responding to treatments.
    All along, the Alfs wanted to try immunotherapy, the use of the body’s own protective forces to kill the cancer. They were told that such treatment did not yet exist.

Alf sits with Dr. Edward Stadtmauer (left) and Dr. Alfred Garfall while undergoing immunotherapy.

    They had been researching the Internet for alternative treatments when they discovered a medical trial at the University of Pennsylvania. The technique was so new that it had not even been tried on lab rats.
    Alf was the first to sign up for the trial, which took only 10 people who had exhausted all other medical alternatives. She weighed 80 pounds and had only weeks to live.
    T cells were collected from her blood, then genetically altered into super-versions of themselves. Researchers grew billions of the altered T cells and returned them to her body, where they multiplied and killed the cancer cells. The T cells now contained chimeric antigen receptors, which could find and destroy her cancerous cells.
    Researchers are continuing to study a batch of tissue samples they took from her. If something found in those samples provides the key to curing multiple myeloma, she will be pleased.
    But until that day comes, she is as busy as ever. A member of Vice President Joe Biden’s “Moonshot” team to find a cure for cancer, she has set fundraising as her goal. Biden launched the effort in January at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, where Alf received her treatment. She also volunteers for Stand Up to Cancer.
    “Independent funding is so important because we need to get answers so we can help all the other people,” she says.
    When she chats with myeloma patients, some just as desperate as she once was, she says, “They seem to calm down. I think it’s just the fact that I made it.”

The Florida Singing Sons will perform as part of St. Gregory’s 2016-17 Concert Series.

The Fort Lauderdale-based choir performs Gregorian chant and Broadway favorites.

Photo provided

By Janice Fontaine

    It’s the trip of a lifetime. Vatican City. The Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museums. St. Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo’s heart-swelling Pieta. The tomb of Blessed Pope John Paul II.
    Magnificent!
    But what puts this trip over the top and makes it a one-time-only experience is the chance to attend the canonization ceremony for Mother Teresa, which takes place Sept. 4.
    Pope Francis put the nun called “the saint of the gutter” on the fast track to sainthood. The two required miracles have been authenticated, one for beatification (recognition of a person’s entrance into heaven) and the second for sainthood, which means the person has lived a holy life and is to be honored.
    For Annie Davis of Palm Beach Travel, who is organizing the trip, Mother Teresa is one of her heroes. When she heard that Sky Tours was offering this trip, she knew it would be popular. A trip she planned three years ago to Rome was a huge hit and people always told Davis if she planned another trip, to sign them up.
    The first 20 spots sold immediately, but Davis said if she can find about 12 more people who want to go, she can add a second group. The trip costs just under $2,500 for double occupancy; for a single-person room add about $600. A stop in Portugal to see Our Lady of Fatima, which is celebrating 100 years since the apparition appeared, is also planned. A complete itinerary is available online.
    For more information, call 585-5885 or visit www.mypalmbeachtravel.com.

The Holy Land
    Maybe you’d rather walk where Jesus is said to have walked. First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach is taking 20 people to the Holy Land in April. The all-inclusive cost of the trip is just under $4,000. Call 276-6338, Ext. 10 or visit www.firstdelray.com.

Music at St. Paul’s
    Camerata del Re: Strike the Viol, the next production for Music at St. Paul’s on Aug. 21, will feature combinations for viols, violins and flutes on period instruments. The concert is 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. $15 requested donation. $20 for preferred seating. For more information, call 276-4541 or visit www.stpaulsdelray.org

St. Gregory’s 2016-17 tickets
    Tickets go on sale in September for St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church’s 2016-17 Concert Series. Shows include:  Phantom of the Opera (Oct. 22); A Seraphic Fire Christmas: On a Winter’s Night (Dec. 18); An Evening with Tim Brumfield and Friends (Jan. 14); Wycliffe Gordon (Feb. 12); The Florida Singing Sons and The Girl Choir of South Florida (March 5). St. Gregory’s is at 100 NE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton. Call 561-395-8339 or visit www.stgregorysepiscopal.org

Prosperity Coffee
    Unity of Delray’s weekly coffee club, which meets from 7-8 a.m. on Thursdays in the Mary Kupferle Hall, has become an important part of the week for more than 50 regular attendees.
    What started with a handful of people is now a thriving fellowship led by the Rev. Nancy Norman, who teaches a chapter from whatever book they’re reading — they’re currently discussing Think and Grow Rich — then leads a discussion.
    There’s time for conversation, encouraging words and warm greetings. And, of course, there’s coffee, plus tea and goodies.
    Unity of Delray Beach is at 101 NW 22nd St., Delray Beach. For more information, call 276-5796 or visit www.unityofdelraybeach.org.

    Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at janisfontaine@outlook.com.

By Steve Pike

    At 92, William Finley certainly doesn’t need the work or the frustrations. He distinguished himself first as a B-17 pilot in World II and then as one of the country’s leading urban planners. But ask Finley why he has challenged the nation’s top 80 billionaires with his new book, A Bold Proposal for American Cities, and you get a cold stare from the normally affable Boynton Beach resident.
    “After the service I went back to being Catholic,’’ Finley said. “The priests were good people but they didn’t have the answers. So I figured I’m on the Earth for X number of years and I owed something to the larger society if I can do it.

    “It’s purely personal drive. I don’t want to just sit around. I’ve given this (project) 10 years and I’m two years into it.’’
    Bold Proposal is the follow-up book to Finley’s 2008 book, Curing Urbanitis: The Metropolitan Disease, in which he mapped out ways America’s cities can be rejuvenated. In Bold Proposal, Finley and co-author Robert Tennenbaum seek to tap into the billions of dollars in funds America’s billionaires have pledged for philanthropic purposes. The authors propose a joint action program that combines assistance to older cities and a building of a “new city’’ at the 500,000 population level.
    The latter is not without precedent, as Finley spent a decade as senior project director for the Rouse Company, which developed the “new city’’ of Columbia, Md., nearly 50 years ago.
    “I want to find the mechanism and the money to start the process in several cities so there is confidence and places like Topeka and Toledo that there is hope and we’re not going to be worse off in 10 or 20 years,’’ Finley said.
    Finley, who founded the nonprofit Partnership for Community Building to operate the project, sent copies of Bold Proposal to the people Forbes magazine identified as America’s top 80 billionaires — those with fortunes of at least $4 billion.
    The only response he has received so far is from, well, a galaxy far, far away.
    “George Lucas wrote me a note that said, ‘Thanks, but I’m not in your world.’’’
    But that hasn’t deterred Finley.
    “There is plenty of land’’ to build new cities, he said. “But it’s impossible to finance because there is no ‘patient’ money in America. Wall Street wants a payoff in 90 days and HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) doesn’t do anything. But there is a source of funds if people will pay attention to it.     
    “What I’m doing is challenging the billionaires — who have more money than they know what to do with and have already agreed to give it away — to build new cities and set an example to the world with modern technology.’’
    A bold proposal, indeed.

The 324-foot ship Lady Luck was scuttled in 120 feet of water off Pompano Beach

on the afternoon of July 23, adding to the dive destinations already in Shipwreck Park.

Photo provided by Elaine Fitzgerald

The Ana Cecilia begins taking on water off Singer Island on July 13, when it was intentionally sunk

to become the county’s 151st artificial reef. Watch videos of the Ana Cecilia’s sinking at www.thecoastalstar.com.

Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

Videos: Cargo ship becomes Palm Beach County's 151st artificial reef | Aerial view of the sinking of the Ana Cecilia | Scuba Nation underwater video of the Ana Cecilia

By Willie Howard

    A 170-foot cargo ship that delivered humanitarian goods to Cuba in 2012 and was later used to smuggle cocaine became Palm Beach County’s newest artificial reef on July 13.
    A tugboat’s horn blasted and cheers rang out from a gathering of boaters and county officials as the M/V Ana Cecilia slipped below the surface in calm seas off Singer Island to become the county’s 151st artificial reef.
    The Ana Cecilia is resting in 85 feet of water at the southern end of a line of 11 artificial reefs, about three-quarters of a mile long, that includes other ships, limestone boulders and debris from bridge demolitions.
    That means scuba divers should be able to begin at the Ana Cecilia and drift north in the current over several other artificial reefs during a single dive.
    The newly scuttled ship is resting just south of another ship, the 185-foot Mizpah. Coordinates for the Ana Cecilia are 26/47.118 N and 80/00.96 W.
    The ship is expected to attract goliath grouper later this summer, and parts of the vessel are expected to become sleeping quarters for endangered hawksbill sea turtles, said Julie Bishop, a biologist with the county’s Department of Environmental Resources Management.
    “The Ana Cecilia will soon become a diver’s dream, bustling with underwater activity as she is colonized by algae, sponges and corals to support a diverse community of colorful marine life,” Bishop said.
    The ship faces south, into the prevailing current. The top of the ship rises 35 feet above the bottom, meaning divers can reach parts of the Ana Cecilia 50 feet below the surface.
    In addition to creating new habitat for marine life, the new artificial reef honors five people who died or were lost at sea recently in boating accidents.
    Bronze plaques attached to the back of the ship’s wheelhouse bear the names of Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, the Tequesta teenagers who disappeared after leaving Jupiter inlet in a 19-foot boat in July 2015.
    Another plaque honors Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Deputy Fernandez Jones, his 9-year-old son, Jaden, and his stepfather, Willis Bell. Jones and his family members died after their boat sank off Martin County in April.
    “It’s always great to have something sunk that has some history and has ties to the community,” said Shana Phelan, owner of Pura Vida Divers in Riviera Beach.
    Palm Beach County paid $110,000 to clean, tow and sink the 1972 ship after it was donated to the county by federal authorities.
    In 2012, the Ana Cecilia became the first ship to deliver humanitarian goods to Cuba from Miami, but it later fell into the hands of drug smugglers.
    Surveillance along the Miami River led agents from Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to 386 bricks of cocaine, which they removed from the ship in September 2015. The ship’s captain was indicted.
    Federal authorities seized the Ana Cecilia and formally donated it to Palm Beach County in May.

Lady Luck scuttled off Pompano Beach pier
    A 324-foot retired New York sludge ship was scuttled July 23 off the Pompano Beach fishing pier to create what promoters are calling the world’s first underwater art gallery.
    Formerly known as the Newtown Creek, the new artificial reef joins 16 other wrecks in an area off Pompano Beach known as Shipwreck Park.
    Marine artist Dennis MacDonald created a faux casino on the Lady Luck’s deck, including giant dice, poker tables, a mermaid serving drinks and “card sharks.”
    The bottom of the ship sits in 120 feet, but divers can reach the upper parts of the ship about 40 feet below the surface.
For details, go to www.shipwreckparkpompano.org

Larger size, smaller limit for mutton snapper proposed
    State regulators have recommended an increase in the minimum size and a decrease in the daily bag limit for mutton snapper, a popular South Florida reef fish.
    A draft rule approved in June by the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission would increase the minimum size for mutton snapper by 2 inches, to 18 inches.
    The proposed daily bag limit is three mutton snapper per person (as part of the 10-fish aggregate snapper bag limit). Currently, recreational anglers can take 10 mutton snapper a day.
    The mutton snapper rule changes would not take effect until after the FWC’s final public hearing and vote, scheduled for early September.

Prizes awarded in Lake Worth Lagoon tournament
    Participants in the first Lake Worth Lagoon Fishing Challenge won Penn rod-and-reel combinations and Engel coolers for catching fish in the lagoon and submitting their catches through the iAngler Tournament  app.
    Josh Divine, 9, of Lake Clarke Shores won the junior division by submitting  84 fish of 17 species during the monthlong tournament, held during June. Josh fished with his father, Matt, and sister, Ceci, in several parts of the lagoon using cut shrimp for bait.
    Max Lichtig of North Palm Beach won the adult overall award by submitting 55 fish of 11 species. Matthew Buchanan of West Palm Beach won a cooler for submitting two bonefish caught in the lagoon.
    Overall, 27 anglers submitted 456 catch reports during the tournament.
    Catch reports are expected to help Palm Beach County environmental regulators track the whereabouts of fish and the condition of fish habitat in the lagoon, which stretches 20 miles from North Palm Beach to Ocean Ridge.

Coming events
    Aug. 6: Regular spiny lobster season opens and remains open through March 31. Daily bag limit: six lobsters per person. Head section must measure at least 3 inches. Lobster must be measured in the water and landed whole. No egg-bearing lobster may be taken. Saltwater fishing license with lobster permit required (unless exempt). Details: www.myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lobster
    Aug. 13: REEF Palm Beach County Lionfish Derby based at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach. Late registration and mandatory captain’s meeting Aug. 12 at the Marinelife Center. Teams hunt lionfish all day Aug. 13, then bring them to the Marinelife Center at noon Aug. 14 for scoring. Awards and a public lionfish tasting follow scoring. Entry fee $120 per team (two to four divers). Call (305) 852-0030  or go to www.reef.org/lionfish/derbies

    Aug. 13: Mark Gerretson Memorial Fishing Tournament to benefit youth causes in Delray Beach. Begins with a captain’s meeting set for 6-8 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Hurricane Bar & Lounge, 640 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. Tournament weigh-in at Deck 84 restaurant in Delray Beach. Entry fee $225 per boat. Details: www.mgmft.net
    Aug. 27: Coast Guard Auxiliary offers basic boating safety class, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at classroom next to the boat ramps, Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2010 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. It’s free. Class fees covered by a grant from the Perry J. Cohen Foundation. Register at the door. Call 331-2429.
    Aug. 27: Boynton Beach Fishing Club begins inshore/offshore fishing tournament. Runs through Sept. 5. Use iAngler smartphone app to submit catches. Fish can be released or kept if legal. Must pick up tournament ruler at captain’s meeting. Cash prizes. Entry fee $35 through Aug. 20 or $50 thereafter. Captain’s meeting 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 26 at Due South Brewing, 2900 High Ridge Road, Boynton Beach. Details: www.bifc.org or 703-5638.

Tip of the month
    Say your grandchildren are coming for the weekend and want to go boating. You’ll need a life jacket of the correct size for each child on the boat, of course.
    Don’t want to buy and store more life jackets?
    Consider borrowing them.
    Loaner life jackets are available through the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water. The program allows boaters to borrow children’s life jackets for the afternoon, the day or the weekend at no cost.
    Loaner life jackets for kids are available at more than 1,500 places nationwide (go to www.BoatUS.org/loanermap).
    In south Palm Beach County, boaters can borrow kids’ life jackets from the dockmaster’s office at the Palm Beach Yacht Center, 7848 S. Federal Highway in Hypoluxo. Call 588-9911.

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