Related election information

Mayor's Race: Trio running for mayor includes two council incumbents | Mayoral candidate profiles (Nachlas, Thomson, Liebelson)

 Council Seat A: Council race features accountant, attorney and real estate broker | Seat A candidate profiles (Grau, Korn, Ritchey)

 Council Seat B: Incumbent faces off against founder and supporter of Save Boca | Seat B candidate profiles (Madsen, Pearlmen, Wigder)

 Council Seat D: Ex-county mayor battles city board stalwart, Save Boca member | Council Seat D candidate profiles (Cellon, Sipple, Weinroth)

12 candidates vying for mayor and three other seats on dais

By Mary Hladky

With so much at stake, Boca Raton’s March 10 election has outsized significance.

For starters, voters will be choosing a new mayor, who will replace term-limited Scott Singer, and three of the four City Council seats are up for grabs.

That alone imbues the election with importance. But magnifying the impact is that voters will be asked to decide if the city can redevelop a portion of the 31.7-acre downtown campus in partnership with developers Terra and Frisbie Group.

A “yes” vote will clear the way for the project to move forward, preserving recreation and green space on the west side of the campus and adding residential units and office and hotel buildings on the east side.

If the vote is “no,” more than a year of planning and preparation will crumble to dust and city leaders will confront decisions on how, at the very least, they will replace the old and dilapidated City Hall and Community Center and improve outdated recreation facilities on the west side.

Voters also will determine if a new police headquarters can be built on city-owned land on Spanish River Boulevard east of the city library, replacing the old and inadequate headquarters across the street from the current City Hall.

They will be asked whether to approve a $175 million bond issue to finance the construction. Residents would pay for it through a property tax increase that would end when the bond is paid off.

Beyond all that, voters are experiencing unprecedented political activism by Save Boca, the residents’ group that opposes the downtown campus redevelopment plans.

Save Boca wants to seize control of the City Council, fielding a slate of three council candidates that could become a council majority.

They are Michelle Grau for Seat A, Save Boca founder Jon Pearlman for Seat B and Stacy Sipple for Seat D. All have vowed not to take campaign contributions from developers.

The mayor’s race is impacted as well. Candidate Mike Liebelson is not a Save Boca member but strongly supports the group. He is running against two current council members, Fran Nachlas and Andy Thomson.

Nachlas, now deputy mayor, supports the downtown campus redevelopment with Terra/Frisbie, while Thomson is strongly opposed.

Nachlas and Thomson have raised an astonishing amount of money for their campaigns and are running almost neck-and-neck in fundraising.

The most recent financial reports at the end of December showed Nachlas with $473,000 in contributions and Thomson with $407,000. Nachlas loaned her campaign $100,000.

Liebelson is almost entirely self-financing his campaign with a $50,000 loan and a $5,000 donation.

With Nachlas and Thomson locked in the battle to become mayor, Council member Marc Wigder is the only incumbent seeking reelection to the seat he now holds.

Boca Raton city election
Election day: March 10
Last day to register to vote: Feb. 9
Last day to request mail-in ballot: Feb. 26
The mayor and council races are citywide for three-year terms, except the Council D race, which is for an unexpired one-year term.

Also on the ballot
Voters will decide two other issues:
Whether to approve moving forward with the proposed redevelopment of the city’s downtown campus.
Whether to approve the city’s issuing bonds of up to $175 million to build a new police headquarters, relocated from downtown to a site adjacent to the Spanish River Library.

Town Manager Trey Nazzaro (foreground), Police Chief Richard Jones and Town Clerk Reneé Basel constitute three changes in leadership jobs in Gulf Stream in recent years. Nazzaro’s promotion in January follows Jones’ hiring from Ocean Ridge in 2023 and Basel’s promotion in 2022. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

At their first meeting since Town Manager Greg Dunham announced his retirement, Gulf Stream town commissioners quickly elevated Trey Nazzaro, his assistant, as his successor.

“I think Trey is the perfect candidate,” Commissioner Joan Orthwein said before the unanimous vote Jan. 9.

“I’m absolutely in favor of this,” Commissioner Robert Canfield said.

Choosing Nazzaro was one of three options Dunham gave to replace him. Commissioners could also have gotten free help in a search for job candidates from a state municipal managers group or spent up to $30,000 on a headhunter.

By picking Nazzaro and opting not to replace him with another assistant, “We’ll actually be saving money,” Orthwein said.

But Nazzaro did receive a healthy salary boost, from $178,000 a year to $230,000.

“We should move him up equal to Ocean Ridge,” Mayor Scott Morgan said, and into the midrange of manager pay on the barrier island.

After being praised by Morgan and Dunham, Nazzaro lauded Town Clerk Reneé Basel, who he said “is just such a such a huge value add in her position.”

“She’s not only the town clerk but does a lot of what I would consider assistant manager or senior-level things,” just like the relationship previous Manager Bill Thrasher and Clerk Rita Taylor had, Nazarro said.

“That’s the relationship that I envision having with Reneé.”

Nazzaro, 43, started working for the town in 2014 as a paralegal at Gulf Stream’s law firm, Jones Foster, while he was still attending St. Thomas University School of Law. The town passed a resolution of appreciation for the work he did then, authoring Gulf Stream’s public records policy. He graduated that year magna cum laude and spent the next two years as a law clerk in federal court in Miami before being hired full time by the town as staff attorney.

“You had at one point 33 lawsuits that you were actively managing with our outside counsel, which were usually two or three,” Vice Mayor Tom Stanley recalled of Nazzaro’s early days. “I would go into your office and all I would see was stacks and stacks of things. There were motions and pleadings and depositions.”

At the time, the town was being buffeted by thousands of public records requests and dozens of lawsuits, mostly by a couple of residents.

“I think when you see a young man go through something — you had a young child and a family, you were here late and you did all those things for us to get us through that. You know, that shows the character, the type of professional, the type of employee, type of family member that we want on our staff,” Stanley said.

Commissioners were also effusive with praise for Dunham, who was hired in 2017 when Gulf Stream was still battling lawsuits and public records requests.

“Your calm demeanor and presence stabilized what could have been a real problem in this Town Hall because we had already lost staff,” Morgan said. “But you kept people together, you moved it forward, and we made it through that time, due in no small part to your leadership.”

Dunham also guided the town through the end phase of its utility undergrounding project and devised its ambitious 10-year capital improvement plan to replace water mains and stormwater drains and resurface roadways.

“So as you move forward into your retirement, I want you to know that you leave with honor but also with the best wishes and the gratitude of this town,” the mayor said.

Dunham began his career as a police officer and assistant city manager in Texas, then moved to Florida State University for a master’s degree in public administration. He was an assistant city manager in Palm Beach Gardens, then town manager in Ocean Ridge from 1998 to 2002 and in Manalapan from 2002 to 2010. After a break from government work, he served as town manager of Kenly, North Carolina, for five years before coming to Gulf Stream.

He thanked his staff “for your hard work and your dedication and commitment to make Gulf Stream the best town for our residents to live in.”

“It’s been the best job I’ve ever had,” Dunham said. “What a job to have at the end of your career and what a town to work for.” 

Move ends a 20-year alliance; exiting leader did not submit bid

By John Pacenti

Ocean Ridge has selected Craig A. Smith & Associates as its primary town engineering firm and approved negotiations with five additional specialty consultants to provide continuing professional services, town officials said Jan. 28.

That ends a two-decade relationship between the town and engineer Lisa Tropepe of Engenuity Group. Tropepe did not submit a bid or return a phone call seeking comment.

Deerfield Beach-based Craig A. Smith & Associates will serve as the “anchor” firm for day-to-day engineering work. 

The Town Commission also voted at its Jan. 12 meeting to authorize staff to enter negotiations with CHA Consulting, Pennoni Associates, CPZ Architects, West Architecture & Design, and Florida Technical Consultants for specialty services.

The specialty firms fill specific project needs, Town Manager Michelle Heiser said. For example, Florida Technical Consultants will update the town’s GIS and provide a public dashboard.

Steve Smith of Craig A. Smith & Associates said his team has ample local experience and is ready to work with Ocean Ridge. “We are intimately familiar with your challenges,” he told the commission. “We’re local. We’ve always been local, and we will be involved.”

Town officials said the transition should be smooth for ongoing projects. 

Heiser told the commission that Tropepe will continue work on active contracts and permitting, while the newly selected firms will assume new assignments after contracts are finalized. 

By John Pacenti

To make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs. When it comes to Delray Beach’s $280 million water plant, that apparently meant breaking the main line that provides water to the city.

A 36-inch water main break at Delray Beach’s water treatment plant early Jan. 3 forced the city to temporarily rely on neighboring municipalities for water supply while crews worked to repair the damage.

The break occurred around 4 a.m. that Saturday during drilling operations for a deep injection well. Utilities Director Hassan Hadjimiry said the contractor hit the underground pipe while drilling the well, which is needed to dispose of undrinkable water from the new facility’s nano-filtration system.

“These are 36-inch pipes that can carry close to 20 million gallons per day,” Hadjimiry told the City Commission at its Jan. 6 meeting. “When that is impacted, millions of gallons of water can come out in a day.”

The city contained the break by 11 p.m. the same day and immediately activated interconnections with Palm Beach County, Boca Raton and Boynton Beach to maintain water service. 

Residents were never without water, though the city requested they reduce unnecessary usage for irrigation, car washing and driveway cleaning during the emergency.

Hadjimiry told The Coastal Star the incident highlights the challenges of working around aging infrastructure at the 60-plus-year-old treatment plant site, where “there are a lot of treasures that are hidden underground.” Despite the city's having maps of underground utilities, the exact locations can be difficult to pinpoint due to the facility’s age, he said.

“Whenever you open a ground that hasn’t been exposed for, God knows how many decades, you find this stuff,” he said. “You plan for the worse but hope everything gets done right.”

Youngquist Brothers, the contractor handling the deep injection well project, will bear the costs for the damaged pipe and emergency repairs, Hadjimiry said. The company specializes in deep injection wells throughout Florida.

The utilities director emphasized that water quality was never compromised during the incident. 

Repairs took about a week and involved the replacement of the damaged 36-inch pipe and some defective valves discovered during the incident. “It’s not something that you go to Home Depot and get the part,” Hadjimiry said.

The water treatment plant, currently producing up to 9 million gallons per day through an alternate pipeline, continues operating normally. The new facility is scheduled for completion by mid-2028 and will significantly expand the city’s water treatment capacity from 14 million to 22 million gallons per day.

City officials participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new water plant on Jan. 29 at the treatment plant site.

The city’s utility system operates on an enterprise fund separate from the general budget, so repair costs and temporary water purchases from neighboring municipalities will not mean higher water bills for residents, Hadjimiry said. 

By Patrick Sherry 

Boynton Beach commissioners serving as the Community Redevelopment Agency board hit the brakes on moving forward with a $7.25 million land acquisition at the city’s downtown gateway on Boynton Beach Boulevard. They want to know if nearby property owners will hinder any of their revitalization plans.

The location of the 13 parcels at 444 W. Boynton Beach Blvd., east of Interstate 95, leads into the heart of downtown. Late last year, work crews demolished the Inn at Boynton Beach — purchased by the CRA for $8.1 million in October — that sits adjacent to the site. The CRA land acquisition in this area is part of plans to turn the east-west corridor into a major city center. 

Commissioners considered acquiring the 3.30-acre site at the Jan. 20 CRA meeting. Chris Brown, the CRA’s executive director, advised the board to move quickly to approve the land buy to meet the proposed March 13 closing date. 

“It’s an excellent purchase, and I think it will combine with the hotel that we bought previously,” Brown said. “This will make a great assemblage for a new development.” 

To pay the seller’s asking price, city staff recommended reallocating $2.5 million set aside for a parking garage to property acquisition. While most of the board supported buying the land, there were concerns about the lack of plans to acquire surrounding properties that could be added to the assemblage — and potential opposition from nearby neighborhoods. 

Commissioners Aimee Kelley and Thomas Turkin wanted more input from those homeowners to ensure that the city could move forward with any future projects on the site. They believe there should be community buy-in before they pour money into it.

“I want to make sure that we’re not going down this road, and then we have residents who don’t support what maybe this board’s vision is, or the city’s vision is, in these parcels,” Kelley said. 

The board moved consideration of acquiring the land and reallocating funds towards its purchase to the Feb. 10 CRA meeting. The board directed staff to bring back feedback from residents near the site and prepare more details on purchasing other surrounding properties. 

By Patrick Sherry and Larry Barszewski

Island residents will have to drive a little farther in the future if they want to get their fix of authentic Italian cuisine from Josie’s Ristorante. Owners of the popular Boynton Beach dining spot are making preparations to build a new home for their restaurant.

The new location will be on Federal Highway 1.5 miles south of Josie's current home at the southeast corner of Woolbright Road and Federal Highway.

The standalone restaurant would be at 3047 N. Federal Highway, on the east side of Federal a few blocks north of the Walmart, but the land first needs to be rezoned by the city from special high density residential to general commercial.

The City Commission gave initial approval to that rezoning at its Jan. 20 meeting. A second vote, scheduled for its Feb. 3 meeting, had to be postponed because the item was not advertised properly. The commission now plans to take up the request at a special meeting Feb.10.  

At the Jan. 20 meeting, Joni Brinkman, principal and senior planner for Urban Design Studio, spoke on behalf of the applicant.  

“They are an establishment that’s been here many years,” Brinkman said. “They’re a staple of the community, and they’re excited to be able to go into a new building eventually.”

The owners’ lease ends in November, and they have already started the permitting process for the new construction. They were not able to provide details on how the new restaurant will look or when they expect it will be completed. 

The new site is being split from another parcel that will still be zoned for high density residential.

The rezoning initially worried some commissioners who feared current state law could open the doors to a development they would not want to see at the site. 

Commissioner Angela Cruz said the rezoning might make the property eligible to be used through the state's Florida’s Live Local Act.

“I just wanted to get a commitment that that’s not the intent here, and it’s just to build a restaurant,” Cruz said. 

State lawmakers designed the Live Local Act to increase affordable housing by incentivizing the building of residential developments on sites zoned for commercial, industrial, or mixed use. 

Several municipalities across the state have criticized the law because it allows developers to override local restrictions for housing projects.

Brinkman told commissioners the owners only want to build a restaurant on the property.

“The applicant has gone to extensive costs to date to prepare all the drawings, the architecture, and the permitting … my understanding is their intent is to build the restaurant,” Brinkman said.

Local residents also voiced support for the restaurant and its plans. 

“I think we should go forward with this,” Susan Oyer said. “I’m sure they’re going to do the right thing because they’re fine upstanding people in our community.”

Commissioners then unanimously approved on first reading amending the site’s future land use map and the rezoning of the property for commercial use. 

Related election information

Election overview: Downtown campus, council lineup, police HQ up to voters

Mayor's Race: Trio running for mayor includes two council incumbents

 Council Seat A: Council race features accountant, attorney and real estate broker | Seat A candidate profiles (Grau, Korn, Ritchey)

Council Seat B:  Incumbent faces off against founder and supporter of Save Boca  | Seat B candidate profiles (Madsen, Pearlmen, Wigder)

 Council Seat D: Ex-county mayor battles city board stalwart, Save Boca member | Seat D candidate profiles (Cellon, Sipple, Weinroth)

Candidate profiles were compiled via telephone interviews. Candidates were asked to supply personal information regarding their age, education, marital status and number of years residing in their municipalities. They were also asked to provide a brief history of their professional life and experience, if any, in holding public office. Finally, they were asked about their positions on issues facing their communities and to provide an overarching quote detailing the reasons they believe they should be elected (or reelected), along with a current photograph.

Candidate profiles compiled by Steven J. Smith

Boca Raton city election
Election day: March 10
Last day to register to vote: Feb. 9
Last day to request mail-in ballot: Feb. 26
The mayor and council races are citywide for three-year terms, except the Council D race, which is for an unexpired one-year term.

Also on the ballot
Voters will decide two other issues:
Whether to approve moving forward with the proposed redevelopment of the city’s downtown campus.
Whether to approve the city’s issuing bonds of up to $175 million to build a new police headquarters, relocated from downtown to a site adjacent to the Spanish River Library.

Motorists driving north on State Road A1A approaching Linton Boulevard may be getting some relief from congestion at the intersection as workers reinstalled wires that help control when the traffic signal should change. 

Two Florida Department of Transportation projects, one from Linton Boulevard through Highland Beach and the other from Linton Boulevard to Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, are wrapping up with just a handful of jobs remaining to be done. 

One of the tasks that had been outstanding was the installation of traffic-signal detection loops, which was completed in late January. Without the triggering devices, the lights had been changing at timed intervals. 

That work is part of the 1.55-mile road project on A1A in Delray Beach that includes regrading the road from Linton Boulevard to Casuarina Road as well as regrading swales in the area. 

The $2.2 million project also includes sidewalk and curb ramp improvements, upgrading pedestrian crossing signals at two intersections on A1A and installing flashing beacons at five crosswalks. Improved signage and pavement markings are part of the project. 

The vast majority of the work on that project is completed with the exception of the improvements at Linton Boulevard and concrete work being done on Nassau Street.

A few brief road closures may be required during work in those areas. 

Work on the 3.35-mile project in Highland Beach is also all but completed, according to FDOT, with contractors working on a punch list of small corrections or additional improvements.

— Rich Pollack

By Larry Barszewski and John Pacenti

Tennis star Coco Gauff’s grandmother wanted to be a Delray Beach city commissioner — if only for a handful of meetings — but she and her supporters couldn’t get the commission to agree.

Yvonne Odom has been a respected leader in the city’s Black community for decades. 

The opportunity to fill the commission vacancy created when former Vice Mayor Rob Long was elected a state representative in December seemed to Odom’s supporters a perfect opportunity to honor her for her contributions to the city.

But due to politics, the City Commission has been stuck at 2-2 on several recent issues, with Odom’s appointment yet another casualty. The commission voted 2-2 on her appointment in December and then again at its Jan. 20 meeting — after many residents spoke in support of her nomination.  

Mayor Tom Carney and Vice Mayor Angela Burns wanted to put her on the dais, but Commissioners Juli Casale — saying “mischief is afoot” — and Tom Markert chose to leave the seat open until voters pick someone on March 10.

Rather than seeing it as a ceremonial appointment, Casale and Markert said they did not think an unelected commissioner should be the swing vote on any upcoming issues.  

However, in December, Markert and Casale had voted to appoint Price Patton, a member of the city’s Planning & Zoning Board and part owner of The Coastal Star, to the post, but he also was defeated 2-2.

The recent actions weren’t something new for Odom. She lost out on filling a previous commission vacancy, also on a 2-2 vote, in 2017. 

But Odom did not go quietly this time. She held a news conference with the NAACP on Jan. 30, with speakers alleging a pre-cooked political outcome despite giving Odom’s supporters the impression she would be selected.

“We never know what is behind the scenes. You only know what somebody tells you,” Odom said. “It reminds me of an abusive relationship where the joker slaps the you-know-what out of a person and sends them flowers the next day.”

Dedrick D. Straghn, president of South Palm Beach County NAACP, said that allowing the Black community to believe Odom would sit on the dais was nothing but political theater.

“A decision that looked pre-decided, dressed up with talking points and delivered with the expectation that the public would just swallow it,” he said.

In a Jan. 28 letter to the editor in the Sun Sentinel, Mayor Carney called Casale’s and Markert’s votes "an appalling rebuke to that community," saying “two of my fellow commissioners paid tribute to Dr. King one day, only to reject an icon of the Black community the next.”  

Related election information

Election overview: Downtown campus, council lineup, police HQ up to voters

Mayor's Race: Boca Raton elections: Mayoral candidate profiles (Nachlas, Thomson, Liebelson)

 Council Seat A: Council race features accountant, attorney and real estate broker | Seat A candidate profiles (Grau, Korn, Ritchey)

 Council Seat B: Incumbent faces off against founder and supporter of Save Boca | Seat B candidate profiles (Madsen, Pearlmen, Wigder)

 Council Seat D: Ex-county mayor battles city board stalwart, Save Boca member  | Seat D candidate profiles (Cellon, Sipple, Weinroth)

By Mary Hladky

Fran Nachlas is a retired surgical nurse and University of Florida graduate who won election to the Boca Raton City Council in November 2022 when no one else filed to run for the seat.

She would have assumed office the following March, but her fellow council members, seeing no reason to wait, appointed her to the position early.

Her council colleagues selected her to be deputy mayor in March 2025.

Nachlas supports redeveloping the downtown campus with Terra/Frisbie. Despite strong push-back from Save Boca, she believes the project has public support.

“I have had many, many conversations with people who think it is an added value to our city to move forward with this project,” she said.

She does acknowledge that “there are people who have concerns.”

In response to Save Boca’s key demand that voters should have the final say on the redevelopment project, she noted that “I have always supported the right of voters to vote on this on March 10.”

In a campaign video, she subtly suggested that the downtown campus project should not define the election or obscure other important matters before the council.

“Our government campus initiative is 8 acres. Our downtown is 344 acres. Our city is 29 square miles,” she said. “We need to keep things in perspective and focus on the big picture.”

In an earlier video, she said the city needs to deal with traffic, infrastructure, keeping neighborhoods safe and homelessness. “I am taking it head on,” she said.

As of The Coastal Star’s deadline, she had not outlined details of her priorities should she be elected mayor, but said that they would be coming soon.

“As deputy mayor, I’m already working to support our first responders, strengthening our local economy, and insisting on balanced, responsible redevelopment that protects Boca Raton’s character,” she said in a statement.

“As mayor, my priorities are clear: public safety first, fiscal responsibility, an efficient City Hall, infrastructure investment, and preserving the exceptional character of our community and quality of life our residents value.”

Asked why she has raised so much money for her campaign, $473,000 as of the end of December, Nachlas said: “It helps get the message out and it shows the support of the community.”

Nachlas also serves on the Palm Beach County Transportation Planning Agency governing board and the Florida League of Cities Development, Code Compliance and Redevelopment Committee.

***

Andy Thomson, an attorney with Baritz & Colman and a Georgia Tech graduate who played on the Ramblin’ Wreck football team, is the sole council member to oppose the downtown campus redevelopment.

He has outlined his objections repeatedly, saying that even though the project has been downsized since first proposed, it remains too dense, and has been pushed forward by other council members too quickly to allow for adequate consideration and revision.

At first, Save Boca supporters were highly skeptical that he meant what he said since he had ranked developer Related Ross as his first choice to partner with the city even though its proposal had the highest density of the four submitted. The fact that he said he was endorsing the company as a city partner, but not its proposal, didn’t reassure them.

But his consistent opposition has assuaged at least some of those doubts, and Save Boca supporters now cheer him when he speaks about his concerns and objections.

After Save Boca began circulating petitions to give voters their say on the project, Thomson asked Terra/Frisbie officials if they would agree to conditioning city approval on a positive vote by residents. They agreed and the rest of the council endorsed that.

If voters approve the redevelopment in the March 10 election, Thomson said “that is the will of the people and my job … is to undertake and execute that.”

But if the ballot measure fails, Thomson wants the city to take over the redevelopment, saying the city can reduce the amount spent by building a more modest City Hall and Community Center.

“I would like the city to take the driver’s seat,” he said.

Thomson is not yet predicting whether the ballot measure will pass or fail, but said, “I can’t recall a single person telling me they were in favor.”

If elected mayor, he said his priorities will include keeping taxes low, focusing on public safety, managing the city’s growth carefully and responsibly, using technologies such as artificial intelligence to reduce traffic congestion, and keeping parks and recreation at an “elite level.”

Asked how he differentiates himself from Nachlas, Thomson said she has never won a contested city election. Voters elected him in 2018, he was unopposed in 2020 and beat an opponent in 2024.

He agrees that the two of them have raised “a staggering amount of money” for their campaigns, with Thomson getting $407,000 as of the end of December.

He needs to raise enough to be a viable candidate and to be able to convey his message to voters, Thomson said. But he said that he does not know many of his donors and “the vast majority didn’t even require me to ask” for contributions.

***

Mike Liebelson cites his business expertise, including leadership roles with energy companies and an MBA in finance from the Wharton School of Business, as making him the best candidate for mayor.

“The city needs somebody with the financial, business and managerial skills which I bring to the table to turn the city around,” he said.

“We are not little Boca anymore,” he said. “We have a council so far that is full of amateurs and attorneys. We need professionals.”

While not a member of Save Boca, he strongly supports that group’s efforts. “The reason for that is I personally strongly believe that if the city is going to give away public land (to Terra/Frisbie) … it should go back to the voters for a vote. That is all Save Boca has ever asked for.”

But a candidate for mayor must focus not just on the issues advanced by Save Boca, but also broader issues such as the need to lower property taxes, public safety, quality of life and dealing with the “horrendous” increase in traffic, he said.

Central to his campaign is his contention that the current council is at the beck and call of developers. He said he will not take contributions from developers.

He singles out Thomson for criticism, saying he has received large developer contributions. While Thomson says he wants residents to have a vote on the downtown development project, Liebelson said, he also is accepting developer money.

“Andy is not being truthful with respect to his positioning with being against big development in Boca,” he said.

He spares Nachlas from criticism, claiming she is up-front about supporting development.

Liebelson said he is not anti-developer. “We need to have things built and done in the city, but we need to make sure our council members are not compromised with developer money.”

He also contends there is “too much overdevelopment” in the city. “It has been done in such a way that it has created huge traffic problems.”

The city, he said, needs a comprehensive plan to control the volume of traffic that will worsen when development projects now under construction are completed.

If voters turn down the downtown redevelopment plan, Liebelson said the city should be in charge of building a new City Hall and Community Center.

He supports the bond issue to build a new police headquarters. If voters approve it, “we will make sure … it will be done correctly and it will be constructed on time and on budget,” he said.

Boca Raton city election
Election day: March 10
Last day to register to vote: Feb. 9
Last day to request mail-in ballot: Feb. 26
The mayor and council races are citywide for three-year terms, except the Council D race, which is for an unexpired one-year term.

Also on the ballot
Voters will decide two other issues:
Whether to approve moving forward with the proposed redevelopment of the city’s downtown campus.
Whether to approve the city’s issuing bonds of up to $175 million to build a new police headquarters, relocated from downtown to a site adjacent to the Spanish River Library.

By John Pacenti

First, it was about the drinking water supplied to town residents. Now it’s also about the fire rescue services residents receive.

Ocean Ridge leaders have learned that Palm Beach County could assume responsibility for Boynton Beach’s water utilities and its fire rescue services — both of which the town uses.

Any changes would affect Briny Breezes, which also relies on Boynton Beach for water and fire rescue services.

Ocean Ridge Town Manager Michelle Heiser informed the Town Commission at its Jan. 12 meeting of the fire rescue possibility, though she noted Boynton Beach’s discussions with the county are in the preliminary stages regarding the fire department.

“This is really exploring options,” Heiser said. 

Heiser told commissioners she was monitoring the situation and did not expect an immediate drop in service, but she cautioned that “sometimes change means a change in costs as well.”

For the current fiscal year, Ocean Ridge pays Boynton Beach nearly $1.6 million for fire and EMS services.

Town Attorney Christy Goddeau noted existing agreements can limit how and when services are changed, saying the current agreement for fire rescue services is good through Sept. 30, 2028.

Boynton Beach and county officials have not released a timetable for a decision. Any formal proposal likely would prompt public hearings and disclosures detailing the operational and financial impacts before elected bodies decide whether to proceed.

The fire rescue considerations came in the wake of earlier announcements that Boynton Beach would also consider handing over its water treatment operations to Palm Beach County.

Boynton Beach City Manager Dan Duggar has said the city would drop its efforts to annex several communities west of its boundaries if the county would purchase the city’s water operations.

The County Commission has approved county staff’s investigating a potential takeover of Boynton Beach’s water utilities.

Besides getting water and fire rescue services from Boynton Beach, Ocean Ridge relies on city staff for its vast expertise, Heiser said.

“Our relationship with the city ... has been really strong from the city manager’s office to the fire department and also, specifically, the utilities department,” Heiser said. 

At last, wastewater plant upgrade at Oceanfront Park — The aging wastewater treatment plant at Boynton Beach’s Oceanfront Park is expected to have its long-delayed upgrade finished within the next few months. 

The project, initially approved a decade ago, is expected to make wastewater treatment at the site more reliable and resilient. 

The City Commission approved extending the project deadline, with the grant closeout scheduled for September 2027. The new deadline will give the city more time to secure a grant reimbursement to cover some of the cost.  

The plant, built in 1982, needed improvements to be able to treat wastewater more effectively. In 2016, the City Commission entered into a $300,000 grant agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to rehabilitate and modernize it. 

City documents do not disclose the total cost of the project, but most of the grant funds will cover construction services.

— Patrick Sherry

By John Pacenti

The Manalapan Town Commission has approved a broad update to its building-related fee schedule, the first major overhaul since 2010, following staff recommendations that existing fees no longer cover the true cost of operations and legal review.

Building official Jacek “Jack” Tomasik told commissioners at their Jan. 20 meeting that the changes focus on “supporting fees,” not the core building permit fee itself, which remains unchanged. 

Key elements include:

^• Higher planning and zoning application fees for variances, special exceptions, site plan reviews, zoning text amendments, and ARCOM (Architectural Commission) reviews, which Tomasik said are currently “completely outdated” and fail to reflect the intensive back-and-forth with applicants and attorneys.

^• A new surety requirement tied to the cost of police traffic maintenance during construction, to address State Road A1A situations where FDOT requires officers or traffic control around work zones. The bond would be collected before road-affected work begins.

^• Zoning review fees were added to all building permits after staff noted Florida law prohibits using building permit revenue to fund zoning work. The new fee will help pay for additional hours by Zoning Administrator Alice Everard, who has agreed to increase her schedule by six hours a week to keep pace with demand.

^• A revamped permit renewal and extension structure, reducing the renewal fee from a flat $1,000 — which Tomasik said made little sense for small jobs like water heaters and AC change-outs — to $250 for minor permits, with larger projects paying 2% of the calculated permit fee.

^• A refund policy to return a substantial portion of fees when projects are canceled after a permit application is submitted or the permit is issued.

^• New expedited plan review fees — $1,000 for residential and $1,750 for commercial — allowing applicants to pay extra to have plans reviewed on an overtime basis without delaying other projects.

Tomasik said the package is intended both to “recover the cost of operation” and keep Manalapan “statutorily compatible” with Florida law, while aligning generally with neighboring municipalities of similar size. 

Manalapan town commissioners have signed off on a 10-year contract that will overhaul the town’s police technology — from body-worn cameras and tasers to in-car video and license plate recognition (LPR) cameras.

Police Chief Jeff Rasor said the department is moving from a patchwork of three- and four-year contracts to a single 10-year agreement with Axon, an industry leader.

The new body camera includes built-in language translation for up to 100 languages. Officers will be able to press a button, have speech translated into English, and then respond into the camera with their message rendered back into the other language.

Rasor emphasized that Manalapan’s current LPR system, run by a company called Insight, is a decade old and functions as a “license plate recorder,” not a reader. The new system will read plates in real time as they enter Manalapan and flag stolen vehicles, stolen tags, and cars tied to felony offenses outside the town.

Cameras at town entry points will be supplemented by LPR in patrol vehicles, allowing officers to scan plates as they drive and catch suspect vehicles that bypass fixed readers, he said.

Rasor called police technology a “force multiplier.” 

“It gives us the opportunity to  interact with the criminal before they actually commit the crime, and essentially making the town safer,” he said.

— John Pacenti

ABOVE: Manalapan residents (l-r) Al Young, Bunny Young, Jill Stromberg, Jack Elkins, Shirley Saleeby, Patricia Knobel and Bear enjoy the festivities as Manalapan welcomes the new season. BELOW: Rick and Suzi Goldsmith. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Related election information

Election overview: Downtown campus, council lineup, police HQ up to voters

Mayor's Race: Trio running for mayor includes two council incumbents | Mayoral candidate profiles (Nachlas, Thomson, Liebelson)

  Council Seat A: Seat A candidate profiles (Grau, Korn, Ritchey)

 Council Seat B:  Incumbent faces off against founder and supporter of Save Boca | Seat B candidate profiles (Madsen, Pearlmen, Wigder)

 Council Seat D: Ex-county mayor battles city board stalwart, Save Boca member | Seat D candidate profiles (Cellon, Sipple, Weinroth)

By Mary Hladky

Michelle Grau, a Save Boca candidate, is a certified public accountant, who founded Grau & Associates in Boca Raton along with her husband and specializes in governmental auditing and finance.

She has scrutinized the terms of the city’s partnership with Terra/Frisbie and frequently offers her detailed analysis to City Council members.

Her bottom line: “It is not a good financial deal for our city. That is why I am fighting it.

“My biggest argument is we aren’t getting enough out of the deal to justify” leasing 7.8 acres of the east-side city land to Terra/Frisbie for 99 years.

Despite the pubic-private partnership with the developers, Grau notes that the city is paying the $201 million cost to build a new City Hall, Community Center, police substation and other improvements. The city would not recoup that money for many years from the land lease payments it will get from Terra/Frisbie.

Further, the city will bear financial risk and lose control over its own land that will be leased, she said.

Grau favors scrapping the deal with Terra/Frisbie. Instead, she said, the city should do the project on its own.

“I believe we have the financial strength to do the work ourselves,” she said of the city. “We have a $40 billion tax base. You tell me we have to lease the land to foot the bill — I am not buying that. Let’s do it on our own.”

Other matters she would like the city to address are improving communication with city residents, addressing the high cost of living in the city and the homeless situation.

She also wants the city to create a recreation master plan and to keep the tax rate as low as possible.

***

Christen Ritchey, a family law attorney, briefly was a council candidate in 2023 but withdrew to focus on her law firm and her children.

She resigned from the city’s Planning and Zoning Board late last year to make another run for City Council.

Ritchey supports the city’s partnership with Terra/Frisbie and likes its plan for the downtown campus redevelopment now that the developers no longer will lease the western portion of the city’s land and will confine development to the 7.8 acres.

“I think we need a new City Hall and Community Center, but I am passionate about keeping the west side recreational,” she said.

Ritchey is pleased with how Terra/Frisbie has responded to residents’ criticisms of the project. “I think they have done an excellent job of listening and taking the feedback and adapting the project based on what they heard,” she said.

She gives Save Boca credit for applying pressure that she believes improved the project, but faults it for its approach.

“What I hear is a lot of opposition without alternative solutions,” she said.

Ritchey also says that the election should not center on the downtown development project.

“We need not be hyper-focused on one single issue,” she said. “There are a lot of issues that impact the city.”

Those include improving infrastructure, addressing recent flooding, improving traffic flow on city streets and giving first responders “everything they need,” she said.

***

Bernard Korn, a real estate broker, is a perennial candidate who has never won a city election.

He claims the city is rife with corruption that he is exposing.

“Boca Raton City under Siege by Power Hungry Corrupt Council Members controlled by Lobbyists and Special Interest Groups,” his campaign website proclaims.

He identifies himself as a “trained whistleblower” who has submitted complaints about wrongdoing to federal agencies. So far, none has taken action.

“The corruption is a joke and they are blatant about it,” he said of council members. “I am going to get rid of the political machine, that I call it. It is corrupt and I am going to rip it up whether I win or lose.”

His priority, he said, is “to clean up City Hall. They are all on the take.”

A loss at the polls will not dissuade him from another run for office, he said. “If I lose for whatever reason, I will run again. Win or lose, I will make changes in Boca.” 

Boca Raton city election
Election day: March 10
Last day to register to vote: Feb. 9
Last day to request mail-in ballot: Feb. 26
The mayor and council races are citywide for three-year terms, except the Council D race, which is for an unexpired one-year term.

Also on the ballot
Voters will decide two other issues:
Whether to approve moving forward with the proposed redevelopment of the city’s downtown campus.
Whether to approve the city’s issuing bonds of up to $175 million to build a new police headquarters, relocated from downtown to a site adjacent to the Spanish River Library.

Manalapan’s long-running battle over the Boynton Inlet transfer plant that sends sand from the town’s side to Ocean Ridge is heading toward a four-day administrative hearing scheduled for June 2, the Town Commission was told at its January meeting.

Town Manager Eric Marmer said the town has retained a coastal expert as a witness and is in the process of providing him with documents from both Palm Beach County and Manalapan as part of its challenge. The case centers on how the sand transfer plant affects erosion along the barrier island, including Manalapan’s shoreline.

Marmer noted the hearing, expected to take place in West Palm Beach, does not immediately affect the plant’s operations, and the facility will “continue to operate as it is.” 

The hearing is expected to feature dueling experts and detailed technical evidence about sand movement and shoreline impacts. Commissioners and residents will be allowed to attend, Marmer said.

Local frustration over beach erosion has been a recurring topic in and around Manalapan, with some residents arguing that current sand management practices benefit other stretches of coastline while leaving the town’s dunes and oceanfront properties increasingly exposed.

— John Pacenti

Republican Jon Maples and Democrat Emily Gregory will face off in a special election March 24 to replace former Rep. Mike Caruso in the Florida House.

That election comes after the current annual legislative session is expected to end. 

Maples, a financial planner and former Lake Clarke Shores Council member, and Gregory, a small-business owner from Jupiter, won their respective primaries Jan. 13. Both want to represent House District 87, which includes most of Manalapan, the eastern part of Lantana, plus South Palm Beach and points north to Juno Beach.

The seat became open when Gov. Ron DeSantis picked Caruso, a Republican, to be Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller in August, after then-Clerk Joseph Abruzzo was hired as county administrator.

This special election is for the roughly eight remaining months of Caruso’s term. The seat will be back on the November ballot for a full two-year term.

— Steve Plunkett

Related: Election could decide fate of Town Hall construction plans

Related: Town Council election candidate profiles

Candidate profiles were compiled via telephone interviews. Candidates were asked to supply personal information regarding their age, education, marital status and number of years residing in their municipalities. They were also asked to provide a brief history of their professional life and experience, if any, in holding public office. Finally, they were asked about their positions on issues facing their communities and to provide an overarching quote detailing the reasons they believe they should be elected (or reelected), along with a current photograph.

Candidate profiles compiled by Steven J. Smith

South Palm Beach town election

Election day: March 10

Last day to register to vote: Feb. 9

Last day to request mail-in ballot: Feb. 26

Related election information

Election overview: Downtown campus, council lineup, police HQ up to voters

Mayor's Race: Trio running for mayor includes two council incumbents | Mayoral candidate profiles (Nachlas, Thomson, Liebelson)

 Council Seat A: Council race features accountant, attorney and real estate broker

 Council Seat B:  Incumbent faces off against founder and supporter of Save Boca | Seat B candidate profiles (Madsen, Pearlmen, Wigder)

 Council Seat D: Ex-county mayor battles city board stalwart, Save Boca member | Seat D candidate profiles (Cellon, Sipple, Weinroth)

Candidate profiles were compiled via telephone interviews. Candidates were asked to supply personal information regarding their age, education, marital status and number of years residing in their municipalities. They were also asked to provide a brief history of their professional life and experience, if any, in holding public office. Finally, they were asked about their positions on issues facing their communities and to provide an overarching quote detailing the reasons they believe they should be elected (or reelected), along with a current photograph.

Candidate profiles compiled by Steven J. Smith

Boca Raton city election
Election day: March 10
Last day to register to vote: Feb. 9
Last day to request mail-in ballot: Feb. 26
The mayor and council races are citywide for three-year terms, except the Council D race, which is for an unexpired one-year term.

Also on the ballot
Voters will decide two other issues:
Whether to approve moving forward with the proposed redevelopment of the city’s downtown campus.
Whether to approve the city’s issuing bonds of up to $175 million to build a new police headquarters, relocated from downtown to a site adjacent to the Spanish River Library.