News

By Rich Pollack

    The makeup of the Boca Raton Airport Authority will again change following the recent resignation of Deputy City Manager George Brown.
    Brown’s resignation comes less than two months after the resignation of Deputy Mayor Robert Weinroth, who gave up his Airport Authority seat in December.
    Brown, who will continue to serve as the city’s liaison to the authority, said he thinks communication between the city and the Airport Authority has improved as a result of Weinroth’s service.
    Leaving the board, he said, will give him additional time to focus on his other responsibilities.
    Last May’s appointments of both Weinroth and Brown to the authority by the Boca Raton City Council marked the first time a sitting council member and a member of the city staff were appointed to the board since the state Legislature created it in 2004.  
    The decision — and Weinroth’s casting of the deciding vote on his own appointment — raised eyebrows and led to a complaint to the Florida Commission on Ethics.
    In the wake of Weinroth’s resignation, the City Council last month voted 4-1 to appoint former Boca Raton Airport Authority member Mitch Fogel to the vacant seat. Fogel, an attorney, served on the board from 2013 until last year when Weinroth replaced him.
    Brown said he hopes his eight months on the board lets other authority members know he and Weinroth were focused on helping the authority achieve its goals.
    “I hope I was able to make it clear that we weren’t there to shake things up,” he said. “We were there to help the board with its work.”
    Brown tapped into his experience in government to help the authority revise its bylaws and thinks that effort has led to improved communication between the authority and the City Council as well as with the public.
    “It seemed there were areas of the bylaws that stifled communication,” he said.
    Brown said his term as an Airport Authority board member will benefit him as he continues in a liaison role.
    “I have a better understanding of the day-to-day operations,” he said, adding he also now has a stronger relationship with other authority members and with the authority’s staff.
    The City Council is expected to appoint a new authority member this month to fill the spot Brown vacated. The new board member’s term, along with those of the four other authority members appointed by the city, expires in May.
    The two remaining members of the seven-member authority are appointed by the County Commission for two-year terms, which expire in 2017.