By Cheryl Blackerby
Steven Engel won the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District’s Seat 5, vacated by Commissioner Dirk Smith at the start of the year, in the Nov. 6 election. The term is four years.
A senior advertising consultant to Forum Publishing Group, Engel won 59.9 percent of the votes (24,702). Opponent Tom Thayer, a real-estate broker and retired Delta Airlines pilot, got 40.1 percent (16,537).
“To do the best job possible, I make it a point to speak to as many people as I can. I’ve talked to probably hundreds of people since August,” Engel said after the election.
His priorities on issues presently before the district include charging no park facility user fees for district residents, which he calls “effectively a double tax for the same service”; a continued pay-as-you-go policy for district budgeting; and barring private development on district public property.
“Public beaches are there for the public. We can’t allow private development. You get a short-term fix in rental revenue, but you really don’t have any control. We have a responsibility to maintain control,” he said.
Beach restoration is another hot topic, particularly after beach damage from Hurricane Sandy. “That’s going to be an ongoing issue we need to figure out now that the federal government is no longer involved, and we need to do it properly. One of the possibilities is working out partnerships with adjacent towns.”
Other issues include “over-development of Boca Raton, environmental problems, litter and the rise in sea levels — that’s not a problem right this moment, but it will have to be addressed.”
This was the first run for public office for Engel, 62, a resident of Florida for six years and of Boca Raton for four years.
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