News

By Steve Plunkett

    Arthur Koski, longtime attorney for the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, will relinquish his additional role as interim executive director of the agency Oct. 1.
    Koski, who has been under attack from city officials seeking a full-time director, said his decision to step aside was not a result of outside pressure.
    “None whatsoever,” he said. “It takes an issue off the table.”
    Boca Raton city officials last year included a clause in a proposed contract between the two government entities requiring the district to have a full-time executive director. City Council member Robert Weinroth made a similar demand in a March 15 email.
    “For the record ... I believe the District needs to [make] securing a permanent executive director as a top priority,” Weinroth wrote.
Koski became the district’s interim director after Robert Langford retired in 2012.
    In Koski’s private law practice, he represents two city residents who are suing Boca Raton to block construction of a chabad on the barrier island.
    Koski, who announced his intention to quit at the district’s May 24 meeting, recommended that district commissioners promote Briann Harms, the assistant executive director, into the top spot.
    “She’s ready,” he said.
    District Chairman Robert Rollins signaled his desire to change the status quo earlier in the meeting.
    “We probably need a full-time executive director,” he said.
    Harms has been with the district since 2005. She started as a recreation center supervisor at the district’s Sugar Sand Park, became information supervisor for the district in October 2013 and was named its assistant director a year later.
    She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Florida State University.
    Commissioners appeared ready to embrace Koski’s recommendation for his successor. They will make a decision at a future meeting.
    “I think you can see, we all appreciate the talents you bring to the board,” Rollins told Harms.
    “It’s really a joy, Briann, to see young professionals coming up and fulfilling their potential,” Commissioner Earl Starkoff said.