By Mary Hladky
Save Boca’s battle against the city’s plans to redevelop 30 city-owned acres in the downtown campus now has impacted city politics.
Save Boca supporter Meredith Madsen is challenging incumbent Boca Raton City Council member Marc Wigder in the March 10 city election.
Madsen, founder and CEO of Sunshine & Glitter, which sells sunscreen products, has spoken out against the city’s plans to redevelop the downtown campus in partnership with Terra and Frisbie Group.
Residents “are telling you, please, let’s fix the things we have. Let’s make better parks. But we do not want you giving away our land to developers…,“ she said at the council’s Aug. 26 meeting.
In an interview, Madsen said she was propelled to seek a council seat because most council members are proving to be poor stewards of the city’s land.
“We need to protect the town from seemingly endless development,” she said.
She is opposing Wigder — who she said seems like a “nice guy” and wants to do “civic good” — because he “is always on the side of development.”
Rather than team up with developers who will profit from redeveloping the property, the city should pay the cost of rebuilding the government buildings where they now sit and scrap plans for residential and office buildings, she said.
Like many residents, Madsen said she was unaware of the scope of what the city was planning, and only learned the details because she plays tennis at the city’s tennis center next to City Hall and the Community Center. Tennis advocates have pressed the city to maintain 10 clay courts on the downtown campus.
The election is shaping up to be contentious.
Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas and Council member Andy Thomson are facing off to become the next mayor, replacing Scott Singer, who is term-limited from running again. Joining them in that race is perennial candidate Bernard Korn.
Korn and former candidate Christen Ritchey are vying for Nachlas’ seat.
Former City Council member Robert Weinroth is seeking Thomson’s seat.
In addition, there will be a referendum on the ballot on funding a new police headquarters and one or more questions allowing residents to have a say related to the proposed redevelopment of the city’s downtown campus.
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