Boca Raton election: Trio running for mayor includes two council incumbents

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Boca Raton election: Trio running for mayor includes two council incumbents

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