By Mary Hladky
City Council member Monica Mayotte has drawn a challenger as she seeks a second three-year term in the March 9 city election.
Brian Stenberg, vice president of the Boca Raton medical office real estate management firm the Greenfield Group, will also try to win Seat D. He is well known for his leadership roles in the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations, Rotary Club and Boca Square Civic Association.
He was among 31 unsuccessful applicants to replace Jeremy Rodgers on the City Council until Rodgers’ term of office ends on March 31 or he returns from overseas military deployment.
On his website, Stenberg said the most pressing issues facing the region are clean water, including eliminating fertilizer and pesticide runoff, traffic congestion, education, recreation and open space.
The City Council appointed longtime volunteer Yvette Drucker to temporarily fill Rodgers’ seat on Oct. 27. She is seeking election to that position in March, and her appointment potentially gives her an advantage over three other candidates for Seat C — Constance Scott, Bernard Korn and a newcomer to the race, Josie Machovec.
Machovec drew attention last summer as one of four plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit in an attempt to overturn Palm Beach County’s mandate that masks be worn in public places. She has said she can’t wear a mask because she has asthma.
The lawsuit, filed June 30, describes masks as “harmful medical devices” and states, “The absurdity of the mask mandate is revealed by overwhelming scientific evidence showing masks can’t stop the spread of COVID-19.”
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes tossed the lawsuit in July, saying the plaintiffs had failed to show their constitutional rights were violated.
“The right to be ‘free from governmental intrusion’ does not automatically or completely shield an individual’s conduct from regulation,” he wrote in his order. The case is now on appeal.
Mayotte, a strong proponent of environmental protections and sustainability, was first elected in 2018. She also serves as chair of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.
Mayotte loaned her campaign $50,000 as of Nov. 30. She listed no contributors.
Stenberg has not yet filed a campaign finance report.
In the race for Rodgers’ seat, Scott is director of local relations at Florida Atlantic University. She served two terms on the council from 2009 to 2015 and was deputy mayor during her final year in office.
Scott raised $42,093 as of Nov. 30 from a long list of contributors, including many well-known names such as architects Derek Vander Ploeg and Juan Caycedo and political consultant Rick Asnani.
Perennial candidate Korn is a real estate broker who has twice lost elections to Mayor Scott Singer.
Questions about where Korn lives cropped up in the 2018 and 2020 city elections. If he does not live in the city, he is not eligible to run.
The uncertainty prompted the City Council later in 2020 to require that all candidates provide proof that they live in the city.
Korn complied by submitting a driver’s license and voter registration card showing he lives at 720 Marble Way on the barrier island just west of State Road A1A.
Both those documents don’t completely clear up the mystery about his domicile. The home at that address continues to be owned by real estate broker Richard Vecchio, county property records show. The records also show that Korn and his wife still own a home and claim a homestead exemption for 19078 Skyridge Circle, which is outside the city limits.
And as was the case with the last election, Korn lists his address as a P.O. box in the city’s downtown post office on his campaign financial reports.
Korn lent his campaign $11,500 and donated $100 as of Nov. 30 and listed no contributors.
Drucker is chair of the Boca Raton Education Task Force and previously served as vice chair of the Boca Raton Historic Preservation Board. She has been active with the Boca Raton Historical Society and Junior League of Boca Raton.
She raised $27,718 as of Nov. 30, including a $5,000 contribution she made to her campaign.
Candidate qualifying for the March election ended on Dec. 10.
Comments