Outcome of mayor's race could still change
FAU students Owen Servetas (partly behind sign), Cameron Jones, center, and Tony Cedeno display “Save Boca” election signs to passing cars in front of Grace Community Church in Boca Raton. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Mary Hladky
Save Boca trounced establishment candidates in the city’s March 10 election, with its own candidates sweeping City Council races and soundly defeating the city’s effort to redevelop its downtown government campus.
Voters turned out in droves to cast ballots in the most consequential city election in memory, with the almost 19,100 voters casting ballots — a 31% voter turnout — vastly outpacing the more typical city election turnout of about 12,000.
Initial, unofficial election results showed two council members vying to become mayor heading for defeat. First-time candidate Mike Liebelson, who is not a Save Boca candidate but supported many of its goals, appeared to narrowly edge out Andy Thomson, while Fran Nachlas trailed far behind.
Thomson, then seemingly losing by 26 votes, said he would seek a recount. But shortly thereafter, updated results showed him ahead by 6 votes.
The results become official once any ballots that have been mistakenly rejected are counted.
Because Thomson’s victory margin is so small — less than one-half of 1% of total votes cast — a machine recount is required. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections has scheduled it for March 13, beginning at 10 a.m. As of March 11, the office also planned to conduct a manual recount.
Thomson could not be immediately reached for comment.
“The citizens of Boca Raton have spoken clearly. They want our city to head in a new direction,” Liebelson said in a statement. “We need to make sure every vote is counted so citizens get the leadership they deserve.”
Andy Thomson, center, looks at his phone after his friend Alex Price, second in from left, tells him that the latest numbers have him up by 6 votes just a little before 10 p.m. on March 10 at Thomson's election night gathering at Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant in Boca Raton. After leading most of the evening, Thomson appeared to fall behind as the final votes were tabulated, only to move ahead in yet another elections office update. Rachel O'Hara/The Coastal Star
Besides Nachlas, also losing out was incumbent Marc Wigder, who was trounced by Save Boca founder Jon Pearlman. The third candidate in that race was Meredith Madsen, the founder and CEO of Sunshine & Glitter, which makes sunscreen and beauty products.
“We did it!” Pearlman said in a statement on Save Boca’s social media site on March 11. “Thanks to you, 75% of voters stood with us in the voting booth yesterday to Save Boca!
“Today, we celebrate this milestone in the fight to preserve the city we love. Tomorrow, the work begins to ensure City Hall responsibly manages our hard-earned tax dollars on the things that will best serve us, the residents of this city and not developers and private interests.”
Pearlman swept into Boca Raton politics last summer as he launched a grassroots effort to defeat the city’s redevelopment plans.
His supporters flocked to City Council meetings, demanding that the city scrap its plans. In short order, they managed to force significant changes that reduced the project’s size and density and preserved green and recreation space on the western portion of the city's 31.7 acre downtown campus site.
Save Boca also fielded two other election candidates.
Michelle Grau, a certified public accountant, convincingly defeated her two opponents, Christen Ritchey, a family law attorney and former member of the Planning and Zoning Board, and Bernard Korn. a real estate broker and a perennial candidate who has never won election.
Stacy Sipple, a clinical oncology pharmacist, easily prevailed over her two well-known opponents — former City Council member and County Commissioner Robert Weinroth and former Community Appearance Board and Planning and Zoning Board member Larry Cellon.
The defeat of the government campus redevelopment means that more than a year of city planning goes up in smoke.
Council members had promised residents that they would make the final decision on whether that project would live or die. Nearly 75% of voters killed it.
Now, the new council will have to decide, at the very least, how they will go about replacing the old and crumbling City Hall and Community Center.
If they do so, it will undoubtedly mean more modest and cheaper buildings than what the former council had envisioned.
Voters wait in line at Grace Community Church. Citywide, more than 19,000 people cast ballots, while a typical election draws about 12,000 to the polls. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Also killed decisively by the voters are city plans to replace its old police headquarters building by building a new $190 million police campus on city-owned land at the intersection of Spanish River and Broken Sound boulevards.
Nearly 55% of voters said they did not want to finance the construction by paying for most of it with a modest property tax increase.
The mayoral race determined who would replace term-limited Scott Singer. Singer now is seeking to defeat U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz to represent Florida’s 23rd Congressional District.
Nachlas supported the redevelopment, while Thomson is the only council member who opposed it. Liebelson also is opposed.
The mayoral candidates raised an astonishing amount of money for their campaigns, stunning election observers.
Nachlas and Thomson will top a combined $1 million in contributions once the totals raised by their political action committees are tabulated and reported in April.
Liebelson, who has had leadership roles with energy companies, has raised $203,390, mostly from loans and donations he had made to his campaign, as of year’s end. He said in March that his PAC had received another $25,000.
The city had entered into a public-private partnership with developers Terra and Frisbie Group, now known as One Boca, to implement the downtown redevelopment project.
After One Boca reduced the size and scope of the project several times to appease Save Boca, the developers would have leased from the city 7.8 acres on the east side of Northwest Second Avenue immediately east of the current City Hall.
Save Boca denounced the project as allowing overdevelopment, traffic woes and ruining the character of a beloved downtown property that would turn Boca into another Fort Lauderdale or Miami.
Originally, One Boca planned redevelopment across the entire 31.7-acre downtown campus.
Over time, the developers agreed to leave nearly 17.3 acres west of Northwest Second Avenue largely as recreation and park space. Their plans include turning a section of that land, known as Memorial Park, into an actual commemoration of veterans.
However, a new City Hall, Community Center and police substation would have been built there. Based on city project presentations, residents were led to believe that One Boca would pay for that.
It then turned out that the city would assume that $201 million cost, although it would eventually have gotten that money back from land lease payments and increases in property valuations.
Development would have been confined to the east side land south of the Downtown Library and Brightline station.
It would have included an office building, grocery store, parking garage, hotel, four apartment buildings and a condo.
Source: Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections Office
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