News

By John Pacenti

Boynton Beach Mayor Ty Penserga said July 25 that the FBI is investigating a death threat made against him.

City Commissioner Tom Turken said he has also been the target of threats.

The threats come after a contentious July 2 commission meeting where Penserga cut off public comments from two women who believe the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, leading Turkin to criticize the mayor for not letting them speak. Commissioners abruptly adjourned the meeting as one of the speakers who refused to stop speaking was being led out of the chamber by police on orders from the mayor.

Penserga said he was enforcing a policy that public comments had to pertain to items that are within the purview of the City Commission. 

Turkin shouted at Penserga that he felt citizens had a First Amendment right to address the commission as they saw fit. When some in the gallery applauded, Turkin said, “Don’t clap because I don’t agree with a lot that has been said.”

One of the women – Candace Rojas, a former candidate for Palm Beach City Council and the Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District – is a well-known and vocal election denier who has appeared before many area commissions. She told the commission she was speaking to “restore the republic.”

Boynton Beach police escort Candace Rojas out of the City Commission chambers after Mayor Ty Penserga cut her off for talking about non-city related items during the public comments portion of the commission's July 2 meeting. City of Boynton Beach meeting video

“As a sovereign American I am putting you on notice,” said Rojas, before being cut off by Penserga and escorted out by police when she refused to leave the lectern.

While officials would not comment on the specific threats, the video of the July 2 meeting was removed from the city’s YouTube and website pages after threats were made to city commissioners, Boynton Beach spokeswoman Chelsea Sanabia said July 17. The threats were under police investigation, she said.

Police spokeswoman Holly Piccano told a Coastal Star reporter to make a public records request when asked if the threats stemmed from the July 2 meeting.

The first public mention of a death threat occurred when a speaker mentioned it during public comments at the July 16 commission meeting. Penserga and Turkin were absent from that meeting.

Penserga, returning a phone call July 26, said he was reluctant to speak further about the death threat without consulting the FBI. He did elaborate that the death threat was made in an anonymous voicemail.

Turkin, who said he also received threats, responded July 24 to a text message seeking comment:

“Due to the plethora of investigations that are ongoing internally and with other three-letter agencies pertaining to multiple threats/conspiring actions against myself and other members of the commission, I will refrain.”

Next up for the commission is a special workshop on ethics slated for July 30. Also to be discussed are new rules for public comment at commission meetings, rules that caught commissioners by surprise when staff tried to put them in place at the July 16 meeting.

The three commissioners in attendance at that meeting balked at the changes and chose to follow the commission’s past practices until they had an opportunity to discuss any changes in how they do business. The new rules would have pushed public comments from near the beginning of commission meetings to near the end. They also would require each resident who wanted to speak to fill out a comment card and file it with the city clerk.

“I was disappointed they were added to the agenda without having input from my colleagues,” said Vice Mayor Aimee Kelley at the meeting.

“I was blindsided by this and I don’t like it,” said Commissioner Woodrow L. Hay.