By Dan Moffett
In 1996, Mike Hill lost a hotly contested election for the Highland Beach vice-mayor seat by a mere 12 votes out of nearly 1,200 cast.
On Jan. 23, becoming the new mayor of Briny Breezes was a lot easier.
Hill was the only qualified candidate to seek the office, and the Town Council approved his appointment unanimously and enthusiastically.
“He’s got it all,” said Councilwoman Nancy Boczon, who nominated the retired 66-year-old lawyer and banker to fill the position that was abruptly vacated in December by Gerard Devine.
Hill recovered from his Highland Beach loss to win the next race for vice mayor and then win re-election. He also served as a town commissioner and before that a member of the planning and zoning board.
“Everybody in Briny, or at least most everybody in Briny, volunteers for certain things,” Hill said. “This is something I could do and have more experience at probably than most people do. So that’s why I volunteered.”
A graduate of Kent State University and the Akron School of Law in Ohio, Hill worked as a legal counsel for banks in Illinois and Ohio before coming to Florida about 30 years ago. He served as president of First Security Trust Company in the 1990s, and then went into private practice out of an office in Boca Raton.
Hill and his wife, Shirley, moved to Briny Breezes about a year ago.
“It’s an interesting place,” he said. “It’s one of the least expensive places you can buy houses and live near the water. We’ve had big houses before and we’ve had little houses before. We’re happy with little houses.”
This isn’t the first time Michael W. Hill stepped up when he believed it was important to serve the community. He ignored the advice of some friends and associates in Highland Beach who had urged him not to challenge incumbents on the commission. But Hill said he thought it was important that voters have choices and elections, not uncontested races, and the town could use some “fresh ideas.”
He became known for campaigning on a bicycle, riding door-to-door between the condos searching for votes.
The remainder of Devine’s term expires in March, but Hill says he will seek another term.
He says he has no specific agenda yet for Briny Breezes, other than perhaps some cosmetic touches. “I think we could spend a little bit of time on landscaping,” he said. “We could make the place look a little bit more tropical.”
In other business, Boczon stepped down from the council and as town clerk pro tem after eight years of service. The council unanimously approved Alderman Barbara Molina as her replacement for the clerk position. No candidate for the vacant council seat has come forward yet.
“It’s been a fun eight years,” said a smiling Boczon. “I must say, a nervous eight years, too. My father always told me, when you walk into a room, just say quietly to yourself, ‘Here I am, you lucky people.’ I thought today I’d stand up and say, ‘Well, I’m going, you lucky people!’ ”
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