By Steve Plunkett
The Briny Breezes Town Council has its third husband-and-wife team in 14 months, but with a difference — this time both spouses can vote.
Council members selected Holly Reitnauer to be an alderwoman, replacing Kathy Gross, at their Dec. 12 meeting. Reitnauer, who married Alderman Bill Birch in April 2022, immediately joined him on the dais.
Gross, the wife of nonvoting Mayor Ted Gross, resigned her seat on Oct. 25, the day after the council’s monthly meeting. She gave no reason for leaving.
Reitnauer, 69, submitted a letter of interest in being appointed Seat 2 alderwoman shortly after the Briny Bugle posted news of the vacancy.
“I am familiar with the workings of the town because I previously held a seat on the board of directors (of Briny Breezes Inc.) for several years,” she wrote.
Reitnauer and Birch are the third married couple to sit on the council in a short time. Then-Mayor Gene Adams and Council President Christina Adams resigned in October 2023 rather than disclose details of their personal finances as was going to be required by a new state law. A court later paused the requirement to file a Form 6 disclosure.
Replacing Gene Adams was Ted Gross, who often grumbles about his position lacking a vote and aldermen ignoring his views.
Kathy Gross joined the council in March 2018 as an unopposed newcomer and most recently was elected, again without opposition, to another two-year term last March. The Grosses have been full-time residents of the town since 2014.
Reitnauer has lived on both sides of Briny Breezes’ stretch of State Road A1A, having bought a mobile home on west side Cardinal Drive in 2011, on east side Ruthmary Avenue in 2013 and on west side Flamingo Drive in 2016, according to Palm Beach County property records.
The only other resident who sent in a letter of interest for Seat 2 was Thomas Hickey, who bought his home on Bamboo Drive in March 2022, property records show.
Coming to the dais in March will be a new face for Seat 1, David Duncan White, who won automatic election when no one else filed to run for the seat during November’s
qualifying period.
A newcomer to town politics, White, 66, bought his home on Lark Drive in February 2023. He spent the summer at his Colorado home and planned to return to Briny Breezes in January.
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