By Brian Biggane
The first South Palm Beach mayoral race in recent memory is shaping up after citizen activist and Town Hall project critic Rafael Pineiro filed his papers on the first day of eligibility in early November for the March 10 election.
In addition, two other residents — Fran Attardi and Adrian Burcet — whom Pineiro said he encouraged to run filed to compete against three Town Council incumbents whose seats are also up for election. That raises the possibility of a new majority on the five-member council, one that would likely alter the direction of the Town Hall project, which has dominated local politics for several years.
Incumbent Mayor Bonnie Fischer, who was elected to the Town Council in 2011 and has held the mayoral seat since defeating the former incumbent in 2015, has run unopposed in her last three elections.
“People know me,” Fischer said. “My record stands for what I’ve done. I’m proud of how I’ve handled myself and always looked toward what’s best for the town.”
Vice Mayor Monte Berendes and Council members Elvadianne Culbertson and Sandra Beckett, the latter two having been appointed to their current council seats, also qualified to run in March.
The top two vote getters of the five council candidates will win regular four-year terms and the third-place finisher a two-year unexpired term.
‘Whole premise is wrong’
Pineiro has been a constant opponent this year of the Town Hall project. He collected signatures for a petition earlier this year aimed at convincing the council to retrofit the current structure rather than move forward with plans to tear it down and build a new, larger $6.5 million one.
“I had given up, sent a letter to Bonnie congratulating her on achieving what she wanted, but then I found that whole premise is wrong,” Pineiro said.
Even though renovating the building might be more than half the cost of the Town Hall’s current value, Pineiro says the existing structure is good enough and going the renovation route will save the town several million dollars.
But Fischer and Berendes said studies done years ago stipulated the cost of a retrofit is far more than 50% of the value and a new building is a must.
The assessed value of the building this year was $3.3 million, meaning a retrofit is a must if the renovation is to cost more than $1.65 million. That means the whole building would have to be updated to meet current Florida Building Code standards, including the costly task of raising the building’s ground level. Even Pineiro’s most conservative renovation figure for his plan is $1.7 million.
“It’s nice that Rafael is taking an interest,” Berendes said, “but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
Pineiro said his plan would raise the building by three feet, then use a process called dry flood-proofing — by which a structure can be made watertight below the expected flood level — to assure the building could last for many years to come. However, he said the dry flood-proofing would add another $1 million to his estimated cost.
Sidewalk an issue as well
He said a greater area of concern for residents is fixing the sidewalk that runs along the west side of State Road A1A, which he said has deteriorated to the point where one or more residents are falling every month. The council has discussed the issue multiple times in recent months, but consistently points to the fact the sidewalk is the responsibility of the Florida Department of Transportation.
“I’m sure that if you asked our residents which is more important, the Town Hall or the sidewalk, most would say the sidewalk,” said Pineiro, who claimed other municipalities have used their own money to fix a bad sidewalk and then been compensated by the state.
Council race
Among the council incumbents up for election, Berendes is the longest-serving — it will be four years in March — having won his seat in 2022. He was elevated to vice mayor in June 2024.
Culbertson, who previously served on the council from 2016 to 2021, was appointed to her seat by the council in April 2024, while Beckett was appointed in December 2024.
Culbertson replaced the retired Robert Gottlieb, chosen by the council from among three applicants. Beckett later was the only applicant for the seat she received.
First-time candidate Attardi is a native of New Jersey and has been a South Palm Beach resident for three years. She runs a pet concierge business known as Francy Paws. She spent many years in New Jersey as the owner of Jersey Sporting News, a publication covering high school sports across the state.
Burcet is currently employed as a FedEx driver and has been a South Palm Beach resident for eight years.
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