A mark against gay pride pavers — With Delray Beach’s rainbow-striped crosswalk getting vandalized by burnout tracks for the second time in three years, the City Commission discussed perhaps doing away with the pavers at Northeast First Street and Northeast Second Avenue in Pineapple Grove.
Dylan Brewer, 19, of Clearwater surrendered to Delray Beach police on Feb. 12. He was charged with felony criminal mischief and reckless driving for an incident captured on cell phone video. He was driving a pickup and burnt out on the crosswalk that is meant to symbolize gay pride. The incident was similar to what a 20-year-old Lantana-area man did in 2021, right down to the pickup truck.
Commissioner Rob Long said the cost to fix the paint, estimated at between $2,000 and $6,000 by City Manager Terrence Moore, might not be worth it.
Mayor Shelly Petrolia noted that it’s usually part of the punishment that the perpetrator make restitution to the victims.
Attorney recommends against bigger raise for herself — The City Commission wanted to give City Attorney Lynn Gelin a 7% raise but she recommended that commissioners stick with the standard merit increase for city employees this year: a 5% raise.
The difference? Nearly $5,000.
“My husband is going to kill me for saying this, but …” Gelin said.
She received a 4.94-point rating out of a possible 5 from the commission upon her fifth anniversary with the city. To show more appreciation, Commissioner Adam Frankel suggested increasing her time off with an extra five days. Other commissioners agreed.
“If it weren’t for you, I don’t know where we’d be on a lot of issues,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia told Gelin.
The raise boosted Gelin’s hourly rate of pay to $122.27. Based on a 40-hour week, 52 weeks a year, that would come to an annual salary of $254,300.
Historic downtown designation runs into wall — A City Commission workshop on creating a district to preserve historic aspects of the city’s downtown did not produce any progress Feb. 20.
Mayor Shelly Petrolia, who will be stepping off the commission due to term limits this month, said she was disappointed not to solidify efforts to maintain the downtown’s historic charm.
— Anne Geggis
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