Split vote — The newly reconstituted Delray Beach City Commission had its first 3-2 split, which came at the March 28 organizational meeting when its three new members were sworn into office.
The new members — Mayor Tom Carney and Commissioners Juli Casale and Tom Markert — voted for Casale to be vice mayor, while Commissioners Rob Long and Angela Burns picked Burns.
The rest of the voting was unanimous for commission positions. Long was elected to continue as deputy vice mayor, Carney was elected chairman of the Community Redevelopment Agency, and Burns was elected to continue as vice chairwoman of the CRA and as the city’s delegate to the Palm Beach County League of Cities.
Turmoil at the DDA — The Palm Beach County Ethics Commission has reprimanded a member of the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority after finding Richard Burgess lied his way onto the DDA board.
And the newly seated City Commission unanimously agreed at its organizational meeting March 28 to have a hearing April 16 on whether to remove him as a result.
Burgess agreed to accept a reprimand for misrepresenting his business address as being within the DDA’s “tax qualified” borders when applying for the position last year, a move that the Ethics Commission said greatly improved his chance of being selected.
On the board, Burgess was one of two members — both appointed last June — who gave DDA Executive Director Laura Simon failing marks on city evaluation forms for her role as a downtown liaison and as a budget manager. But Simon’s evaluation at a March 11 meeting was postponed after some questioned if Burgess should be allowed to remain on the board — and Simon received an outpouring of support from downtown merchants amid rumors she might be fired.
The board agreed to have workshops regarding Simon’s performance.
Duplexes approved in historic district — A plan to put five two-story duplexes on Southeast First Avenue, in the southeast corner of the Old School Square Historic Arts District, won City Commission approval March 5 even though the project came with a thumbs down from the Historic Preservation Board.
Critics pointed to how the proposed Downtown Delray Villas needed 25 waivers and variances from the development rules for the district, including height limits and street frontage requirements. But the project was supported by neighbors who told commissioners it would be an improvement from the blighted properties there now.
The commission voted 3-2 in favor of the project, with Mayor Shelly Petrolia and Commissioner Angela Burns dissenting.
— Anne Geggis
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