Turtle time is coming, so let’s talk elections.
March marks the start of the annual sea turtle season, when beach lighting dims and stakes marking buried turtle nests begin sprouting along the shoreline.
It’s also municipal election season, when local voters head to the polls — if they haven’t already cast their ballots through the mail — to choose their town and city leaders.
However, unlike sea turtle nestings, which come year after year no matter the weather or the danger from predators, local elections are often canceled due to lack of competition.
So, yes, there will be elections along Palm Beach County’s southern coast this year, with 12 candidates and two major referendums on the March 10 ballot in Boca Raton, seven candidates in South Palm Beach, six in Gulf Stream, and a pivotal three-way race to be decided in Delray Beach.
But that’s not the case in other coastal towns — such as Manalapan, Lantana, Ocean Ridge and Highland Beach — where there won’t be an election because incumbents have already retained their seats without opposition. And it’s not like Gulf Stream has an abundance of candidates, as its six candidates — five incumbents and one newcomer — are vying for five open seats, which sounds more like a single round of musical chairs.
Nor will there be an election in Briny Breezes, even though only one of its three open seats has been filled. No one is running for mayor or a second open council seat — even the incumbents didn't file. It’ll be up to the reconstituted Town Council to find and appoint willing residents to fill those vacancies after March 10.
There are two competing possibilities for the lack of competition many of our communities experience. The negative one: apathy. The positive: a general feeling among residents that their town is being run well.
In Gulf Stream, where the route to a seat on the Town Commission typically involves a promotion from the town’s Architectural Review and Planning Board, having any election at all is newsworthy. The upcoming election will be only the town’s fifth in the last 50 years.
Gulf Stream’s last two contested elections were in 2017 and 2014. Before that, you have to go back to 1993 and then to 1978.
Sometimes, people just need a reason to run. In Boca Raton, the reason this year appears to be about how — or if — the city’s downtown campus will be developed, while in South Palm Beach opposition has mounted over plans to build a new Town Hall.
Still, even in Delray Beach, which is in ongoing political upheaval, no one came forward to challenge incumbent Commissioner Angela Burns. The three candidates there are seeking to replace former Vice Mayor Rob Long, who was sworn in as a state representative in December. That race could be critical given that the City Commission is currently split 2-2 on many key issues.
If you’re looking for The Coastal Star’s endorsements in the local races, you won’t find any because we don’t make any. In this edition, we’ve put together election stories and candidate profiles to help inform you about the various choices. After that, it’s up to you.
I think it’s time for you to be like one of those determined sea turtles and show up (if there’s an election where you live), either on election day at the polls, or through mailing in your ballot in time for your vote to be counted.
And start thinking ahead to when sea turtle season ends on Oct. 31, because soon after that, candidate qualifying for the 2027 municipal elections will be held. Could that be your time to run?
— Larry Barszewski, Editor
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