andy thomson - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T07:43:34Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/andy+thomsonBoca Raton: Thomson retakes seat on council; Drucker brushes off challengehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-thomson-retakes-seat-on-council-drucker-brushes-off-ch2024-03-20T01:56:09.000Z2024-03-20T01:56:09.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p class="Body"><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12390437883,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12390437883,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="12390437883?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="216" /></a>Andy Thomson easily reclaimed a Boca Raton City Council seat on election night, capturing 62.3% of the vote to defeat opponent Brian Stenberg.</p>
<p>Thomson, senior counsel at the Baritz & Colman law firm in Boca Raton and an adjunct professor at Florida Atlantic University teaching local and state government, resigned from the council in 2022 to pursue his unsuccessful candidacy for the Florida House District 91 seat now held by Peggy Gossett-Seidman.</p>
<p class="Body">After losing that race, Thomson said he would seek elected office again and ultimately decided on a run for the Boca Council Seat D to replace term-limited Deputy Mayor Monica Mayotte.</p>
<p>“I feel incredibly blessed to be entrusted with this,” Thomson said at his campaign party at Maggiano’s restaurant. “I have served on the City Council before, but I take the duties very seriously and I am honored that the city would have me back in that way.”</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12402596267,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12402596267,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="12402596267?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="218" /></a>Also victorious in the March 19 election was incumbent Yvette Drucker, who claimed Seat C by winning 77% of the vote and trouncing perennial candidate Bernard Korn.</p>
<p class="Body">Thomson received far more campaign donations than any of the other candidates, bringing in $133,604. He blanketed the city with campaign signs and drew the longest list of endorsements of any of the candidates.</p>
<p class="Body">Stenberg, a partner in the Greenfield Properties medical office real estate management firm, was making his second bid to serve on the council after Mayotte defeated him in 2021.</p>
<p class="Body">Stenberg congratulated Thomson at his own party at Duffy’s restaurant. “I wish him the best. I wish the best to the city of Boca Raton,” he said.</p>
<p class="Body">He did not rule out another race for a council seat. “The citizens who voted for me, it was a very passionate vote for them. I want to honor the value of their votes.”</p>
<p class="Body"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12402598470,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12402598470,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="12402598470?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a>Stenberg said he did not seek endorsements and raised $16,709, with about a quarter of that coming from personal loans to his campaign. He relied on reaching out to voters directly and through volunteers.</p>
<p class="Body">Stenberg drew support in mid-March from the BocaFirst blog, which, without mentioning him by name, called him the “resident advocate candidate” in the mold of former Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke who stressed being “resident friendly” and opposed to overdevelopment.</p>
<p class="Body">City development has long been an issue in campaigns as the number of residents has reached nearly 100,000 and construction projects have sprouted citywide.</p>
<p class="Body">In their campaigns, both Thomson and Stenberg offered nuanced views on development, with Thomson saying growth should be managed responsibly, and Stenberg calling for “respectful growth” that avoids overdevelopment.</p>
<p class="Body"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12402598864,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12402598864,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="12402598864?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a>Drucker, who raised $61,463 in campaign donations, is a first-generation Cuban American and the first Hispanic to serve on the council. She is a longtime volunteer with many organizations, including the Junior League of Boca Raton.</p>
<p class="Body">Drucker has made improving transportation and mobility her passion and promised to continue that work during her second term. She stressed “common sense” development.</p>
<p class="Body">Korn, a real estate broker, self-financed his campaign with $5,550. He has twice lost elections to Mayor Scott Singer and once to Drucker.</p>
<p class="Body">In the most recent campaign, Korn said his top priority was to end “uncontrolled development.” He also railed against what he said was political corruption in the city and among council members without offering factual evidence.</p>
<p class="Body">Korn repeatedly asked residents to file complaints with the state against Drucker, contending she had violated ethics rules even though there was no basis for that<br />allegation.</p>
<p class="Body">“It was a wonderful result for this campaign,” Drucker said of her victory, “but also to win by such a margin after the attacks by my opponent. The best is yet to come.”</p>
<p class="Body">When Mayotte, who lives in the eastern part of the city near downtown, leaves the council at the end of this month, all five council members will live west of Interstate 95.</p>
<p> </p></div>Election results: State representative - District 91https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/election-results-state-representative-district-912022-11-09T03:16:09.000Z2022-11-09T03:16:09.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10877933064,RESIZE_1200x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10877933064,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10877933064?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>SOURCE: Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections (<em>unofficial results</em>)</p></div>Boca Raton: Councilman renews cleanup pledge 1 year, 475 miles laterhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-councilman-renews-cleanup-pledge-1-year-475-miles-late2021-12-29T15:53:03.000Z2021-12-29T15:53:03.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9966148054,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9966148054,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="9966148054?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em> Boca Raton City Council member Andy Thomson addresses a group of volunteers at University Woodlands Park before they head out to pick up trash on Dec. 11.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em>Growing numbers of volunteers follow leader into 2022</em></span></p>
<p><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p>Boca Raton City Council member Andy Thomson launched 2021 with a resolution to run all 475 miles of the city’s streets, picking up litter along the way.<br />In 2022, “I’m going to do it all over again,” he said.<br />Thomson, 39, confesses he’s not a big fan of running. And in late December, as the former punter on Georgia Tech’s football team rushed to complete his mission, he admitted his knees were sore.<br />But he’s going to press on because his “Run the City” initiative provided benefits he didn’t expect.<br />“I’ve gotten to know our city better,” he said. “What each neighborhood is like and what they could use, what they need.”<br />Beyond that, the effort yielded a cleaner, safer city. He and nearly 500 volunteers who joined his cause picked up nearly 1,300 pounds of trash. The potholes, broken sidewalks and other safety issues he spotted and reported have been fixed by city or county crews.<br />“The best part is the volunteers,” Thomson said. “I didn’t anticipate there would be a lot of involvement or interest. But there was a lot.”<br />The long list of nonprofits and other groups that helped includes Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Junior League of Boca Raton, Boca Raton Innovation Campus, Riviera Civic Association, Spanish River High School cross-country teams, Addison Mizner elementary school PTA and Christ Community Church.<br />Also at times, some of his five children accompanied him.<br />In the new year Thomson will tweak his system a bit. He’ll run major arteries early in the morning since few pedestrians walk along them and there are fewer opportunities for interaction.<br />He’ll save neighborhoods for later in the day and announce in advance where he will be so residents can talk with him about issues they’d like the city to resolve.<br />“It has helped me immensely” as an elected official, he said. “I have met so many people I probably would never have met as a result of being in their neighborhood.”<br />The project is reminiscent of “Walkin’ Lawton” Chiles’ 1970 campaign for U.S. Senate, when the Lakeland politician walked 1,003 miles from Pensacola to Key West to meet everyday Floridians and promote his candidacy. He won the Senate seat and later served as Florida’s governor.<br />Thomson’s effort no longer is a solitary one. Some volunteers have been inspired to conduct independent cleanups.<br />“Once they start doing this, they realize your eyes can’t not see the litter that’s out there. You feel compelled to do something about it,” he said.<br />As 2021 drew to a close, Thomson was joined by volunteers from Boca Save our Beaches and the environmental organization Waterway Advocates to clean up neighborhoods near University Woodlands Park at 2501 St. Andrews Blvd.<br />“We are super-excited to work partner with (Thomson),” said Boca Save our Beaches founder Jessica Gray. “All trash will eventually lead to the ocean,” endangering wildlife.<br />About 18 volunteers showed up for the Dec. 11 cleanup, including Florida Atlantic University students Makayla Williams and Manoucheca Pierre, who could earn community service credit for participating.<br />“I felt I had to do something,” Williams said.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9966152671,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9966152671,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="9966152671?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em>Jackson Gray, 6, found this bag that used to contain ice. <strong>Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><br />Dylan Uttenreither, a 10th-grader at West Boca Raton Community High School, brought along his parents, Jennifer and Scott.<br /> “We love to help,” Jennifer Uttenreither said.<br />Ellen Gray, who participates in beach cleanups with Boca Save our Beaches, brought her children, Jackson, 6, Julia 3, and Jane, 1, with the intention of “teaching our kids good things.”<br />Jackson, who proved to be an expert with a trash-grabbing device, amassed a big haul after about 15 minutes of work — 14.5 pounds.<br />“I am so pleased,” Gray said of her son’s efforts.<br />In all, the volunteers collected 42.3 pounds of trash, including a car grille, styrofoam, old tennis balls, plastic water bottles and beer cans.<br />“Even in a city as beautiful as Boca, this stuff is out there,” Thomson said as he thanked the group. “The best part is, you are demonstrating you care about our city.” </p></div>Boca Raton: A man and a movementhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-a-man-and-a-movement2021-03-31T16:10:10.000Z2021-03-31T16:10:10.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8740098871,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8740098871,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="8740098871?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>City Council member Andy Thomson jogs with his children Allie, 9, Henry, 5, and Maddie, 7, along Boca Raton Boulevard. The kids and other community members often come along to help spot and pick up trash.<strong> Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>Council member’s push to run, pick up litter on every mile of street gathers public support</strong> </span></p>
<p><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p>When City Council member Andy Thomson launched 2020 with a New Year’s resolution to jog more frequently, he noticed litter everywhere along the streets.<br />Water bottles, plastic straws, candy wrappers, and later on, face masks and disposable gloves.<br />“It really bugged me,” he said. “Once you see the trash, you can’t not see it.”<br /> That spurred Thomson to bring a bag with him so he could pick it up as he ran.<br />But as so often happens with New Year’s resolutions, his jogging sessions dwindled over time. He needed to impose some discipline.<br />That led to another resolution: In 2021, he would jog every street in the city — all 475 miles — and pick up trash along the way.<br />“This gave me the discipline to make it happen,” said Thomson, who now typically jogs 3 to 4 miles four days a week.<br />He charts his progress on his “Run the City” website, <a href="http://www.andythomson.com/run-the-city/">www.andythomson.com/run-the-city/</a>, where people can volunteer to join the effort, and on Facebook.<br />As of March 23, he had run 100.5 miles and picked up 260 pounds of trash, including 308 pieces of personal protective equipment.<br />The discarded masks and gloves bother him the most. Thomson says he finds about three along every mile he runs.<br />He’d like to think they are dropped accidentally, but has doubts. He wears gloves so he can retrieve them safely.<br />“This is one of the things we need to be better at,” he said of properly disposing of masks and gloves.<br />So far, Thomson has run many of the city’s main arteries, including Glades Road, Camino Real, Palmetto Park Road and Dixie and Federal highways.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8740102675,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8740102675,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="8740102675?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em>Andy Thomson, with children Henry and Maddie, says his effort to pick up trash has expanded into spotting other problems such as potholes and listening to the concerns of residents he encounters. <strong>Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><br />Later this year, when he hopes the coronavirus pandemic is under better control and more people are vaccinated, he will venture onto neighborhood streets.<br />When he does, he wants to hold “mobile office hours,” talking to residents he meets about the issues they face.<br />In the meantime, his project has undergone mission creep. He has spotted pot holes, broken sidewalks and crosswalks ill-suited to pedestrians or cyclists.<br />He takes photos of the problem spots and sends them to whatever agency — city, county, state or federal — is responsible for fixing them.<br />“We are starting to see some of the issues I have identified get fixed,” he said.<br />His efforts are not always solitary. He often is helped by some of his five children.<br />During an early March run, daughter Maddie, 7, and son Henry, 5, worked as trash spotters, sometimes running alongside their dad, and sometimes pushed along in a large stroller.<br />Both had eagle eyes. Maddie pointed out small, clear bottle caps in the grass along North Ocean Boulevard that a reporter had not noticed.<br />As word about “Run the City” has spread, volunteers are stepping forward.<br />Thomson was joined on Feb. 27 by about 50 Christ Fellowship parishioners in cleaning up the Palm Beach Farms and Camino Lakes neighborhoods.<br />Christ Fellowship’s Boca Raton Community Pastor Rob Elliott heard about Thomson’s efforts, which dovetailed with the church’s emphasis on community service, and offered to help.<br />Volunteers from the church arrived at a meeting point equipped with buckets and trash bags and fanned out in small groups. They covered 16 miles of streets and collected 80 pounds of trash, Thomson said.<br />“It would have taken longer to do if it had been a smaller group,” Elliott said. “Collectively, we came together to have an increased impact.”<br />Since then, the children who joined in have talked about what they did, he said.<br />“It definitely had an impact on people, especially the kids who were involved,” Elliott said. “It raised awareness of the need for it.”<br />In another sign that his efforts are noticed, Thomson said a teacher told her students about what he is doing, and now some of the kids are doing similar work on their own.<br />“That is how communities get better,” Thomson said. “Not by lecturing. Not by complaining, but by doing.”<br />He also decided to send a message that people should not litter masks and gloves.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8740100469,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8740100469,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="8740100469?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em>Discarded face masks and gloves bother Thomson most, and the council instituted a $250 fine to try to curb that litter.</em></p>
<p>Thomson introduced an ordinance on Feb. 23 that increases the city’s normal littering fine from $50 to $250 for improper disposal of PPE.<br />The city set a precedent for a larger fine when it previously increased to $100 the fine for littering in storm drains, canals and lakes.<br />“Littering masks is simply not acceptable and Boca is better than that,” Thomson said when the ordinance came up for a vote March 23.<br />Other council members embraced the idea, approving the ordinance unanimously.<br />“I think it is a great idea,” said council member Monica Mayotte. “I consider it out of control.”<br />“I see the masks everywhere too,” said Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke. “It is upsetting.”<br />Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 10 wiped out fines imposed on people or businesses for violating COVID-19-related ordinances, but his order will not affect Boca Raton’s new ordinance. That’s because it does not stem from the city’s use of emergency powers and the city already had established fines for littering, said City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser.<br />Thomson and other council members recognize the ordinance will be difficult to enforce since a fine can be imposed only if the infraction is witnessed by police or code enforcement officers.<br />Even so, the ordinance is an opportunity to prod residents to take the proper disposal of masks and gloves seriously.<br />“I want to use this as an opportunity to educate,” said Mayor Scott Singer. </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8740103861,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8740103861,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="8740103861?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em>Thomson picked up 7.54 pounds of trash on a recent Saturday as Henry, Maddie and Allie kept their eyes to the ground. On another day a church group joined in and they collected 80 pounds.</em></p></div>Boca Raton: Thomson seeks to smooth divisions following close race for council seathttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-thomson-seeks-to-smooth-divisions-following-close-race2018-10-03T15:00:00.000Z2018-10-03T15:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960818676,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960818676,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960818676?profile=original" /></a><em>Thomson gets a congratulatory hug from Pastor Tommy Kiedis of Spanish River Church after he administered the oath of office to him during an organizational meeting. <strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /> <br /> New City Council member Andy Thomson, who won his seat by a mere 32 votes out of 17,959 cast, immediately set about trying to repair any schisms in Boca Raton. <br /> “The election showed us that there are divisions in the city, and I’m going to work with everybody up here, my new colleagues, to make sure that we try to bridge those divisions, that we help preserve our quality of life here, to help resolve the divisions we have and continue to make this city as wonderful as it has been,” he said after taking his place on the dais Sept. 12.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960818697,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960818697,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="105" class="align-left" alt="7960818697?profile=original" /></a>Mayor Scott Singer, who won his race with nearly 11,900 votes to Al Zucaro’s 6,278 and Bernard Korn’s 579, also sought help to improve Boca Raton at the council’s post-election organizational meeting.<br /> “Our successes outweigh our problems, our shared vision for our community is greater than our small disagreements, and most of all, our opportunities are far greater than our challenges,” Singer said. “I’m truly humbled to have a chance to work with my colleagues, our city staff and the people of Boca Raton not just to find common ground but higher ground.”<br /> County Commissioner Steven Abrams, who swore in Singer, congratulated the new council member. Abrams, who served on the council for 17 years and is finishing his ninth year as a county commissioner, called Singer the hardest-working candidate he had ever seen. <br /> “You did take office, take the reins at a very difficult time in the city’s history. You were able to reassure the public, to keep the city moving forward. I think that the residents appreciated that,” Abrams said.<br /> Singer, a lawyer, was elevated from deputy mayor to the mayor’s seat in April after Susan Haynie was charged with official misconduct and perjury and suspended from office. He and Thomson, also a lawyer, will serve until March 2020 and then be able to run for two full three-year terms. <br /> Thomson said he is “proud of the fact that we stayed positive. We showed that a positive campaign can be successful.”<br /> Thomson said election rivals Kathy Cottrell and Tamara McKee “are both fantastic residents of our city, ran terrific campaigns, energetic campaigns.” <br /> The final count had Thomson with 7,929 votes, Cottrell with 7,897 and McKee with 2,133.<br /> The results were not known until an official recount four days after the Aug. 28 special election. A 19-vote difference, 0.1 percent, triggered the hand count of 1,518 undervotes, ballots without a choice, and overvotes, ballots with two or more candidates chosen. <br /> State law requires a hand count when the difference is 0.25 percent or less.<br /> On election night Cottrell held a lead over Thomson of more than 200 votes after early votes were counted and again when about two-thirds of the city’s precincts were tallied.<br /> Her lead narrowed to 37 votes by 10 p.m. and became a tie two hours later. Mail-in and provisional ballots counted near midnight gave Thomson first a three-vote advantage, then 19.<br /> At the organizational meeting Thomson especially thanked McKee for an episode during early voting at the Downtown Library. He and one of his young daughters were out shaking hands as lunchtime neared.<br /> “Tamara’s family had just come back to their area with this big pepperoni pizza, and very quickly my daughter Allie [lost] interest in the voters out there, and began looking more and more longingly at that big pepperoni pizza. And despite me and Tamara battling out there for every vote, which we were, the McKee family was so kind to my daughter that they gave her not one but two slices of their pepperoni pizza.<br /> “And that’s the kind of, I think, humanity that sometimes we don’t see in a campaign, but I think it’s a testament to the character of Tamara and her family and I wanted to tell her thank you.”</p></div>Boca Raton: Thomson is council's new additionhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-thomson-is-council-s-new-addition2018-08-31T18:00:00.000Z2018-08-31T18:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;text-align:center;"><strong><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960812080,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><font size="3"><img width="750" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960812080,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960812080?profile=original" /></font></a></span></strong><em><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher (standing) watches as ballots are examined during the recount of the Boca Raton City Council Seat A election Aug. 31. There were 16 previously uncounted ballots. <strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></font></span></em></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><strong><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">By Steve Plunkett and Dan Moffett</font></span></strong></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3"> A</font></span><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">nd the winner is: Andy Thomson!</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960807477,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="98" class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960807477,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960807477?profile=original" /></a>An agonizing 67 hours after the polls closed Aug. 28 and following almost six hours of recounting ballots by machine and by hand, Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher declared that Thomson won Seat A on the City Council—by maybe 32 votes.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">Complete results were delayed by her computer’s programming, but Thomson is “clearly the winner,” Bucher said before her software spit out the final results.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">The almost-final tally was 7,929 votes for Thompson and 7,897 for Kathy Cottrell. Tamara McKee, the third candidate, had 2,133.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">“I’m thrilled to be in this position,” Thomson said from Scotland, where he and his wife, Joanna, are celebrating an anniversary trip they planned long before the recount was ordered. “Nobody would have expected it would have come to this.”</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">Thomson, who campaigned on a message of “responsible, managed growth,” is expected to often side with Mayor Scott Singer, who touted a record “of opposing overdevelopment” in this election, and Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers, who attended both Singer's and Thomson's election night gatherings.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">Thomson said his narrow victory showed him voters are split about the city’s future. “I look forward to working together to bridge this divide,” he said.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">Council members Andrea O’Rourke and Monica Mayotte attended Cottrell’s election night watch. O’Rourke, who endorsed Cottrell early on, defeated Thomson in a sometimes-bitter campaign for Seat B in March 2017.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">Bucher said the recount ensures that the totals are accurate and that Thomson won. “I don’t want to be 99 percent,” she said. “I want to be 100 percent accurate.”</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">Bucher’s staff, since Election Day, found a bin with 16 ballots that were overvotes or undervotes that were set aside but not counted. No one can say how this happened, but her office’s attorney says it was definitely a mistake.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">“We should have done them Tuesday night,” said Andrew Baumann, Bucher’s attorney.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">Thomson won nine of the 16 votes and Cottrell won three. McKee got one; the others were tossed out by the canvassing board, which included Bucher and Circuit Judges August Bonavita and Bradley Harper.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">Cottrell and Thomson both received about 1,600 votes more than Al Zucaro did in the mayor’s race. Zucaro lost to Singer in a landslide, 63 percent to 33 percent. Zucaro's BocaWatch blog supported Cottrell, as it did O'Rourke and Mayotte before.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">A 19-vote difference, 0.1 percent, triggered the hand count of 1,518 undervotes and overvotes, ballots without a choice or with two or more candidates chosen. Most were undervotes and had no impact on the race.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">State law requires a hand count when the difference is 0.25 percent or less.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">On election night Cottrell held a lead of more than 200 votes after early votes were counted and again when about two-thirds of the city's precincts were tallied.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 13.33px;"><span style="margin:0px;color:#000000;font-family:Cambria, serif;"><font size="3">Her lead narrowed to 37 votes by 10 p.m. Two hours later she and Thomson were tied. Mail-in and provisional ballots counted near midnight gave Thomson first a three-vote advantage, then pushed him ahead by 19.</font></span></p></div>Boca Raton: Council race goes into overtimehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-council-race-goes-into-overtime2018-08-29T16:19:06.000Z2018-08-29T16:19:06.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960806096,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960806096,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="435" alt="7960806096?profile=original" /></a><em><strong>ABOVE:</strong> Andy Thomson, here with his father, Tom, and wife, Joanna, called the close race for City Council ‘kind of hard to believe.’ <strong>BELOW:</strong> Kathy Cottrell (left) celebrates with council members Andrea O’Rourke and Monica Mayotte on election night. At the time she thought she won. <strong>Photos by Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960806453,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960806453,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="438" alt="7960806453?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong></p>
<p><br />A squeaker of a City Council race that could shape development decisions — and Boca Raton’s landscape — for years to come had supporters on both sides anxiously waiting to hear who won. Only 3 votes out of 17,875 ballots separated Seat A candidates Andy Thomson and Kathy Cottrell.<br />“The supervisor of elections is still counting provisional ballots, so we don’t have a final number yet,” city spokeswoman Chrissy Gibson said as City Clerk Susan Saxton conferred with the city attorney early Aug. 29 over what to do. “We’ll provide a statement with the details ASAP.”<br />Under state law, the city’s canvassing board must order a recount when unofficial results show a candidate losing by 0.5 percent or less. In Cottrell’s case, the margin is 0.2 percent. <br />Saxton, who lost a 2001 City Council race by 2 votes, heads the city’s canvassing board, which includes City Manager Leif Ahnell and Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher.<br />Cottrell had a lead of about 200 votes after two-thirds of the ballots had been counted on election night, a tally that did not change on the supervisor of elections website for more than an hour.<br />The mood at Thomson’s election watch was somber. “It’s nerve-racking, as you might imagine,” he said as he waited.<br />By 10 p.m. Cottrell’s lead had shrunk to 35 votes. “It’ll be what it’ll be, but I’m confident it is what it is,” she said.<br />A little before midnight they were dead even, each with 7,872 votes and a third candidate, Tamara McKee, with 2,118. <br />“That’s kind of hard to believe,” said Thomson.<br />The last update at 12:31 a.m. put Thomson up by 3 votes: 7,879-7,876.<br />The Seat A winner will serve until March 2020 and then can run for two three-year terms.<br />Cottrell was endorsed by unsuccessful mayoral candidate Al Zucaro’s BocaWatch blog and introduced him at his first campaign fundraiser. City Council member Andrea O’Rourke, a former editor of BocaWatch, also endorsed her, and BocaBeautiful.org, which fights what it sees as overdevelopment downtown, urged voters to pick Cottrell “if you like the way Andrea O’Rourke and Monica Mayotte have conducted themselves as City Council members.”<br />Thomson, who campaigned as a “proven problem solver” and an “independent thinker with no ties to special interests,” lost a sometimes bitter 2017 council race to O’Rourke.<br />He raised $12,670 in the last 13 days of the campaign, including $1,000 checks from iPic chief executive Hamid Hashemi’s iPic Gold Class Entertainment, iPic Holdings LLC, Hashemi Holdings LLC and Premier Aviation of Boca Raton. That pushed Thomson’s total to $75,988 not counting a $20,000 self-loan. He reported campaign expenses of $73,213 through Aug. 23.<br />Thomson, an attorney who concentrates on resolving business disputes, had the same big endorsements as Mayor Scott Singer: the police and firefighter unions, the Chamber of Commerce’s PAC, Realtors, the Economic Council of Palm Beach County and the Business PAC of Palm Beach County.<br />Cottrell, a Boca Raton native and organizational psychologist, told voters her career included “large-scale problem solving and change management initiatives” for Fortune 500 companies. <br />Cottrell raised $2,800 in the Aug. 11-23 period, mostly sums between $50 and $250. Her total contributions were $23,638 and she loaned her campaign $30,000. Campaign expenses were $41,551.</p></div>