arthur koski - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T11:36:33Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/arthur+koskiBoca Raton: Beach-park director may drop job as its lawyerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-beach-park-director-may-drop-job-as-its-lawyer2018-05-30T15:30:00.000Z2018-05-30T15:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Steve Plunkett</b></span></p>
<p class="p2">Arthur Koski, the executive director of the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District, is ready to shed his duties as its legal adviser and focus on the Ocean Breeze golf course.</p>
<p class="p3"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960793471,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960793471,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="98" class="align-left" alt="7960793471?profile=original" /></a>“What I’m looking for is that golf course to be finished, we have an opening, someday when my grandsons come down and visit, they can say my granddad had something to do with it,” Koski told commissioners May 21.</p>
<p class="p3">In discussing Koski’s job duties over several meetings, commissioners decided it is time to begin looking for his successor as executive director, but to keep him onboard for at least two years to shepherd the transformation of Ocean Breeze into “a public golf course with a private course atmosphere.”</p>
<p class="p3">They also gave him the choice of keeping his title and primary duties as either director or attorney. Koski said he plans to cut back on his private caseload after spending a week in New York City trying a case unrelated to the district.</p>
<p class="p3">“I’ve had enough of the travel,” Koski told them. “I’ve had enough of the time and effort that goes into it, what it takes out of you.”</p>
<p class="p3">He’ll continue legal work on the golf course.</p>
<p class="p3">Koski is paid $120,000 a year as the district’s executive director and $150,000 annually for legal services. He also billed the district $120,000 in February for extra legal work he performed in the $24 million acquisition of Ocean Breeze.</p>
<p class="p3">The bill prompted a letter from the city questioning whether the payment passed ethics guidelines and state law. The district’s outside bond counsel assured officials that Koski’s fees were proper. Koski also drew flak from Boca Raton in 2016 when then-City Council member Robert Weinroth demanded that the district replace him with a full-time executive director. </p>
<p class="p3">Koski became the district’s legal counsel in 1978, four years after the district was created. Commissioners value his institutional knowledge as much as his management and legal skills.</p>
<p class="p3">“I appreciate everything that you’ve done,” District Vice Chairman Steve Engel said. “At some point we need to turn the page, and I guess that’s what we’re in the process of doing now.”</p>
<p class="p3">Commissioners will get an outside human resources specialist to create a job description of the executive director and to guide their search for Koski’s replacement. They hope to advertise the position by Jan. 1.</p></div>Boca Raton: City cancels long-anticipated meeting between council, beach districthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-city-cancels-long-anticipated-meeting-between-council-2017-02-01T16:24:10.000Z2017-02-01T16:24:10.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /><br /> Now it’s 20 months and counting.<br /> Boca Raton City Council members canceled a Jan. 30 joint meeting with Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District commissioners. It would have been the first time the boards got together since June 9, 2015.<br /> Arthur Koski, the district’s executive director, announced the cancellation Jan. 9 as he discussed the long-sought addition of athletic fields at city-owned De Hoernle Park. The district built and opened four fields there in 2012 and has been seeking the city’s consent ever since to build four more.<br /> “It may be a subject for discussion at a joint meeting, and while I’m on the subject, the joint meeting of the 30th of the month has been canceled, and the city will get back to us with new dates,” Koski told his surprised commissioners.<br /> Beach and park officials want to talk with council members about how to fix tax disparities that future annexations will cause and how to define a nonresident when setting park user fees.<br /> “The city canceled the meeting, not us,” district Chairman Robert Rollins said. “That’s the meeting I asked back in [September] to put on their calendar, and so I’m terribly disappointed.”<br /> Briann Harms, the district’s assistant director, called the city clerk’s office earlier that day to ask why the joint session was not on the council’s schedule and learned of the cancellation. <br /> Late Jan. 30, City Council member Robert Weinroth posted pictures on Facebook of himself, Mayor Susan Haynie and council members Jeremy Rodgers and Scott Singer at an event at the Boca Raton Airport.<br /> “What a great night to showcase our amazing City to hundreds of CEO’s,” the mayor commented on one photo.<br /> City officials have not come up with a substitute date, a city spokeswoman said.<br /> Beach and park commissioners have been trying to schedule a joint meeting since August 2015.<br /> After several failed attempts, then-Commissioner Dennis Frisch went to the council’s July 26 meeting to ask Haynie and the four council members to use a smartphone app called Meeting Wizard instead of sending letters back and forth from district headquarters to the city manager’s office. “It’s gone on too long,” he said.<br /> “I’m with you,” Haynie replied. “Let’s just get this moving forward.”<br /> That effort went nowhere when three city officials did not follow through. Commissioners and council members also tried a scheduling website called doodle.com. <br /> In August then-Commis-sioner Earl Starkoff proposed having the Jan. 30 session as well as get-togethers on May 15 and Oct. 2. <br />Council members did not commit to the later dates but said at their Sept. 27 meeting that Jan. 30 was a go.</p></div>Boca Raton: Beach-park lawyer drops 3rd of 3 jobshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-beach-park-lawyer-drops-3rd-of-3-jobs2016-11-30T16:10:19.000Z2016-11-30T16:10:19.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /><br /> The Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District’s longtime attorney has given up the third of three jobs there that paid him a total of $330,000 a year.<br /> Arthur Koski, who is also yielding his role as the district’s executive director, recommended Nov. 28 that beach and park commissioners hire Michael Fichera, Boca Raton’s recently retired chief building official, to do their contract administration work, a task Koski has handled since 2010.<br /> Koski said Fichera “probably is the most knowledgeable person in the city of Boca Raton relative to permitting and inspections and making sure work passes inspections.” <br /> Fichera “supervised all of the individuals at City Hall who are involved with issuing permits for any construction within the city … and had the direct supervisory responsibility of all of the individual inspectors who do the various inspections on all the construction,” Koski said.<br /> Commissioners approved his hiring unanimously. <br /> “This is a coup in my opinion,” Commissioner Earl Starkoff said.<br /> Fichera, who retired from his city position Nov. 1 after starting out as a construction inspector for the city in 1981, will get $6,000 a month as a consultant without benefits.<br /> Koski said the rebuilding of the district’s Sugar Sand Park playground, which is winding down, along with building a new community center at the Swim & Racquet Center and converting a grass field at Patch Reef Park to artificial turf will keep Fichera busy for two to three years. Also on the horizon may be construction of additional sports fields at DeHoernle Park. <br /> Koski will end his part-time job as the district’s executive director in January, a task that paid him $90,000 a year. He took the interim position in 2012 when Robert Langford retired. But his additional role drew complaints from city officials, culminating in March with City Council member Robert Weinroth’s demand that he be replaced with someone full-time. <br /> In May, Koski said he would step aside as director on Oct. 1, the start of the new budget year. But he was persuaded to stay until January, when commissioners will choose their chairman for the calendar year and commissioners-elect Craig Ehrnst and Erin Wright will take their seats.<br /> Koski started giving the Beach & Park District legal advice in 1978 and is paid $132,000 a year for it, more if the district is involved in litigation. Commissioners value his institutional knowledge.<br /> Koski, who has a bachelor’s degree in engineering, has said contract administration work is “something that I enjoy very much.”<br />His total district pay — $330,000 a year — dwarfed that of other public officials, though most government employees receive pension and other benefits that Koski does not. Koski, who pays office and staff expenses, also has a private law practice downtown.</p></div>Boca Raton: Beach and Park District chief to give up 2nd of 3 jobshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-beach-and-park-district-chief-to-give-up-2nd-of-3-jobs2016-09-29T13:43:24.000Z2016-09-29T13:43:24.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /><br /> The longtime attorney for the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District will soon shed his role as the district’s contract administrator.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960675457,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960675457,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="97" alt="7960675457?profile=original" /></a> “Possibly around the first of November, I will be able to come to you with a recommendation that, since we’re going to have some additional capital projects under construction, that we will be able to retain the services of a qualified individual to take over the contract administration,” Arthur Koski told beach and park commissioners Sept. 6.<br /> Koski, who also is the district’s interim executive director, said he had been looking for someone to replace him as contract administrator for six months.<br /> “When I come forward with that, you’ll understand why it’ll be at that particular time,” he said.<br /> Koski earns $108,000 a year as the district’s contract administrator, overseeing such projects as the construction of athletic fields at De Hoernle Park and a new community center at the Swim and Racquet Center on St. Andrews Boulevard. He took the job in 2010.<br /> He became the district’s interim executive director in July 2012 when Robert Langford retired. But his additional role drew complaints from city officials, culminating in March with City Council member Robert Weinroth’s demand that he be replaced with a full-time person. <br /> In May, Koski said he would step aside as interim director on Oct. 1, the start of the new budget year, but was persuaded to stay until January, when commissioners choose their chairman for the calendar year.<br /> Koski started giving the Beach and Park District legal advice in 1978 and is paid $132,000 a year for it. He is paid $90,000 a year for being interim director.<br /> His total district paycheck — $330,000 a year — dwarfed Boca Raton City Manager Leif Ahnell’s $240,418, though Ahnell also receives a pension and other benefits that Koski does not. Koski earned a cumulative $1.5 million over the past five years from his three district positions. He also has a private law practice downtown.<br /> Koski said in August the contract administration work is “something that I enjoy very much” and that he hoped beach and park commissioners would keep him on the job in 2017.</p></div>Boca Raton: Beach and park officials hail new spirit of cooperation with cityhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-beach-and-park-officials-hail-new-spirit-of-cooperatio2016-09-29T13:41:21.000Z2016-09-29T13:41:21.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /><br /> There’s a definite thaw in the cold war between the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District and city officials.<br /> “There’s more of a mood of cooperation,” Steve Engel, the district’s vice chairman, said Sept. 23 after he and fellow commissioners adopted a budget that trimmed nothing from the city’s request.<br /> Other actions point to a clear effort to improve relations. Arthur Koski, the district’s attorney, will step aside as its interim executive director in January after city officials insisted that the district have someone on the job full time.<br /> And the City Council on Sept. 27 approved an interlocal agreement, comparable to a treaty between the independent governments, calling for a 50-50 split on the costs of beach renourishment. The district had agreed to pay half instead of its customary one-third at a joint meeting in June 2015, but both sides balked at written proposals drawn up afterward.<br /> “I’m happy that we put this one in the books,” District Chairman Robert Rollins said when first announcing the pact.<br /> Under the agreement, the district will send Boca Raton $1.5 million, half what the city already paid for last spring’s partial renourishment of the central beach, between Red Reef Park and the Boca Inlet. <br /> But the agreement is for 10 years instead of 30. <br /> “They’re getting what they want, and we’re getting what we want. I see good things coming,” Engel said.<br /> Koski told commissioners in September that he had met with City Manager Leif Ahnell for “a very extensive conversation” on the beach agreement as well as on a “master” interlocal agreement the city has proposed to replace six or seven other pacts governing operations and capital improvements at parks.<br /> The news heartened Engel. <br /> “Before it was difficult to get Art and the city manager’s office together,” Engel said.<br /> Koski also said he had researched 18 months of emails and found that city officials and district officials communicate regularly.<br /> “There were 2,600 communications between the city and the district during that period of time. There is communication,” Koski said.<br /> The $50.4 million budget commissioners approved uses the rollback rate, about 91 cents for $1,000 of taxable value, what’s needed to raise the same amount of revenue as the previous year.<br /> New construction on the tax roll then lowers taxes for others. In Rollins’ case, for example, he will pay $451 in beach and park taxes on his $493,000 home, down from $474 a year ago.<br /> Most district residents also pay city taxes.<br /> When Koski first presented the city’s proposed recreation budget in mid-July he told commissioners, “We have our work cut out for us. The budget that’s being requested is $1.1 million higher than what was spent last year for operation and maintenance.”<br /> Boca Raton officials also wanted $350,000 more for administrative, supervisory and technical costs, a 33 percent boost.<br /> But two weeks later, Koski had juggled the district’s budget and revised his outlook. <br /> “We have acceded to their requests and are giving them every dollar that they are asking for,” he said.<br /> The district pays for the operation and maintenance of some city-owned facilities along with district-owned parks. <br /> It also funds capital projects at the city sites.</p></div>Boca Raton: District’s $330,000 Manhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-district-s-330-000-man2016-08-31T14:00:00.000Z2016-08-31T14:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Beach and Park lawyer outearns city manager</span></p>
<p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /> <br /> The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District’s longtime attorney has almost tripled his district pay by taking on additional jobs there, earning a cumulative $1.5 million in five years.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960669490,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960669490,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="101" alt="7960669490?profile=original" /></a> In all, Arthur Koski wears three part-time hats: lawyer, the district’s contract administrator and its executive director.<br /> “It’s very difficult because I do have other clients,” he said. “It’s a seven-day job now.”<br /> Koski is paid $11,000 a month for his legal advice, or $132,000 a year — more when he is involved in litigation. He also maintains a private law practice downtown specializing in municipal litigation.<br /> In mid-2010 he recommended that district commissioners hire him as the contract administrator to build four sports fields at the city’s DeHoernle Park after the original project engineer relocated to Jacksonville. Commissioners hired him on the spot. He’s paid $9,000 a month, or $108,000 a year, for those duties.<br /> The DeHoernle project, originally estimated to cost $23 million, was completed on time for $15 million. Koski, who has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering as well as a law degree, now oversees a $2.7 million project at the district’s Swim and Racquet Center on St. Andrews Boulevard.<br /> In July 2012 district commissioners tapped Koski as their interim executive director when Robert Langford retired. He started out at $5,000 a month and was given a raise in 2013 to $7,500 a month. As executive director he manages a budget that will top $50 million in the coming year.<br /> Langford was paid $160,000 annually plus benefits. But Koski is considered an independent contractor, so none of his three jobs at the district comes with benefits.<br /> Commissioners say Koski earns every penny.<br /> “I think everyone is pleased with Art’s service,” District Chairman Robert Rollins said. “He knows the history of what we have done. He’s very helpful.”<br /> Koski began giving the district legal advice in 1978, four years after the district was created. Commissioners value his institutional knowledge as much as his legal expertise.<br /> “He’s got almost 40 years’ experience with the district in one capacity or another,” said Commissioner Steve Engel. “I think Art has been an asset.”<br /> Commissioners say they compared salaries of comparable positions when deciding what to pay Koski. <br /> “If you break that [total compensation] down into its component parts, he’s actually at or below scale for each of the duties that he performs,” Commissioner Earl Starkoff said.<br /> In the Aug. 30 district election, candidate Craig Ehrnst complained that an auditor’s report showed Koski earned $432,000 in fiscal 2014 alone.<br /> “There’s no interviewing for anyone. There should be a process to interview people,” Ehrnst, a corporate treasurer, said at a candidate debate Aug. 11.<br /> But Koski said later the auditor mistakenly added contract administration fees from the previous year to the total and quickly asked for a clarification.<br /> “Based on our audit, the total paid to the Interim Executive Director for services rendered during the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2014, was $330,000,” auditor Racquel McIntosh, of Grau and Associates, wrote in an Aug. 18 letter to commissioners. “Reference to total compensation of $432,000 … was for services rendered … over a period of time and not one fiscal year.” <br /> By way of comparison, Boca Raton City Manager Leif Ahnell’s salary is $240,418 plus pension contributions and other benefits. City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser gets $235,383 plus.<br /> Not all the Beach and Park District candidates were concerned about Koski’s paychecks.<br /> Starkoff said Koski is paid “a lot less than what he’s worth.”<br /> Political newcomer John Costello, a CPA, said, “Just because someone makes a lot of money doesn’t mean they didn’t earn it.”<br /> Koski has been a lightning rod for complaints from city officials, culminating in City Council member Robert Weinroth’s demand in March that he be replaced with a full-time executive director. <br /> In May, Koski said he would step aside as interim director on Oct. 1, the start of the new budget year, but was persuaded to stay until January, when commissioners choose their chairman for the calendar year. <br /> Though Koski’s earnings will drop $90,000 a year when he quits the interim job, he said he will be “very happy” when Briann Harms, his assistant director, takes over those duties. He hopes commissioners keep him as contract administrator.<br /> “It’s something that I enjoy very much,” Koski said.</p>
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<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Three jobs, three paychecks</strong></span><br /> <em>Arthur Koski receives different amounts for being the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District’s attorney, executive director and contract administrator.</em></p>
<p> 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016<br /> Legal services $93,000 $144,750 $132,000 $132,000 $132,000<br /> Exec director $15,000 $71,250 $90,000 $90,000 $90,000<br /> Contract admin $108,000 $108,000 $108,000 $108,000 $108,000<br /> Totals $216,000 $324,000 $330,000 $330,000 $330,000</p></div>Boca Raton: Interim Beach and Park District director to stay on job until Januaryhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-interim-beach-and-park-district-director-to-stay-on-jo2016-06-29T14:35:45.000Z2016-06-29T14:35:45.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /><br /> The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District’s interim executive director will stay on the job an additional three months.<br /> Arthur Koski, who is also the district’s longtime attorney, said in May he would step aside as interim director on Oct. 1 and recommended that Briann Harms, his assistant executive director, take over the top spot.<br /> But at the June 6 meeting, Harms said the timing was not right.<br /> “In light of the upcoming elections, I think it would be more appropriate for us to address this at our management meeting in January when we elect officers,” she said after thanking Koski for his recommendation and the district’s commissioners for supporting it.<br /> Two commission seats are being contested in the Aug. 30 election. The five commissioners customarily pick their chair, vice chair and secretary-treasurer at the first meeting of the calendar year. <br /> “As long as Art’s good with continuing with the Sunday phone calls [from commissioners] coming in, I think we can wait until then,” Harms said.<br /> No commissioner has suggested looking for other job candidates. <br /> “Briann knows how we feel about her,” District Chairman Robert Rollins said. Boca Raton city officials have been pressuring the district to hire a full-time director for months. Officials in December included a clause in a proposed contract between the two governments requiring the district to have a full-time director. City Council member Robert Weinroth made a similar demand in a March email to the district.<br /> Koski became the district’s interim director after Robert Langford retired in 2012. Koski also has a private law practice downtown.</p></div>Boca Raton: Interim beach and park chief to step asidehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-interim-beach-and-park-chief-to-step-aside2016-06-01T14:14:15.000Z2016-06-01T14:14:15.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /><br /> Arthur Koski, longtime attorney for the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, will relinquish his additional role as interim executive director of the agency Oct. 1.<br /> Koski, who has been under attack from city officials seeking a full-time director, said his decision to step aside was not a result of outside pressure.<br /> “None whatsoever,” he said. “It takes an issue off the table.”<br /> Boca Raton city officials last year included a clause in a proposed contract between the two government entities requiring the district to have a full-time executive director. City Council member Robert Weinroth made a similar demand in a March 15 email.<br /> “For the record ... I believe the District needs to [make] securing a permanent executive director as a top priority,” Weinroth wrote.<br />Koski became the district’s interim director after Robert Langford retired in 2012. <br /> In Koski’s private law practice, he represents two city residents who are suing Boca Raton to block construction of a chabad on the barrier island.<br /> Koski, who announced his intention to quit at the district’s May 24 meeting, recommended that district commissioners promote Briann Harms, the assistant executive director, into the top spot.<br /> “She’s ready,” he said.<br /> District Chairman Robert Rollins signaled his desire to change the status quo earlier in the meeting. <br /> “We probably need a full-time executive director,” he said.<br /> Harms has been with the district since 2005. She started as a recreation center supervisor at the district’s Sugar Sand Park, became information supervisor for the district in October 2013 and was named its assistant director a year later. <br /> She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Florida State University.<br /> Commissioners appeared ready to embrace Koski’s recommendation for his successor. They will make a decision at a future meeting. <br /> “I think you can see, we all appreciate the talents you bring to the board,” Rollins told Harms. <br /> “It’s really a joy, Briann, to see young professionals coming up and fulfilling their potential,” Commissioner Earl Starkoff said.</p></div>Boca Raton: Beach-park district quiet on ouster demandhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-beach-park-district-quiet-on-ouster-demand2016-05-04T14:33:25.000Z2016-05-04T14:33:25.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /> <br /> Arthur Koski’s job at the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District seems secure if district commissioners, his bosses, have any say.<br /> Or perhaps, because they have very little to say.<br /> Only one has responded to City Council member Robert Weinroth’s demand that they hire a full-time executive director instead of Koski, who also has a private law practice downtown.<br /> “I would like to go on the record,” Commissioner Susan Vogelgesang said at the April 4 meeting. “Mr. Koski, I owe you an apology for not speaking up at our last meeting when someone thought you should be ousted as the interim executive director. I think you do a fine job.”<br /> It wasn’t the first time the city has angled for Koski’s being replaced. City officials last year inserted a clause in a proposed agreement requiring the district to have a full-time executive director.<br /> Vogelgesang also said she thinks Koski, as a lawyer, would recuse himself from a legal case if there ever was a conflict.<br /> “I appreciate the work that you do,” she said.<br /> Weinroth, at the time Boca Raton’s deputy mayor, complained at the district’s March 14 meeting that Koski is representing two residents in a lawsuit against the city challenging its approval of the development of the Chabad of East Boca Raton on the barrier island portion of Palmetto Park Road.<br /> Koski has said he sees no conflict.</p></div>