christina adams - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T14:16:32Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/christina+adamsBriny Breezes: Council changes mind, will conduct charter vote after manager complainshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/briny-breezes-council-changes-mind-will-conduct-charter-vote-afte2020-12-30T15:54:55.000Z2020-12-30T15:54:55.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong></p>
<p>Town Manager Bill Thrasher was so disappointed by a Briny Breezes Town Council vote to postpone putting a charter amendment referendum on the March ballot that he considered resigning.</p>
<p>That was enough for the council to reverse itself and unanimously approve sending the issue of whether to have a formal town charter to voters in the next election.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8365616470,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8365616470,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="96" alt="8365616470?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>“Once I start a project I want to finish a project,” Thrasher said during a hastily called special council meeting on Dec. 22. “I don’t want to waste my time and I don’t want to waste your time.”</p>
<p>Thrasher said too much effort and time had gone into developing the amendments to delay the vote now.</p>
<p>The council agreed on reflection. President Sue Thaler said Thrasher was “too valuable” to the town to risk losing.</p>
<p>During the regular town meeting on Dec. 17, the council voted 3-2 to postpone the referendum until 2022 to avoid paying up to $10,000 for a special ballot from the Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor. Thrasher said that figure could be negotiated down and the town could use some of the $32,000 available in relief funding to cover the cost.</p>
<p>Aldermen Chick Behringer and Bill Birch joined Thaler in reversing their original votes to hold back the referendum.</p>
<p>The council learned earlier in December that, because no challengers came forward to take on incumbents for alderman seats, the town would have to pay for a special ballot to hold the referendum March 9.</p>
<p>Because Thaler, Mayor Gene Adams and Behringer went unchallenged during the town’s qualifying period, Briny would have had no other ballot issues in March.</p>
<p>Thaler at first said it made more sense to wait until 2022 for the town to put its charter amendments on the ballot — along with statewide and countywide races — and save thousands of dollars.</p>
<p>“For me, the entire motivation is cost,” Thaler said in arguing for postponement during the Dec. 17 meeting. “I think $10,000 is a lot of money for the Briny Breezes town budget.”</p>
<p>Alderwoman Christina Adams disagreed. She said the town had invested a lot of effort in developing the charter proposals and should move forward as planned.</p>
<p>“I’m leery of postponing this,” Adams said. “It’s taken the time of a dedicated committee and it’s taken the time of our attorney Keith Davis to put up this document.”</p>
<p>Alderwoman Kathy Gross joined Adams in voting not to postpone.</p>
<p>The amendments, if approved by voters, would give the town a formal charter, something it hasn’t had since its incorporation as a municipality in 1963. The proposed changes would give the town specific regulations, definitions and procedures for governance.</p>
<p>They would also define the job description of the town manager position and make the clerk an appointed position, not elected.<br /> </p>
<p>In other business at the Dec. 17 meeting:</p>
<p>• Thrasher earned glowing reviews from the council during performance evaluations as he completes his first year on the job.<br /> “He’s very methodical and thinks things through very well,” said Mayor Adams. “He answers your questions without pushing opinions.”<br /> Thaler said Thrasher “kept us on an even keel” during a difficult year dealing with COVID-19.<br /> “He brought a level of professionalism I don’t think we’ve had at Town Hall,” Behringer said.<br /> Council members agreed they had no problems with Thrasher’s performance during the summer, when he worked remotely from his home in North Carolina. The town ran smoothly, they said.<br /> “I wouldn’t have known if he was here or in North Carolina,” the mayor said.</p>
<p>• Adams said the Palm Beach County Health Department has scrapped plans to administer COVID-19 vaccinations in Point of Dispensing centers in municipalities.<br /> Instead, the public will get vaccinations through pharmacies, doctors’ offices and other health care providers, probably in the spring. <br />However, Adams said, the town has updated its POD agreement with the county, and the mayor hopes the cooperation will be bene- ficial for the next health emergency. </p></div>Briny Breezes: New resident approved for Town Councilhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/briny-breezes-new-resident-approved-for-town-council2015-09-30T18:00:00.000Z2015-09-30T18:00:00.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong><br /> <br /> A self-described “Florida girl” who grew up in Boynton Beach and has lived in Palm Beach County for 40 years, Christina <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960603674,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960603674,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="92" alt="7960603674?profile=original" /></a>Adams moved to Briny Breezes last year with her husband, Gene, and their two teenage sons.<br /> “We love the ocean,” she says. “We love the outdoors and really want the best for Briny.”<br /> Adams decided to step up and serve her new community when she applied for an open Town Council seat, a vacancy left by the resignation of Barbara Molina in August. Council members unanimously approved Adams on Sept. 24 to serve out the rest of Molina’s two-year term, which expires in March.<br /> “I want to help preserve Briny for the future,” Adams said. “I just want to make sure that the town is informed and that the safety in this town is always kept in check.”<br /> Adams is a registered nurse who worked “for many years” in home health care. She says she and her family “love to volunteer,” and they do missionary work in Ensenada, Mexico, with their church group.<br /> “I’m excited to work with the council,” she said. “They’re good people to be surrounded by.”<br /> <br /> In other business, Town Attorney John Skrandel told council members he is continuing to explore what it would take for Briny Breezes to claim ownership of Old Ocean Boulevard. Over the years, both town and corporate officials have said they believe it’s in the community’s long-term interest to have clear possession of the property.<br /> “For many years, there’s been talk of Old Ocean Boulevard and who owns it and how it can be taken and closed off,” Skrandel said. “And all that comes down to who actually is the owner.”<br /> Skrandel said his research, which goes back some 70 years, suggests that the state wanted to transfer ownership to the town but apparently never filed a deed to legally do it. He said Palm Beach County doesn’t want the property, and neither does the Florida Department of Transportation.<br /> Skrandel told the council it appears the state is willing to transfer the property to the town by deed at no cost, but with the stipulation that it be used for a public purpose. Then it would “make more sense” for the corporation to take control of it from the town.<br /> “Whoever receives the property, the town or the corporation [that owns the park], will be financially responsible for it,” Skrandel said.<br /> The council instructed Skrandel to continue his research and report his findings at the Oct. 22 town meeting.</p></div>