joan orthwein - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T10:04:24Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/joan+orthweinGulf Stream: Orthwein earns accolades for 25 years of servicehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/gulf-stream-orthwein-earns-accolades-for-25-years-of-service2020-12-02T17:12:00.000Z2020-12-02T17:12:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett </strong></p>
<p>Gulf Stream resident Joan Orthwein first took a seat on the Town Commission May 4, 1995.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8241305281,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8241305281,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8241305281?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="207" /></a>Last month the Florida League of Cities officially praised her for 25 years of “unselfish leadership.”<br /> In a resolution, the league’s board of directors noted that allowing multiple terms in office is the highest compliment voters can give to an elected official. <br /> “The league thanks you for your commitment to public service and for the greater good of Florida’s citizens,” it said in a video presentation on Nov. 13.<br /> Mayor Scott Morgan added a local touch. <br /> “It is her intellect, her honesty, her integrity, her sense of humor that has helped lead Gulf Stream forward through those 25 years on this commission and making this town really one of character and ability that is unique in the state of Florida,” Morgan said.<br /> Orthwein was surprised by the recognition, a late addition to the commission’s agenda.<br /> “Oh my goodness. I don’t know what to say, but thank you,” she said. “It’s an honor to be on the commission. … It’s an honor to be here.”<br /> The league named its honor the Mayor John Land Years of Service Award. Land was the mayor of Apopka for more than 60 years. <br /> The league also presented Orthwein with a 25-year pin to wear. <br /> Morgan said praise of Orthwein for a quarter-century of service was understating her efforts.<br /> “Joan’s legacy is not just 25 years. It’s actually 32. She served seven years on the ARPB, was the chairman of that board before she moved on to the commission,” Morgan said.<br /> In other business, Police Chief Edward Allen reported that two cars were stolen from residents in October and a third was burglarized. Both stolen cars were unlocked and had the keys inside, he said. One was recovered. The town is fighting a rash of stolen vehicles this year. <br /> Allen also introduced Gulf Stream’s 13th police officer, Justin Menard, a 25-year veteran of the Florida Highway Patrol.<br /> The additional officer position was planned to expand police coverage in town, but Allen said another officer resigned a week after Menard started.</p></div>Gulf Stream: Orthwein moves aside as Morgan becomes mayorhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/gulf-stream-orthwein-moves-aside-as-morgan-becomes-mayor2014-05-01T14:30:00.000Z2014-05-01T14:30:00.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p></p>
<p><span><b>By Dan Moffett</b></span></p>
<p> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960506460,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960506460,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="99" alt="7960506460?profile=original" /></a> Joan Orthwein spent the last two years in the crosshairs of Gulf Stream’s legal battles, serving as the town’s mayor during the stormiest period in its history.<br /> At the Town Commission’s April 11 meeting, she told a chamber crowded with well-wishers that it was time for someone else to take the helm.</p>
<p> “I’m not going to lie. It’s been challenging,” Orthwein said. “But you know what, the citizens have been wonderful and very supportive and caring of me. It is a wonderful community.”<br /> The commission unanimously approved newly elected Scott Morgan as the town’s new mayor and <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960506478,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960506478,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="97" alt="7960506478?profile=original" /></a>Commissioner Robert Ganger as vice mayor, with Orthwein moving aside to a commissioner’s seat.<br /> The reorganization is significant. Morgan, a lawyer and former chairman of the Architectural Review and Planning Board, campaigned on a platform that called for an aggressive legal defense against the town’s detractors.<br /> Gulf Stream faces more than 20 lawsuits and numerous public records requests filed by Martin O’Boyle and Chris O’Hare, two residents who have charged the town with violating their constitutional rights. During the election campaign, O’Hare put signs disparaging Orthwein on a boat and anchored it behind her waterfront home.</p>
<p> Morgan didn’t waste time beginning his aggressive defense against the town’s critics. He called a special meeting of the commission for April 14 to consider an ordinance against overnight parking at Town Hall — regulation aimed at vehicles displaying political signs that criticize town officials. The commissioners unanimously approved a first reading of the ordinance, which restricts parking from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and then made it law at another meeting on April 29.</p>
<p> O’Boyle and O’Hare objected, saying the ordinance violated free speech and also illegally restricted beach parking.</p>
<p> During the special session, Morgan and commissioners also scheduled a budget workshop immediately following the regular May 9 Town Commission meeting. Morgan said he wants to find residents willing to serve on an ad hoc financial committee to help the town deal with dwindling reserves and rising expenses.<br /> Four uniformed police officers were on duty during the April 11 meeting, a testament to the uneasy climate in the town these days. Commissioners have had to hire outside counsel to fight the suits and have set aside an additional $190,000 to cover legal fees.<br /> Morgan says “an aggressive, proactive approach to the lawsuits is necessary to prevent further harm to our town.” He praised Orthwein’s work as mayor. “You stepped into a job at a time that was very difficult, probably the most challenging period for the town since its founding,” Morgan said. “You worked both publicly and privately to resolve the many issues we face, whether it be underground electric wires or more importantly, the onslaught of public records requests and litigation that followed. And all the time you had the best interests of the town at heart. But more than that, you did it with grace.”<br /> Orthwein said Morgan is ideally suited to guide Gulf Stream through its legal obstacle course. “The way things are today, I don’t know why all politicians aren’t lawyers,” she said smiling.</p>
<p> “Scott’s a great leader who is a lawyer and a litigator. He will help streamline the legal problems we’re having, and they’re huge. I’m not an attorney. Scott brings a great deal of wisdom, leadership and respect to the party.”<br /> Ganger said the town still will need Orthwein’s contributions as a commissioner because of her extensive experience and understanding of the town’s history.<br /> “She’s held her head high,” he said. “She’s served us well. We’re not saying goodbye to a mayor; we’re saying thank you for all you’ve done.”<br /> Orthwein, who came to the commission in 1995, is the second-longest serving elected official in Palm Beach County behind Cloud Lake Mayor Patrick Slatery, who has held office for 36 years.</p>
<p> She says moving forward with the project to put the town’s utility wiring underground is her biggest achievement.<br /> “That was a dream of mine,” she said. “I have to say I was so excited and proud of this community when they voted for it. The underground wiring is such a positive thing.”<br /> One of Orthwein’s last acts as mayor was presiding over the commission’s unanimous approval of a decorum policy for meetings that prohibits verbal attacks and abusive language. O’Boyle and O’Hare spoke against the measure, criticizing it as too vague and too much like an ordinance with enforcement consequences, rather than a declaration of policy with no punitive provisions.<br /> “The town has shown great resilience,” Orthwein said. “We’ll get back to normal some day.”</p>
<p><b>In other business:</b><br /> • Engineering consultant Danny Brannon told commissioners they will need about $30,000 to pay for construction work on the Town Hall’s rear entrance to make it compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. The entrance will need a new access ramp, handrails and reconfigured parking. <span>Ú</span><br /> • Town Manager William Thrasher said the town is creating more portals on its website to make public records available online.</p></div>