By Steve Plunkett
Paul Lyons Jr., a seven-year veteran of the Gulf Stream Town Commission, vacated his seat on Dec. 8 with a simple “I resign, effective tomorrow” followed by a round of emotional thank-you’s to his colleagues on the dais, the town’s staff and its police officers.
“It’s been very rewarding,” Lyons said, offering no reason at the commission meeting for quitting and pausing frequently to compose himself. “Sorry for being emotional. I didn’t want to be.”
Commissioners did not say when they would fill Lyons’ seat, but historically they have quickly appointed someone from the town’s Architectural Review and Planning Board.
That’s what happened when, at the same meeting Lyons resigned, commissioners elevated ARPB member Robert Canfield of Place Au Soleil to fill ex-Commissioner Thom Smith’s seat until the 2026 election. Smith resigned a month earlier.
Lyons and his wife, Susan, bought their home on Polo Drive in April 2007. When an opening popped up on the ARPB four years later, he submitted a letter of interest and got the seat.
After not quite five years on the ARPB, he was appointed to the commission on Mayor Scott Morgan’s recommendation. Morgan at the time noted as an asset Lyons’ background in finance and business.
The mayor said the town had delegated several projects to Lyons, which included plotting a path to pay for Gulf Stream’s ambitious 10-year capital improvement plan without raising taxes or borrowing money. The town is now considering taking a loan to finish the project, another balancing act that Lyons helped devise.
“Your financial acumen has been very helpful to the town,” Morgan said. “The town owes you a debt of gratitude.”
Lyons is also the treasurer on the board of directors of the prestigious Gulf Stream Golf Club. He and his wife also have homes in Southampton, New York, and Vail, Colorado.
Their daughter, Olivia, and her husband, David Endres, are building a new home on North County Road.
The mayor said he hoped to keep Lyons involved with the community. The commission did something similar for Smith at the meeting, elevating Canfield to Smith’s former seat and returning Smith to the ARPB that he previously chaired.
In selecting Canfield, commissioners ended Place Au Soleil’s absence from the dais.
“I feel that we should have somebody from Place Au Soleil with that opening. I spoke to Malcolm, who is uncertain what his plans are going to be,” Morgan said, referring to Malcolm Murphy, the ARPB chairman.
Murphy in turn recommended Canfield.
“He’s steady, he’s young, I think he’d be a good member of our commission,” Morgan said.
“I think it’s important to have someone from Place Au Soleil. Last time we couldn’t,” Commissioner Joan Orthwein said.
Canfield, who bought a home in Place Au Soleil in 2015, joined the ARPB as an alternate in May 2021 and became a regular member in April 2022.
“I … would welcome the opportunity to work with the group (ARPB) to have a say in the exciting, yet controlled growth within the town,” Canfield wrote in his 2021 letter of interest in being appointed to the board.
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