The week preceding the holidays, there was a bit of sensationalism going on concerning the community of Briny Breezes — none of it prompted by the board of directors of the corporation, members of the Town Council or the mayor or even a shareholder vote.
Another proposed “billion-dollar sale,” but this time to buyer President Trump to house his presidential library, build a hotel and rename our small community “Trump Town USA.”
Promulgated by real estate agent and shareholder James Arena, who had invited other shareholders to hear a yarn, the story suggested that the president might want to buy Briny Breezes for $1 billion and was supported by his son Donald Trump Jr. and a friend, rapper Vanilla Ice.
The following week on Fox & Friends — and later in tweets — we learned that Vanilla Ice and Donald Jr. were not involved. Tony Kovach of MHProNews.com blogged that “Arena is either being creatively pragmatic or is a con man who should have his real estate license revoked.”
Or perhaps this was all a figment of his imagination. The ethical standards of the National Association of Realtors do not permit Realtors to offer for sale/lease or advertise any property without authority. Arena has no such authority. He invited The Palm Beach Post to this shareholders-only event as he advertised this plan.
Regardless of the story and the unsubstantiated reports of Briny’s ills, Arena has no official capacity within our corporation or our town.
Arena pitched the idea of selling Briny Breezes for a billion dollars several years ago and the corporation received no offers. This sensationalism, while it might be nice to dream about, serves not only to spotlight Arena but it also negatively impacts the residents of our community.
After 60-plus years Briny Breezes is still vibrant. We have many second- and third-generation families as well as newer ones. Many folks are startled and confused by the intimidation factors and untruths being told. This all inspires general uncertainty in our community, all for a personal spotlight.
Briny Breezes is a corporation and would require a firm equipped to handle dissolution of such an entity. A local real estate agent would not be engaged to handle any such transaction.
Regardless of Arena’s efforts, the corporate board members of Briny Breezes will continue to serve their elected positions by always doing due diligence for all shareholders of the park.
The all-volunteer board takes the state of infrastructure, maintenance and financial matters very seriously and has nothing to gain from publicity. Rest assured, the board will always vet any purchase offer before asking shareholders for a vote to sell.
Our hope is the publicity surrounding Arena will not cause stress to our residents and everyone can enjoy a fabulous 2020.
Susan J. Brannen,
President, Briny Breezes Inc.
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