News

By Larry Barszewski

Vice Mayor Stewart Satter will become Manalapan’s mayor in March and succeed Keith Waters, who could not run for re-election because he was term-limited.
There will be no town election in March because only one candidate filed for each of the four openings on the Town Commission during the qualifying period in November.
Satter was the only person to file for the mayor’s seat. Commissioner John Deese was re-elected when no one filed to run against him.
Former Commissioner Simone Bonutti will return to the commission in March, taking the seat now held by Satter. Bonutti had to give up her former seat last March because of term limits, but is allowed to return to the commission after being off the board for a year.
The final seat up for election goes to Kristin Rosen, who will replace term-limited Commissioner Hank Siemon. Rosen, a town resident since 2015 who moved here from Connecticut, had not previously run for elective office. She is vice chair of the town’s Architectural Commission and secretary of La Coquille Club at the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa.
Rosen and her husband, Robert, recently retired and now consult on the side. She previously worked for large pharmaceutical and biotech companies, she said.
“I also have had some light schooling in architecture so I believe my background could be useful as a Town Commissioner,” Rosen wrote in an email to The Coastal Star.
Satter sees a busy time ahead for the incoming commission.
“We have a number of strategic planning items to consider & evaluate,” Satter wrote in an email to The Coastal Star.
Those include: adoption of an improved architectural code for new construction, installing a townwide public sewer system, providing the architecture board with the assistance of outside construction professionals, ensuring the long-term viability of the town’s water plant and options for the removal of overhead power lines. He also cited working with the Florida Department of Transportation “to reduce flooding along A1A for the safety of our residents and others.”
Satter said the town rarely has contested elections and some suggested he put his name in for the mayor’s position — given his experience on the commission — since Waters couldn’t run again.
“Manalapan is truly a very special place,” Satter wrote. “I look forward to continuing to serve the residents of our magnificent Town.”