New commissioners David Knobel, Orla Imbesi and Elliot Bonner (l-r) are sworn in to seats on the Manalapan Town Commission. Anne Geggis/The Coastal Star
By Anne Geggis
Three new faces are filling the Manalapan Town Commission dais — and two more await swearing in as the town copes with a new state law that triggered the resignation of four commissioners and the mayor.
Vice Mayor John Deese and Commissioner Simone Bonutti are the only holdovers willing to meet a new state law that requires municipal elected officials to submit Form 6, which is a detailed disclosure of their personal wealth.
That requirement has impacted commissions around the state. But so far, the scale of Manalapan’s commission departures are unmatched in Palm Beach County, which has 10 other municipalities losing members of their elected boards because of the new obligation.
Mayor Stewart Satter ended four years on the dais at December’s meeting. He was elected commissioner in 2019 and became mayor in March 2023.
“I want to thank everyone — it’s been a pleasure,” Satter said.
Deese will take Satter’s mayoral seat and Cindy McMackin, already designated to take Deese’s at-large seat, is expected to be appointed and sworn in at the next commission meeting, on Jan. 23. She will fill the remainder of his term, which ends in March 2025.
Seven people responded to a November call for volunteers, Town Clerk Erika Petersen said. Four have been appointed and three of them were sworn in Dec. 18. They are:
• Orla Imbesi, who works for several family businesses. The mother of four grown children and grandmother of six replaces Commissioner Chauncey Johnstone, whose seat represents the whole town.
• David Knobel, retired from running a for-profit university. The former member of the state Board of Education replaces Commissioner Kristin Rosen, representing Point Manalapan.
• Elliot Bonner, a Florida Power & Light executive. The father of 17-year-old twins replaces Commissioner Richard Granara, representing Point Manalapan.
Dwight Kulwin will replace Aileen Carlucci, representing the ocean section of Manalapan. He did not attend December’s swearing-in.
Bonner and Imbesi both filed documents in November to continue serving on the commission once their appointed terms expire in March — and they were automatically elected because no one else filed to run for their respective seats.
Petersen said plans were to hold a second, 10-day qualifying period starting Jan. 2 so Kulwin can also assemble the qualifying documents to continue beyond his appointed term — or for anyone else who lives in the ocean section who wants to run to file for the seat.
Knobel’s term continues until March 2025.
All three freshly minted commissioners praised the way the town is run.
Knobel, who bought his current home in 2020, said he was prompted to volunteer in the name of steadiness: “I like to stay involved and do what I can to keep stability and level-headedness,” he said.
Imbesi came to the area from Bal Harbour at the recommendation of her Palm Beach friends in 2012. She said her family looked around on that island but didn’t find exactly the house with a dock she was looking for.
“We found Manalapan and fell in love with it,” she said. “It’s the perfect place to live.”
Bonner, also a travel youth baseball coach, said he came to Palm Beach County because of his job, first living in Lake Worth after moving from Baltimore. Manalapan called him farther south to what he describes as “off the beaten path.”
“I looked for a house on or near the water and the house I found, I thought, ‘This is where I need to be,’ ” he said.
He is coming to the dais at the urging of his neighbor Granara, who is stepping aside because of the new financial disclosure requirements.
Former mayor gifts library
The J. Turner Moore Memorial Library on Point Manalapan received a bequest of nearly $102,000 from Peter Blum, a former Manalapan mayor and retired businessman, who died at age 93 in January 2023, Town Manager Linda Stumpf told the commission.
The gift could present something of an opportunity, Stumpf said.
A December yoga program attracted 14 participants to the library and there is talk of doing more, perhaps an evening book club or a class teaching tai chi, a gentle form of exercise to improve flexibility and balance.
Currently, the town library’s posted hours are 2 to 4 p.m., Wednesdays and Fridays in addition to yoga class from 10 to 11 a.m. on Thursdays.
“It’s a good building that’s just sitting there,” Stumpf said.
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