By Larry Barszewski and John Pacenti
Tennis star Coco Gauff’s grandmother wanted to be a Delray Beach city commissioner — if only for a handful of meetings — but she and her supporters couldn’t get the commission to agree.
Yvonne Odom has been a respected leader in the city’s Black community for decades.
The opportunity to fill the commission vacancy created when former Vice Mayor Rob Long was elected a state representative in December seemed to Odom’s supporters a perfect opportunity to honor her for her contributions to the city.
But due to politics, the City Commission has been stuck at 2-2 on several recent issues, with Odom’s appointment yet another casualty. The commission voted 2-2 on her appointment in December and then again at its Jan. 20 meeting — after many residents spoke in support of her nomination.
Mayor Tom Carney and Vice Mayor Angela Burns wanted to put her on the dais, but Commissioners Juli Casale — saying “mischief is afoot” — and Tom Markert chose to leave the seat open until voters pick someone on March 10.
Rather than seeing it as a ceremonial appointment, Casale and Markert said they did not think an unelected commissioner should be the swing vote on any upcoming issues.
However, in December, Markert and Casale had voted to appoint Price Patton, a member of the city’s Planning & Zoning Board and part owner of The Coastal Star, to the post, but he also was defeated 2-2.
The recent actions weren’t something new for Odom. She lost out on filling a previous commission vacancy, also on a 2-2 vote, in 2017.
But Odom did not go quietly this time. She held a news conference with the NAACP on Jan. 30, with speakers alleging a pre-cooked political outcome despite giving Odom’s supporters the impression she would be selected.
“We never know what is behind the scenes. You only know what somebody tells you,” Odom said. “It reminds me of an abusive relationship where the joker slaps the you-know-what out of a person and sends them flowers the next day.”
Dedrick D. Straghn, president of South Palm Beach County NAACP, said that allowing the Black community to believe Odom would sit on the dais was nothing but political theater.
“A decision that looked pre-decided, dressed up with talking points and delivered with the expectation that the public would just swallow it,” he said.
In a Jan. 28 letter to the editor in the Sun Sentinel, Mayor Carney called Casale’s and Markert’s votes "an appalling rebuke to that community," saying “two of my fellow commissioners paid tribute to Dr. King one day, only to reject an icon of the Black community the next.”
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