After Tom Carney became Delray Beach’s new mayor, he and supporters noted that he defeated Ryan Boylston by 14 percentage points despite being outspent. That’s true, but Carney’s fundraising was impressive in its own right.
Boylston, who had to leave City Commission Seat 3 because of term limits, announced last October that he had raised $111,000 after filing to run in June. That was an impressive amount. It came, however, when Boylston’s only opponent was former Commissioner Shirley Johnson.
In late October, Carney entered the race with the rest of the slate that won on March 9—former Commissioner Juli Casale and first-time candidate Thomas Markert. Because candidates now must file campaign finance reports only every three months, we didn’t see Carney’s first numbers until January.
That report showed Carney raising $44,000 during the fourth quarter of last year. That was very good for getting in so late in the reporting period. Carney ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2013 and 2015 after serving as commissioner and interim mayor, and he clearly had retained a network of supporters and expanded it by appealing to Republicans who might ignore local elections but turned out for the presidential primary.
New reports show that Carney also raised $30,000 between Jan. 1 and Feb. 16 and another $20,000 from then until the election. Overall, Carney raised roughly $94,000. Boylston stayed ahead with $156,000, but his fundraising tailed off as Carney’s picked up.
Carney also got strong backing from the local Republican Party, whose candidates won in Delray Beach and Wellington, where the GOP focused its efforts. And Carney got lots of free media from the right-wing Florida Jolt website.
A review of precinct results shows that Carney piled up his margin from the east side of Delray Beach. At two Veterans Park polling places, Carney more than doubled up Boylston, 753-370. At the 505 Club on South Federal Highway, Carney got 365 votes to 183 for Boylston.
In contrast, the precincts Boylston won are on the west side. He beat Carney 245-75 at one Pompey Park precinct and 208-48 in the Village Academy precinct. He won 204-98 among voters who cast ballots at the library.
The two candidates were nearly equal in vote-by-mail ballots, which helped Carney. Boylston is a Democrat, and Democrats generally prefer to vote by mail. Boylston didn’t get that advantage. Carney had a big margin in Election Day voting, which Republicans generally prefer. Among those who went to the polls on March 9, Carney won, 2,345-1,445.
The fact that we’re even discussing partisan affiliation shows the unusual nature of this year’s election. Party labels almost never matter in local government. This year, they did.
Thomson sweeps nearly every precinct in Boca
In Boca Raton, Andy Thomson won every precinct but two in his victory over Brian Stenberg. One of those is in Boca Square, where Stenberg lives.
Thomson is a Democrat. His margin in vote-by-mail ballots over Stenberg, a Republican, was 5,036-2,025. The candidates were nearly equal among early voters and Election Day voters.
Update on housing project at Palmetto Park Square
I need to update a recent item about plans for Palmetto Park Square in Boca Raton.
The owner of the retail plaza, Atlanta-based Selig Enterprises, wants to add housing to the site on Palmetto Park Road just east of Interstate 95. As part of the project, the Publix store would shift to the vacant Kmart location on the west side of the plaza. Some existing businesses would stay in their current locations. Others would move.
I wrote that Selig intends to file the project under the state’s Live Local Act. In fact, Selig has submitted it under a city ordinance that is basically identical to Live Local. Like the state law, it allows a developer to make 10 percent of residential units affordable housing with another five percent in the slightly higher-income category of workforce housing.
Selig submitted a preliminary plan that calls for 319 apartments. In an interview, however, Selig Development Associate Hunter Lainhart stressed that the company won’t submit a formal plan until getting “feedback from the city.”
Palmetto Park Square adjoins single-family neighborhoods, and city officials want to set rules that will apply to mixed-use projects in similar locations, especially on North Federal Highway. Because this is not a Live Local project, the city council will have to approve it.
“We don’t want to be the squeaky wheel,” Lainhart said of the upcoming discussion about the ordinance. “But we do want to be part of the conversation.” Selig wants “clarity” before sending its formal application.
The city has not scheduled public discussion of the ordinance. Lainhart and Marshall reiterated that Selig wants to make the project as compatible as possible with the neighborhood. I’ll have updates when discussion on the ordinance begins.
First regular meeting of new Delray commission
Today will be the first regular meeting of that new commission in Delray Beach. On the agenda is a contract with Badger, the company that provides water meters and software. Water billing problems came up during the campaign, so the new members might focus on that item.
Carney, Casale and Markert also pledged to review the city’s finances. Coincidentally, the city announced last week that Moody’s had given Delray a AAA rating, the highest possible. In addition, Standard & Poor’s upgraded its rating from Aa2 to Aa1. That’s the second highest.
Boca may finally be getting a downtown transit service
I’ve written this blog for 10 years. Boca Raton has spent almost that long talking about a transit service to get people into, out of and around downtown. At tonight’s city council meeting, it finally might happen.
Before the council is approval of a contract with Circuit Transit to provide such a service for one year. The cost would be roughly $395,000. If approved, the city could renew the contract in annual one-year increments over the next four years.
Circuit Transit already serves Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth Beach and other locations in Florida. Company officials must be optimistic about Tuesday’s vote because Circuit Transit’s website already lists Boca Raton.
Rides would have to begin or end downtown, which the city defines as within the boundaries of the community redevelopment agency. The base service area would be Glades Road on the north, Interstate 95 on the west, Southeast Fifth Avenue on the east and the Deerfield Beach line on the south.
Rides would cost $2 per person, with a maximum of $5 per group. The proposed service hours are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. until 2 a.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Sunday. Optional stops could be the Tri-Rail station on Yamato Road, Florida Atlantic University and Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.
Previous councils hoped that the city could establish a downtown connector without using public money. That advertising-only model did not work. This service will resemble Delray Beach’s Freebee, which also is subsidized.
During the council’s March 25 workshop meeting, Yvette Drucker and Monica Mayotte criticized administrators for moving too slowly on the connector. Mayotte, who was attending her last meeting because of term limits, said she had hoped to vote on the service before leaving office. Drucker, the council’s self-described mobility champion, threatened to vote against the contract if she didn’t like the terms.
City Manager George Brown defended the process, saying that the bid went out in November. Only five companies responded, and only two made the final list for consideration.
Delray police to receive grant for license plate reader
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, whose district includes Delray Beach, toured the city’s police station to announce a federal grant of $963,000 for a license plate reader.
The department’s Real Time Crime Center will use the technology to respond quicker to incidents in progress. Frankel secured the grant in the stopgap funding bill that Congress passed in late February.
Last month, the department announced that it has added similar technology called FUSUS to the crime center. It’s another part of the city’s advanced surveillance program.
Boca to try filling Housing Authority board vacancy
Also at tonight’s meeting, the city council will try again to fill a vacancy on the Boca Raton Housing Authority board. There are five applicants, including the agency’s former executive director. Council members delayed an earlier vote over concerns about communication between the authority and residents of Dixie Manor regarding construction of a new housing complex.
Boca’s “State of the City” address to take place tomorrow
Boca Raton has turned the annual State of the City address into a mini production. This year’s version will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Mizner Park Amphitheater. Mayor Scott Singer will deliver remarks, and there will be music, food and drink and entertainment.
Correction
Last week, I wrote that the Legislature had passed a bill pre-empting most regulation of vacation rental properties to the state. I wrote that State Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, R-Highland Beach, had not voted on the bill. No vote for her was recorded on the March 6 tally on the Legislature’s website.
Gossett-Seidman said she missed that roll call vote due to a conflict. On March 8, Gossett-Seidman said, she voted no “due to discovering it did not include an amendment I expected.”
