Keep Mayor Petrolia, without the drama

Delray Beach has charming appeal, so long as you’re nowhere near City Hall. Despite its cozy-sounding nickname, “Village by the Sea,” it’s hard to find another town in Florida with more poisonous politics.

On March 9, this deeply divided coastal city will elect a mayor. The choices are incumbent Shelly Petrolia, a strong-willed, polarizing figure; and challenger Tracy Caruso, who has her own controversial past.

We recommend Petrolia’s re-election with the hope that a second term will be smoother than the first. Her leadership has been shaky at times, but the alternative — an untested and combative Caruso — is hardly a better option.

Development is the city’s most important quality-of-life issue, and the coming years will determine whether Delray remains a rare jewel or becomes another stretch of overdeveloped Florida coastline.

Petrolia has consistently supported limited growth that’s compatible with the city’s character. Caruso, who is backed by out-of-town business interests, is a question mark on development issues. As a member of the city’s Historic Preservation Board, she tried last July to downgrade the land-use protection at Doc’s All American, the shuttered iconic burger stand on Swinton Avenue, from historic to commercial. No one seconded her motion.

Caruso, 49, owner of Delray Beach Executive Suites, also fails the transparency test. On Nov. 12, 2020, the same day she filed campaign papers to run for mayor in this Democratic city, she switched her party affiliation from Republican to NPA (no party affiliation.) There’s nothing wrong with changing parties, but Caruso also appears to want to rewrite her past support of former President Donald Trump.

In 2019, for example, Caruso was featured as a member of “Trumpettes USA,” a group of pro-Trump women, many of whom are Mar-a-Lago club members. “It’s all about 2020 and doing what’s right for America,” Caruso was quoted as saying. The blurb has since been scrubbed from the group’s website.

“Am I a Trumpette? No, I’m not a Trumpette,” Caruso said in a recent videotaped interview with the Sun Sentinel editorial board. “Am I extreme? The answer to that is no. I’m a moderate through and through.”

Yet Caruso invited extremist Laura Loomer to speak at a Republican Federated Women’s event last year during her congressional run against Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel in District 21, the Palm Beach Post reports.

Loomer, you may recall, has been banned from most social media platforms for her hate speech against Muslims. She also has been a mouthpiece for InfoWars’ Alex Jones, who peddled a baseless claim that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was a hoax. Loomer similarly has suggested that Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School survivors were actors “reading a screen or notes.” While Caruso says she is not a Loomer supporter, she showed poor judgment in giving her a platform.

There’s more. Caruso also is drawing money from Tallahassee-based political action committees controlled by GOP legislators from upstate districts. (Caruso’s husband Mike was recently reelected as Delray’s Republican state representative.) In a city of 70,000 people, why can’t Caruso find more neighbors willing to give her money?

Caruso defends the need for anonymous “dark money” contributions because, she says, local donors would face retaliation from Petrolia, an allegation Petrolia denies. We believe dark money is one of the most destructive forces in politics, and it’s disqualifying for Caruso to defend it.

Petrolia, 57, a real estate agent, mother of four sons and 1985 graduate of Florida State, is running for her second term as mayor. She narrowly defeated Jim Chard three years ago. A Democrat, she previously had been a city commissioner for five years.

Petrolia has held the line on property taxes, supported fiscally responsible reforms to police and fire pension funds, and ended a garbage hauler’s no-bid contract, at a savings to Delray taxpayers. She favored a City Hall takeover of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.

As mayor, she also favored big pay raises for elected city officials — from $12,000 to $30,000 annually for the mayor — during a city hiring freeze and the pandemic. The poorly-timed raises must be ratified after this election. She notes that they would be the first since 2006.

Petrolia also led the charge to hire former City Manager George Gretsas, who was fired after just four months. Her commission colleagues called for a city investigation of Petrolia last year after she allegedly gave orders to a city employee in violation of the charter.

Under Delray’s form of government, the mayor runs city meetings and has a bully pulpit, but no more real power than the other four commissioners. You would never know that from the day-today drama. Petrolia is a political piñata blamed, sometimes excessively, for every problem from the city’s water issues to the overgrowth in seagrape tree canopies on the beach.

The city’s neglect of its water system goes back at least 13 years, long before Petrolia took office. Delray faces nearly $3 million in fines for failing to adequately prevent reclaimed water used in irrigation from contaminating the city’s drinking water.

Petrolia can be pushy, arrogant and uncommunicative. She plows ahead, convinced of the rightness of her motives without building a consensus on the commission. Dismissing the value of endorsements coveted by other candidates, Petrolia told us: “I don’t need them. They’re hooks. I don’t want endorsements.”

Through Jan. 31, Petrolia raised $113,548, which includes a $50,000 loan to her campaign. Caruso raised $149,870, including a personal loan of $51,000. A pro-Caruso PAC called People for Coastal Common Sense, which has a Jensen Beach address, also raised $74,000 in January in support of Caruso. The largest single donor was the company that owns Opal Grand, a Delray beachfront resort and spa, which gave $30,000.

During an hour-long candidate interview, Caruso rudely interrupted Petrolia several times, even while the mayor was making her closing statement. The last thing Delray needs is more confrontational politics.

Petrolia has room for improvement, but from what we have seen and heard, Caruso would not be a better fit.

Development is what matters most right now in Delray Beach, and that is where Petrolia excels. The recommends Shelly Petrolia for mayor.

Petrolia