Three candidates compete in Creek
An incumbent commissioner is up against a familiar face and a new face to keep the Coconut Creek Commission Seat C.
On March 14, the city’s voters will choose among Commissioner Sandra Welch; former small business owner and candidate Patricia Duaybes; and property manager Robert Miller.
The commissioner must live east of Lyons Road and north of Copans Road or in a small area west of Lyons Road and south of Sample Road.
Miller said he’s looking to put the insight he’s gained as a property manager to work in the public sphere. His focus would be on the effect that an oncoming wave of development is going to have on the overall city.
“We need to make sure our growth is smart and we have the infrastructure to support what’s coming,” Miller said.
For the past three years, Coconut Creek’s property value growth has led Broward County’s municipalities. Duaybes says residents are “angry,” because home values have not rebounded to the level theywere before the Great Recession, when many homeowners found their mortgages were more than their homes’ value.
She said she doesn’t agree with how the commission has, in the past, automatically increased water and wastewater rates by 5 percent and charges a water turn-on fee.
Duaybes, who says she’s a community activist, would be the city’s first African-American commissioner.
Welch said she’s the only candidate who can devote herself to the city full time to the four-year term that pays $30,160 annually.
“Since taking office, I decided to take an early retirement from American Express to dedicate more than a part-time effort towards educating myself fully as a productive commissioner,” she said.
The training she’s received means she’s “even more well-prepared and experienced to continue in office for another term,” she said.
The candidates have contrasting views on how serious crime in the city is. Both Duaybes and Miller agree it’s serious and requires more officers, but Welch said the city’s 101 officers is an appropriate number considering the city’s population and crime level. She does acknowledge a recent uptick in car break-ins.
“The city’s taxpayers can’t afford to hire a police officer to be on every corner of the city at all times,” she said. “We have to look at the overall picture. Andwe do every April.”
The odors from the landfill in the unincorporated area on the city’s eastern edge are another concern.
The smell from the landfill is particularly pungent on days with rain, Miller said.
“If Iwalk outside my door, it’s a full punch in the face,” he said.
He said Coconut Creek needs to get other cities to pressure Waste Management to do more about it.
Duaybes said she doesn’t go out of her house when it rains and would discontinue the air misters that seem to be putting what she calls “industrial strength” Febreze into the air.
“Don’t add any more chemicals into the air,” she said. “I’d rather just deal with the natural trash smell.”
But Welch said it’s a lot better now that the city’s 2015 settlement with Waste Management allows more monitoring and reporting.
“Ifwe hadn’t worked out the agreement, the ... amount of smelly waste coming from Monarch Hill would be
overwhelming,” she said. PATRICIADUAYBES Age: 48 Family:
Married to Mark Duaybes, two adult children Education: Attended MiamiDade Community College, 1989-90
Occupation: Community activist and former small business owner
Political career: Unsuccessful runs for City Commission in 2004, 2009 and 2013 Campaign coffers:
$15,107, including $13,587 in personal loans, as of Feb. 16
Top three non-newspaper endorsements:
None
ROBERTMILLER Age: 46 Family: Married to Jamie Miller, two children Education: Atlantic High
School, Delray Beach, 1988 Occupation: Property manager
Political career: First run for office Campaign coffers:
$8,490, including a $500 personal loan, as of Feb. 21.
Top three non-newspaper endorsements: Dolphin Democrats
SANDRAWELCH Age: 68 Family: Married to Andy Welch, four adult children Education: Attended
Southern Illinois University, 1966-68
Occupation: Coconut Creek commissioner Political career: Elected to City Commission in 2013 Campaign coffers:
$10,915, including a $1,575 personal loan, as of Feb. 16.
Top three non-newspaper endorsements: Hispanic Vote PAC; Broward County Police Benevolent Association; MetroBroward Professional Firefighters of the International Association of Firefighters, Local 3080