Rodgers and Mayotte win council seats in Boca Raton
Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers and Monica Mayotte captured the two open seats on Boca Raton’s city council in the nonpartisan municipal election on Tuesday.
Rodgers, the only incumbent, won re-election with 54.58 percent of the vote against political newcomer Kim Do. She pulled in 4,207 votes to Rodgers’ 5,055 for seat C.
Mayotte won 65.69 percent of the votes against challengers Armand Grossman and Dr. Paul Preste for seat D. Their vote counts were Mayotte, 6,128; Grossman 2,704 and Preste 502.
Rodgers and Mayotte had the top ballot positions. Both winners will serve a three-year term that will start at the new council’s reorganizing meeting April 2.
“Now that I’m on council and Andrea’s on council, we have double the voice,” she said about Councilwoman Andrea O’Rourke. They both ran on curbing development, preserving green space and government transparency. “I want to make sure the residents are included. Developers need to come up with plans the residents are proud to have in their community.”
Mayotte will replace Councilman Robert Weinroth, who didn’t seek re-election. He’s running instead for the Palm Beach County board of commissioners against Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie later this year. County Commissioner Steven Abram is term-limited.
Rodgers’ platform was stopping overdevelopment, growing jobs, protecting natural resources and making sure residents’ voices were heard. A computer engineer for IBM, he’s also an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve. The 20-year resident is married with four young children.
Mayotte also ran on curbing overdevelopment and ensuring green spaces. She’s the sustainability coordinator for J.M. Family Enterprises and a Florida Climate Reality Leader for former Vice President Al Gore’s The Climate Reality Project. She was on the city’s Green Living Task Force. A 21-year-resident, she is married with two grown children.
The city has 64,585 registered voters but turnout is always light. In the 2017 mayor’s re-election for another term, 11.28 percent of voters cast their ballot.
Rodgers was not available for comment.
mshatzman@sun-sentinel.com,