For Palm Beach Soil and Water Conservation District seats, pick Sorrell, Shaw and Long
Unlike its bankrupt counterpart in Broward, the Palm Beach Soil and Water Conservation District offers robust education and training programs throughout the county, most notably its Ambassador of the Wetlands program, which several board members would like to expand to more county schools.
Its successful mobile irrigation program also has contracts across South Florida, helping agriculture and horticulture businesses savewater and money.
At the same time, it is monitoring nurseries in the Agriculture Reserve Area to ensure compliance with state-approved best management practices on reducing fertilizer andwater use.
It does all this with a $336,000 budget that’s expected to grow to $457,000 next year. The money means the district can have three full-time staff members, which is exactly three more than the Broward district.
In this year’s election, Seats 2, 3 and 4 of the five-member board have contested races, but informed voters face a tough choice in only one.
Seat 2: Ann Marie Sorrell
Voters are blessed with two excellent candidates in Seat 2. Audrey Friedrich is a doctor of psychology who married into a nursery-owning family. This is an open seat, and Friedrich has done her homework by attending virtual meetings of the board.
“They seem to be doing a great job of securing funds. But in terms of getting the word out, more needs to be done,” she said. “What’s needed is an advocate. That’s one of the reasons I think I could help out. ... I could be a mediator in between to say, ‘Listen, this is not some scary government agency. They’re helpful. They could do a lot of good for your nursery if you let them check things out.’”
Without a doubt, Friedrich would be a great advocate. She’s also raised more than $18,000 for the race, an eye-popping amount when you consider that most candidates for this office raise nothing.
“It’s a countywide race, it’s bigger than congressional districts,” she said. “I felt it was best to do what I could to fundraise. My close friends and family, they know my track record of working hard and being a problem solver.”
Another facet is working with local governments, nonprofits and businesses to not only secure grants— the board has no power to tax or enforce regulations— but to partner on programs and services. And that’s why we give Ann Marie Sorrell the edge.
Sorrell is the founder and CEO of The Mosaic Group, an advertising, public relations, marketing and government relations firm. Its clients include the City of West Palm Beach, the West Palm Beach Housing Authority, the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County and community redevelopment agencies around South Florida. Those relationships could pay dividends if Sorrell is elected to the board.
Sorrell graduated from Pahokee Middle/ Senior High School, so she can relate not only to the business and political leaders in the east county, but also the Glades community outwest.
“Everything about this district is about where I grew up,” Sorrell told us. “All of the agriculture, with the exception of what is in Loxahatchee, is grown in the Glades community. ... Some people don’t even know the economic impact of where they live.”
Because she has the ability to reach so many diverse groups important to the board’s work, we endorse Ann Marie Sorrell.
Seat 3: Jon E. Shaw
The Palm Beach County Democratic Party screwed up when it sent out endorsements this year, appearing only to recommend registered Democrats for the nonpartisan board. In this race, that included Nicholas T. O’Neal and Chad Alvarez.
O’Neal has withdrawn fromthe race, though too late to get his name off the ballot. And Alvarez, while well-meaning, has by his own admission never attended a meeting of this board and has little idea about what it actually does.
The current board member, Jon E. Shaw, who is registered with no party affiliation, is superbly qualified for the office. For the past six years, he hasworked as the chief hydrogeologist for the South Florida Water Management District. Before that, hewas an environmental consultant specializing in the Everglades for 25 years, after having worked for a decade with the water management district. He is one of the foremost experts on South Florida’s groundwater and aquifers.
“Look, the board monitors the agriculture development that’s owned by the county [in the Ag Reserve] and leased to the nurseries,” he said.“We make sure they use best management practices and don’t pollute, basically.”
Of his opponents, he said, “They think we should be cleaning up Lake Okeechobee and all that, but that’s not within our authority.”
He’s right. The lake’s water shed restoration is part of the overall Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, a massive project to restore the Everglades that includes federal, state and local governments working in concert and is way above the pay grade of the local Soil and Water Conservation District.
Shawis the only candidate in this race who has the experience and the understanding to be on the board. A fourth candidate, Adam Baer, did not return our questionnaire.
Seat 4: Rob Long
Elected in 2016, Rob Long has chaired the Palm Beach Soil and Water Conservation District through several years of success, with the district expanding its budget (through grants) and many of its programs. Long deserves re-election.
“Within the last three years, this district has created a large-scale environmental education program and taken over the duties of neighboring districts due to our exemplary performance and the subject matter expertise of our staff,” Long said. “I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
He’s not just bragging. Palm Beach’s mobile irrigation lab, which visits nurseries and farms to showthem howto optimize irrigation, has been such a success that board members say they’ve secured contracts for its services in both Dade and Broward.
His opponent, Candace Rojas, did not return our questionnaire. Her campaign expenditures are odd for a nonpartisan board; her most recent expenses include $400 for tickets to a Palm Beach County Republican Party event, and $54.67 for an Americans for Trump event.
Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O’Hara, Dan Sweeney, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.