Lauderdale-by-the-Sea should reelect Mayor Chris Vincent

There has always been something special about Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. The seaside village between Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach is a quaint little jewel that refused to become just another soulless, high-rise condo canyon.

“In densely-packed South Florida, a town this relaxing and empty is a true find,” the travel website Matador Network observed two years ago in choosing it as one of America’s 25 coolest towns.

In Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, with a yearround population of about 6,500, voters will soon elect a mayor. They should keep a knowledgeable and experienced leader, Chris Vincent, 61, a building contractor elected two years ago after eight years as a town commissioner.

Vincent’s challenger is John Graziano, 75, a former president of the town’s Terra Mar Civic Association and a former planning and zoning board member. He also is a former appointed elections commissioner and Republican Party chairman in Albany County, N.Y.

On the campaign trail, and in a long meeting with the editorial board, Graziano said all the requisite things about the threats to residents’ quality of life and the need for transparency at Town Hall. But he provided few specifics about what’s wrong and came across as argumentative in explaining why he did not agree to a time and place to debate the mayor.

Residents deserved to size up both candidates at one forum. The League of Women Voters proposed a debate and offered several dates.

With his background in politics, Graziano surely knows a debate usually benefits the challenger. He said a family issue prevented him from taking part in a March 2 debate — fair enough — but he also questioned the location of Jarvis Hall, the community center. Graziano could have suggested other dates and made sure the debate happened.

Graziano also criticized Vincent because a local banker displays a sign supporting the mayor’s reelection, as is his right. This is the kind of small-town politics Lauderdale-by-the-Sea can do without.

Change does not come easily here, and that’s good. Preserving the town’s smalltown feel is the job of residents — some of whom loudly objected last year when the developer of a long-abandoned hotel site asked to close part of a landmark town street, El Mar Drive.

Under Vincent’s leadership, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea has hired a new town manager, updated its master plan, refreshed the look and feel of its restaurant/ retail district, and begun to pay attention to its neglected swales.

There’s work to be done in the areas of beach maintenance, reducing the nuisances of short-term vacation rentals, redeveloping a derelict Holiday Inn and converting the 99 units in the Palm Club complex from septic tanks to sewers.

With an assist in Tallahassee from Rep. Chip LaMarca, R-Lighthouse Point, the proposed House budget includes $200,000 for the septic-to-sewer program, which is projected to cost more than $3 million. The $200,000 grant must win support from the Senate and from Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Vincent has grown in office, and he’s more measured than the combative commissioner who came to Town Hall a decade ago.

The mayor helped to end the nearconstant bickering at town meetings, but he still has strong opinions and a what-you-see-is-what-you-get style.

He recently gave new Town Manager William Vance the lowest marks of anyone on the commission, with an overall score of 3.2 out of a possible 5.

Vance, a veteran administrator who arrived last year and has Florida experience, received stellar ratings from most commissioners, but under the town’s council-manager form of government, a strong relationship between the mayor and the manager is paramount.

Vincent said the manager responds too quickly on sensitive issues and should seek feedback from commissioners more. If that’s a problem, it’s easily solved. “I am who I am. I say what I say,” Vincent told the Sun Sentinel.

The election is March 17. The part-time nonpartisan mayor’s post pays about $15,500 a year. Two town commissioners, Edmund Malkoon and Buz Oldaker, were reelected without opposition.

In an open letter to voters, Graziano called Lauderdale-by-the-Sea “a welcoming and vibrant community.” Indeed, this spunky seaside town has a positive vibe. The mayor deserves credit for that, and he has a positive agenda to make things better.

The Sun Sentinel recommends the reelection of Mayor Chris Vincent.