Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Newcomers vie for seats in Delray
DELRAY BEACH — Voters in Delray Beach will have the opportunity to keep two current city commissioners or elect new ones for two seats on the Delray Beach City Commission.
Three candidates are vying for one seat and four for the other, raising concerns that a split ticket could make it difficult for the newcomers to unseat incumbents.
Early voting starts Saturday and election day is March 17. Registered voters can vote early at the South County Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road or the Hagen Ranch Road Branch Library, 14350 Hagen Ranch Road.
Seat 2
Four people are running for Seat 2: incumbent Bill Bathurst, Juli Casale, Jennifer Jones and Debra Tendrich. Bathurst, a Realtor and real estate broker, hopes to keep his seat by focusing on “historic preservation, public safety and fiscal responsibility.”
“I have a proven record on historic preservation and have fought for and passed two of the strongest ordinances in Delray concerning historic preservation,” he said in response to a questionnaire from the South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Board. “This will allow our children and grandchildren to enjoy Delray just as I was able to while having job opportunities.”
Bathurst said he wants to focus on hiring and keeping more city staff, including first responders, and focusing on economically and ecologically sustainable capital improvement projects that the city can afford and that will help fight climate change and sea-level rise.
Casale, in her response to the editorial board’s questionnaire, described herself as a “community activist, a mom and a volunteer,” and said she sold a “multimillion-dollar business” before moving to Florida 15 years ago.
A member of the city’s planning and zoning board, she said she started attending commission meetings to prevent development in her neighborhood.
“In the process, I saw first-hand how the Commission can both preserve the character of our neighborhoods and promote citizen-friendly development,” she said in the questionnaire.
Casale said the top issues facing the city are aging infrastructure, sea-level rise and development and traffic.
“Until more recently, Delray retained a small-town charm,” she said. “Currently, it risks sacrificing that charm.”
Among the decisions of the city commission that Casale did not agree with was the controversial deal last year where the city gave land to developer BH3, when other companies offered the city millions of dollars for it.
“I disagree with some of the recent decisions made by the City
Commission/CRA board,” Casale said in her questionnaire.
“Giving away City owned land for free to a developer, who is now in default, and the recent settlement of the tennis contract, binding the city to paying $2 million a year for ten more years — are the first two that come to mind.”
Tendrich, the founder and CEO of health-centric nonprofit Eat Better Live Better, says she wants greater focus on redeveloping the West Atlantic Avenue corridor and Congress Avenue corridor and making Delray Beach schools A-rated.
“Delray Beach needs to create a unified vision,” she said in her questionnaire.
“From the disfunction of the commission giving competing directions to staff, to their public disagreements and arguing with each other in front of citizens and staff, we need to elect a commission that can lead by example and stop making it about ‘my side’ or ‘your side’ but make it about ‘the communities side’ and create the unified front that the City of Delray Beach deserves.”
Jones, who is also running to unseat Bathurst, did not respond to the editorial board’s questionnaire or to follow-up requests for comment.
Seat 4
Three people are squaring off for Seat 4 on the commission: retired schoolteacher Angela Burns and real estate agent Chris Davey are challenging incumbent commissioner and vice mayor Shirley Johnson, a retired administration manager and systems analyst for IBM who was elected in March 2017.
Burns, who taught at Village Academy Center in Delray Beach, said her main focus is on pursing accountable governance, supporting small, local businesses and entrepreneurship and promoting equitable growth.
“I decided to run for city commissioner to continue my public service, as I have grown tired of witnessing the concerns of the residents being ignored,” Burns said in response to a questionnaire from the Editorial Board.
“I believe in working in collaboration with residents to improve accountability and transparency, closing disparity gaps, increasing inclusive community engagement, and building a stronger Delray Beach that is well-managed, corruption-free, and responsive to the needs of the people living here.”
As a retired teacher, Burns said she saw firsthand the impact of gentrification and economic inequality on children and families in Delray Beach, another prime focus of her campaign.
“While Delray has received rave reviews for its development, development has not been equitable,” she said. “There is a major concern by the working class citizens of affordability. Affordable housing and affordable living wages. People just cannot afford to live here anymore, and development and responsible growth without displacing residents is vital.”
Davey, a real estate agent, broker and consultant who ran for city commission in 2014, hopes to address “the rapid increase in development and the traffic problems it can cause, infrastructure improvement, and rising sea-levels.”
He also pulled no punches against the incumbent or the Community Redevelopment Agency in his response to the editorial board’s questionnaire.
“I am running for Seat 4 because I am more knowledgeable about many issues facing the city and would be more responsive to the residents than Commissioner Johnson,” Davey said.
“The area known as the NW/SW Neighborhoods (also known as The Set) are upset (rightfully so) about the lack of improvement in their area in the 35 years since the Delray Beach CRA was formed,” he continued.
“Frankly, in my opinion, the performance of the Delray Beach CRA over the past 10 years has been one embarrassment after another. Too much focus was still on the portion of the CRA that is east of Swinton Avenue and not enough on the portion west of Swinton Avenue. One of my main priorities would be to improve this area of the city ASAP.”
Johnson, the incumbent, said she is focused on economic opportunity, further developing Atlantic Avenue from Interstate 95 to A1A and hiring and retaining city staff.
“The city must continue to develop itself,” she said in an email.
“There are many areas with slum and blight. Many of our communities are in need of sidewalks and paved alleys. The western part of our city (west of I-95) is also starting to show slum and blight. The Congress Avenue corridor is an excellent area for future growth/development.”
With regard to city staff retention, Johnson criticized what she called an “inability to attract and maintain a qualified city manager for more than two years at a time.”
“I have worked for three years to be as much of an independent thinker as possible while still being a team player,” she said.