City won’t name Haynie substitute

Council leaning toward leaving mayor’s seat open until Aug. 28 vote.

BOCA RATON — Deputy Mayor Scott Singer officially stepped into the role of Boca Raton mayor Monday afternoon, but the seat he vacated will likely stay empty for a few months.

Singer, 41, was sworn into office as interim mayor Monday, taking over for suspended Mayor Susan Haynie, who faces criminal charges of public corruption.

While the four sitting council members had the option of appointing a fifth member — a likely tie-breaker in future deadlocked votes — they’re leaning toward leaving the seat empty.

The temporary appointee would, at most, serve for four meetings until a special election Aug. 28.

“With all that’s going on — people filing to run, elections — I think doing an appointment for very few meetings creates pandemonium,” Councilwoman Andrea O’Rourke said Monday. Fellow council members agreed, but invited the public to comment tonight.

Four council members leaves the potential for deadlocked votes, particularly on key growth issues council members have had conflicting positions on. But if the council wanted an appointment process, there’s no guarantee that they’d agree on an appointee.

“We could be deadlocked in an appointment — and then what?” O’Rourke said.

Councilman Jeremy Rodgers said he’d rather leave the decision up to the voters, who might take it up in August.

But even that’s not clear. Haynie’s ouster set into motion a complicated chain of events. The mayor’s seat, with a term that runs until March 2020, will be on the Aug. 28 primary ballot.

But depending on other factors, the ballot may include a second Boca Raton council seat — Seat A, Singer’s former post.

“It’s more than a little confus-

ing,” city attorney Diana Frieser said before explaining the timeline.

The council will vote today to place the mayor’s race on the August ballot.

Singer, who will serve as interim mayor until the election, has announced he’s running for mayor. Win or lose, he must give up his council seat.

Once the timeline for the mayor’s race is set, Singer can resign his seat, triggering a second vacancy for Seat A. If all goes according to the council’s plan, Seat A will also be on the August ballot to avoid another municipal election in November.

But clouding all those possibilities is the fact that Haynie can return to offiffice if Gov. Rick Scott lifts her suspension, levied three days after the State Attorney’s Offiffice charged her with seven counts of public corruption.

Even after a special election, Haynie can take back her seat if she’s cleared of charges.

Haynie, 62, is charged with not reporting $335,000 in income since 2014. Onethird of those earnings came from Boca Raton real estate moguls James and Marta Batmasian, the state attorney reports.

Haynie voted on projects that gave the Batmasians “a special financial benefit” without disclosing the conflict of interest, her arrest report reads.

Haynie also is charged with perjury for allegedly lying in a sworn statement to Palm Beach County ethics investigators. Marta Batmasian also gave false information to ethics investigators while under oath, The Palm Beach Post found.

Clouding all those possibilities is the fact that Haynie can return to offiffice if Gov. Rick Scott lifts her suspension.