A refreshingly new era in Delray Beach | Steve Bousquet
Three became the magic number in Delray Beach, where a new majority is in control at City Hall.
The transition follows a groundbreaking city election in which voters wisely looked beyond mudslinging, lies and exaggerations and chose three new leaders with a mix of experience and new blood.
All three are like-minded on accountability, fiscal responsibility and stronger growth controls, and they resonated with voters. The trio of “Tom Tom Juli” won convincingly.
Mayor Tom Carney and commissioners Tom Markert and Juli Casale took their oaths of office Thursday at City Hall. An overflow crowd filled the small commission chambers and residents witnessing the changing of the guard burst into applause at the first roll call of the new-look commission.
For years, this gem of a city of 67,000 has been split in two factions, one controlled by the pro-growth status quo and the other a populist-tinged, anti-establishment voice for limited growth and protecting neighborhood character from concrete, traffic and noise.
The latter prevailed in this election. Yet a myth persists that the winners rode into office on a wave of Republicans who showed up mostly to support Donald Trump as their presidential nominee in this Democratic-leaning city.
Reggie Cox of The Set Neighborhood Alliance was there with about 20 supporters, and wished the new leaders well, even though his candidate for mayor, Ryan Boylston, lost.
Explaining Boylston’s 38% showing, Cox said: “A red wave.”
Those Republican votes made a difference, but it’s only a part of the story. (Only Carney is a Republican. Casale is a Democrat and Markert is an independent.)
Old grudges were tossed aside and leaders embraced the idea of working for the common good.
There were kind words all around, a graciousness that is gone from so much of today’s politics.
“Campaigning isn’t governing,” Commissioner Rob Long said. “We are one community.”
There were farewells for departing commissioners Boylston, the term-limited Adam Frankel and Mayor Shelly Petrolia, who got a plaque the size of a big-screen TV and a standing ovation from the crowd.
Speaking directly to residents, she told them to speak up and hold new leaders accountable if they do not keep their promises.
“If they don’t hear from you, they can erroneously assume they’re doing a great job,” Petrolia said.
As the new board organized, some political intrigue swirled in the background. Carney wanted Long, the current deputy vice mayor, to move up to vice mayor, a traditional step for a ceremonial position, he said.
Carney meant it as a unity gesture. But with Long part of the defeated Boylston faction, Carney’s own supporters revolted against him, so he quickly dropped the idea. Casale was chosen vice mayor instead.
“There was some opposition to that,” Carney told me. “I’m looking for a commission that would try to work together. I’m not trying to settle any scores.”
The celebration continued at a reception at the Aloft hotel downtown.
“It marks a turning point for Delray,” said Phil Pepe, a 22-year resident who had a long career in politics and business in New York state before he settled in South Florida. “I’m still pinching myself.”
Carney, who served as a commissioner more than a decade ago, wants a “Vision 2030” initiative to set long-range goals.
“We have a city that needs to engage with itself,” he said.
Casale moved quickly to remove a Downtown Development Authority member who falsified his application, and Markert agreed. Fudging certified city forms is “not happening on my watch,” he said. Carney, a lawyer, reminded them that the applicant has the right of due process, including a city hearing.
A fiscal watchdog, Casale is eager to dig into city spending, including its unfunded pension liability — a subject that’s dense but critical to the city’s fiscal health.
On the campaign trail, Casale said voters told her they would vote for her and asked how they should vote in the other races. She began handing out Carney’s and Market’s campaign literature, emphasizing the need for a new majority.
“It takes three votes to make the city amazing, and it takes three votes to ruin the city,” Casale said.
There is internal unrest at the top of the fire department, and questions persist about a water billing fiasco that resulted in a few hundred residents getting wildly inflated bills. The city is in need of an in-house traffic engineering expert and development pressures are unyielding.
The trio of Carney, Markert and Casale made bold, specific promises to safeguard the quality of life that brought so many people to the “Village by the Sea.”
Now, it’s time for them to deliver.
Steve Bousquet is Opinion Editor at the Sun Sentinel and a columnist in Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale. Contact him at sbousquet@sunsentinel.com or (850) 567-2240 and follow him on X @stevebousquet.
