Delray mayors | Your Delray Boca

17 April, 2023 2 2 Comments

Leadership Delray Meets The Mayors

April 17, 2023 By Jeff Perlman 2 Comments

Students in Leadership Delray get an overview of how city government works. After dining with the mayors they took a tour of the Fire Department.

The Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce has a nice annual tradition.

Every year, as part of its Leadership Delray program, the Chamber arranges for the class to have lunch with Mayor’s past and present.

It’s a nice event that allows us old timers—I call us the PIPS for Previously Important People— to trot out old stories and meet up and coming leaders in the community. For the class, hopefully the event enables students to understand where we’ve come from as a community.

Mayors are assigned to different tables for lunch and at the end we stand up and answer a few questions. This year we were asked to address our biggest challenges and to share a leadership tip.

It’s a fun program and you never know—someone in the class may be a future mayor or commissioner. I’m a graduate of Leadership Delray and I’m pretty sure former commissioners Pat Archer and Gary Eliopoulos are graduates too. I’m probably missing a bunch, so I apologize in advance.

Anyway, this year Mayor Petrolia attended along with Tom Lynch and Jay Alperin who served in the 1990s and Dave Schmidt, Tom Carney and some guy named Jeff who served in the 2000s. From the looks of things, I think the mayors had a great time.

As for me, I always enjoy the lunch Q and A, which this year included questions such as:

How much did you have to raise when you ran? (About $20,000, today races can easily hit six figures)

What has changed about Delray since you served? (Just about everything).

Would you run again? (Can you do the job from Maine in the summers? Asking for a friend.)

What do you see as future challenges for our town? (Here’s a short list: sea level rise, affordable housing, infrastructure repairs, a toxic political environment, education, traffic and a need to engage the community and the list goes on…..)

I pay particular attention to the topics that my lunch partners are interested in. The Leadership program attracts a cross section of community leaders from a wide range of fields so it’s a good focus group for determining issues people are interested in. We spent a lot of time talking about the high cost of living in Delray and the challenging nature of politics these days.

I also really enjoy hearing from the mayors. We’re a rare breed, there are only 10 of us still around. This year’s attendees represented 30 plus years of local politics and these men and women have seen a lot: The Decade of Excellence, the transformation from “Dull Ray” to All America City, the discovery that several of the 9/11 terrorists were living here (many in the class didn’t know that), the impact of the opioid crisis and of course Covid and hurricanes.

So many stories. So many lessons learned. I think it’s valuable to share these insider perspectives.

Years ago, we did two “Mingle with the Mayors” events at the Crest Theatre and the Delray Library.

It was kind of like an “Inside the Actor’s Studio” format with a cocktail party thrown in for good measure. I remember learning a lot about my city from listening to Mayors such as Leon Weekes and Doak Campbell who served long before my time in office.

I wish those events and these lunches were recorded because local history is often lost to the march of time.

To guard against some of that, here’s a list of the mayoral challenges and advice given last week.

Tom Carney: Biggest challenge: Balancing a budget during a financial crisis. Leadership advice: engage the community in visioning processes etc.

Tom Lynch: Challenge: Hiring a good city manager after a decade of turnover and fighting illicit drug sales (successfully tackled by community policing policies). Advice: Stay in your lane. Set policy and let the staff execute.

Shelly Petrolia: Challenge: The opioid crisis and Covid. Advice: Work with the community.

David Schmidt: Challenge: Moving Atlantic High School, 9/11 fallout. Advice: Empower the staff.

“I never lost sleep about what was happening at City Hall,” he said. A nice vote of confidence.

Jay Alperin: Challenge: Cleaning up the mess created by Tom Lynch (that was tongue in cheek, Tom was a great mayor). Implementing the Decade of Excellence Bond. Advice: Listen. Good leaders listen and don’t dictate.

Me: Challenge: Hurricanes (back when stores and gas stations didn’t have generators), the Jerrod Miller shooting. Advice: Be kind. You can’t be an effective leader if you aren’t kind and empathetic.

Thanks to Delray Chamber, President Stephanie Immelman, Chamber Marketing Director Sara Mears and the staff at the Golf Club for a memorable afternoon.

Let’s keep the tradition going. You never know who might be taking notes for a future run.

13 December, 2021 14 14 Comments

8 Mayors: We Can Do Better

December 13, 2021 By Jeff Perlman 14 Comments

The recently renovated Cornell Museum features a new exhibit that celebrates OSS’ contributions to Delray Beach.

Last week, eight former mayors signed a letter in support of Old School Square.It was an extraordinary gesture. I don’t think we’ve ever seen this level of solidarity among every living former elected mayor.The eight mayors—Doak Campbell, Tom Lynch, Jay Alperin, David Schmidt, me, Rita Ellis, Woodie McDuffie and Cary Glickstein represent 33 years of service. Some have lived in Delray for 50, 60 and 70 plus years. I may be the newcomer with almost 35 years in town.We’ve seen a lot.We’ve all worked with Old School Square which has been serving Delray for 32 years.Our call to action is simple: we’d like to see the public have input into the future of Old School Square and we’d like to see a discussion/process on how to heal some of the divisions and hurts caused by our current political environment, a culture that we all feel threatens our present and our future.Old School Square is a casualty of this environment. It’s lease was terminated without notice, cause, public input or even an agenda item that may have notified it’s many supporters.Given no choice, the non-profit was forced to litigate the very city it has served. It was either sue or walk away from three decades of service and millions of dollars in assets.What’s next is costly litigation for the organization and taxpayers. There’s a better way.Here’s the letter. It calls for our better angels to prevail. In this holiday season, it may be the best gift we can give our community.

An open letter to the citizens and stakeholders of Delray Beach:

We are a group of former mayors whose service to Delray dates to 1984.

Some of us have lived here for 60 plus years.

We love our city, but we are worried about the direction the current administration is taking.

We find our community is divided, unable or unwilling to talk and we fear that the progress we have made as a community is in danger as a result.

The most recent issue is the impulsive termination of the lease with Old School Square Center for the Arts, Inc., the non-profit organization who created and has successfully managed Old School Square for the past 32 years, without a conversation with the organization or input from the City’s diverse stakeholders who deserve a say in its future. All of us have worked closely with the dedicated volunteers at Old School Square during our terms. We believe that they are willing to work hard to improve their partnership with the city. As with any long-term relationship, we believe that any problems can be solved with open communication.

This decision to terminate Old School Square’s lease has proven to be highly controversial, but we are just as alarmed at the lack of transparency and due process when making such a monumental decision.

We must do better.

Delray has a rich history of citizen involvement. That involvement has been a key factor in our success.

But while the Old School Square termination is what’s on everyone’s mind, we see a similar pattern in the general culture of division and polarization in our city politics that has led to costly turnover and litigation.

We don’t believe this is the “Delray Way,” and while we may not ever see eye to eye on the issues, we risk losing what’s been built if we don’t call a time out and endeavor to do better as a community.

As former mayors, we understand the difficulty in leading a city as active and complex as Delray Beach.

We stand ready to assist and suggest the following:

• A charrette to gain public input on the future of Old School Square.

• A process to discuss the culture in Delray Beach so that we can find a better way forward for everyone.

We need to reverse the damage and hurt that has occurred in our town before it is too late.

Sincerely,

Mayor Doak S. Campbell III (1984-1990)

Mayor Thomas E. Lynch (1990-1996)

Mayor Dr. Jay Alperin (1996-2000)

Mayor David W. Schmidt (2000-2003)

Mayor Jeff Perlman (2003-2007)

Mayor Rita Ellis (2007-2009)

Mayor Nelson “Woodie” McDuffie (2009-2013)

Mayor Cary Glickstein (2013-2017)

27 September, 2021 5 5 Comments

Waste Deep In the Mud

September 27, 2021 By Jeff Perlman 5 Comments

Every year, the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce hosts a “Mayor’s Lunch” inviting all the living mayors to the Golf Club to meet the latest class of Leadership Delray.

Not everyone shows up, but this year five former mayors and the current mayor came to share stories of their terms in office.

It’s a nice tradition and a real privilege to be able to meet up and coming members of the community who are in the class. In fact, at least two of the former mayors are former Leadership Delray graduates (Dave Schmidt and me) and we highly recommend the course to those who want to gain some insight into the community.

This year, we were joined by Tom Lynch, Jay Alperin, Dave Schmidt, Tom Carney and Shelly Petrolia.

Together, the gathering of mayors spanned 30 plus years of local history. In a city, that will be 110 years old on Oct. 9, that’s a fair amount of local lore shared over Asian chopped salad.

Some of our more senior mayors have lived here for 50 years or more. I clock in at 34 years.

We have seen a whole lot of change.

And these are the people who made so much of that change happen.

I’m a big believer in the possibilities of local government—in the right hands anyway.

I’ve seen magic happen on the local level. Sadly, I’ve seen tragic happen too.

Elections have consequences.

But local government holds so much promise especially if you get the right group in office and team them up with a talented and empowered staff.

It is the only level of government where if you have an idea and two of your colleagues on the commission agree with you, change can start to happen right away. That’s not true in Tallahassee or Washington D.C. which has become a dumpster of dysfunction.

But innovation can happen on the city level and Delray is a case study.

From transforming a tired downtown into a regional hot spot and converting an old school on the corner of Swinton and Atlantic into a cultural beacon to creating a land trust to give first time homebuyers a shot at a dream—Delray has a long and proud history of innovation and accomplishment.

All along the way, mayors, commissioners, city staff, citizens, business leaders, non-profits and other stakeholders worked together to make things happen. And all along the way every one of these groups were told that their dreams were unrealistic, unachievable, or stupid.

The naysayers have always been wrong—and that’s the Reader’s Digest story of most successful places.

Step 1: Someone dreams and aspires.

Step 2: Those dreams are announced, and they are immediately assailed. (Usually by armchair quarterbacks).

Step 3: After much gnashing of teeth, the dreams are realized.

Step 4: The sky doesn’t fall.

Step 5: Everyone forgets, and the cycle continues.

And on the occasion when mistakes do get made, in a healthy city, you fix the problem, learn from it and move on.

You always move on.

That’s one of the messages that Mayor Lynch and I passed onto the Leadership Delray members at our table. We also talked about the need to recruit good people to run for office and how important it is to allow your professional staff to do their jobs without micromanaging their every move. A scared bureaucracy seizes up like an engine without oil—that’s never healthy.

You want your planners, engineers, police officers, firefighters and rank and file employees to feel like they have a say and a stake in the outcome. Progress requires collaboration. But it also requires leaders to show us the way by modeling that they can work together despite differences.

The first Delray mayor I covered as a newspaper reporter was Doak Campbell who served in the 80s.

I thought Mayor Campbell did a good job in a tough environment. The 80s were interesting in Delray—lots of crime, drugs, turnover at City Hall and infighting on the commission. Sound familiar?

But a legacy of accomplishment also came from that era. Among the achievements: the creation of the first historic districts, the founding of the CRA, the beginnings of Old School Square, early visioning efforts which led to the Decade of Excellence and a task force designed to help the downtown.

Things began to take off in the 90s with Mayor Lynch and Mayor Alperin leading the way. The Decade of Excellence began to implement the projects outlined in the Visions 2000 effort. Perhaps, just as important the culture in Delray began to change. The infighting was gone and with it the instability at City Hall. It was an era of civility and progress. The politics were calm too. Mayor Lynch ran once and served two additional terms without opposition. Mayor Alperin won his commission race in 1990 and served until 2000 without having to run again—an almost unimaginable scenario these days.

With a new City Manager (David Harden), new Police Chief (Rick Overman), new Chamber President (Bill Wood) and a maverick CRA Director (Chris Brown) there was a team in place that would enable a ton of good things to happen.

When Dave Schmidt became mayor in 2000 after winning a three-way race, the Decade of Excellence was largely completed. We had a blank slate and we wanted to start planning and visioning again.

I was on that Commission along with Pat Archer, Bill Schwartz and Alberta McCarthy. Mr. Schwartz would retire in 2001 and we were joined in 2001 by Jon Levinson.

We got along as a group despite being very different people. Mayor Schmidt was a quietly self-assured leader who did not have any problems with members of the commission taking the lead on important community issues. I was passionate about the downtown, so I co-chaired the Downtown Master Plan effort with Chuck Ridley. Pat led a task force on drugs and sober homes. Jon spearheaded housing issues and was part of the founding team at the Community Land Trust. Alberta and I took on race relations and Dave was there to lead us through the post 9/11 era, the controversial relocation of Atlantic High School and much, much more. He was great to work with.

When Dave was term limited in 2003, I ran for mayor. I had the great privilege to work with Commissioners Fred Fetzer and Brenda Montague and my successor Rita Ellis. We were a collegial group, and I was very grateful to serve alongside these special people. I considered them my teammates. We didn’t put candidates up against each other and we rooted for each other because we knew our success and more importantly our city’s success were inextricably linked.

So yes, we debated and yes, we disagreed but when the roll was called, we cast our votes and moved on. It was never personal. It was always on to the next issue and the next vote. As it should be.

I’m often asked what has changed in Delray and my answer is always the same: the culture.

Instead of building on the achievements of the past and working toward a better future we seem fixated on looking backwards and tearing things down instead of making them better.

We went from collaborative to toxic.

Toxic isn’t productive.

Toxic is also a choice.

It’s going to take remarkable leadership to get us back on track. Because we are lost my friends. Deep in the weeds, waste deep in the big muddy as they say.

We are going to need the kind of leadership that created so much good for so long. The kind that I saw walk into that room at the golf course for Leadership Delray.

Let’s hope it comes soon– before even more is lost.

4 December, 2019 2 2 Comments

Mingling With Some Mayors

December 4, 2019 By Jeff Perlman 2 Comments

Lots of stories inside this building.

Recently, six Delray Beach mayors had lunch with the new class of Leadership Delray at the Delray Beach Golf Club.

The mayors spent 90 minutes sharing, listening and answering questions from the next generation of local leaders. It was a lot of fun.

Leadership Delray is a program of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce.

I graduated many moons ago and the program has included future commissioners, mayors, business, city and non-profit leaders. It’s a good program. And an important one because we desperately need leadership in our community.

The mayors brought a perspective from 1990 to the present, but since all were active in local affairs before being elected, the history represented really dates to the late 1960s and early 70s.

Considering the city is still young–the town was incorporated in October 1911—so covering 50 plus years of local history is pretty significant.

Which means we were here for the tumultuous 80s—which was marked by political division, crime and drugs —but also by great vision and the establishment of important institutions such as the CRA and Old School Square.

Tom Lynch and Jay Alperin, who led our city through the Decade of Excellence, were in the room to tell the Leadership class about their triumphs and struggles as they beautified the downtown, laying the ground work for the renaissance that came as a result of a lot of hard work and immense public investment.

David Schmidt and I were there to share stories about the Downtown Master Plan, the move of Atlantic High School, the rezoning of Congress Avenue and our desire to improve schools and race relations.

More recent history was covered by Tom Carney and our current Mayor Shelly Petrolia.

Tom Lynch and I were seated together at a table with an engaging group of emerging leaders who worked for the city, CRA and Police Department. Many were fairly new to Delray but they asked really great questions.

I think the mayors who attended would agree that it is important to share local history and the context that informed certain key decisions.

It’s also important to listen to the views of emerging leaders and so we asked our lunch table for one word that they felt was essential for successful leadership. We heard words like integrity, courage, commitment and compassion. Those words sum it up.

As we ended the lunch, I was sad to see the Leadership Delray class go and the mayors—my predecessors and successors— scatter back to their lives.

I think that history can be used as an educational and community building tool.

We don’t have to look far for a great example: Boca.

The same week the Delray mayors gathered, the Downtown Boca Raton Rotary Club held its 5^th annual “Mayors Ball.”

Here’s how the Boca Rotary describes the event.

“The Boca Raton Mayors Ball is the one of the signature annual fundraising events of the Rotary Club Downtown Boca Raton. This enchanting black-tie event celebrates all that is great about Boca Raton. Through our partnership with the Boca Raton Historical Society we highlight the storied history of our favorite Florida small town. Each year at the Mayors Ball we present the George Long Awards to individuals and institutions that have gone above and beyond to make Boca Raton the greatest place to live, work and play.

Proceeds from the Boca Raton Mayors Ball are directed to local nonprofits focused on health and wellness initiatives through our “Service Above Self” grant program. “

I’m told that the event raises six figures for charity. Six figures!

I know Delray has the need. Maybe, we ought to do our own event and support Delray charities.

Twice before, Delray Mayors past and present gathered for an evening to raise money for the Delray Public Library and the Delray Beach Historical Society. These “Mingle With the Mayors” events were staged kind of the like the TV show “Inside the Actor’s Studio” allowing audience members to ask questions. They were fun events and well attended.

The concept doesn’t have to be limited to mayors—but could include evenings with locals who can provide a historical perspective on past and current issues.

These are bonding and educational opportunities. These types of celebrations build community—which is never a bad thing.

24 October, 2018 2 2 Comments

A Gathering Of Mayors

October 24, 2018 By Jeff Perlman 2 Comments

“It’s possible to be fierce, fierce in your dedication to change, to what’s right, to making things better–without finding the source of your power in the destruction of others.”– Seth Godin

Last week, thanks to the efforts of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce and the talented Suzanne Spencer, seven former Delray Beach mayors met with the new class of Leadership Delray for a roundtable discussion on leadership and local history.

It was a blast.

And the Seth Godin quote above was a common thread for these mayors who represented local history from the 1980s through today.

Doak Campbell, Tom Lynch, Jay Alperin, Dave Schmidt, Tom Carney, current Mayor Shelly Petrolia and I shared stories, challenges and experiences from our days and nights in the trenches of local government.

It was a special afternoon and we need more of these types of get togethers because local history is special and relevant to the issues that we face today. The gathering was recorded by the class and will be given to the Delray Beach Historical Society. I look forward to seeing and sharing it with you someday soon. Each mayor brings a unique perspective to the job. My theory is that public office is much like an MRI–it reveals who you truly are. Your good qualities are revealed and your weaknesses too as expressed in decisions you make and your leadership style.

Doak Campbell presided over a somewhat tumultuous time in the 80s, with a revolving door of city managers and department heads, worries about crime and concerns about how to revive a desolate downtown. Despite a fair amount of political infighting, Doak’s commission made some huge and important moves: establishing a CRA, forming the first historic districts, agreeing to restore Old School Square, focusing on downtown and passing a landmark bond issue which led to tremendous improvements in the city’s infrastructure and how we viewed our future prospects. Mayor Campbell left his successors with money, a vision and some very promising seeds. He was a successful mayor.

Tom Lynch and Jay Alperin followed Doak. They successfully implemented the Decade of Excellence bond and brought needed stability to City Hall and to politics itself. On their watch, the Tennis Stadium was built and the seeds were planted for a downtown renaissance. Stability is very important to success. We tend not to appreciate stability until we lose it and we see the damage that volatility can bring to a community. Tom and Jay were gentlemen and they treated city staff and the public with respect; challenging both to bring solutions not just complaints to Commission chambers. I respect their leadership skills and learned a lot from watching them as a young reporter covering city government.

David Schmidt and I followed and we emphasized community engagement and citizen driven planning which led to a downtown master plan, a cultural plan, a parks plan, an effort to improve race relations and a continued focus on education. I learned a lot from sitting on the dais next to David. The commission’s we served on were ambitious and energetic–we wanted to bring about positive change and work to advance what other mayors had started. We saw ourselves as civic entrepreneurs and wanted very much to engage and involve the community. David empowered those who sat next to him on the dais and was always a calm and reasonable voice even amidst heated controversy.

Tom Carney wasn’t mayor for very long but he has been involved for many years serving on the Housing Authority, CRA and as founding president of the Arts Garage. We were glad he was at the roundtable to lend his long term perspective.

Newly elected Mayor Petrolia was gracious in her remarks referring to the success of Delray and her role as a steward giving the analogy that she was handed a golden egg and it’s her responsibility not to break it.

She also outlined the pressures facing current leadership ranging from crime concerns, schools, how much growth there should be (and where) and the need to shore up our infrastructure.

Based on the questions that Leadership Delray students asked, I think there was a good appreciation for the challenges of being a mayor of a town like Delray.

I often consulted with my predecessors because I knew that they loved Delray, had relevant experience in the issues we were facing and would understand the unique pressures of the job.

I saw former mayors and commissioners as resources that I could tap into in order to understand the genesis of issues and what paths were possible.

To their credit, they gave advice willingly knowing that ultimately I would make my own decision but that it would be informed by their valuable input and perspective.

I couldn’t imagine not tapping into the wealth of knowledge that exists here and I’m sure in other communities as well. Of course, you want a range of opinion and so the most effective elected officials seek out all sorts of voices—young and old, business owners, people from different parts of the city etc.

That’s how you succeed in what is a very difficult and all-consuming job.

Delray is a dynamic and challenging city. There are incredible opportunities and a lot of daunting challenges as well.

We need people with passion, a love for the town, humility, emotional intelligence, strength, foresight and courage to step up and lead.

Last week, I found myself in a room with a bunch of those types of people and I left feeling connected, happy and excited about our past, present and future.

Thanks Chamber, thanks Suzanne Spencer, thanks Leadership Delray and thanks to my fellow mayors for being so inspirational.

29 October, 2014 1 Comment

Water Cooler Wednesday: A Legacy of Leadership

October 29, 2014 By Jeff Perlman 1 Comment

Tom Lynch: A lifetime of achievement

A few weeks ago, I got a call from Tom Lynch’s assistant Paula Post asking if I would be interested in being part of a tribute video for Tom being produced on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber honored Tom last week with a much deserved “Lifetime Achievement Award” and the Red Pepper Group was tasked with recording a video that would try and capture Tom’s influence and contributions to Delray Beach.

I was honored and jumped at the chance to join Tom’s sons Brendan and Connor and Business Development Board CEO Kelly Smallridge on the video.

But then panic set in.

How can you sum up, in two minutes or less, Tom’s profound influence on the development and creation of modern Delray Beach? After all, if not for Tom, I’m not so we’d have a website devoted to Delray, because Atlantic Avenue and Delray Beach was a far different place when he became the founding chair of the CRA in 1985 and mayor of Delray in 1990.

Sure, there are many authors to the Delray success story, people we have mentioned on this blog who have done great things in areas ranging from the arts and business to government and philanthropy, but few who have left his lasting imprint.

Real Leadership Lasts

The real question then was why? Why was Tom Lynch–who served as mayor for three terms then went on to the School Board for 8 years before becoming mayor of the tiny Village of Golf –so important to modern Delray?

After all, he has been gone from office for 18 years, a lifetime in local politics and yet, smart politicians, entrepreneurs, economic development experts and others still seek him out for advice even if they have to search for him in Biltmore Forest N.C., where he spends a lot of time these days.

The answer, in my opinion, was because Tom stood for and implemented ideas and principles that set the stage for much of the success that Delray has achieved since he served on Mayor Doak Campbell’s Atlantic Avenue Task Force 30 years ago.

Sure he accomplished a lot of concrete things during his active years in Delray Beach. Among them:

• Successful implementation of the pivotal Decade of Excellence Bond which beautified Atlantic Avenue among other important projects.

• The decision to build a tennis stadium downtown to attract the Virginia Slims to Delray. While the Slims didn’t last, the Stadium did; eventually attracting an ATP event, major junior events, the Champions Tour, Fed Cup and Davis Cup. The decision to build downtown was an important branding decision for Delray giving the city international publicity and attracting people to Delray at a time when crowds were not the norm.

• Successfully launching the CRA, which has become a major economic development tool for the city ushering in millions and millions in private sector investment.

• Winning the first of Delray’s two All America City Awards in 1993, a major recognition of the city’s progress. A year later, Florida Trend Magazine named Delray the best run town in Florida.

And there were more accomplishments, but while important, over time people forget who did what and Tom was never the type to seek credit anyway.

But what lasts are values and principles and that’s the “secret sauce” that separates a Tom Lynch from others who hold titles such as mayor. People come and go in these positions, but values and principles tend to last and if you stray as a community they can serve as guideposts to get back to where you need to be.

So what were those values and principles that Tom championed before, during and after he left office.

• Delray should come first, before personal agendas and egos.

• The job of an elected official is to do the right thing regardless of short term political considerations. Don’t kick the can down the road, think long term and have the courage to act.

• Appointments to city advisory boards are important, take the time to put the right people in the right spots because they provide the commission with the advice they need to make decisions. Don’t reward friends or political cronies; look for people who have the skill sets to add value. P.S. if they perform they can become your future leaders.

• City Commission is not an entry level position, it’s important for candidates to have experience in this community before you entrust them with the public’s purse and important decisions. Do they work well with others? Are they single issue candidates? Do they do their homework? Are they willing to make tough decisions or do they just want to cut ribbons and ride in parades? Tom taught us to ask those questions and more.

• Government can run like a business by being responsive to customers, entrepreneurial, efficient and fiscally responsible with taxpayer money. Like businesses, cities should make investments that yield returns, such as in the arts, sports and culture.

• Government should not impose answers but act as a facilitator to assist businesses and or resolve disputes and issues between neighbors.

And there are more, many more values and principles that Tom’s leadership epitomized.

So that’s what I thought of when I walked into the Red Pepper Group’s studios and tried to give my two-minute testimonial.

Times Have Changed

When I moved here as a 22 year-old reporter in 1987, Delray was a far different place. There were few restaurants, virtually no nightlife, lots of vacancies on Atlantic Ave and a tremendous amount of crime and drug dealing. The politics were divisive and City Hall was suffering from instability and turnover. By the time Tom left the mayor’s office in 1996, Delray was well on the way but still had a long way to go. That’s the other lesson he and others imparted: cities are never done; they are always works in progress. But Tom’s under stated but strong leadership gave Delray its confidence back, we were a community that worked together, that acknowledged its problems and were willing to try innovative strategies to find solutions. We were no longer Dull Ray, the poor neighbor of Boca where nobody wanted to be, but a town on the rise that believed in itself.

That’s what great leadership does, it engages, unites and excites stakeholders and leave you with hope for a better tomorrow. And so it was. Great leaders touch people and leave a mark. They make us think about what we can become and they lead the way despite the obstacles. Tom Lynch’s brand of leadership continues to pay dividends.