Mayor Grant
If you are a baseball fan—as I am—you can see the trend happening in that sport: a move toward youth.
Winning teams are investing in young players and putting them out there with some amazing results.
They are also stocking up on young prospects, grooming them in the minors and investing big dollars in their farm systems.
Some teams—are mixing youth with more seasoned veterans. For example, the Mets talented young rotation features a lot of young arms but also features 42-year-old Bartolo Colon, a beloved veteran who is still pitching well (and hitting too, he slugged the first home run of his career recently and it took him a few days to round the bases). Colon can still get hitters out but he also brings intangible value as a mentor to the talented but inexperienced pitchers on the staff.
It made me wonder: maybe cities should be looking at that model as well.
That’s why I am fascinated with the most recent election in Boynton Beach. Voters there elected a 33-year-old mayor—who beat an 80 year old longtime incumbent and also elected a 32-year-old and 27-year-old to the commission.
It will be interesting to see where this youth movement leads—and if their brand of leadership is different than those who receive AARP Magazine every month.
I took a passing interest in the campaign and the message of the young candidates was simple: they stood for a more “modern” government, the expanded use of technology, an independent CRA (rather than a commission sitting as the CRA), fiscal discipline and a desire to make the city appealing and affordable to millennials. Voters went for it.
In a New Times piece after the election Mayor Steven Grant talked about positioning Boynton Beach as a city designed for 18-35 year olds mentioning how many in that age cohort were priced out of Boca and Delray. He also talked about the next two years as being critical for the city’s future—exhibiting a sense of urgency critical to success.
According to New Times, Grant’s newly elected teammates; 27-year-old Christine Romelus and 32-year-old Justin Katz envision Boynton as a livable, high density, affordable, working class community.
It will be fascinating to see whether they can pull off their vision or at the least move the city in that direction.
Newly elected officials have to ask themselves one question when they win their seat: is being a commissioner or a mayor a job to do or a job to have? It’s a simple question but how they answer and how they act determines whether they will be officials who matter or those who sit up on a dais for a few years putzing around playing small ball only to be termed out or beaten having accomplished little or nothing.
If you major in the minor and spend your term in office playing dodge ball you’ll be relegated to the dust bin of local history—not remembered fondly if at all.
But if you choose to make it count—and what an amazing privilege it is to serve– you have the opportunity of a lifetime to touch lives, transform neighborhoods and make a dent in your little corner of the universe.
Local government is the best of all forms of government—small enough to make change happen quickly and large enough to be fascinating.
I was 35 when I was elected in 2000—young compared to most of my colleagues in Palm Beach County at the time. I benefitted from sitting next to older commissioners who had life and business experience far beyond my scope at the time. And I think bringing the perspective of a young dad with kids in school to the dais helped them too.
A blend of new ideas and experience—and a willingness to listen to each other and to learn can make a huge difference.
I’m excited to see what that blend brings to Boynton Beach.
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