17 March, 2025 6 6 Comments

Mayor Rebecca and Mayor Rita

March 17, 2025 By 6 Comments

Boynton Beach Mayor-elect Rebecca Shelton.

My dear friend was elected Mayor of Boynton Beach last Tuesday.

Rebecca Shelton captured 56 percent of the vote in a crowded field, a testament to her popularity and her campaign acumen.

I’m not surprised by either.

Rebecca—Mayor-elect Shelton— is a terrific person; warm, caring, hardworking and smart. She’s also an expert at running and winning political campaigns.

I can personally attest to her skills as a campaign consultant.

I think I was her first client 25 years ago when I first ran for a Delray Beach Commission seat. She was all of 24, when I hired her to steer my first campaign. It was the best decision I could have made.

We were two rookies, but Rebecca took command and organized a winning race. I think we got 82 percent of the vote and that was against a very good opponent.

We ran a “kitchen table” campaign inviting volunteers to stuff envelopes and put out signs. I think we raised $20,000. No PACs, no TV ads, just door knocking and mail that we designed at my kitchen table.

Those were different days.

I immediately saw a lot in Rebecca. She was so organized, so determined and so tough in the right kind of ways. She told me that she was from Youngstown, Ohio and that meant she was a combination of resilience and Midwest nice. It’s a good combination.

We became friends. And I’ve marveled at her success ever since.

She became a go-to campaign consultant for judicial races, a successful real estate broker, and an amazing dog mom rescuing pets and giving them a great home. She also watches other people’s fur babies—including my own over the years. The dogs love being with Rebecca. Dogs have a nose for good people and for those who love them.

In short, my friend Rebecca is really something.

When she called me a year ago and told me she wanted to run for mayor I was surprised. I didn’t know that was something she would be interested in doing. She told me last week that she surprised herself too. I’ve learned that the best things in life happen when you surprise yourself and take some risks.

On that call, Rebecca asked my opinion and I told her the good, the bad and the ugly of the job. Now mind you, I left that life 18 years ago this month, so my perspective is dated, but I would imagine that some things have remained the same.

I told her I thought she would do a great job but also cautioned that the commitment was enormous. I know how Rebecca is wired, and I know she will give this job her all. For her it will become a job to do, not have, and there’s a difference. It means she will do the right thing and endeavor to leave a mark, not just kick the can down the road as so many do.

Boynton Beach is a big city with lots of moving parts. Rebecca knows the city well. She also understands politics, constituent service and her smarts will come in handy as she navigates municipal finance, economic development challenges, public safety issues and any number of things that can land on a mayor’s desk. It’s a big job.

It’s also a wonderful job. You have a chance to make a real and meaningful difference and that’s an opportunity that is frankly awesome.

It’s an honor to serve. It will be exciting for me to see my friend come full circle and be a mayor that matters.

It will be fun to watch and fun to root for my wonderful friend. She gave me my start and now I get to see her thrive.

Go Rebecca! Your brother is watching and is proud and your first client will always be in your corner.

We were celebrating the opening of a new park. From left, me, Commissioner Pat Archer, Rita Ellis, Commissioner Alberta McCarthy and Commissioner Jon Levinson.

Remembering Rita

When I learned that former Mayor Rita Ellis passed recently, I experienced a flood of memories and emotions.
I served with Rita on the City Commission and she succeeded me as mayor when I was term-limited in 2007. When Rita won her election she became the first woman to be elected mayor of Delray Beach and the second ever female mayor after Catherine Strong who served in the 50s.
Rita was a trailblazer and I remember being excited when she joined the commission in 2003, taking my seat when I decided to run for mayor after Dave Schmidt was term limited.
Those were very different days.

The Commission’s I served on were collegial bodies. I can honestly say that I got along with everyone I served with. Rita was no exception.
She came to the seat with deep experience in the community which back in those days was a prerequisite. We didn’t believe that serving on the commission was an entry level job, the community valued experience, they wanted to know their elected officials before entrusting them with decision making that would affect their daily lives.
Rita had a great resume, she was a business leader having owned Climate Control Services and having served as chair of the Chamber and Downtown Development Authority.
She was active in the Beach Property Owners Association and was an attendee at city visioning events which were popular (and hugely important) in those days.
By the time she took the oath of office as a commissioner she was well versed on the issues, had helped shape the city’s vision and knew people all over the city.
She was ready. And she was an instant contributor.
Serving with Rita was a pleasure. She made her points on issues thoughtfully and always gently. She was beloved by her teammates and yes that’s how we thought of each other.
We succeeded or failed as a group and on the issues where we disagreed it was always civil, never personal. And once the issue was decided we moved on. We didn’t re-litigate. It made for a productive and fun era to serve. Rita was instrumental in making it so. She was a positive and thoughtful community leader. In short, a treasure.
Rita followed me as mayor winning her election handily.
She served one term because of health issues but she remained active working on the board of the BPOA and endorsing local candidates.
We saw each other every now and again for and we talked mostly about the present and future.
We shared a love of Maine and had many common friends.
It’s a testament to her character that when she passed, I heard from several of those friends who were deeply saddened by the news.
Rita will be remembered by those friends. She earned her place in local history as well.
She was proud of her achievements. She worked hard for many years and never stopped caring about our city.
It’s people like Rita who make a city a community, that make Delray a village.
She will be missed and remembered.

Rita and friends at a pajama party to raise funds for the Achievement Center for Children & Families.

10 March, 2025 3 3 Comments

Dodo’s & Dinosaurs

March 10, 2025 By 3 Comments

The Dinosaur Museum in Cocoa Beach is a trip.

A thought hit me recently while watching the Academy Awards.

I’m a creature from another time.

The things I love are going the way of the dodo bird.

The dodo– for the discerning reader– was a flightless bird native to Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, that went extinct in the 1700s.

I’m not quite extinct, but many of the things I cherish are heading that way.

Recently, my family and I spent an afternoon at the Dinosaur Museum in Cocoa Beach.

We wondered why the museum is in Cocoa, but it was a fun afternoon regardless.

And it reminded me that no matter how big and dominant something may be, there’s no guarantee it will last.

We are one asteroid away from having our world changed forever.

That asteroid may be literal, or it may be figurative, but the results are the same: disruption and possible destruction.

Sigh.

And so it goes that the things I cherish—once mainstream—are now fading.

Here’s but a few examples.

Movies, in a theater.

Sean Baker, who just won an Oscar for best director, issued a battle cry for the film industry when he won for Anora. He noted that over 1,000 theaters have closed since the pandemic and the rise of streaming.

“Watching a film in a theater with an audience is an experience…and in a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever,” he said.

Indeed.

There is something magical about the big screen, about that shared experience. Those of us who grew up going to the multiplex remember going with friends and family. We remember first dates at the movies and talking about what we just saw after the film.

I remember taking my friend, who became a horror film director, on my first ever date with a  girl named Sue in the sixth grade. I was too shy and intimidated to go alone, so I arranged to have him “run into me”  at the theatre in the Smith Haven Mall.

We saw a Woody Allen film with Sue’s  her older sister and her boyfriend. I watched in horror as the older sister spent the movie kissing her boyfriend. My date looked at me expectedly and I fled to the lobby with my buddy to buy Milk Duds and strategize.

I never did see “Love and Death.” I was too busy dodging Sue.

I spent the one hour and 25 minutes trying to figure out what to do with a girl who ultimately lost patience with me and dumped me for the kid in the classroom across the hall.

Without movie theaters, we can’t have that kind of experience. What a loss that would be. (P.S. future dates went better, for the most part).

My battle cry for the film industry: start making more films that people want to see. Too many tired rip-offs and sequels. Let’s get back to storytelling. Maybe then, if ticket prices are reasonable, the movie theater can survive a while longer.

I also will miss newspapers— that you hold because I fear they are on the way out. Magazines too.

Bookstores, especially independent ones.

Albums, with their cover art and liner notes which were art forms in and of themselves. There’s just something about the needle drop and singing along with the lyrics to the music of Tom Petty that makes that moment in time special. Much to the chagrin of my better half, I’m holding on to my albums even though I will probably never play them again. (Don’t tell Diane).

Why hold on to the records? No rational reason, but if you know, you know. My friends and I used to take the Long Island Railroad to NYC to hunt for bargain records and imports in Greenwich Village. Albums were $4.44 in those days, if I recall. A ten dollar bill would buy you two records and a Sabrett hotdog. We found paradise in the Big Apple.

I also fear for the fate of “third places”, those spaces and places, that hold and build community are said to be diminishing in numbers, according to the New York Times.

I sure hope we hold onto our diners, cafes, coffee shops and pubs.

Sadly, I think rock and roll may be on the ropes too.  Yes, there is great music being made, but rock is not the cultural force it once was. I miss the days when a song or an album could shift the conversation. Boy do we need to shift the conversation.

I think truth is having a hard time these days. It seems that we are now entitled to our very own facts, science, election results and history. Welcome back measles, goodbye to any notion of collective responsibility. “We Take Care of Our Own”, a song Bruce Springsteen released about a decade or go, summarizes my point of view. It sure seems like a quaint notion in these days of division.

I miss the truth. It needs to make a comeback soon.

My list can go on. But I’ve decided to check the movie listings instead.

But first I’m going to dig out my worn copy of Elton John’s “Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy.” I can’t play that classic album but I can admire the cover art and Bernie Taupin’s timeless lyrics.

Rest In Peace

We send our condolences to the family and co-workers of Irving Adams, a beloved recreation supervisor for Delray Parks and Recreation who passed recently.

Irving was a wonderful man and a great presence at the Community Center for decades. He worked for the city for almost 30 years. I remember his warmth, his smile and the fact that he knew everyone who came into the building. What a kind man. He will be deeply missed and warmly remembered for his kindness and professionalism.

 

 

 

3 March, 2025 6 6 Comments

The Art, Beauty & Importance of Philanthropy

March 3, 2025 By 6 Comments

A session at the recent Florida Philanthropic Network conference in Orlando.

We attended our first Florida Philanthropic Network conference recently in Orlando.

It was an enlightening experience.

Several hundred of the state’s top philanthropic leaders got together for three days of education, fellowship and networking.

As the executive director of a relatively new foundation, the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation, I found the conference invaluable in terms of learning and meeting people with deep experience in the field.

I’m learning that there is a lot to the practice of philanthropy. There’s a lot of rules relative to giving, there’s also a lot of ways to measure impact, AI is beginning to influence the field and there is an emerging trend called venture philanthropy that’s fascinating.

When I tell people what I’m doing these days, they often say “wow, it must be fun to give money to good causes” and it is. It’s very gratifying but philanthropy is much more than writing checks to causes that touch your heart.

Yes, philanthropy is different from charity.

We don’t just write checks, although there is nothing wrong with that. As a philanthropy, we hope to make change.

As a result, we are making strategic investments in nonprofits that we believe can transform our areas of interest.

In our case, our “pillars” are health and nutrition, civic innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship and faith-based initiatives.

We created those areas of interest in concert with Mr. DeSantis to reflect his passions.

Our goal is to support people and organizations that have the potential to transform communities.

There is an art and science to the work we do.  Philanthropy looks at data, financials and leadership capacity to determine whether it makes sense to make an investment.

Like venture capitalists and business investors, we seek a return on that investment in the form of change and results. But philanthropy exists to take risks as well. In fact, philanthropy takes risks and makes investments where others fear to tread. That’s what makes the sector so important. Philanthropy writes the checks that others won’t in order to invest in our collective future.

To date we have made 35 investments totaling $5.855 million. We’ve only just begun. Here’s a small sample of where we’re invested.

We are investing in entrepreneurs through 1909, a remarkable West Palm Beach based incubator/accelerator. We are giving our children a shot a future through nonprofits such as Bound for College, Take Stock in Children and the George Snow Scholarship Fund. We are partners with Her Second Chance giving women in recovery a new lease on life and we are proud of our work with 4Kids and the Achievement Center For Children and Families two organizations devoted to caring for children who need support.

We are working with the Mayo Clinic, FAU and Max Planck on research programs that we hope will uncover answers for Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders.

And there’s more.

We are by invitation only so we can be strategic and selective. But every investment we make has our founder’s ethos and spirit in mind. When I think back at how it all started for me, I just marvel at how fortunate I was to cross paths with such a remarkable man.

Twenty years ago, I walked across a ballroom at a charity event to introduce myself to Mr. DeSantis. We exchanged pleasantries for less than a minute and I didn’t hear from him for a few years until he asked to get together and talk about how I might help him with a new beverage he was excited about called Celsius.

Last week, that little brand Carl was talking about announced sales of over $1 billion. It all started in a small office on 4th Avenue in Delray Beach.

Carl was a believer back then. He saw the path, even when others thought we were crazy.

We were. But in Carl’s case there was genius, belief and courage too.

It paid off.

Last week, that little challenger brand which is now the number three energy drink in the land bought the number four brand Alani Nu for $1.8 billion.

Amazing. And somehow Mr. DeSantis knew. He knew.

Before he passed, Carl asked a colleague of mine and me to sit down and help him create a foundation that would give back to the community in perpetuity. We did. It’s the proudest work I’ve ever done. It not only brings me back full circle to community service it keeps me close to Carl and his terrific family.

I’m honored to do this work. Blessed too.

These thoughts ran through my head at the conference surrounded by people doing transformative work in a world that desperately needs healing.

I’m determined to learn as much as I can so we can make a difference knowing that somehow Carl is watching it all unfold.

 

24 February, 2025 5 5 Comments

Housing: The Impossible Dream?

February 24, 2025 By 5 Comments

The high cost of housing has created a waiting game for many Americans.

I read a stunning statistic last week.

The median age of first-time homebuyers is 38.

Considering that the average lifespan in America is 77, that means that Americans are middle aged before they purchase their first home. Or looked at another way, first-time buyers are out of high school 20 years and only 24 years away from the earliest age they can receive Social Security benefits when they purchase their starter home.

Yikes.

As soon as you acquire a home (and a list of honey do projects that go along with it) you also acquire a sore back, creaky knees and a desire to nap because you’re pushing 40.

In 1991, the median age of first-time homebuyers was 28. As a twenty something in the early 90s, That sounds about right. I remember that era as a time when most people of my generation were settling down and buying “starter homes.”

Our first townhouse in Delray cost $69,000 with all the upgrades included. It was brand new, affordable; the neighborhood was cute, and it came with a pool and a tennis court.  Not too shabby.

The townhouse itself was modest, we had a small courtyard, a tiny home office and room (barely) for a golden retriever. I remember being thrilled to be an “owner” and felt connected to my community.

Not that renters aren’t important or connected, but there’s something intrinsically different about homeownership. You feel a part of things. Your vested; and invested too.

Back in those affordable days, things overall felt different. There was a palpable sense of community back then, South Florida felt like a new frontier with limitless possibilities. It was affordable and on the move.

But these days it feels like we live in a very different landscape. And I think a lot of it is driven by home prices and the cost of living overall. When you factor in insurance, taxes and everything else it takes to make it these days you scratch your head and wonder: how does anybody afford this? And how are young people supposed to get started?

For example, recently I had lunch with two retired fire chiefs.

They were telling me that they are seeing firefighters living hours away from the cities they serve because they can’t afford to live anywhere in our community.

Work schedules enable these men and women to live in far flung places and make the long drive back home after working 2-day shifts in which they sleep at the fire station.

I recently spoke to a retired Delray police officer who now consults on public safety and emergency preparedness nationwide. He says he knows of firefighters in California who fly home to another state in private prop planes after clocking out to find more affordable housing.

All of this is perfectly understandable. And the trend is not limited to firefighters. Police officers, city managers, department heads and other civil servants, including teachers and nurses are finding it hard or impossible to find attainable housing—and that includes affordable rents.

If you didn’t have a home before the rise in prices, this is a hard market to crack.

I ask people that I know—some very wealthy—if they could afford to buy the home they currently live in if they had to buy it today. To a person, all have said no.

So ,what do we lose when essential workers, public servants and public safety workers can’t afford to live where they work?

I would argue a whole lot. Instead of long-term contributors we may end up with people who clock out emotionally as soon as they are off the clock. Of course, this is not universal. I know plenty of people who don’t live here who care more for this place than those who do. But it’s human nature to give back to the place where you rest your head at night. It would also be natural to quit your job in Palm Beach County if you can find something closer to your home in Palm Bay or Port St. Lucie.

But if your workforce lives locally, they often serve that community and care about that community in myriad ways. They may coach youth sports, they may serve on their homeowner’s association board, or volunteer for a local nonprofit. They get involved in schools because their kids are being educated where they live, not where they work.

I think the holy grail for a city is to create a place that people love. If you fall in love with your city, you commit to that place, you invest your time, charitable dollars and soul in that city’s success. It becomes more than just a place where you work and leave for that long drive home, it becomes home.

I was fortunate to serve with a team of city department heads and staff that lived, worked and played in Delray. Because they lived here or nearby, their hearts were here too. They were long-term players who devoted their careers to this place.

I remember being a young reporter and covering Mayor Tom Lynch and the commission he led. Last week, I ran into former Mayor Jay Alperin and former Vice Mayor David Randolph at a charity event, and I started to think about those days again. It was the early 90s and one of the bedrock principles of that particular commission was to encourage home ownership. They formed a Neighborhood Task Team to dive into issues impacting neighborhoods. They talked about code enforcement, trash clean-up, lighting, landscaping and public safety. It was all aimed at stabilizing neighborhoods and encouraging people to come here and put down roots.

It was a sound strategy. And it worked. But today, it’s harder because the barrier to entry is daunting.

Clearly market forces and societal changes are playing a role in delaying the age at which people buy their first homes. People are getting married later and birth rates are declining too.

Another factor is that older homeowners with lots of equity or even a paid-off primary residence are a little less sensitive to the recent mortgage rate increases. Or they can’t afford to move because if they do so, their taxes will triple even with portability thanks to Florida tax laws.

But regardless, I think what we’re seeing is sobering and needs to be studied. As noted in a prior column, our area is changing rapidly. Major players with vast resources see our slice of paradise as an opportunity for more commerce, more luxury, more everything.

It’s exciting. “Change” my friends, is inevitable. It is not something to lament, but it is something to shape.

Hopefully, as we rapidly evolve, leaders will consider the price of housing, both to own and to rent as they shape the future. Because if we don’t find a place for our teachers, cops, service workers and young professionals we lose a lot. We lose the soul of our communities, the people who make a place, a home.

 

Notes:

Congratulations to Community Greening’s Executive Director and Co-Founder Mark Cassini who recently won the 2024 “Friends of the Urban Forest Award” for being an  “Outstanding Advocate”.

This recognition was highly deserved as Mark is indeed a champion of urban forestry and his organization does outstanding work in so many communities.

It has been a joy to watch Community Greening grow and thrive.

17 February, 2025 0 Comments

The Joy of Discovery

February 17, 2025 By Leave a Comment

Dr. Ilika Ghosh of Max Planck Florida Institute.

The Jupiter campus of the Max Planck Florida Research Institute is impressive.

When you walk into the modern headquarters of Max Planck, you get the feeling that important work is happening in the brightly lit space, and you’d be right.

Max Planck is a place where scientists are hard at work on what they call high risk, high reward science. Max Planck is a place that holds big ambitions, to understand the human brain, to unlock its potential and to find cures for diseases that impact millions all over the world.

We visited Max Planck recently to tour the labs of a scientist that we fund through a fellowship made possible by the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation.

Dr. Ilika Ghosh is a talented young neuroscientist doing important and potentially groundbreaking research into how the brain works, particularly how the brain uses energy to form memories and function properly.

Her work hopes to impact diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Dr. Ghosh is an ambitious young scientist. We believe she’s a rising star in the field and we are honored to back her work.

She’s in the right place to make a difference.

Max Planck is a world class institution with a rich history of discovery and Nobel Prizes.

There are 86 Max Planck institutes in the world. The Jupiter facility is the only Max Planck location in North America.

Max Planck chose the site because of a need to be close to the cutting-edge research that’s happening in the United States.

The institute was also attracted by FAU, the presence of other research institutions and the friendly policies of state and local government.

We are fortunate to have Max Planck in our community. The institute recruits the best scientists in the world and their innovative model allows them the freedom to pursue big and important goals.  High risk, high reward.

Dr. Ghosh is a case in point.  Born in Calcutta, Dr. Ghosh has had a lifelong passion for science and started her career as a plant biologist.

Her drive and enthusiasm for her work is remarkable and inspiring.

She spends long hours in the lab, but for Dr. Ghosh it’s a labor of love. This is where she’s happy and fulfilled.

It’s wonderful to see.

We were also impressed by her ability to explain complex brain science to us in terms we could understand.

We were similarly impressed with Dr. Ghosh’s lab leader Dr. Vidhya Rangaraju who explained the promise of this work. It’s necessary to understand the `why’ of the brain (and why sometimes things go wrong) in order to devise ways to fix what breaks down.

The Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation has a special interest in Alzheimer’s, and we are funding promising research at places such as the Mayo Clinic and programs at FAU designed to help families navigate the challenges of that crushing disease.

It’s not lost on anyone that downstream from the cool labs and interesting experiments are real people suffering from maladies that impact their lives and those of their loved ones.

What makes Max Planck special and interesting to us is their approach to science. High risk, high reward.

As a foundation rooted in entrepreneurship and funded by the success of our founder, a serial entrepreneur, we get the upside potential of taking big swings and dreaming big.

Director of Advancement Amanda Jorgensen says the philosophy at Max Planck is to recruit world class scientists and get out of their way.

Listening to Dr. Ghosh discuss her work and seeing her face light up when she talks about its potential makes it easy to see that the philosophy is working. Dr. Ghosh told us she’s thrilled to be working at the institute.

That passion makes us proud to support her work.

It’s also important to note that Max Planck does a lot to engage the community.

It’s outreach to K-12 schools in Palm Beach County brings science to thousands of students. You just know that a spark is being lit for the next generation of innovators.

That’s work that we can all take pride in supporting.

 

Notes….

Real Men Bake

I had a chance to participate in a fundraiser called “Real Men Bake” last week.

It was first “Real Men Bake” event in five years—Covid got in the way—and it was my first time. I debuted “artichoke puffs” and at the risk of being disqualified post event, let’s just my wife was a large contributor to the 125 puffs we schlepped to the Boca Delray Country Club.

My buddies Dupree Jackson and Perry Stokes took first place (the bundt cakes they made were amazing), City Manager Terrance Moore and his peach cobbler took second and Jim Chard captured third place with something similarly sugary.

My puffs were good—even though they were served cold–but when you are up against sugar and more sugar it’s hard to stand out. Still it was a great fundraiser for a good cause—the Delray Beach Woman’s Club which is 123 years old and the Delray Beach Sunrise Kiwanis Club which has also been around for a long time doing good in our city.

Although I only garnered one vote, I had fun seeing old friends and trying to market artichokes in a cake battered world.

Parking Guru Passes

The urban planning world is mourning the lost of legendary parking guru Donald Shoup who passed away last week at the age of 86.

Professor Shoup, who taught at UCLA, visited Delray some years back to give some advice on parking downtown. His wrote a best-selling book on parking called the “High Cost of Free Parking” which argued that there is no such thing as free parking. The cars may park for free but taxpayers are footing the bill for maintenance etc.

“‘Parking is free for us only in our role as motorist — not in our roles as taxpayer, employer, commuter, shopper, renter, as a homeowner,’ he pointed out. ‘The cost of parking does not cease to exist just because the motorist doesn’t pay for it.’”

If you can write a bestseller on parking, you’re pretty gifted. Professor Shoup will be missed.

 

 

 

10 February, 2025 8 8 Comments

A Valentine…

February 10, 2025 By 8 Comments

I’m a lucky man.

In my life, I’ve had four women take my breath away.

Three of those women were in their 60s, 70s and 80s when they reached into some place deep in my soul and left me breathless; proof that time makes the best people even better.

The fourth woman I married and like a fine wine…well… just say life’s gotten better as we’ve aged.

Those women were H. Ruth Pompey, Elizabeth Wesley, Frances Bourque and my wife Diane.

How many men can make such a claim?  And when I tell you there are others who set fire to my mind, I’m telling the truth. I’m looking at you Susan Ruby, Lula Butler, Nancy Stewart- Franczak and Jen Costello-Robertson. And there are others too. I’m a very lucky man. My Valentine’s well is deep.

Shakespeare said it best: “the earth has music for those who listen.”

I’ve learned to listen.

But even if you are tone deaf, there are those who are so special that you are compelled to listen; you have no choice but to listen.

Here’s how it happens.

When I first met Hattie Ruth Pompey, I was 23 years old and new to Delray Beach. I was working for the local newspaper and anxious to learn about my new beat. One day the phone at the newspaper rang and on the other end was the legendary C. Spencer Pompey.

I had heard about Mr. Pompey and his wife when I first started writing about Delray Beach. Mr. Pompey was a civil rights pioneer, a writer, a coach and educator. He was universally respected. Mr. Pompey was a quiet leader, but when he spoke you listened, and it was always worth it.

Mr. Pompey asked me to meet with him and his wife at their home which sat across the street from a park named after them.

I jumped at the chance. I remember being extremely nervous when I knocked on their door.

I was immediately put at ease by Mrs. Pompey when she answered the door and invited me to sit in her living room. For the next several hours, I listened to their stories about Delray Beach, how the beach was integrated, their experiences in the Civil Rights movement and their belief that Delray Beach could be a beacon for a better America.

It was heady stuff. I soaked it in.

The Pompey’s made it clear that they were meeting with me in the hope that I would stick around their town and use the power of the pen and my position at the time (local reporter) to tell the stories necessary to move our town forward. Again, I was 23. This was a little hard to grasp, but I fell in love with them that afternoon. Their honesty, their depth, their knowledge and their kindness were transforming. I went in as an excited cub reporter and left feeling like I was on an important mission.

My friendship with the Pompey’s continued and looking back it was an apprenticeship of sorts.

When I was elected to the City Commission in 2000, those lessons continued with regular visits and calls. When Mr. Pompey passed, I was asked to speak at his funeral which was  held at Cason United Methodist Church to accommodate the large crowd.

After that honor, I grew closer to Mrs. Pompey and when she got ill a few years later many of us participated in a blood drive to help.

After she recovered, she called me “Cousin Jeff” because she said we now shared our blood and were officially family. She even made a video featuring the cousin routine. That’s   something that I treasure and find myself watching again and again. She took my breath away with her kindness, grace and beauty.

Around the same time as I was enjoying a deepening friendship with the Pompey’s, I got to know and fall in love with Elizabeth “Libby” Wesley.  Many consider Libby the “mother” of Delray.

Libby had a certain something that I’ve never experienced before. I couldn’t get through a conversation with her without fighting back tears—that’s how much she moved me with her words. I don’t know what it was, but she was magic. Perhaps it was her love of people and community. Perhaps it was her faith in this community and her belief in our youth. Whatever it was, touched something very deep inside of me.

Ms. Wesley was an educator, but she was also a visionary. She saw the best in people. She envisioned limitless possibilities.

Libby founded the Roots Cultural Festival and because she was a catalyst, she got everyone involved. Before we knew it, we found ourselves judging conch fritter contests (celebrating Delray’s ties to the Bahamas), attending oratory and math competitions showcasing the ability of our youth and watching NBA prospects compete in the Roots basketball tournament.

Libby was the first to mention to me the concept of the Delray “covenant” which asked elected officials to be cognizant and respectful of their power to empower and help all communities in our diverse city. You either kept the covenant or you broke it. There was no in between.

When I was termed out in 2007, Libby gave me a cassette tape, a gift really. In her beautiful voice she read Langston Hughes’ poem “Mother to Son.” I got the message. And once again, she got me all vaklempt (look it up). Again.

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

 

That poem….

Oh, how I miss Libby.

Which brings me to Frances Bourque.

Frances is a friend, a mentor, a heroine, an inspiration and someone who is always there for the people she loves. I’m one of her “guys” —I think there are five or six of us—and we are lucky to be in this group.

Frances founded Old School Square, but to my mind, she was the catalyst who ignited all of Delray and brought it back from the bleak days of the 80s.

We often forget, but Delray was dull, blighted, crime riddled and struggling in those days. However, Frances saw a gem in a dilapidated old school at the corner of Atlantic and Swinton. Could there be a better location in which to jumpstart a town?

The prime location was marred by a chain link fence and a crumbling campus that symbolized our town in those days. But Frances saw potential and sparked a movement to create a community based cultural arts center that enabled us to bond, plan, grow close, hear each other out and move forward.

Old School Square is where we met to celebrate and plan the future.  It was also a place where we gathered to mourn—together.

After 9/11. When we discovered that several of the terrorists were living in our town.

After the Jerrod Miller shooting which was 20 years ago this month.

We gathered there to celebrate our All America City wins and plan our downtown.  We met annually for town hall meetings and held the visioning sessions that put our city on the national map.

Those plans—Visions 2000, the Downtown Master Plan, the Cultural Plan—created the momentum that built economic and social value. The specifics are long forgotten, the process too, but the value created endures. Yes, it lasts.

The relationships endure too. They carve a story in our hearts. The special people change our lives.

Some day I will write a book about Diane, the woman I married. We are still writing the chapters so it will have to wait, but I am writing it all down in my heart. Every bit of it. She also contributed to the evolution of Delray, in a big way as Director of Planning and as CRA director. Every day I count my blessings. Every day I give thanks.

Ruth, Libby, Frances and Diane. That’s a pretty good roster of amazing women.

My wish is that you think back on the special people in your lives and savor every moment with those who fill your heart and take your breath away.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

 

3 February, 2025 2 2 Comments

The Future May Be Here

February 3, 2025 By 2 Comments

I ran into my old friend Kelly Smallridge while attending an event recently at the beautifully restored Delray Beach Club.

Kelly is the longtime president and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County. I did two stints on her board over the years and had the privilege of watching Kelly at work. Palm Beach County is fortunate to have her. She’s great at what she does. Her practice is economic development. Her job is to sell Palm Beach County as a great place to live, work, learn and play.

Kelly does all that and more. She’s also a visionary. She’s the architect of  a campaign called “Wall Street South” that has rapidly gone from dream to reality.
I was involved with the BDB when that phrase was coined and Kelly reminded me that when the term was first introduced it was often greeted with laughter.

Yes, we have sunshine and no income taxes. Yes, we have an emerging cultural scene and lots of wonderful beaches, but it’s doubtful New York City’s movers and shakers spent much time thinking about us as a place to do business or as competition for Wall Street.

But fast forward a few years and here we are. Financial firms are pouring into the area and Wall Street South is suddenly very real.

At the same event, I ran into Brian Seymour, the chair of the Business Development Board, and a prominent land use attorney at Gunster. In his roles, Brian gets to see a lot. And he’s seeing a lot. A whole lot of investment, plans, vision and excitement for Palm Beach County.

Early beneficiaries are West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and Boca Raton.

We are experiencing huge investment in the office sector (once written off as dead), retail, industrial and residential asset classes. It’s something to see. You can feel the change that’s happening. It’s in the air.

I felt the excitement last week, when we caught up with our friends at 1909, an exciting business incubator/accelerator in West Palm Beach. The Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation is an investor in this wonderful nonprofit.

We have seen the group reach hundreds of entrepreneurs with an array of programs. They also build community, which is important for entrepreneurs.  They are moving into beautiful new office space in downtown West Palm, and we got to visit with an array of business owners who are seeing their dreams come to life while taking advantage of the support services offered by 1909.

At the event, we talked to County Commissioner Gregg Weiss who spoke about the county’s investment in 1909 and we learned that Boca Raton has invested as well. Both governments will surely see a return on that investment as 1909 grows.

The same week we experienced these meet-ups with people hard at work making things happen in our county, we watched with amazement a meeting in Boca Raton in which the City Council weighed four proposals to re-imagine 30 acres of their downtown, including their City Hall campus. It’s a multibillion bet that— if done right— has the potential to remake an already successful city. And that’s an important distinction. Boca’s leadership isn’t content to coast or rely on its past success, it’s striving and aspiring for more.

That will be music to some people’s ears and nails on a blackboard to others. But change doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game, you can evolve and hold onto your soul. You can progress and keep the good stuff too.

But it’s hard and it requires leadership that is not only visionary, but vigilant and sensitive to the needs and concerns of all stakeholders.

Often cities respond only to the loudest voices, which tend to protect the status quo. The need and concerns of existing residents and business owners are super important, but there is also a very strong need to consider the future, which includes people who will eventually want to live and work in your city.

It’s a balance. More art than science.

Watching the workshop, I was struck by the comments of Stephen Ross whose Related Ross company is a bidder on the project.

Mr. Ross (who owns the Dolphins) has gobbled up a ton of downtown West Palm Beach real estate, including old and new office projects. Ross sees this area as the next “Silicon Valley” and predicts that Boca will be the equivalent of Palo Alto in that scenario. He sees Palm Beach County as offering the “greatest opportunity” in America.

“I believe this will become the most important place in America, going forward, from a business standpoint,” Ross told the Boca Council.

That’s heady stuff.

Many regions have aspired to be the “next Silicon Valley” including our region with an effort called the “Internet Coast.”

Personally, I think cities and regions should aspire to forge their own identities, but I think Ross makes a larger point. We are rapidly turning into something different, something significant too.

Like anything in life, change brings both good and not so good consequences.  No doubt, there will be opportunity and lots of money flying around.

Recently, Lake Worth Beach, which has enormous potential (untapped and sometimes unrealized) received an unsolicited $355 million bid to redevelop its waterfront casino and nearby golf course from a group that includes Stiles Corporation and golf great Jack Nicklaus.

The proposal includes two Hyatt Hotels. Interesting.

In addition, the new Trump administration is clearly a factor in our backyard with Mar A Lago serving as a magnet for an array of lobbying and public affairs firms seeking local digs to be near the nexus of power—at least for the next four years.

Still, there are headwinds that we should be mindful of. Those of us who came decades ago or who are natives found an affordable paradise in South Florida. That is no longer the case.
Housing costs, food costs, insurance costs and divisive and often corrosive politics have changed the personality of our region.

Executives from Related Ross, including a young executive who grew up in Boca’s Mill Pond neighborhood but went elsewhere to build his career, promised to bring jobs to Boca so that future generations won’t have to head to New York and California for career growth.

That’s wonderful, it truly is. It’s hard not to get swept up when a proven visionary like Stephen Ross outlines a big (and I think achievable future) but it would be folly if we create a place that displaces those who can’t afford seven figure homes. If we can’t accommodate teachers, nurses, restaurant workers and essential service providers we will cease being a place.

Years ago, I was part of a group that brought the president of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group to Lynn University for a conversation. We had a conversation about success, innovation, invention and technology. It was fascinating. But at the time and to this day, Silicon Valley struggles with a lack of attainable housing.

We struggle mightily with this issue now; can you imagine what it will be like if Ross’ prediction comes true.

Affordability, insurance, mobility and fostering enlightened and effective leadership are complex topics. Ignore them at your own risk.

Market forces will prevail, and change is inevitable and often desirable. But smart leaders and smart communities plan, shape and lead the way into the future.

These are interesting times. Frankly we’ve lost a lot of ground relative to affordability already. But it’s never too late to course correct, prepare and innovate.

Here’s to the future.

 

Notes:

A heartfelt congratulations to Assistant Police Chief Jeff Rasor on his new position as chief of police in Manalapan, just up the street from Delray.

Chief Rasor served 22 years with the Delray Police Department and distinguished himself every step of the way up the ladder. I got to know Chief Rasor when he spearheaded the Criminal Justice Academy at Atlantic High School, a program the commission I served on championed along with then principal Kathy Weigel. Jeff created a great program that fed a lot of talent from the academy into service to our city.

We wish Jeff lots of success and thank him for his dedicated service.

Delray continues to mint chiefs of police. It’s a very proud legacy.

 

 

 

27 January, 2025 0 Comments

Here’s To The Future

January 27, 2025 By Leave a Comment

Your future self is a stranger.

I woke up recently with those six words in my head.

I don’t know where they came from—a dream, a fleeting thought– but there they were.

Maybe that happens to you often, but it’s a rare occasion where I wake up with a saying in my head.

Paul McCartney woke up with the song that would become “Yesterday” rattling around his brain. His initial title for the song was “scrambled eggs.” Keith Richards allegedly dreamt the riff to “Satisfaction” which became a classic.

We may not be a Beatle or a Stone, but I think it benefits us mortals to listen when our inner voices speak to us.

Your future self is a stranger.

I began to think about the phrase and what it may mean.

Maybe my future self will sleep better, learn to love avocados and acquire a taste for lobster. I do spend time in Maine, and it would be convenient to like those bug-eyed crustaceans. Instead, I sympathize with them and wish that they could somehow find their way out of the tanks and back to the sea.

But I digress.

Artificial intelligence is all we hear about these days so I plugged the six word phrase into AI and got this answer: “Your future self is a stranger means that when you imagine yourself far into the future, you perceive that person as someone completely different from who you are now, almost like a person you’ve never met before, indicating a potential disconnect between your current identity and how you envision yourself later in life; often leading to poor decision-making regarding long-term goals due to a lack of connection with that future self.”

Whoa!

That’s interesting so I went a little further with Google AI.

“Viewing your future self as a stranger can lead to behaviors like not saving enough for retirement, neglecting health, or making impulsive choices because you don’t feel responsible for that future person’s well-being.”

And that’s where AI lost me, at least on this subject.

I happen to be saving for retirement, I am trying hard to be healthier and I haven’t made an impulsive choice since opting for a solid color shirt over plaid in 1992. Let’s just say that I work hard to be intentional—the opposite of impulsive.

So, I put away the AI and I went back to my old steady—my brain. As flawed as it is.

And here’s what I came up with.

For a very long time, I felt that I was driven by three words: leadership, entrepreneurship and community. I can’t remember the impetus for the three-word model, it may have been an exercise, an article, a therapy session—something that prompted me to name my passions.

But for the longest time that’s where I’ve focused—the study of leadership, the study and practice of entrepreneurship and involvement in community.

All three words still animate and interest me. But…there’s been a shift.

I may have met my future self and far from being a stranger he’s the same old guy, with slightly different interests/passions these days.

I asked myself what are my three words today? What do I want my three words in the future to be?

And I came up with creativity, philanthropy and relationships/faith. Admittedly, that may be four words, but relationships and faith may be connected. Let me explain.

As we get older, we begin to lose people who matter to us. It’s an inevitable part of life. Readers of this blog have joked that it has turned into a local obituary/eulogy page. Perhaps. But I feel it’s important to remember and reflect when we lose someone who meant something to our little slice of the world.

Our time is precious. And limited too. We are fragile beings. “Tomorrow is not guaranteed” is not just a saying, it’s our reality. It’s a reality that inevitably bites all of us.

As a result, relationships become precious too. Quality time, with quality people equals happiness.

Faith and relationships are tied together because losing people who mean something to us is a hard thing to swallow. It’s scary. But maybe fear ends where faith begins. Maybe, if we can develop faith, we can believe that our souls go on and we may be together again with loved ones lost.

Creativity has become a driving force as well. The act of filling a blank screen orders my mind and brings me so much joy. I am never blocked, but some days are better than others. I’m finding new ways to be creative– playwriting, maybe another book or two, this blog (which has changed) and the opportunity to be creative at work in how we approach philanthropy.

Philanthropy.

Interesting word.

It comes from the Greek word “philein” which means “to love” and “anthropos” which means humankind.

That resonates with me.

Thanks for listening. Perhaps, this will spur you to think. If it does, my wish for you is to live with intent with the precious time we are given.

 

Miracle League

On Saturday evening, we ventured to Palm Beach Gardens to have “Dinner on the Diamond” an event that benefits the Miracle League of Palm Beach County.

For 20 years, my friends Jeff and Julia Kadel, have dedicated their lives to ensuring that all children regardless of their needs can play baseball.

It’s a simple, but beautiful and important mission and the program has grown enormously over the years. The league plays in Delray, Palm Beach Gardens and will soon add another location, a testament to the need and the quality of the program.

Julia Kadel is this year’s winner of the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation’s Catalyst Award, an honor that recognizes people who make good things happen in our community. Julia is a catalyst and so much more. She brings joy, love and passion to her work and she has changed the lives of many families.

We saw the depth of support on Saturday night when a huge crowd filled the field to have dinner, hear stories and celebrate the Miracle’s League’s mission.

A highlight for me, an old baseball fan, was to see one of my childhood heroes, Johnny Bench get up and sing Jeff and Julia’s praises. He called them his heroes and hall of famers in their own right.

Indeed.

If you want to learn more visit www.miracleleaguepalmbeachcounty.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 January, 2025 0 Comments

She Had A Dream

January 20, 2025 By Leave a Comment

Ms. Vera Farrington

Today, we celebrate the life, legacy and lessons of Martin Luther King Jr.

And I’m struck by the fact that this is the first MLK Day we will celebrate without Vera Farrington. Ms. Farrington, a friend to so many and an influence on generations of people in Delray Beach and beyond, passed away on Jan. 12. She will be deeply missed, and remembered for as long as we tell stories about those who paved the way.

Ms. Farrington was a founder and long-time champion of the S.D. Spady Museum. The Spady Museum, founded in 2001, is dedicated to discovering, collecting and sharing the Black history and heritage of Palm Beach County.

The opening of the museum was a dream come true for Ms. Farrington and it was her passion, commitment, energy and ability to get others excited about the vision that made it happen. If you haven’t visited the Spady Museum at 170 N.W. Fifth Avenue, please make it a point to do so. The museum, once the home of Delray’s first Black principal, Solomon D. Spady, has been lovingly and expertly restored. It anchors 5th Avenue, a wonderful street that features decorative sidewalks and a rich history.

That history was at risk of being lost before Ms. Farrington and several other leaders stepped forward to form EPOCH (Expanding and Preserving our Cultural History), the organization which incubated the Spady Museum.

I was fortunate to be around during that special era. I remember frequent meetings with Ms. Farrington, Daisy Fulton (a former executive director of the museum), the Pompey’s, Alfred “Zack” Straghn, Commissioner David Randolph and others and was moved by the passion behind the effort.

These visionaries understood the power of stories to shape our communities. They knew that if stories weren’t collected, preserved and presented history would fail to remember them and we’d all be poorer as a result.

The Spady Museum sponsors an array of programs and exhibits to share those stories with people of all ages, but especially important are their efforts to educate our children. Children were important to Ms. Farrington. She spent 37 years as an educator, shaping countless minds.

I’m reminded of an African proverb that is an essential part of the Spady Museum’s DNA and the spirit of Ms. Farrington: “Until the lions have their historians, the tales of the hunt will continue to glorify the hunter.”

I hope you ponder that beautiful and truthful phrase. It packs a lot of meaning into a few words.

History meant a lot to our friend Vera Farrington. And it meant a lot to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well.

So, Ms. Farrington and MLK are linked in spirit and deed.

Both believed in the importance of understanding history. Both saw stories as a crucial tool for driving social change and achieving civil rights. MLK often said that “we are made by history” – meaning our current realities are shaped by the past, and to create a better future, we must actively confront and learn from it.

Vera Farrington championed those ideals. Her legacy will endure until the lions have their historians.

13 January, 2025 3 3 Comments

A Wonderful Life

January 13, 2025 By 3 Comments

President Carter

Like many Americans, I didn’t think Jimmy Carter was a great president.
But also like many Americans, I think Jimmy Carter may have been our best former president.
President Carter, who passed recently at the age of 100, was a long term player. I like long term players. I think they hold great lessons for all of us.

When you reach a pinnacle, President, CEO, Governor or even mayor of a small town,  it’s just that, a pinnacle. Not The Pinnacle. There’s always more for us to do. More for us to accomplish and aspire too.

Last week, I shared an article with friends that talked about old age.
The article noted that we cease being young when we stop aspiring, when we stop dreaming about the future.
It’s fine to be nostalgic and it’s important to learn from and reflect on the past, but we can’t live there. We have to keep moving forward. We can’t stop dreaming. There’s more for us to do. President Carter was a great example of that.

President Carter never got old.

He was only 56 when he lost his reelection bid to Ronald Reagan. He lived another 44 years. And it was a remarkable 44 years filled with building homes, global diplomacy, writing, teaching and of course romancing his beloved wife Rosalynn.

My friend Scott was one of President Carter’s students at Emory. He speaks glowingly about President Carter and tells a remarkable story about running into him years later while on a trip to Greece. The president remembered his name.
Now, Scott is a memorable character but that’s impressive.

A week before President Carter’s death, I happened to listen to a podcast featuring the historian Kai Bird.
Bird recently wrote a book about Carter which sounds fascinating.
He believes that Jimmy Carter may have been the smartest man to occupy the Oval Office. He talked about President Carter’s rise from Plains, Georgia to leader of the free world with stops first in the Navy, the Georgia Senate and Governor’s mansion.
It’s a remarkable story. An only in America saga. We still produce those stories and that’s comforting.

Jimmy Carter was our first rock and roll president befriending the Allman Brothers, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.
That’s a cool tidbit, but the important takeaway of his life, is that he turned a bitter and decisive defeat into a triumphant second chapter.
He was a long term contributor and he never stopped serving his country and people in need.
Personally, I don’t understand leaders who fade away.
How can you care so much about a cause or a place or a business and then just disappear?
Now admittedly there’s a fine line.

You don’t want to be the quarterback hanging around the high school parking lot talking about glory days.  And the you don’t want to be the  micromanager lurking in the shadows pulling the strings.
But you can be the veteran presence providing support and advice when needed and when asked. You can advise and find other ways to serve when the spotlight shifts to someone else. And folks, the spotlight always shifts to someone else.

Jimmy Carter never stopped serving or caring. You may disagree with his politics but it’s hard to argue with his commitment.
We need more servant leaders. We need more people who care to stay engaged for the long run.
Remembering a Chief
Delray lost another contributor recently with the passing of former fire chief Bob Rehr.
Chief Rehr was a good man and I enjoyed working with him briefly after I was elected to the City Commission in 2000.
He had a long and distinguished career in the fire service. He spent 24 years with the Miami Fire Department and served as Fire Chief in West Palm Beach.  All told, he spent 37 years in the fire service.
He will be missed. We send our condolences to Chief Rehr’s family during this difficult time.

Next Page »