“Leaders need to be stewards of the things that work and innovators on new initiatives
and the things that are broken. Fix gently with humility.”
I saw this quote recently and I immediately wrote it down.
I can’t find who said it, but I wish I knew because I believe every single word. Especially the gentle part. Especially the humility piece. We are short of both these days.
I think we’ve lost our sense of stewardship and that should alarm all of us.
Being a steward asks us to be responsible with the gifts we’ve been given. Stewardship demands that we take care of the assets we’re tasked to protect.
In business it means we should never endanger the enterprise. In life it means we need to tend to those we cherish and in leadership it means don’t destroy, enhance if you can, but don’t break things that cannot be replaced.
Sadly, I believe we’ve lost the essence of leadership which is service. Too often, “leaders” position themselves as people to be served when their job is to serve others.
The best leaders make us feel safe when they are on the job, not fearful of retribution.
If you think I’m talking about the national situation– I am. But I’ve seen this dynamic play out on the local level too.
It’s a ruinous model.
It chases away the very people you need to build value, it screams stay away when we need to be inviting talent to the cause.
A corollary of this style of “serve me” leadership is the emergence of sycophants.
These are people who overlook every misdeed. They accept every lie, excuse every boneheaded decision and look the other way when lines are crossed. These types only hold the “other side” accountable.
That’s also ruinous.
I’ve seen this dynamic play out locally and nationally as well.
We are in a moment when everything we’ve previously cherished seems to be at risk.
Every ideal, every fact, every value, every bedrock of society seems to be under assault. All at once.
As a result, many of us don’t feel safe. There’s an aching sense that the once firm ground beneath our feet is shifting as if we live in quicksand. We reach for the life raft and a wave carries it away.
I’m reminded of a consultant that Boca and Delray used to use for City Commission goal setting.
Lyle Sumek was a former city administrator turned municipal sage. He travelled the country consulting with large and small cities. He saw what worked and what didn’t. I worked with him for 7 years. I thought his counsel was invaluable.
Lyle taught us the concept of ‘municipal math’ which I also believe applies to states and nations.
Basically, municipal math posits that it can take 20,30, 40 or more years to build something but only a few months to destroy what’s been built. It can take 10-20 years to restore what’s been lost–with no guarantee you’ll be able to do so.
Municipal math is cruel and unfair. It’s also a rock-solid truism. See Square, Old School for a local example.
Hence the need for stewards.
We’ve seen the guys with chain saws and the elected officials who tune out common sense and destroy beloved and valued institutions but the stewards…well they are a rare breed. They may have gone the way of the dodo bird. And that’s a shame. A costly damn shame.
Odd & Ends
Interesting stat:
A recent National Association of Realtors report confirms what many are seeing: the median age of homebuyers continues to rise, with the median buyer now age 56 which qualifies them for AARP benefits. The average repeat buyer rose from 45 in 2004 to over 60 in 2024, so the same generation is still buying the homes 20 years later.
Perhaps most troubling, however, is the rapid increase in age of first-time homebuyers over the past 10 years, which now sits at 38 years old—up from 30 in 2010.
Something has to give folks, an entire generation can’t get started.
Congratulations to former Delray Assistant City Manager Bob Barcinski who received his 40 years of service pin recently from an association of City Managers.
Mr. B. —as he is affectionately known—was a remarkable public servant, a quiet hero behind the scenes of so much progress in Delray Beach. He’s retired now and last I saw him (a week or so ago) he looked relaxed and happy. Well done, my friend.
More congratulations to everyone’s friend Captain Gary Ferreri of the Delray PD.
Capt. Ferreri was named “Supervisor of the Year” at the recent Delray Citizens for Delray Police Gala at the Opal Resort.
Over the past year, Captain Ferreri supervised multiple specialty units—including Vice, Narcotics, Criminal Intelligence, and our Problem Oriented Policing Teams—while also leading the successful rollout of Delray’s new downtown camera system. From securing funding and selecting equipment to managing installation, his work has helped strengthen public safety and modernize our policing infrastructure.
He’s also a great guy so this is extra special to see him being recognized.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank Police Chief Russ Mager for his 29 years of service to Delray.
Russ resigned last week and will be replaced at least on an interim basis by Darrell Hunter, a fine man and officer.
I watched Chief Mager climb the ranks and always respected his dedication to the job and the community. He will be missed and remembered.
There’s a whole lot of “stuff” playing out in both our police and fire departments right now. I’m rooting for cooler heads to prevail. I will say this based on 38 years of closely witnessing the impact the police and fire departments have had on our town. There is no better investment than public safety. None. These are expensive services–I get it—but they are essential services. Whatever you like or enjoy or value about Delray Beach was made possible because people felt safe to invest here. We can lose it, if we are not careful. And remember municipal math is cruel.
Finally, congratulations to Delray’s own Coco Gauff, French Open champion!
This column is devoted to volunteers and the Delray Beach Police Department.