vision | Your Delray Boca

6 November, 2023 8 8 Comments

The Blue Marble

November 6, 2023 By Jeff Perlman 8 Comments

The blue marble.

There are moments in time when our world seems unhinged.

It’s as if our little marble slipped off its axis and a cascade of garbage just keeps flowing at us.

The violence in the Middle East, the depressing quagmire in Ukraine and the sudden lack of empathy for that ally is stunning.

Here at home, the House of Representatives— the so-called ‘People’s House’–goes rudderless for weeks and emerges with a new Speaker nobody ever heard of who is now two heartbeats from the presidency.

We are days from another budget crisis, an ex-president faces 91 felony counts and yet another high flying entrepreneurial “genius” turns out to be a fraud.

Rising interest rates have made already unaffordable homes and cars even more unaffordable and while the experts are telling us inflation is slowing it sure doesn’t feel that way when you visit the grocery store.

Yes, these are heavy, heavy times.

So, it’s hard to get riled up by the usual local shenanigans.

We are knee-deep in yet another Delray election cycle and a crowded field of contenders are jockeying for advantage.

I’ve been preaching the importance of this stuff for a long time now. Local government matters. Community matters.

Yet, the usual subjects of debate seem small these days compared to the existential challenges we see every day in the news.

Yet another mass shooting.

In idyllic Maine no less; a place where the slogan is “how life should be.”

Its discordant to see the picture of the latest monster with an AR-15 entering a local bowling alley in small town America hankering to slaughter some poor people in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But we’re numb to this news, aren’t we? Sure, it’s heinous and nauseating. It makes us quake with anger, but we are no longer surprised. And we know nothing is going to happen. We won’t even try to figure it out.

And a few days later in Ybor City, just a few hours up the road, 18 more people get shot and two more people die and nobody even talks about it. And then a child is shot to death in a shooting in Cincinnati. The murder victim was 11, five other children were shot in an incident that is sure to fade in a day or two.

Anger and pain. Mourning and sadness. Thoughts and prayers.

Rinse and repeat.

So yes, local politics has a hard time breaking through the fire hose of atrocities and challenges.

Did you ever stop to think what we argue about around here?

Whether a building can be three or four stories?

Whether we will allow people to volunteer and raise funds for a local arts center?

Whether we can afford to restore a golf course?

To be sure, there are things to worry about it, and wrestle with.

Here are a few:

How are we going to house our workforce? Where will teachers, police officers, retail workers, restaurant staff, nurses and young families live? And please don’t tell me Boynton Beach or that you don’t care.

How will seniors be able to age in a place where insurance costs are soaring, and staples are super expensive?

What’s going on in our schools?

Are we creating jobs? Is our economy sustainable or are we becoming a rich seasonal enclave that is a bad storm away from being yesterday’s news?

So yes, local politics means a lot. Local government matters. And the people who seek to serve us matter as well.

Last week, as I drove to work my phone rang ceaselessly with the latest political rumors. I let them all go to voicemail.

And a single thought entered my mind.

Where’s the vision? Where are the big, animating, and ideally unifying ideas that we can tackle together as a community.

We used to have an abundance of big rocks we were trying to move. We worked on race relations, we innovated on housing policy, we saved our police and fire departments when we were bleeding cops and firefighters to other jurisdictions, we were all over education, pushing for programs and fighting for better facilities. We led the region in ideas and ambition. We became a beacon for the region and beyond for good planning. We experimented with different ways to communicate with our stakeholders. We strived to involve our residents and business owners. We led with arts and culture.

We dared to dream.

And we got things done.

We didn’t major in the minor.

We didn’t play small ball.

Maybe we can’t fix the Middle East, or break the moronic, corrosive and nauseating partisanship that threatens the greatest nation the world has ever seen, and we certainly can’t stop a dictatorial despot who wakes up one day and decides to take a nation. But we can try and support candidates who look at this mess and say enough is enough.

And yes, there’s plenty we can do—especially right here at home.

Local government can lead the way in ways large and small. It can be entrepreneurial and visionary, it can bring people together and it can change lives; one city at a time across the land.

I’ve seen it.

And if you are looking for some optimism, I have a little for you. (If you’ve read this far, you deserve it).

Our City Commission has done a lot better lately.

The additions of Angela Burns and Rob Long have made a difference in tone and in the culture. People are happier, there’s seems to be some stability at City Hall, investors in the city are bullish that they can get a fair shake— if they play by the rules. That’s no small thing. People matter.

Angela Burns seems to be everywhere with a smile. She’s engaged in the community. She shows up. She listens. She cares. That’s a huge part of the job. That’s what leaders do.

Rob Long is cut from the same cloth.

Tone matters.

The next step, in my opinion, is to create a space and invite ideas. Put the vision back in Delray. Encourage civic engagement. Not just the usual suspects, go out and invite people in. Ask them to care. And reward their caring with positive action.

So, my friends we have a choice in the next five months.

We can argue over personalities, or we can press those who seek to lead us to think differently. To think, period.

It’s long past time that we did so. We may not feel better about the world’s problems, but we may find we have some ability to move forward right here at home.

Wonderful Lives Remembered

We lost Rebecca Jennings last week.

She was a nice woman and a contributor to Delray Beach.

Rebecca ran for Mayor in 2000, the same year I ran for City Commission. Although she lost to David Schmidt, who became an exceptional mayor, Becky ran a good campaign.

When you travel the campaign circuit, if you are lucky, you develop a rapport with your fellow candidates.

David and Rebecca and the third candidate in the race Gene Herring kept it civil. I became friendly with my opponent Ken Rubin, who later became a neighbor. I nominated Ken for some city boards and task forces, and he did a great job.

You get to know people on the trail and back in those days we had over 20 candidate forums in neighborhoods across the city. Yes, we each wanted to win, and everyone fought hard to do so, but it was a good experience. Our campaign was issue oriented and candidates talked about ideas and solutions.

I considered Becky Jennings a friend. We shared an endorsement from our fire union and prior to running, Becky helped me with an education newspaper I published. When I was in Leadership Delray, Becky was our program leader. We were a rowdy bunch, but she kept us in check because she had a sense of humor and a wonderful laugh. You can a long way with a sense of humor.

She will be missed.

I was remiss for not mentioning another wonderful person who recently passed.

Joan Weir was an amazing woman. She did a lot for our community.

Mrs. Weir was an admired educator, teaching 2^nd grade at Plumosa Elementary School for years where she touched the lives of so many.

She was a pilot, threw legendary Halloween parties and was deeply involved in all things Delray.

She was a Boy and Girl Scout leader and taught Sunday school at St. Paul’s. She was a past president and founding member of the Delray Historical Society, a founding member of the Morikami Museum and chaired Delray’s 75^th Diamond Jubilee Celebration. She was involved in Pineapple Grove’s Main Street application (which led to the revival of that neighborhood) and was a member of the legendary Jubileers.

The list goes on and on.

What a life! And she always had a kind word. Thank you, Mrs. Weir.

27 February, 2023 6 6 Comments

The Long And Winding Road Cities Take

February 27, 2023 By Jeff Perlman 6 Comments

I found this old newspaper from January 1995 chronicling Delray’s Decade of Excellence.

Thirty-six years ago, I fell hard for Delray Beach.

Like so many others, I moved here to start a new life; attracted by the sunshine and the promise of a new hometown.

I was fortunate to find both.

In 1987, Delray Beach was a very different place than it is today.

The city was known as “Dullray Beach” in those days because the downtown was dead and everything new and exciting seemed to be happening in Boca or elsewhere.

But Delray was anything but dull in the 80s.

The politics were—to be kind—“lively”, crime was through the roof and there was no shortage of things for a young reporter like me to write about.

So, write I did. At least five stories a week for a decade.

From the back of a police cruiser, I rode with our officers through neighborhoods that were open-air drug markets and marveled at the scope of despair. Late at night, I saw small children on bikes working as look outs for drug dealers. When they spotted police, the kids would signal the corner drug dealer who would scatter into the night. People lived in fear—they had lost their streets to the crack dealers.

On Atlantic Avenue, I went into a bar one warm summer evening and saw a woman take off her shoe and stab someone with her stiletto because the victim glanced at her boyfriend. At City Hall I watched elected officials do the same thing (metaphorically speaking) to each other.

But despite the crime, the grime, and the slime, it was an interesting time.

My new town was aspirational.

You could feel the momentum building toward positive change. It was an electric time, a transformational era. I had a bird’s eye view and I loved every moment of the ride.

In those days, there was a strong desire to make the downtown vibrant.

There was a passion to preserve historic districts.

There was also a thirst to bring stability to local government because the leaders at the time understood that a well-run city was essential to success and that government could partner with others to bring dreams to life. Bad government stifles investment and innovation, good government facilitates. Our leaders understood that and made it happen.

Our citizens at that time were active and engaged—there were multiple opportunities to connect, to volunteer, to have your voice heard. Things were happening.

The rusted chain link fence that surrounded the property on Atlantic and Swinton came down and a new cultural arts center came to be thanks to a visionary named Frances Bourque.

Frances came up with the idea and worked closely with citizens and city government to bring the dream to life.

In 1991, a new City Manager came to town and hired a new police chief and almost overnight we had stability at City Hall and a new focus on making our city safe.

Two years before in 1989, voters went to the polls and approved the Decade of Excellence bond which financed $21.5 million worth of projects that citizens asked for as part of a visioning process called Visions 2000.

A year after the bond passed, a new era in politics dawned with the election in 1990 of a new mayor and two commissioners who ran on a promise to promote stability and civility. They delivered and our town changed.

From that point forward— and for a good long time– a lot of important things happened. Delray went from “Dullray” to All America City, Best Run Town in Florida and Most Fun City in America. There was a lot of civic pride, a lot of collaboration. Ties were formed and some barriers that had been built up over the years began to crumble.

Of course, not all was perfect or smooth. It never is.

There were challenges, speed bumps and events that nobody could ever foresee.

Yesterday, was the 18^th anniversary of the loss of Jerrod Miller, a 15- year- old teenager shot to death by a rookie police officer outside a school dance.

You think you understand pain, you think you are prepared for anything until violent tragedy visits your city.

You quickly learn that you are not prepared. You learn the importance of building a reservoir of goodwill before tragedy strikes, because trying to build it after is too late. You have nothing to drawn on if you start engaging after the fact.

You also discover that there is no “how to” manual to guide you when you learn that several of the 9/11 terrorists were biding their time in your town, preparing for an attack that would change our world.

There were hurricanes, development controversies, a few scandals and the normal squabbles over bike lanes, parking and the merits or demerits of traffic circles. But for the most part it was a happy and immensely proud village.

Civic pride is a real asset because when people fall in love with their city they give back, they act with kindness and care. They become stewards and evangelists and a virtuous cycle takes root that enables progress; great, lasting, and meaningful progress.

But the last several years feel different; to me and many others I speak with.

We’ve gone off track.

We’ve stopped working together, we’ve stopped consulting the public and consequently we gave back a lot of what we worked so hard to achieve.

Yes, I know the sun is still shining.

The Avenue is still rocking.

The beach is still beautiful.

But our neighborhoods have changed—big money has come to town and knocked down some old houses. Many longtime residents are cashing out, especially in our eastern neighborhoods. We ought to stop long enough to understand what that means. Will these newcomers vote? Will they volunteer? Will they send their kids to school? Will they care about this place? Do we value the character of neighborhoods?

Young families and essential workers are having a hard time finding a place to live in our community. We need to understand how that impacts our city, schools, and business community. Every apartment complex voted down is an opportunity lost for a nurse, teacher, police officer or firefighter to get a toehold in our community so that maybe they can make a life here.

And I remembered….

There was a lot of protesting against Mallory Square when it came time to vote on that project years ago. The stylish and beautifully landscaped townhomes on U.S. 1 were going to replace a Chevy dealer and some residents thought it would add too much traffic to Federal Highway.

Planners will tell you that residential uses generate less trips than commercial uses but some people didn’t believe that. Still, people don’t move to a downtown to drive, and the dealership had a lot of employees who came and went, a lot of customers and a slew of test drives.

The project was approved.

I think it worked out.

I thought about that mini controversy the other day when I went to dinner with a Mallory Square resident who is quietly changing lives in our town. He works with kids who need a hand up, not a handout.

Might he have moved elsewhere had that project been denied? Might another community have benefitted from his generous heart if that opportunity to put down roots here didn’t exist?

What other game changers might move into our town if we create more opportunities for our workforce to live here?

Other things have changed as well.

Public engagement—long Delray’s secret sauce has left the building.

And as much I despise Covid, it can’t all be blamed on the virus.

The annual town hall meeting is AWOL.

City Commission meetings begin at 4 p.m.– during the workday for a large swath of the population which means they cannot participate.

Government has taken over our highest profile non-profit: Old School Square. And it looks like volunteerism went the way of the Blackberry—fondly remembered by a few diehards but no longer ubiquitous; no longer a way of life. At one point we had over 1,200 volunteers at our Police Department, we had hundreds of people who participated in crafting the downtown master plan, volunteers resurrected Pineapple Grove, read to kids in local schools and showed up at countless charettes to share their vision of their city.

Has it all moved online?
Is that a good thing?

Facebook is a fine invention, great for scoping out old flames (or so I’m told), favorite former teachers (that’s you Mr. Romanelli) and college buddies. It’s also terrific for looking at pictures of babies and furry friends, but it’s a poor substitute for community.

The best things about the All America City Competition was the community building aspect of the effort. Same with festivals, Friday night concerts, community pot-luck dinners and study circles, which looked at issues relating to race relations.

This entire city was focused on trying to get citizens involved and engaged.

In a few weeks, you will be asked to vote on two General Obligation bonds totaling $120 million. I can’t find anyone who knows much about it.

Where are the specifics? Why now, when interest rates are climbing, and inflation is raging? Did the public have input into these projects?

Where was the promised public education campaign? A Town Hall meeting a few weeks before the election seems inadequate for what will be the largest bond issue—by far—in the city’s history.

And I can go on and on.

But let’s just say these are symptoms of a larger disease.

Here’s what I’m seeing; just one guy’s opinion based on 36 years of immersion in all things Delray.

The public is being removed from the public’s business in a town that re-invented itself and met its challenges through civic engagement. If you don’t consult the community, you can’t serve the community.

Dedicated volunteers are being sidelined and replaced by more government; sometimes that means your money is being used to settle political feuds: the prime example is Old School Square, which was an 80-20 partnership, with 80 percent of the money it costs to run the facility raised privately. That was a good deal and it worked. Until now.

Why? That’s the question posed by signs I see around town. And it’s a good question.

Lies and harassment are taking the place of dialogue in a town that once prided itself on trying to have honest conversations, even if, especially if the subject matter, wasn’t pretty.

Vote accordingly.

We can do better than this.

We must, because so much is at stake.

22 August, 2022 4 4 Comments

Vision Endures, Politics Fade

August 22, 2022 By Jeff Perlman 4 Comments

The majestic Back Cove Trail in Portland, ME.

In my book “Adventures in Local Politics” I write about the power of transformational leadership.I’m talking about the kind of leadership that makes an enduring difference, the kind that transcends petty politics, personality conflicts and feuds that serve no one.

That kind of leadership is rare these days.

But needed now more than ever and in every walk of life—government, academia, health care, business, education and the non-profit world.We know these types of leaders when they arrive. They make us feel safe, cared for and excited about the future. They are inspirational visionaries but they are also about getting things done. Ideas are great, but implementation is what really counts. You have to get things done.

The importance of transformational leadership hit me recently on a long walk on the Back Cove Trail in Portland, Maine.The trail is 3.25 miles long around a picturesque lake brimming with breathtaking views. It’s a simple concept really. Just a trail around a large body of water.But the trail delivers so much more than a dirt path…. the trail speaks to a vision and it embodies the values of a city and it’s long ago mayor—James Phinney Baxter.

The trail and a ring of connecting parks was the brainchild of Mayor Baxter who envisioned an “emerald necklace” around his city. The Back Cove Trail connects to other open spaces including the magnificent Evergreen Cemetery which is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a wonderful place to soak up history amidst statuary that forces you to slow down and learn about the lives of those who came before us.

Across from the cemetery sits Mayor Baxter Woods, with its mighty white ash trees, shaded vistas and cool pines. The land was gifted to Portland by Mayor Baxter who was quite wealthy in addition to being civic minded which brings us back to the Back Cove Trail.

Mayor Baxter had a vision for a walking trail and public access around the lake and that required private landowners dedicating some property to make it happen.In 1894, Mayor Baxter took Portland City Council members to Boston’s Back Bay Fens to see the restoration efforts by the landscape architects Olmsted, Olmsted, and Eliot.He said, “We may see …what Boston has done in transforming similar vile places into beauty spots.”Baxter hired the Olmsted firm to create a plan but there was opposition.There’s always opposition.But Mayor Baxter pushed ahead.

He convinced landowners to donate a 100 foot strip of land along the shore. Opponents weren’t impressed. They thought the plan was overly extravagant. This isn’t surprising, there are always people who fight ambition and vision. If they are in charge, they can choke the life out of a place. It’s one thing to discuss design, it’s another to say “don’t do anything, we’re done.”

Friends, we are never done. The future is always watching and waiting. Good leaders, the ones who make a difference, serve the present and try to serve the future as well. They strive to do big and important things. Bad leaders (an oxymoron) get caught up in the nonsense. They major in the minor. Mayor Baxter was not that kind of guy.

More often than not, transformational leaders pay a price. They are OK with that because they believe in their vision.

Baxter lost his bid for re-election and his plan was stalled until he was re-elected. After 23 years, yes 23 years, Back Cove Boulevard opened in 1917 with Baxter riding in the first car along his dream vista. The road was eventually renamed Baxter Boulevard.

Today, it’s a showstopper enjoyed by more than 350,000 walkers, runners and bicyclists a year. In a word, it’s stunning and provides value beyond anything we can measure. After all, how do you measure vision? Beauty? Access to the magic of nature?

What’s important to note was that Mayor Baxter was willing to risk his seat for an important idea. How many politicians are willing to do that?

It’s also important to note that he was later restored to office. I wonder if it’s because voters came around and saw the wisdom in his “emerald” vision.

Today, because of that big idea, thousands benefit by using that trail to exercise, sightsee and get inspiration for paintings, photographs and in my case—to write this blog.I’ve seen a few transformational leaders in my time— people whose courage, ability and work ethic enable them to do enduring things.

Locally, I think former Mayor Tom Lynch qualifies, so does Mayor David Schmidt and I was always impressed with what Mayor Nancy Graham did for West Palm Beach.Frances Bourque, who founded Old School Square, qualifies and so do Chiefs Kerry Koen and Rick Overman whose leadership left lasting marks on our fire and police departments.Lynn University President Kevin Ross and Boca Lead founder Bill Mitchell are two other leaders who have transformed their parts of the world. There are more and we’ll get to them in future blogs but you get the idea.

My book encourages transformational thinking because it’s the only kind of thinking that moves the needle and we need to move the needle. Everywhere you look there are needs and opportunities.I work with a transformational business leader and I’ve witnessed first hand what than can mean for people and industries.Carl DeSantis founded Rexall Sundown back in the day and he and his team (he always shares credit) transformed the vitamin and nutrition space.Then he discovered a small beverage company on 4th Avenue in downtown Delray that recently received a $550 million investment from Pepsi that made headlines all over the world.Carl’s steadfast belief in Celsius enabled the success that has transformed the energy drink space and created a whole lot of shareholder wealth.

Sometimes visions get derailed—for good or temporarily.

Mayor Woods was defeated, came back and completed his vision of an emerald necklace.

Right now, Frances Bourque and those who love Old School Square are wandering the desert waiting for good leadership to return to Delray Beach. But guess what, her vision endures. Those buildings were saved and they will benefit this community once again. So dream big my friends. Support those who have a positive vision.We owe it to the future. Because sometimes–if we are fortunate and if we insist on making the world better— those visions endure.

The emerald necklace endures.

10 January, 2022 6 6 Comments

A Look Back Could Be A Map Forward

January 10, 2022 By Jeff Perlman 6 Comments

Joe Gillie leading the All America City effort in 1993.

Over the holidays, we spent some time in the 1990s.

We took the trip back through home movies. It was quite an experience.

This is not a usual “thing” for us, but my ex-wife was in town for Christmas, and she gave us all flash drives filled with memories. It was a wonderful gift and deeply appreciated.

We got to “visit” with relatives since departed and hear voices that we miss so much that our hearts literally ache.

We got to see our children when they were little. It was great.

We were reminded once again of how fast life flies by. The home movie experience makes you nostalgic for what seemed like a simpler time.

It’s the everyday stuff that tugs on your heart; seeing your son dig into his first birthday cake (with his hands). Seeing your now grown daughter hugging a long departed beloved pet. Savor these fleeting scenes….they drift into the mist as the days pass by.

As a new year begins, I think that’s a good message to hold onto. Cherish the good stuff. Hold onto hope in this crazy world.

The home movie binge led us an old video of Delray’s 1993 All America City Award win in Tampa.

It was the city’s first win and the victory put Delray on the map nationally. But more importantly, the All America City designation gave the many citizens who were working to build this community the validation that they were on the right track.

A distinguished group of judges—people who knew cities and asked tough questions—took a look at what Delray was doing and gave the city an enthusiastic thumbs up.

My wife, Diane, then the city’s assistant planning director, filmed the event and we think it may be the only video that exists. We’re not sure why, but I guess nobody thought of filming the event.

Viewed today, almost 30 years later, it’s clear that what happened in Tampa was important local history and I think it ought to be required viewing for anyone interested in what it takes to build community and instill civic pride.

Now as good an urban planner as my wife was, she was not exactly an auteur behind the lens. Scorcese she is not. (Sorry, Diane).

Still, she managed to capture the spirit of this community circa 1993 and that spirit was awe-inspiring.

A few things jump out.

—City government was close to its residents.

Neighborhood leaders and the city partnered on a wide range of projects. The Police Department, under the leadership of Chief Rick Overman, was taking community policing to new heights working closely with the grass roots group MAD DADS to take back entire neighborhoods from drug dealers. That effort became legendary, but the video also reveals how integrated the efforts were with the rest of city government. The Community Improvement Department, led by Lula Butler, worked hand in hand with the Planning Department and other city departments to move the needle on blight, crime, and quality of life issues. In those days, everything seemed to be interlocked and when people, systems and organizations are rowing in the same direction you can move mountains. And Delray did.

–There was a laser focus on schools.

When one of the All America City judges asked a tough question about local schools, up came School Board member Bill Graham to testify to the city’s close partnership with the School District. Pretty cool. Delray was a model for other cities on how to partner with the School Board to make meaningful change and they did with new schools (Village Academy), award winning programs (S.D. Spady’s Montessori magnet) and improved facilities (a new Atlantic High School which was built about a decade after the ‘93 All America City Award).

—There was extraordinary camaraderie among citizens.

My favorite parts of the video footage is to see Delray’s diverse community interacting in candid moments. Old and young, Black and white, east and west—there was a real closeness and ease that was evident in those days. Everyone was on board with a common vision. They all shared the same North Star and that’s magical to witness.

I, for one, took that part for granted. Delray was built on vision. Public engagement and involvement was what crafted that vision.

We have gotten away from that and it has caused all sorts of problems.

But in 1993, the community was unified behind Visions 2000 and the Decade of Excellence bond which provided the financing for all sorts of public investments. The citizens backed those efforts because they created the vision and then voted overwhelmingly to fund it.

Those investments yielded an immense return. For the life of me, I will never understand why recent commissions haven’t taken advantage of historically low interest rates (and record tax revenues to satisfy debt) to invest in our infrastructure which is aging and in need of repair.

There’s one more factor that hit me as the camera scanned the crowd and I saw the likes of Frances Bourque, Ken Ellingsworth, Dave Harden, Chris Brown, Tom Fleming, David Kovacs, Robin Smith, Deborah Dowd, Chuck Ridley, Spencer Pompey, Ruth Pompey, Tom Lynch, Jay Alperin, David Kovacs, Helen Coopersmith, Sandra Almy, Ben Bryant, Bob Currie, Dorothy Ellington, Leo Erbstein, Dave Henninger, Mike Weiner, Frank McKinney, Sandy Simon, John Tallentire, Bill Wood and so many others.

These were some really, really special people. The kind of people who move mountains.

All these folks were very different, but they were united in their love for this city, and they gave their time, talents and treasure to Delray Beach.

I have no doubt that we still have some amazing talent and passion in our city. I see it every day.

But in my opinion our city government is no longer doing the outreach to get people involved. So many people feel adrift as a result.

And it can’t all be blamed on Covid. This drift has been going on long before we heard the word.

We are suffering from a lack of leadership and vision—that’s fatal my friends. Fatal, with a capital F. And if it doesn’t change, you can use that letter to describe what we will be.

We long ago ditched the Town Hall meeting, charrettes and visioning sessions. Now our chances to engage with the city are few and far between and some people have been cancelled because they don’t support the current regime. (see Square, Old School for a prime example).

This isn’t a healthy or productive way to run a city. And the evidence is everywhere (See, turnover and lawsuits for example).

There is a better way.

Sometimes you should look to the past for clues. It is no longer than the 90s. That’s clear. The world has changed.

But some basics never grow old. Kindness, friendship, outreach, engagement and a sincere desire to enlist the community to tackle its challenges will never go out of style. That’s what made us an All America City when that really meant something.

I’ve long ago given up on a few elected officials. Thanks to term limits they will all go some day. But we have a new City Manager. I think he’s the ninth or 50^th since Dave Harden retired, I forget which because it has been dizzying to watch. But maybe this one will stick around.

If he’s willing, he ought to spend 20 minutes or so watching the video from 1993. He might get a glimpse of a town that was really working back in those days. He might just learn something.

Email me Mr. Moore. I will make sure you get a copy. I will even find someone who understands what it takes to build community to sit with you (at a respectful social distance of course) and narrate. I suspect you are getting a very one-sided view of what Delray is like. Perhaps you should balance that out.

There are still a few icons from that era who I’m sure would be happy to help you.

25 January, 2021 3 3 Comments

Pre-Election Thoughts

January 25, 2021 By Jeff Perlman 3 Comments

One day, I hope the arena will be safer. We will all benefit.

In my fantasy world, election cycles would be uplifting events in which we debate issues, weigh competing visions and cast ballots for candidates that we admire.

Sadly, the reality often doesn’t quite live up to the fantasy.

Our national scene is a toxic cesspool in which billions of dollars are spent to convince a very thin slice of undecided voters to turnout for candidates who almost always leave us scratching our heads and asking the question: “is this really the best we can do?”

It has been that way for a long time now. But there was a time when local politics was an exception. There was a time when local candidates ran on the merits of their ideas and their civic and career track records.

Sadly, those days are in the rear view mirror. Too often, local contests become mud-slinging exercises instead of a debate over vision, voting records and performance.

I hope someday that we can return to a more civil discourse and create an atmosphere that may attract our best and brightest because as we have noted on many occasions— leadership is important. And local leadership is especially important because city government touches so many aspects of our lives.

When I moved to Delray Beach in the 80s, our politics were very reminiscent of today. If the past is prologue, then we can look forward to a golden age in Delray because the strife of the 80s was followed by the 90s “Decade of Excellence.”

By that, I mean that the turnover we saw in the 1980s in the city manager’s office and staff ranks was followed by a long run of stability and progress.

But there was a difference back then—citizens as a whole stood up and said “no more.” No more infighting. No more intrigue. No more factions. No more nonsense.

Today, we seem to tolerate division. It’s not healthy or productive—citizens get lost in the muck.

Back in the 90s, our leaders heard the call and they stepped up and made things happen.

A series of solid candidates took a risk and entered the arena. They promised and delivered on a wide range of policy proposals that surfaced during visioning exercises held in the 80s and again in the early 2000s.

The benefits of those community driven efforts gave us today’s Delray Beach.

We are far from perfect and far from a finished product (city building is never done) but we have a lot to be proud of: a rocking downtown, historic districts, cultural facilities, parking infrastructure, a tennis stadium, public art, a land trust, a healthy beach and other amenities. These accomplishments and more are a direct result of local leadership that enabled city staff to execute on the community’s dreams and aspirations.

It’s not a difficult formula.

Ask the community to share their aspirations, prioritize and budget for those ideas so they can come to life, task the staff with getting it done, hold them accountable and get out of the way. This isn’t exactly nuclear fusion my friends.

But yet, from my vantage point, we begin 2021 with a lot of challenges to address.

Our politics have grown ever more toxic and vastly more personal over the years.

This poisonous “culture” doesn’t serve our community. Problems go unsolved, opportunities vanish and over time the sense of community we treasure gets eroded.

As a longtime observer and one time participant in all things Delray, I can state with certainty that culture is the killer app. If you have a great culture there are no limits to what you can achieve and no problem that you cannot solve or at least improve greatly. But if you lack a healthy culture—well let’s just say you’ll experience symptoms like lawsuits, investigations, rampant turnover and an inability to figure what do to with your sea grapes. (Sea grapes, for goodness sakes!)

There is so much for us to do in Delray—a partial list includes:

-Congress Avenue

-North Federal Highway

-The Old School Square Park

-Infrastructure

-Getting to work on the issues raised by The Set Implementation Plan

–Creating opportunities for our children

–Helping businesses and families recover from the Covid pandemic.

And the list goes on and on.

We have so much to build on—thanks to the hard work of generations of stakeholders— but whether we thrive or slide depends a lot on the men and women who bravely step into the arena and run for public office.

I have a long list of traits that I look for in candidates but ultimately my choice is limited to those who decide to run and qualify for the ballot. There’s an old political saying—don’t judge me against the almighty, judge me against the alternative and that is true.

So what am I looking for in the March 2021 election?

Initiative—does the candidate have ideas? Are they viable and interesting?

Kindness—can they get along well with others or will they polarize and divide?

Work ethic—will they show up and do their homework? P.S. Someone can be a hard worker but if they work hard at undermining people and good ideas they’ve lost me. I want to see candidates who will roll up their sleeves, get out in the community and make something good happen.

An open mind—do they automatically vote no or yes? Are they glued to the hip to one group or another elected official or are they independent and able to make decisions for the long term good of the city?

Consequently, I will not support candidates who are civic bullies or who are backed by civic bullies. I won’t support people who consider only the impacts not the benefits of projects, events, ideas or the like. It’s easy to say no to everything but yes opens the door to possibility.

I’m also looking for courage.

It’s easy to bend to the noisy mob but I want someone willing to risk it all to do what’s right for our town.

Sometimes the loud voices are right and sometimes they’re wrong. Also, sometimes the noisiest citizens aren’t representative of the will of the community. It’s not about counting heads at a commission meeting—there are plenty of people who can’t come to meetings and sit for hours waiting for an item.

Those folks—and they are the overwhelming majority–rely on their elected representatives to do the right thing—not just count noses at a meeting held during working hours which might exclude many who would love to be there but have to work or have child obligations.

After the last few years of lawsuits, dizzying turnover, longtime employees dragged through the mud and of being the punchline to jokes, I’m looking for kindness, empathy and an entrepreneurial spirit.

The stakes are huge my friends. We have a lot or repair work to do.

–

30 November, 2020 2 2 Comments

The Best Leaders Deliver Happiness

November 30, 2020 By Jeff Perlman 2 Comments

Tony Hsieh’s philosophy was summed up in the book “Delivering Happiness.” Zappos’ legendary customer service made Zappos a $1.2 billion company.

There was shocking news over the Thanksgiving weekend for those of us who are fans of great entrepreneurs.

Tony Hsieh, (pronounced shay) the visionary founder of Zappos and the driving force behind The Downtown Project in Las Vegas, was dead at the young age of 46. Mr. Hsieh succumbed to injuries suffered in a house fire.

Zappos was an early e-commerce success story selling shoes by the truckloads until Amazon came along and scooped up the company for $1.2 billion in 2009.

Hsieh took his fortune and wrote one of the best business books ever “Delivering Happiness” which preached the Zappos philosophy of exceptional customer service. His book and business model influenced scores of entrepreneurs then he pivoted to Las Vegas where he bought a slew of real estate in the old moribund downtown and set about trying to transform the place.

I’ve been following those efforts for years and while the results have met with mixed reviews I deeply admired his vision and audacity.

Transformation is a risky venture. Efforts often fall short but without these special people willing to take risks and buck conventional wisdom change won’t happen.

Within reason, we ought to be encouraging and where possible helping these pioneers who see potential where others see blight.

Hsieh took a boring category (shoes) and created a culture that revolutionized customer service and how to buy a product.

When it came to downtown revitalization, he spent his money and time trying to lure talent and enterprise to a part of Las Vegas long ago written off. The Downtown Project is a $350 million investment: $200 million for real estate, $50 million for tech startups, $50 million for small businesses and $50 million for education, arts and culture.

Noted urban journalist Aaron Renn was a fan of the ambitious effort.

“While I had some critiques of the downtown project, his vision to remake the unbelievably bleak downtown Las Vegas into a hub of creativity was audacity on steroids,” Renn wrote. “ Again, most cities could only dream of having someone with that kind of vision and willingness to attempt the impossible.”

Those “someone’s” are developer/entrepreneurs and I think we make a big mistake when we paint with a broad brush and write them all off as rapacious enemies we must instinctively fight.

As has been noted many times in this space, there are good developers and there are bad ones. We benefit when we can distinguish between the two.

Good developers transform communities. They create places and jobs and they generate vibrancy while growing the tax base.

If we engage them early, we can shape development and make sure projects respect the style and aesthetics of the community. It can be done. But only if we elevate the conversation and work with people not on them.

Attracting good developers to your city is critical of you want to succeed. Avoiding bad ones is equally important.

As for Hsieh, his model called for investing in tech companies in exchange for their promise to relocate to Las Vegas.

He also recruited restaurants, coffee shops and other cool businesses to downtown Las Vegas so that the tech workers who moved there would enjoy a good quality of life.

I thought his approach was fascinating because it tried to be holistic.

He didn’t just build, lease to anyone who showed up and then abandon the place. He curated and stayed around.

He took a long term view and did a huge amount of marketing to promote the vision. He was an evangelist for an old part of Vegas that had been written off as the focus shifted to The Strip.

In more than 30 years of watching local development trends I’ve seen a wide range of development philosophies.

There were those who settled in and did multiple projects while making it a point to give back to the community through service and philanthropy and there were those who acted like strip miners extracting value with little regard to giving back. We make a mistake if we conflate the two types. The former is what you want to attract and nurture, the latter is what you want to avoid.

It’s easy to distinguish who’s who.

Tony Hsieh was the kind of investor you want to attract. Losing him at a young age is tragic.

But he sets an example for those of us who care about our local communities and economies.

There is an opportunity to find and or encourage developers to act as curators to bring desirable uses to our cities.

There is also an opportunity to elevate the conversation around development. The current discourse doesn’t serve anyone and will chase away the visionaries we need to keep our cities vibrant and healthy.

Notes:

Delray Beach lost two community leaders in recent days who will be long remembered for their contributions.

Nadine Hart was a long time community leader, educator and former chair of the TED Center, a local business incubator. She was a guiding light for generations of Delray residents. She was also known for having mentored hundreds of young women in Delray. She will be greatly missed.

John Ingles was a legendary local tennis coach who quietly added immense value to Delray’s tennis community. “Jingles” as he was affectionately known, was a kind man and a trusted advisor for anyone interested in learning about tennis’ potential in Delray. Rest In Peace my friend.

On a happier note, congratulations to Jeffrey Costello who left for the U.S. Marine Corps over the weekend. Jeffrey grew up next store to us in Delray Lakes and has always been a great young man. He was in Junior ROTC at Atlantic High School and has been focused on a military career for quite some time. He’s the pride of our neighborhood and we will be praying for his safety and success.

19 November, 2020 0 Comments

Go Celsius! From Humble Beginnings….

November 19, 2020 By Jeff Perlman Leave a Comment

The line-up.

Wall Street is giddy over a local stock that has been on a tear of late.

Celsius, born in Delray and based in Boca, is a beverage company that is delighting consumers, investors and those of us who love a good story of a small company slaying the giants.

When Celsius (CELH on Nasdaq) released record results last week, the stock soared continuing a run up in price that has caught the attention of CNBC’s Jim Cramer of “Mad Money” fame and lucky investors who remembered a time, not too long ago, when the stock traded under a dollar Over the Counter.

While the results reported were stupendous, nearly $37 million for the quarter an 80 percent increase over last year’s results, Celsius is far from an overnight success story. The team, both past and present, has been hard at work building a brand for more than a decade.

Celsius is a tale of belief, commitment, hard work, love, passion, sweat, a few tears and a whole lot of investment— especially from a local entrepreneurial legend who discovered the drink while dining on Atlantic Avenue.

I would venture to say that if you look closely at most successful brands you will find a familiar tale of perseverance. Each company is unique in their journey but there are commonalities including a bedrock belief that you have something special.

In Celsius’ case, there was a unique selling proposition. The energy drink burned calories—up to 100 per can. The claim was clinically proven by more than a half dozen university studies.

That’s pretty unique.

But the beverage business is brutal and capital intensive. The competition includes huge conglomerates and hundreds if not thousands of upstarts all vying for our taste buds.

But my friend and business partner Carl DeSantis knows a little something about picking winners.

He built Rexall Sundown into the world’s largest vitamin company launching hit product after hit product from its headquarters in Boca.

After selling the company for $1.8 billion in 2000 he went back into business running a vast array of enterprises ranging from hotels and restaurants to clothing companies and an up and coming hot sauce company called Tabanero. Keep your eye on Tabanero; friends it’s the next big hit.

My friend Carl has what you might call an eye for what will work and what won’t. He believed in Celsius and never wavered in his conviction that the healthy energy drink, with the clean label (no sugar, low sodium, vitamin infused and delicious) would be a winner. It just took a while.

Successful brands are built brick by brick, sometimes you take two steps forward and three back but you keep going because you believe and failure is not an option.

Carl recruited me to be Celsius’ COO in 2008. I was a year removed from being mayor of Delray and while I knew of Carl, I didn’t know him personally. But he saw something in me and we became friendly.

Carl is kind, generous, gentle and sensitive. There’s also more than a bit of magic in his personality.

He has a sixth sense about products, people and places. His instincts tend to prove true. So all of us who work with Carl listen closely when he has a feeling about something.

I’ve seen him predict hurricanes, whether businesses will work and he even assured me I would survive COVID.

Over the years, Celsius hit more than its fair share of rough patches. As I’ve noted, the beverage business is brutal. Even Coca Cola failed when it released a calorie burner beverage a few years back.

But when you deploy a great team behind a great product you will break through–eventually.

Celsius has been blessed with a tremendous array of sales, marketing, management and board talent currently led by CEO John Fieldly who is a terrific young leader. He had a terrific predecessor in a gentleman named Gerry David.

Gerry and I sit on the board of Hyperponic, a promising startup which provides technology to the cannabis industry. Keep an eye on that company too. We are doing some groundbreaking work in Michigan and Oklahoma.

Still, the business world is a tough place.

Entrepreneurship can be thrilling and terrifying sometimes all in the same day.

All of us associated with Celsius have enjoyed watching this company grow.

There’s a thrill when you walk into Publix and see an end cap. It’s fun to see someone at the gym drink a Celsius and yes it’s very cool to see a company you care about listed on a major league stock exchange and sold at 74,000 stores domestically and across the world.

Those of us who know the story know that none of this would have been possible without Carl’s foresight and fortitude; without his good natured belief in a little beverage brand that occupied a small warehouse space on Fourth Avenue near the tracks in downtown Delray.

Back then, we were excited to see the cans on the shelf at the local gas station. Today, we have a market value of over $2.3 billion and are loved by thousands of consumers who enjoy a healthy energy drink with no corn syrup, preservatives or aspartame.

The Celsius story story is truly inspiring. It’s about the power of belief, commitment, vision and hard work. That’s what it takes to succeed in any endeavor.

Thanks Carl. Your belief in this amazing company has touched a lot of lives.

We can’t wait to see what’s next.

1 July, 2020 2 2 Comments

Ya Gotta Believe

July 1, 2020 By Jeff Perlman 2 Comments

I was young in ‘93. We all were.

I stumbled across a memory last week and it stayed with me.

I have this app called Time Hop and each day it reminds you of events and photos from your past.

It’s pretty cool.

Well last week, an old column I had written for the Delray Beach Times resurfaced. It was from 1993 and it was in the immediate aftermath of Delray winning its first All America City Award in Tampa.

I wrote about how the city planned to capitalize on the win with a marketing blitz that would hopefully capture the eyes of investors looking to build in Delray and companies that may want to move to Delray.

What followed were All America city buttons, bumper stickers, license plates, key chains etc.

The effort may have seemed hokey but it was effective and the results produced positive press and civic pride.

Let’s spend a minute on those two things: positive press and civic pride. They are often linked together—and it makes sense. Positive press creates civic pride.

So in 1993, when residents saw their city make the cover of Florida Trend, they felt good about their city. The headline on the magazine: Florida’s Best Run City.

It doesn’t get better than that.

Only it did—for awhile at least.

Delray in the 90s and early 2000s seemed to to be a magical place. Every year seemed to be better than the last.

There was a confidence about the town, a sense that by working together the community could accomplish anything it set its mind too.

Want to lower the crime rate?

Ok, let’s commit to community policing.

Want to create a vibrant downtown?

Let’s invest in a streetscape (Decade of Excellence) and innovative policy (Downtown Master Plan) and events and sure enough—with a ton of hard work— we have the “it” downtown in the region and beyond.

There were some amazing civic projects too: Old School Square, the Sandoway House, the Cason Cottage and the Spady Museum.

There were true collaborations with the Achievement Center for Children and Families, the Beach Property Owners Association, the formation of the West Settlers Historic District, the opening of the Youth Enrichment Vocational Center, successful bids for the Davis and Fed Cups, model beach renourishment projects, the founding of the county’s first land trust, the introduction of public art, dozens of citizen engagement initiatives and landmark programs designed to help Delray Beach schools.

Looking back, civic pride and confidence may be the key factor in success.

As Tug McGraw, the great reliever for the Mets once said: “Ya gotta believe.”

And we did.

We believed.

We acted.

We experimented.

We were entrepreneurial and we took calculated risks. We didn’t fear precedents; we wanted to set them.

I recently watched an ESPN documentary that examined last year’s Wimbledon match up between Delray’s Coco Gauff and Venus Williams, who also played a lot of tennis over the years in Delray.

Two things struck me.

One was Coco’s confidence that she could play with Venus. She believed that she belonged.

You don’t win without that belief.

Second, as ESPN’s Chris Fowler interviewed Coco at our downtown tennis center, I recalled the decision made to keep the center downtown and add a stadium court. That took confidence. It was a prescient decision.

And because of it, a young champion was able to walk to the courts and dream. A generation later, she’s talking from the veranda of the pro shop with ESPN about what it was like to beat a legend on centre court at Wimbledon. Very cool.

Anyway, this is a riff on confidence, civic pride, dreams, aspiration and accomplishment.

Wouldn’t it be nice to do/have all of those things again?

As we sit home enduring this awful pandemic, we ought to spend some of our time dreaming about a better future and taking some steps to make those dreams come true.
We are going to need bold new ideas to survive the post coronavirus world, which will surely be different.
The first order of business is to survive. The second is to recover and thrive. The cities that dream and act will be the ones that thrive.
The ones that wallow in despair and enable dysfunction will sink.
Let’s be the former.
Ya gotta believe.

22 June, 2020 6 6 Comments

Planning Is Great; Action Is Better

June 22, 2020 By Jeff Perlman 6 Comments

Don’t let your plans gather dust. If you do, you burn public trust which is the most valuable currency.

It happened a long time ago, so I guess it’s safe to tell the story.

It was the early 2000s and Delray Beach was still reeling from a bruising battle over Worthing Place—the apartment building that also houses Park Tavern and Salt 7.

The city commission agreed to a Downtown Master Plan process and we got some funding from the MacArthur Foundation to hire a slew of planning and design consultants.

A large cross section of the community turned out for meetings that surfaced a bunch of cool ideas.

It was a true community building experience.

We felt a lot of civic pride, it was exciting and we felt as if we could do anything we set our minds too. It was a special time.

Then the plan was sent to the commission for adoption with a list of priority projects.

But despite the enthusiasm and effort, the commission never adopted the plan. They ignored years of advocacy from residents pleading for the plan to be adopted. And nothing happened.

The gateway wasn’t built. None of the downtown garages were ever built, and we never got Old School Square Park.

All of the innovative policy ideas that enabled restaurants to thrive, the grid system to flow and events to take root vanished along with our hopes.

Northwest/Southwest Fifth Avenue which we had hoped would include public art, small businesses and interesting streetscapes never happened.

Downtown housing, which we had wanted so that we could add vibrancy and support for local businesses didn’t happen either. The plan was placed on a shelf where it gathered dust.

And all of the participants who gave their time and energy to our town went back home disappointed. Some moved away. Many never participated in anything “civic” related ever again.

Instead, we watched neighboring towns flower and attract investment and entrepreneurial energy.

Eventually, our talented staff began to send their resumes out hoping to catch on in a place where they could make something happen and feel that their careers were meaningful.

Property values stagnated. The momentum we started to feel in the late 80s and 90s faded away like so many other things we hoped to do.

At this point in the story, I can share that all of this is bunk.

The plan was not only adopted it was largely implemented in a blizzard of civic projects and investment that helped our town blossom.

Oh some people didn’t like what happened. One guy referred to our vibrant downtown as a “concrete jungle.” I’m not sure what he was referring to, it is a downtown of course. We have concrete. We also have open space, art, culture, sports,

music. restaurants and nightlife that cities all over the country envy.

But hey, you can’t please them all.

The downtown master plan was the first to expand the boundaries of our downtown from the ocean to I-95, an important symbolic step.

But it wasn’t just symbolism.

We added an attractive “gateway” feature just East of 95 because the citizens who participated in the process felt it was important to send the world a message. When you exited the Interstate at Atlantic Avenue you were entering a special place. We wanted people to know it.

Some criticized the art work and lighting that decorated our gateway. It was too expensive they said. They always say that by the way. And they are always wrong.

My friends cities work when you invest in them.

You get a return on that investment in the form of increased property values and civic pride. If you fail to invest, you fail your citizens in ways that you can measure and in ways that you cannot.

Atlantic Grove got built—“they” said it couldn’t be done. Nobody would build market rate housing in “that neighborhood.”

Once again, they were wrong. The market rate and the affordable housing sold.

So did the commercial portion of the project and for the first time in a long time—maybe ever—we saw people from all parts of Delray mingling at places like Ziree, a wonderful Thai restaurant.

The streetscape that made East Atlantic so trendy was extended all the way out to 95, a new library was built where it was needed —again despite some people coming up to the microphone and saying you can’t put the library “out there” because people will be afraid to go. Once again they were wrong. Lots of people use the library.

There were other plans that were implemented too.

The southwest plan called for infrastructure upgrades that were funded and done. The plan called for an expansion of The Village Academy and that was done too.

The parks plan added a splash park named after our first female mayor Catherine Strong, becoming the first park in the long neglected Southwest neighborhood.

A community land trust was formed, I think it was the first in the county, and they built some adorable homes for first time buyers.

We had an independent CRA back then, and by the way it was independent in name only because it worked collaboratively with the City Commission. The agency won a ton of awards and was recognized as one of the very best in the state before a mayor came along a few years back and used it as a punching bag.

That was shameful. Truly was.

How smart is it to take your best economic development tool and put cheese in the engine? Answer: not very.

Oh well, thankfully so much got done before the dysfunction set in.

Which is a good segue I suppose.

Last week, after four years of trying, a neighborhood calling itself “The Set” finally got their plan on the Commission agenda thanks to Vice Mayor Ryan Boylston. The neighborhood, which used to be called the southwest and northwest sections of the city, came together to work on “The Set Transformation Plan.”

Of course, you might not know that because when it hit the agenda the word “Set” was removed. Kind of like when the Egyptians removed the name Moses from their history books when they discovered he was Jewish.

It struck me as odd, petty, political, small and disrespectful.

It struck others that way too.

Anyway, it’s a good plan. I’ve read a bunch over the years and this is solid. But it needs to be adopted, funded and implemented. Otherwise, it’s just platitudes on paper.

Unfortunately last week, after four years and after many a campaign promise to get moving, the adoption of the plan was postponed so it can be workshopped.

Interesting.

The decision or lack thereof, smells.

It just does. And it smells worse considering where we are as a nation right now wrestling with issues of equity and racism.

There are some players tied to the plan who are controversial.

So what?

One of the guys spews a lot on social media as is his right. He gets some things right and he is way way way off on other things. For example, he’s wrong when he says nothing has ever been accomplished by the city or CRA in or for his community. A whole lot has been done. And nobody has ever said that things were finished.

But it’s really not about him or his friends. Or at least it shouldn’t be.

Is the plan worthy? Is it supported by the neighborhood it aspires to help? Is it good for Delray?

If the answer is yes, it ought to be adopted and put into action not put on a shelf.

If the answer is no, well then we need another plan and leadership ought to make that happen. But they better be able to explain why the plan falls short. And the answer can’t be because a few people who run their mouths on Facebook are behind it.

We are at an inflection point in this City and this country.

I don’t watch city meetings but my phone sure blew up when the plan’s adoption was postponed.

I’m not a bellwether. I’m just a middle aged white guy sitting at home watching Netflix riding out the pandemic.

But I’m feeling something and it ain’t COVID. People want change. They want progress. They want to be heard and respected. Those are not unreasonable demands.

Many are not feeling like they are being heard.

That’s not healthy.

It’s time for the plan to be adopted, funded and implemented.

It’s past time really.

As Sam Cooke sang, “a change is gonna come.”

Even in sleepy ole Delray.

2 March, 2020 2 2 Comments

Bricks & Mortar

March 2, 2020 By Jeff Perlman 2 Comments

Bricks and mortar is changing retail , but retail is not dying.

We’ve seen the headlines.

Macy’s closing stores.

Bed, Bath and Beyond closing stores.

Forever 21 going bankrupt (but being revamped).

It’s a “retail apocalypse” screams the headlines caused by Amazon and the big bad world of e-commerce.

Yes, the numbers look tough for brick and mortar retailers. More than 9,000 stores closed in 2019 which was more than 2018 and more than 2017—all record years.

Ugh…

But there’s a deeper story here.

My eyes were opened recently after reading a report by University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee. And as we plan our local cities and lament the lack of retail in places such as downtown Delray and Boca Raton we need to pay attention to societal trends and adjust our expectations and maybe our codes accordingly.

First, there is no doubt that e-commerce is growing by leaps and bounds. Twenty years ago, about $5 billion worth of goods were purchased each quarter online. Today, that number is about $155 billion per quarter.

But while that’s an impressive number it still represents only 11 percent of the entire retail sales total.

So almost 90 percent of goods are still purchased in a brick and mortar store and of that percentage, more than 70 percent of retail spending in America is in categories that are fairly well insulated from the internet due to the nature of the product or because of laws governing distribution.

These categories include cars, gas, food, beverage, drugs, home improvement and garden supplies.

So what’s going on out there?
Why is it so difficult for physical retailers to make it in the 2020s?

Goolsbee puts forth three societal trends as causes.

The rise of Big Box Stores—super centers and warehouse stores such as Costco actually ring up more sales than Amazon.

Income Inequality—as the middle class has been hollowed out, stores that cater to them have suffered or died. Retailers aiming at the high and low end of the income scale have found some success. So “dollar” stores have grown along with some high end designer retailers while retailers serving the once vast middle class— J.C. Penney and Sears have suffered.

Services Have Grown, Things Have Not—According to Goolsbee, with every passing decade Americans have spent less of their income on things and more on services and experiences. We are spending more on our health, more on restaurants, education, entertainment and business services than we used to and less on products sold in stores.

Here’s a cool stat: In 1920, Americans spent 38 percent of their income on food and 17 percent on clothing—almost all through traditional stores. Today, 10 percent of our income is spent on food and clothing eats up just 2.4 percent of our incomes.

So how does this affect our local communities?

Well, it might explain why Atlantic Avenue has become more of a food and entertainment destination than a traditional downtown where people go to shop for things like clothing and decorations.

The issue becomes more acute when property values sky rocket alongside rents. It’s hard for traditional retailers to pay high rents per square foot, especially since we still have a seasonal economy.

While we all (well some of us) love mixed-use development, it’s challenging to make retail work due to economic and societal trends. Of course, mixed-used does not have to be exclusively housing and retail, it can also include food and beverage, co-working, an educational use or something in the health or fitness space.

I have some very smart friends who have succeeded in real estate and they are having a hard time imagining what will happen to all the retail space we have built in Boca, Delray and Boynton Beach.

We definitely have a need for more housing, especially attainable housing and some of the overbuilt retail space can surely be used to add to our stock.

But that’s going to require some deft planning and a whole lot of political courage/hard work to convince residents who already live here why we need to make room for more people. P.S. if we do want our existing mom and pop retailers and family owned eateries to survive, density cannot be a dirty word. Let’s repeat: density done right is not a dirty word.

There was a time in Delray when density was encouraged in our codes and plans . And guess what?

It brought the town back to life.

Al Gore would call that an inconvenient truth, candidates running for local office would sooner break out in hives than embrace the concept but density designed properly and used strategically can do much to support the mom and pops and independent merchants we say we cherish. It’s also better for the environment than traffic-inducing sprawl like development.

Events too play a role too, by bringing people to town where they might stop and shop or come back to check out stores they might see while attending an arts show or festival.

As the son of an independent pharmacist, I have a deep appreciation for how hard it is to make it in retail and how important good retail is to a vibrant and vital central business district.

As we sift through the barrage of campaign attack ads already hitting our mailboxes and inboxes, it would be useful to see if any candidate offers ideas on how to grow the local economy in a high rent, seasonal environment with tons of competition from nearby cities, without an Office of Economic Development (the two member team resigned and have not been replaced) in a changing world being disrupted by technology and things we can never anticipate such as coronavirus.

It’s not an easy challenge, but real leaders…effective leaders…. ask the questions that matter and focus their communities on issues of substance. Or we can continue to accept vapid statements saying we are against crime, for good schools and against development.

Give me substance over tired canards.

It’s time.

We live in changing and complicated times. We need ideas and leadership.