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Delray Beach commission candidates vie for votes

Five candidates for two Delray Beach city commission seats debated each other Thursday evening at Old School Square. From left: Pat Archer; Al Jaquet; Christina Morrison; Angeleta Gray and Vic Kerson. Retired news anchor Jim Sackett moderated.

Five candidates for two Delray Beach city commission seats debated each other Thursday evening at Old School Square. From left: Pat Archer; Al Jaquet; Christina Morrison; Angeleta Gray and Vic Kerson. Retired news anchor Jim Sackett moderated.

 

By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — Five candidates fighting for two seats on the Delray Beach City Commission argued over taxes, parking, transient housing and the economy Thursday evening at Old School Square’s Crest Theatre.

Between 40 and 50 attended the event, sponsored by the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce and moderated by former WPTV Channel 5 news anchor Jim Sackett. The election is March 13.

Candidates participating in the debate included former Commissioner Pat Archer, attorney Al Jacquet and Realtor Christina Morrison battling for the seat now held by Jay Alperin; incumbent Commissioner Angeleta Gray and dentist Victor Kirson fighting for the other seat. A sixth candidate, Dave Armstrong, did not attend.

There were few “bombs” tossed as the candidates sought to establish their qualifications to sit on the commission and differentiate themselves from their opponents.

The exception: Kirson, who is president of the Tierra Verde Homeowners Association and a regular attendee at commission meetings. He advocated firing long-time City Manager David Harden.

“He has got to go,” Kirson said. “He’s the cause of our problems with employees … possibly cooked the books. That’s as far as I can go without getting sued.”

Kirson earlier accused Gray of “possibly” violating the city charter in securing funding for the $456,000 project to renovate the concession stand and press box at Pompey Park.

Gray denied the accusation and said she supported Harden and generally supported the record of the current commission.  She did concede that the commission’s attempt to balance the current municipal budget with a fire service fee that hadn’t been put on the books was a mistake.

One idea she put forward for improving the city: creation of a second community redevelopment agency to cover the Congress Avenue corridor.

Morrison, who has served as a member of the city’s financial review board, advocated selling off some of the city’s 43 parks as a means of boosting Delray’s tax base. She noted the growth in the parks and recreation budget while the police budget has been cut.

“That makes no sense to me,” Morrison said.

Archer, who held the seat for six years, said the city should establish a menu of incentives similar to those used by the CRA to attract businesses to the city. The CRA has offered land and rent assistance to businesses that locate in the downtown. The CRA’s authority, however, is limited to the downtown and adjacent neighborhoods.

“I would like to see Delray Beach become the small business capital of Florida,” Archer said. “We have to capitalize on what we have going for us.”

Delray also needs to establish an area for employee parking as a means of easing parking congestion in the downtown, and using meters on street parking as a tool to free up spaces, Archer said.

Jacquet is a member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Board and chief of staff to state Rep. Mack Bernard, a former city commissioner. He said he’s against using parking meters in the downtown, and limiting business taxes and fees.

“You know you can actually lower your tax rates and increase your tax base,” Jacquet said.

Not surprisingly all of the candidates were against transient housing, particularly rentals in residential neighborhoods used by drug rehabilitation centers to house their patients.  Kirson, however, said the problem is a federal one and that there is little the city can do. “Caron will take it to court and our rules will be thrown out. We’re not going anywhere with Delray Beach regulations.”

Caron is a reference to the Caron Foundation, a large nonprofit drug rehab operation.

 

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