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Delray Beach voters to decide term changes for officials

By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — And now it’s up to the voters.

Delray Beach city commissioners on Tuesday OKed a package of reforms that would extend terms in office for elected officials and also extend the total number of years an official may serve before being “termed out.”

City voters will be asked to ratify the changes at the March 13 municipal election.

“The commission is not passing this,” Commissioner Tom Carney said. “The commission is just putting this on the ballot for you to decide. You are being asked to make the decision.”

The proposals include:

— Extending the length of a term in office for the mayor and commissioners to three years from the present two.

— Allowing the mayor and commissioners to serve three consecutive three-year terms in office before becoming term limited, or ineligible to seek reelection. Presently, commissioners serve a maximum of three two-year terms.

— Requiring appointees to the commission to stand for election within 14 months of taking office. It also provides that a special election would be held if a regular municipal election is not scheduled to occur during that time.

The changes would allow the city to eliminate one municipal election every three years at a savings of about $40,000.

Opponents, including the Delray Economic Leaders Political Action Committee, have questioned the means by which the changes have been proposed, saying they should have come from a charter review committee instead of the commission. The increase in term limits also has been questioned.

Also Tuesday, commissioners allowed Chase Bank to demolish the old Blockbuster Entertainment store at the corner of Military Trail and Linton Boulevard and erect a 4,400-square-foot building in its place. The square footage of the proposed building is less than the minimum allowed in that zone and Chase needed a waiver from the city to move forward with its plans.

Commissioners approved a chamber of commerce request to hold a Wine and Seafood Festival during the weekend of November 10 and 11.  The chamber will be allowed to use a portion of East Atlantic Avenue for the festival.

Commissioners approved agreements with six engineering firms to act as consultants for various capital improvement projects.

Commissioners approved a change order to the Pompey Park concession stand project at a cost of about $19,000. The city is reconstructing the building and found water damage, which required the additional work. Money will come from the project’s $30,000 contingency fund.

Commissioners also approved “housekeeping” changes to the city’s fire prevention code, bringing it up to date with the state code.