Stet NewsHappy election day! For you, West Palm Beach says yes to Vanderbilt, Dems have the edge in vote-by-mail, kiosks coming downtown, Stet collects two prizes and flamingos that invite you to vote.
🎓 Vanderbilt’s first pitch
Vanderbilt University is making its initial public pitch today for 5 acres of prime downtown land owned by Palm Beach County.
On Monday night, the Nashville, Tennessee-based university won initial approval from West Palm Beach to be granted two neighboring acres.
Vanderbilt wants to double the size of its business school and invest $1 billion, Nathan Green, vice chancellor for government and community relations, told West Palm commissioners.
“This is not a satellite campus. This is a second campus,” Green said. “We are passionate about the brand and who we are and what we stand for, and so, whatever we do, it’s going to be first class. That’s the way we operate in Nashville, and that’s our intent here.”
Before commissioners unanimously approved the land handoff, Green cited four “areas of aspiration” that involve working with local public schools and higher education institutions and collaborating on major policy issues, like traffic and affordable housing.
“We’re in the aspiration business,” Green said.
The proposal is championed by Stephen Ross, head of Related Ross. His companies own several downtown office buildings and he is lead partner in CityPlace and the Miami Dolphins. Ross has spearheaded fundraising for Vanderbilt that is reported to have lined up $100 million in pledges.
Six speakers supported the proposal, including Ned Grace, the developer of NORA and a Vanderbilt graduate; and Peter Marshall, a 2014 graduate, who is a young alumni trustee on the Vanderbilt Board of Trust.
- The city and county properties have been valued at $42 million. They are part of Government Hill between Tamarind and Sapodilla avenues from Datura to Fern streets.
The university would spend $100 million per year to operate classes in business, artificial intelligence and data science and to create an “innovation hub.”
Plus, 1,000 students supported by 100 faculty would spend $18 million a year. That is based on a higher-than-average projection of $30,000 each for off-campus students and $6,000 each for those living on campus.
Of note: Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, who owns 5 acres in the same area, is not part of the deal but offered good wishes in an Aug. 14 email to county commissioners:
“I want to let you know that, as the owner of the adjacent property and as one of the biggest taxpayers in Palm Beach County, I support the county donating this land to Vanderbilt, provided that this donation is contingent on a campus with a minimum number of students and a minimum investment in buildings by Vanderbilt.”
Click here to read more about Greene’s role in the failed deal to bring the University of Florida to downtown.
What’s next: Palm Beach County Commission considers Vanderbilt’s proposal at its meeting starting at 9:30 this morning. Click here to watch.
— Joel Engelhardt
🗳️ Early voting favors Democrats
In-person early voting ended Sunday for the Aug. 20 primary. Combined with mail-in ballots, more than 121,000 Palm Beach County residents have cast ballots.
Democrats cast more than half of those votes as of Monday morning, almost 67,000 ballots. Republicans cast nearly 38,000. Voters registered with no party submitted nearly 14,000 ballots.
- Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in Palm Beach County by 324,081 to 276,730. Another 267,610 voters are members of other parties or no party at all.
Why it’s important: Both parties have contests on the ballot for sheriff, state attorney, U.S. senator and, in some districts, state Legislature, Congress and County Commission. Voters of any party or no party at all are eligible to vote for public defender, school board and on a referendum to extend a business recruitment tax break.
- In-person early voting drew 32,121 voters in Palm Beach County. About 45 percent were Democrats and 45 percent Republican.
Mail-in voting continues. Ballots must arrive at the elections office no later than 7 pm Tuesday (5 pm at branch offices).
Statewide, about two-thirds of early votes as of Sunday were cast by mail rather than in person. Even though registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by about 1 million in Florida, about 30,000 more Democrats submitted vote-by-mail ballots.
Yes, but: Republicans statewide took advantage of in-person early voting, accounting for 62 percent of those voters. Democrats accounted for 30 percent.
- Palm Beach County had received nearly 90,000 vote-by-mail ballots as of Monday morning, 59 percent from Democrats, 26 percent from Republicans.
Behind the numbers: After decades of encouraging vote-by-mail, Republicans appear to be shunning it even as Democrats embrace it.
In 2020, vote-by-mail grew in popularity for voters seeking to avoid personal contact during the COVID pandemic. Former President Donald Trump made absentee voting a centerpiece of his false claims that the election had been rigged against him.
The low turnout for early voting concerned Palm Beach County elections chief Wendy Sartory Link, who worried that changes in state law would confuse voters who expected to be sent a vote-by-mail ballot.
But she noted that primary turnout can’t compare to a November presidential election. In 2020, five times fewer voters took advantage of early voting in the March primary, as COVID took root, than in the November general election.
“For a lot of voters who can’t get out, (vote-by-mail) is an easy and convenient way to vote,” she said. “I’m hoping (the lower early voting numbers) are because it’s the primary, which never is as popular as the general election.”
The county lets you track your vote-by-mail ballot here.
— Joel Engelhardt
ℹ️ Info kiosks coming to downtown
If your phone dies in downtown West Palm Beach while you’re using GPS, the city’s got your back.
Driving the news: City commissioners approved a plan Aug. 5 to install up to 20 electronic wayfinding kiosks throughout downtown — at no upfront cost to the city. The city will be working with IKE Smart City, a Columbus, Ohio, company, to set up and oversee the kiosks.
Why it’s important: The kiosks will display directions, advertisements, city events and even public art. It’s the advertisements that will allow IKE Smart City as well as West Palm Beach to get a return on investment.
The city expects to be paid $615,000 a year. That’s more than $9 million over 15 years.
The kiosks have an optional setting to record audio and video. Users can use them to call the police.
But it’s not Big Brother, said Anna Baerman, IKE’s senior development director. The audio is only recorded when the 911 call button is activated. The company does not retain the recording.
Yes, but: Not everyone is convinced the kiosks are a good idea.
Transportation advocate Jim Kovalsky wonders if they’ll make life harder for pedestrians.
Kovalsky spent eight years driving for Circuit in downtown West Palm Beach and worked in the information technology business for 40 years. He’s a vocal supporter of Brightline and Tri-Rail.
If they are put where they are needed most, where crowds gather, often crowded by outdoor restaurant seating, he said the kiosks could get in the way.
What they’re saying: “You could do it in front of City Hall, you could do the Great Lawn but then are they where people are going to see them? Or do you have to go search out the wayfinding?” Kovalsky said. “Because that really doesn’t work for wayfinding. If you got to find your way to wayfinders, they’re not doing their job.”
- The contract calls for 20 kiosks, but the city doesn’t have to install them all at once.
Coral Gables started with five kiosks, IKE’s attorney, Harvey Oyer, told commissioners. But the kiosks drew so many advertisers, the city requested more, he said.
Of note: Miami’s IKE kiosks regularly feature new projects by local and international artists, with partnerships including the Wynwood Walls, Pérez Art Museum Miami and Miami-based Fringe Projects, an agency that commissions experimental public art, Oyer said.
The big picture: Commissioners emphasized the financial boost the kiosks may deliver and liked the idea of communicating directly with downtown visitors.
What’s next? The city expects the kiosks to be installed in early 2025, spokesperson Diane Papadakos said.
— Mary Rasura
🏅 Stet News takes first
Stet co-founder Joel Engelhardt has won a top honor from a statewide association of professional journalists.
Why it matters: Earning this recognition for work in Stet’s first year is a signal that our nonprofit local news model holds promise.
What happened: Joel won first place for beat reporting about the environment, science and technology, an award he shared with FAU student journalist Jessica Abramsky.
- One part of the winning entry was their coverage that broke news about the abrupt, unexplained closing of a signature science building at FAU’s Jupiter campus.
- The other included Joel’s stories about county efforts to buy and preserve land in Pal-Mar.
Stet also was named a finalist for best e-newsletter during 2023. The entry featured the work of Joel, Carolyn DiPaolo and Pat Beall.
Stet intern Mary Rasura won first place in the college division of Florida’s chapter of the Society for Professional Journalism in the general news category for her coverage of FAU’s parking enforcement.
- She was a finalist for college journalist of the year and best sports story.
The Palm Beach Post’s Antigone Barton earned the society’s top award, the James Batten Award for Public Service, for her series about the state’s failure to oversee addiction treatment.
WLRN public radio’s education reporter Kate Payne was named Journalist of the Year. WLRN is Stet’s news partner.
The awards were presented Saturday evening in Hollywood. Here is the complete list of winners.
— Carolyn DiPaolo
🌝 The juice
🚚 Performance Food Group Co. has agreed to pay $2.1 billion to acquire Riviera Beach-based food-service company Cheney Bros., one of the largest private companies in South Florida. (South Florida Business Journal $$$ and press release)
🎓 After documenting soaring payments to top aides brought in by Ben Sasse, who resigned abruptly as University of Florida president July 18, student reporters raised the prospect of tension between Sasse and UF board Chairperson Morteza “Mori” Hosseini. (The Independent Florida Alligator)
🤝 Brightline expects to ink a $330 million, eight-year deal with Miami-Dade County to allow the county to use Brightline’s tracks for commuter rail. Broward County is working on a similar deal but Palm Beach County doesn’t have a dedicated source of money to offer. (South Florida Business Journal $$$)
Robert Franklin “Bobby” Culpepper, a Palm Beach County commissioner from 1968 to 1976 and a former Jupiter mayor, died Aug. 13 at his Jupiter home at age 92. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
🦩 561 insider: Pink flamingos beckon voters
A collection of supersize voting pink flamingos adorns a new art installation designed to make the county Supervisor of Elections’ new headquarters more inviting.
Why it matters: In a time of tension around elections, “VOTE!” celebrates the right to cast a ballot in a whimsical style.
The three giant flamingos in voting booths were created by Matthew Mazzotta, who dreamed up the famous 21-foot flamingo at Tampa International Airport that he called “HOME” and that visitors nicknamed Phoebe.
Catch up quick: New York-based Mazzotta’s concept was among dozens of applicants to a national open call by the county’s Public Art Committee.
- In 2021, a panel of the Public Art Committee, Supervisor of Election Wendy Sartory Link and a representative of project architect Song and Associates unanimously recommended Mazzotta’s proposal
- “VOTE!” cost about $725,000, paid with county bond money, to meet the county policy that 2 percent of a building’s construction cost be committed to an art installation.
- It greets visitors on Cherry Road just east of Military Trail on the west side of the $50 million elections building.
What they’re saying: “Palm Beach County wanted a work to go with their new building, and the main thing I wanted to do was make it more democratic to where people can see themselves voting,” Mazzotta told Stet News. “Also, to humanize it.
“Each of the heads are doing something different. One flamingo is looking down trying to vote. The other two are sizing each other up or kind of cheating off each other. Obviously, voting happening in the United States is a private affair but in this case, you have to realize it’s made up of all different types of individuals.”/
