Joel EngelhardtChuck Millar’s record reveals two DUIs and clashes with women, including his then-wife.
Chuck Millar is the frontrunner for an open seat on the Palm Beach Gardens City Council.
As an urban planner, he has worked with governments for 40 years and served on city advisory boards for nearly 10.
He has endorsements from key business groups, the city’s police and fire unions and Mayor Chelsea Reed. He has been running for nearly a year and has raised twice as much as his opponent, county firefighter John Kemp.
However, Millar, 65, has a court record based on statements nine years apart from two women, one his then-wife, describing him as hot-tempered and threatening; and two DUIs, one of which led to a 23-day stint in the Martin County Jail.
He is one of two candidates with court records in the city’s March 11 election, its first contested election since 2021. The other is Scott Gilow, who is running against incumbent Marcie Tinsley.
Millar concedes that alcohol played a role in the first incident, a misdemeanor battery charge, which came shortly before his wife of 12 years filed for divorce. He entered a no-contest plea in Martin County Circuit Court and adjudication was withheld.
He said he has been sober for 13 years which would mean alcohol played no role in the second incident.
A woman he had been dating for one month in 2018 accused him of stalking her after they broke up. After consulting his sister, the woman filed for a protective order in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. While it was not granted, Millar agreed to have no further contact with her.
“I learned from it. I own it,” Millar said in an interview with Stet News. “My emotions overtook my intelligence. I was in love. I was hurt. I cared for this woman very deeply. I struggle with why.
I’ve made amends to God, the only person that can judge me.”
Court record begins in Martin County
In 2004 in Martin County, Millar pleaded no contest to driving under the influence with his 4-year-old son in the car. He was charged after rear-ending another car at 6:50 pm Aug. 26. He got adjudication withheld after probation, fines, a six-month license suspension and community service, court records indicate.
In May 2009, his wife, Carol, made a tearful call to a friend.
“Carol called me and told me Chuck was … throwing all her belongings out on the lawn and of course she was in tears,” the unidentified friend wrote in a statement.
“When I arrived I saw all Carol’s clothes thrown in the driveway and yelling coming from inside the house,” the friend wrote. “I came in and Chuck and Carol were in the (deleted) — both screaming. He insisted she leave ‘now.’ He would not listen to reason and kept screaming. I was fearful and called 911.”
The deputy’s report, citing Carol, said “The defendant was trying to get more of the victim’s clothes, when he grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her out of the way.”
The deputy added, “I observed the defendant to be intoxicated, with a strong smell of an alcoholic beverage on his person.”
Carol, who filed for divorce six weeks later, wrote in a court statement, “I will no longer be an enabler and let this violent alcoholic verbally abuse and control my life. … I will not subject … myself to live on this rollercoaster he calls life, never knowing what we might say or do to set him off into an angry outburst.”
He got a second DUI in June 2011, also with his son, then 11, in the car, when he rear-ended a car waiting to turn left just before 7 am at U.S. 1 and Cove Road in Martin County. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, of which he served 23 days; one year of probation; a six-month drivers license suspension; and a $1,000 fine.
Ex-wife offers support
His marriage ended in 2010 but the relationship continued as they raised their son, a 25-year-old Navy veteran. His ex-wife, now Carol DeYoung, agreed to speak to Stet News about her ex-husband’s behavior since their divorce.
“We have all done things in our past, some good and some not good,” DeYoung said. “He was a good father to our son and he’s got a great job. It just goes to show how someone can follow the program and change their life around.
“He’s totally a trustworthy, reliable, good parent,” she said. “He’s a totally different person than the person I knew when he was drinking.
“If I lived in Palm Beach Gardens, I would definitely vote for him.”
But she could not explain the 2018 allegation of stalking, which she knew nothing about.
Terrified girlfriend
By that time, Millar was 59 years old, worked at Kimley-Horn and was in the middle of six years on the city’s Art in Public Places Board. He would later move to the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board, which he chairs.
His girlfriend at the time, who is identified in court papers, petitioned the court on March 15 for an injunction for protection against stalking.
As part of the evidence, she included two email exchanges with Millar’s sister, writing on March 13, “I broke up with him two times during our short relationship due to his extreme and violent temper and outbursts that made no sense to me. I have now realized he needs psychological help.
“After we would break up, he would not stop texting me, calling me and emailing me.”
“I will not respond to any of his vile threats. It’s almost as if he’s an adult bully on the playground. Very creepy and yet I have no idea if he will turn violent or become a physical threat.
“We broke up on March 4th and the emails are still coming. That’s beyond scarey (sic). We only dated a month. My next step is to involve the police.”
In a second email later that night, citing an email from Millar, she wrote “I see this as a threat from Chuck. … I’m terrified of your brother. He’s a loose canon (sic). Right now I want to move as far away from him as I can but I can’t.
“He is a narcissist and a dangerous one. This scares me 100%.”
Millar’s text messages
She included screenshots of text messages from Millar on March 4, the day they broke up.
“I wanted to take you to listen to music today and enjoy the Seafood Festival. I planned the whole day for us to have fun there,” he wrote. “My issues caused my loss. I get it. I own my character flaws and take full responsibility for my faults. My heart is broken but you tore my heart to pieces as I prayed each night you’d finally say you loved me too. Those words are so powerful to me. You are my true love and I know it could work. I would have taken a bullet for you.
“Faith and love move mountains. I loved you with every ounce of my life. You were to be my soul mate. I want nothing more than for you to forgive me. It can work … you just have to tell me you love me in your own words and the world belongs to us. The risk is worth the reward. I wanted to grow old with you. .. I wanted you to be at my side for every life event.”
The petition does not show her reply but in the next screenshot, Millar lashes out.
“Go to hell,” he writes. “I’m f—ing done with you too. Go f— yourself. Get out and stay the hell out if (sic) my life..”
She included a final email from Millar, sent before she filed the petition.
“Just because I’m actually a nice guy, which is contrary to your belief,” he wrote, “I will offer you SunFest tickets.”
Millar said he underwent counseling and as he promised the judge, never contacted the woman again.
“My heart was shattered,” he said in retrospect. “I’d never had a digital electronic breakup.
“I am accountable. I will be a better council member.
“It’s not a good part of my life. It’s not who I am today.”
His opponent, Kemp, a South Florida native and 27-year firefighter, condemned the behavior.
“It is not my place to determine whether my opponent should be disqualified,” Kemp wrote in a statement. “I encourage the residents of our community to review this information, consider its implications and use it to make an informed decision about who is best suited to represent them on the council.”
Read Stet’s story about Scott Gilow’s court record here.
Joel is a founder, reporter and editor at Stet News. His award-winning newspaper career spanned more than 40 years, including 28 years at The Palm Beach Post, which he left in 2020. Joel lives with his wife in Palm Beach Gardens. He volunteers on the board of NAMI Palm Beach County and the Palm Beach Gardens Historical Society.
