Jane MusgraveTwo races will decide open seats; incumbent Hosta faces challenger; growth plays pivotal role.
With Juno Beach in turmoil over how much development is too much, six candidates with sharply different backgrounds and views are vying for the chance to mold the wealthy oceanfront town and unite warring factions.
At least two new faces are guaranteed to join the Town Council as Mayor Peggy Wheeler, who has served on it for nearly a decade, and appointed Council Member John Callaghan chose not to run.
Incumbent Marianne Hosta faces a challenge for Seat 1 from political newcomer Scott Shaw. He is suing the town, claiming it ignored its so-called harmony code that was designed to protect neighborhoods.
While Wheeler’s name is not on the ballot, her influence and policies will be.
Wheeler led a successful charge that ended last week when she, Callaghan and Hosta voted to dismantle harmony rules that limited the size and style of single-family homes. She has backed former Council Member Elaine Cotronakis as her successor.
David Santilli, a West Point graduate who worked for FPL for 38 years, said his decision to challenge Cotronakis for the mayor’s seat was spurred, in part, by a desire to rein in development.
Max Fraser, a tech entrepreneur who is running for Seat 3, said he, too, is dismayed by building trends. He is running against Eddie Gottschalk, a lawyer and retired FBI agent, who is also endorsed by Wheeler.
Taking aim at Caretta
The recently dismantled harmony code, that sought to block megamansions from destroying the character of neighborhoods, isn’t the only flashpoint for Juno Beach residents.
The construction of Caretta, a five-story 95-unit luxury condominium over shops at U.S. 1 and Donald Ross Road, has also inflamed residents. In August, it was the site of a “Save Juno Beach” rally. At least one resident calls it “the white monster.”
Fraser, who last year urged the council not to eliminate the harmony code after a supersized house was built next to his, said the 2022 approval of Caretta was a game-changer.
“I can either sit in traffic and complain or I can do something about it,” he said.
At a Jan. 27 forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County, the political newcomers agreed that Caretta signals that steps have to be taken to tighten development rules.
Fraser and Santilli, who also opposed the repeal of the harmony code, said they worry that if large condominiums are allowed to proliferate along U.S. 1, longtime Juno Beach businesses may be forced out.
“I think the last thing any of us want to do is to have to cross the bridge, to go to the gym, go to the grocery store or do any of those types of activities,” Santilli told the roughly 100 people who gathered at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church.
Gottschalk said Caretta is a warning of the threat development poses to Juno Beach’s view of itself as a “quaint seaside town.”
“When I learned Caretta was going to be dense, I’m like, ‘How did this happen?’ No one likes Caretta,” he said. “That’s when I decided, like hey, I have to do something about this.”
The council’s approval of other projects, like the construction of 40 townhouses across Donald Ross Road from Caretta on what is known as the “Christmas tree lot,” underscores the problems of unchecked development, he said. “Traffic at that intersection is going to be a disaster,” Gottschalk said.
“We have to explore changing the ordinance because the ordinance as it’s written now isn’t working for us,” Gottschalk said. “You see what’s happening and what’s going to continue to happen.”
Hosta pointed out that she wasn’t on the council when Caretta was approved.
Since it got the nod, town rules have changed. Instead of being allowed to build 95% residential and 5% commercial, a mixed-use development must include at least 25% for stores, offices and restaurants, although that can drop to 20% under special circumstances, Cotronakis said.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to remove a reference to candidate Elaine Cotronakis saying she had not been on the Town Council when it approved the Caretta project. Cotronakis did not make this comment.
Town records show Cotronakis voted in favor of a resolution approving the site plan and a special exception to allow Caretta to move forward in August 2022. It passed 5-0. She also voted in March 2022 in favor of a key change that passed 4-1 to allow commercial properties to be up to 95% residential. She voted in July 2023 on the losing side of a 3-2 vote to reverse that action.
Hosta did not serve on the council in 2022 but she voted in favor of a request from Caretta in August 2023 to add one residential unit and alter its parking plan.
Town officials view the 20% commercial requirement to be a disincentive to developers contemplating razing plazas to replace with residential developments because there’s not enough commercial demand to retain even 20% commercial.
Cotronakis didn’t say whether she supported the new rules. “I will follow the laws and get the best product I can for our community with the laws and the comp plan that Juno Beach holds firm today,” she said.
Hosta said it doesn’t make sense to continue to debate Caretta. “It’s like asking a Parisian, ‘What do you think about the Eiffel Tower?’” she said. “It’s there. Caretta is there. It’s a fact.”
She also said residents shouldn’t rush to judgment. What residents now consider an eyesore will blossom once trees and shrubs are planted, she said.
Candidates have high-level professional experience
All of the candidates leaned into their experience.
Fraser, who was not at the candidates forum, but spoke to Stet, said his problem-solving and management skills will serve him well if elected.
In 2010, Fraser founded a company, RepZio, a business-to-business e-commerce platform. After selling it in 2023, he opened a consulting business and is now helping a security start-up get off the ground.
Most importantly, the 53-year-old said, he grew up in Juno Beach and wants his two children to experience the same lifestyle that he did.
“I believe we’re at a pivotal moment here in Juno Beach,” he said when announcing his candidacy. “The decisions our Town Council makes will shape whether Juno Beach remains the close-knit coastal community we love, or becomes just another overdeveloped stretch of South Florida.”
Shaw, 69, said he has spent his entire career as an electrical engineer, solving complex problems. He moved to Juno Beach eight years ago and continued to commute to his job in Pittsburgh.
He said his life was idyllic until what he dubbed a “nine toilet Airbnb,” was approved in his neighborhood. He began attending council meetings. He ultimately sued the town claiming the house violates the harmony code.
“We’re in the midst of a buildup that is moving too fast, too big and too ugly and I’m opposed to it,” he said.
Santilli, 67, who recently retired as an engineer at FPL, and Gottschalk, 55, also said their professional skills would help the town.
Gottschalk said his career in law enforcement taught him to “follow the facts.”
“I’m an investigator. I track things down. I don’t operate on opinions or personal feelings,” he said. “There has to be an evidentiary basis. You have to either make yourself an expert or consult an expert.”
Hosta and Cotronakis pointed to their service on the Town Council. Both said that gives them valuable experience that others lack.
Cotronakis, 54, stepped down two months before her term ended in March 2024. Bristling at the inference that it was because she didn’t want to file a detailed financial disclosure statement, she said it was because of a family emergency.
Hosta, an 81-year-old retired math teacher, first gained a following when she began writing a breezy online blog about town affairs. After she was elected in 2023, some residents complained that the blog had become mean-spirited.
During the 2024 election, Hosta was charged with a misdemeanor count of battery after police said she snatched a cellphone from a former mayor’s wife during a campaign forum. While she was convicted by a jury, a judge withheld adjudication, which means she has no criminal record.
Since Hosta launched her online blog, “Marianne’s Eyes on Juno Beach,” newsletters have become ubiquitous in the town of roughly 3,900 people.
Some claim the newsletters spread misinformation and fuel hostility among town residents.
In a comment she admitted would surprise people, Hosta said she would stop writing her blog if the town published an official newsletter.
“But then the question is, who is writing this newsletter?” she asked.
Campaign financials
Campaign finance reports show that Cotronakis was the top fundraiser during the latest reporting period that ended Feb. 12. She had raised $10,070, including $500 from the political action committee of the Police Benevolent Association and the $500 she contributed to her own election.
Her opponent, Santilli, raised $4,975, including $205 from his own pocket.
Hosta had $5,200 in her campaign warchest. She got $500 from the political action committee of the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce and added $200 of her own cash. Shaw raised $1,549, including $950 he pumped into his own campaign.
Fueled by a fundraiser hosted by a Palm Beach Gardens man who was headed to prison for tax fraud before he was pardoned last year by President Donald Trump, Gottschalk had raised more money than Fraser.
Gottschalk raised $5,920 compared to Fraser’s $2,739. Each has gotten $500 from PACs — Gottschalk from the north county chamber and Fraser from one operated by the Professional Firefighters and Paramedics of Palm Beach County. Gottschalk contributed $700 from his own wallet to his campaign while Fraser gave his campaign $230.
Gottschalk’s total also includes $850 in nonmonetary contributions from the Feb. 9 fundraiser at the Fish House restaurant. The “meet and greet” was hosted by Jupiter-area resident Elizabeth Fago, a longtime GOP powerhouse, and her son, Paul Walczak.
The Palm Beach Gardens resident was pardoned in 2025 by President Trump 12 days after a federal judge in West Palm Beach sentenced him to 18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges connected with bilking the government out of $11 million in taxes. The pardon came after his mother attended a $1-million-a-ticket fundraiser Trump hosted at Mar-a-Lago.
