Stet NewsWelcome back, everybody! For you today, Palm Beach County considers the next big thing to draw tourists, a court settlement between Palm Beach Gardens and the county goes off the rails, Juno Beach is looking for a new boss, a Democratic star is born, a salute to the power of Polaroids and connecting generations through family recipes.
📸 Big ideas to boost tourism
Tourism leaders have identified 10 ideas to draw visitors, including an arena to attract an NFL professional flag football team and an Instagrammable global landmark.
Why it matters: Last week, county commissioners agreed to spend $1 million in bed tax money to explore them.
Driving the news: Emanuel Perry, executive director of the county’s Tourism Development Council, asked commissioners at a workshop March 24 to choose five of the 10 projects in the county’s new Tourism Master Plan for experts to study. Each study could cost $100,000.
Instead of narrowing the list, commissioners approved yearlong feasibility studies of all the ideas plus an indoor shooting range. Commissioner Joel Flores’ motion passed 5-1, with Commissioner Marci Woodward voting no and Commissioner Gregg Weiss absent.
The money comes from the county’s 6% hotel bed tax paid by visitors and mostly used to promote the county to draw more visitors.
The ideas include:
1. 🏈 Develop a sports and entertainment arena
Palm Beach County remains Florida’s largest county without a major indoor sports or entertainment venue capable of hosting large-scale professional events, the report found.
- Such an arena could also host an NFL flag football team, youth leagues, graduations, expos and charitable events.
2. ⚽️ Develop an indoor multipurpose sports complex
Why do it: Youth and amateur sports represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the tourism economy. Palm Beach County is well-positioned to capitalize, the report found.
3. 👀 Create an iconic global landmark
From the report: Design and construct an iconic, visually striking, and instantly recognizable structure in Palm Beach County, comparable to such landmarks as The Bean (Chicago), High Line (New York), the Eiffel Tower (Paris), Big Ben (London) or the Sydney Opera House.
“We’re missing that. Any great destination has that,” Flores said. “I keep thinking about that Bean in Chicago. Everybody takes a picture there. You know exactly where they’re at. And people take trips just to take a picture there.”
Keep reading to see the other big ideas and learn why the county is bullish on flag football at StetNews.org.
From Stet News’ and Inlet Grove High School’s Community Voices: Riviera Beach tourism is growing with the county.
— Carolyn DiPaolo
⛔️ No deal
The five-year legal battle pitting Palm Beach County against one of its biggest cities, Palm Beach Gardens, over control of millions in development fees is back on again.
After a mediator announced in February that a settlement appeared close, Palm Beach County commissioners met in closed session March 10 to go over the terms.
Yes, but: Commissioners rejected the deal.
- The next day, county attorneys told the court: “Mediation has reached an impasse.”
What that means: The two government agencies, warring since 2021, are headed to trial as early as June, pending Circuit Court Judge James Sherman’s ruling on motions from both sides to end the case without a trial.
Not so fast: In a November court filing, county attorneys wrote: “The issues presented within the pending summary judgment motions are legal, not factual; county is certain this matter will be concluded upon this court hearing the motions.”
Why it matters: The dispute is over who controls millions from developers for road improvements. The city says a state law gave them the power to stop collecting a county impact fee to enhance the regional road network and begin collecting a city fee that would pay for a variety of improvements, from road expansion to bike lanes, in the city.
- The county counters that the law didn’t give the city the power to stop collecting its fee and won an injunction in 2022 that it says ordered the city to renew its collections.
- The city didn’t do that, running up an estimated $6.7 million tab. The county asked the court to hold the city in contempt for failing to pay up.
Zoom out: After meetings between new County Administrator Joe Abruzzo and Gardens City Manager Ron Ferris, the two sides appeared ready to reconcile.
Of note: Mediator Greg Coleman wrote that both sides would bring the settlement to their respective boards in publicly noticed closed sessions. Gardens did not.
— Joel Engelhardt
👋 Elections have consequences
It didn’t take long for the newly seated Town Council in Juno Beach to launch itself into controversy.
Without notice, the council fired Town Manager Rob Cole, who had served less than a year, at the end of a three-hour meeting Wednesday.
Why it matters: The council has been buffeted by an election punctuated by demeaning attack ads, bitter feuds conveyed in rival newsletters and disputes over development and property rights. On March 10, voters overwhelmingly elected three new council members.
Zoom in: The newcomers joined two incumbents who had clashed over the past few months with Cole. During the council comment portion of the new council’s first meeting, incumbent Diana Davis moved to fire Cole and incumbent DD Halpern seconded the motion.
- That left it up to the three new members. Mayor Dave Santilli and Max Fraser said they couldn’t go along. But Scott Shaw voted yes.
What they’re saying: “I had been negative about him for about a year so when the opportunity came up I decided to go ahead and do it,” Shaw said in an interview.
Catch up quick: Cole, who lasted less than a year in his last job in Islamorada, had bluntly assessed Davis and Halpern in writing, calling a Davis newsletter in October, “propaganda masquerading as factual information.”
- Of Halpern, he wrote that a comment she made at a meeting “is below my standards for respect.”
What’s next: The council in the coastal town of about 4,000 appointed Clerk Caitlin Copeland-Rodriguez to fill the manager’s role temporarily. Council members agreed to seek a veteran manager or consultant to fill in until a new manager can be hired.
Watch the firing starting at the three-hour, 18-minute, 40-second mark of the video here.
Read more about the Town Council’s decision to fire the town manager at StetNews.org.
— Joel Engelhardt
🏆 Emily Gregory went for it
Emily Gregory’s 2 percentage-point win over Jon Maples for the District 87 state House seat that includes Mar-a-Lago drew national attention starting just hours after polls closed with Gregory’s appearance on MS NOW’s “The Briefing with Jen Psaki.”
Gregory, speaking from her victory party in North Palm Beach, didn’t hesitate when asked what to say to Democrats thinking about flipping a Republican district.
What they’re saying: “I say, ‘Go for it.’ I say, ‘Back yourself.’ It only takes you getting off the sidelines to make a difference,” Gregory answered. “And if you want the world to look different then you have to go out and make it different. I think we’ve learned over the last several years that no one is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves.”
Zoom in: Gregory carried vote-by-mail ballots by 3,201. Maples carried the election day vote by 2,257 and early voting by 144, not enough to overcome Gregory’s 800-vote margin.
Of note: Since it was a special election to fill the remaining time on Mike Caruso’s term, she’ll have to run again in November to hold the seat.
More election news: The special election in North Palm Beach to fill the seat vacated by the death of Kristin Garrison is going to a runoff.
Catch up quick: Kendra Zellner took the most votes on March 24, with 1,195. The race for second place between Ron Okolichany and David Norris was so close it went to a machine recount. Okolichany took second with 1,138 votes, eliminating Norris, the former longtime council member, who finished with 1,127 votes.
- Zellner and Okolichany meet April 7 in the runoff.
See the results of both races here.
— Joel Engelhardt
🪄 Polaroid’s instant art at the Norton
Polaroid is known for its instant film cameras that capture memories and become keepsakes.
Artists, even those who are known for their extensive creative processes, also turn to instant film to capture inspiration without darkrooms and hours of film developing.
What’s happening: Norton Museum of Art Curator of Photography Lauren Richman gathered instant film photos from the museum’s collection to illustrate how artists have ventured into every corner of the medium in a show called “60 Seconds from the Polaroid Collection.”
What they’re saying: “What interests me about Polaroids is that everyone can sort of relate to them,” Richman said. “There’s something totally magical about shooting something, have it come out immediately and develop right before your eyes in clean light.”
Photographs on display include images pop artist Andy Warhol created of “Baby Jane” Holzer.
- She became a frequent subject of his ongoing documentation of his daily activities and the people around him.
- Holzer, a Norton trustee, recently awarded $1,000 to all 66 students who participated in the museum’s art contest.
“60 Seconds: Polaroids from the Collection” runs through Aug. 16.
Keep reading to find out about the Norton’s prints from the rarest of Polaroid cameras at StetNews.org.
— Erik Kvarnberg
🍊 The Juice
🚨 Four smaller counties have gotten the most of the first $60 million in payouts from a $250 million Florida fund created to help local law enforcement agencies crack down on illegal immigration. They are the sheriff’s offices in Lee County ($9.9 million), Polk County ($9.7 million), Osceola County ($9.4 million) and Escambia County ($5.9 million). Palm Beach County is sixth at $1.99 million. (Orlando Sentinel via South Florida Sun-Sentinel $$$)
🔒 City Cellar Wine Bar & Grill, an original tenant in West Palm Beach’s CityPlace, will close in late spring, resulting in more than 90 layoffs. (South Florida Business Journal and The Palm Beach Post $$$)
🚪 Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick could be expelled from Congress after a House Ethics subcommittee found Friday she committed 25 violations, including breaking campaign finance laws. The Democrat who represents portions of Palm Beach and Broward counties is running for a fourth term after filling the seat held by the late Alcee Hastings. She denies wrongdoing. (Sun-Sentinel $$$)
🌊 The long-shuttered Jerome Golden Center for Behavioral Health on 45th Street in West Palm Beach sold for $11.5 million to the owners of the Breakers Palm Beach Resort. Sunview Medical of New Jersey bought the property from the nonprofit owners in 2020 but lost it to foreclosure last year. The Breakers, which recently bought land for employee housing in West Palm Beach, said it would demolish the hospital but did not announce what it would build. (South Florida Business Journal $$$)
👨🏼⚖️ The Florida Center for Government Accountability and its investigative publication, the Florida Trident, have been granted a limited right to intervene in court proceedings related to a secret grand jury presentment in the Hope Florida investigation. The limited purpose is to advocate over whether the court proceedings should continue to be closed. (Florida Trident)
🧪 Jupiter-based Myosin Therapeutics, a cancer research spinoff from the Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation and Technology, secured a $2 million Florida Department of Health grant to support clinical trials to evaluate its treatment for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.(South Florida Business Journal $$$)
🎈 West Palm Beach based-Ondas Inc. is paying $150 million for World View Enterprises, a business that designs, manufactures and operates high-altitude balloons for remote sensing and surveillance. Ondas, based downtown at the Esperante building, also is partnering with software giant Palantir Technologies to develop and deploy artificial intelligence-enabled capabilities for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. (South Florida Business Journal $$$)
🔎 Palm Beach real estate writer Darrell Hofheinz’s annual report on the Forbes Billionaires List finds 65 of the wealthiest people have strong ties to the island. Hofheinz reports the richest person in town is digital stock-trading pioneer Thomas Peterffy, whose fortune is $82.9 billion. (Palm Beach Daily News $$$)
😙 Whistle while you work? For professional whistler David Hall, formerly of Lake Worth Beach, puckering up is part of the job. He wore a top hat and whistled for tips in San Francisco, delivered whistling telegrams in Berkeley, Calif., and, in 1983, set the first Guinness world record for marathon whistling, a lip-numbing 25 straight hours. (Lake Worth Beach Independent)
Editor’s note: This item was corrected to remove an errant reference to Hall whistling for a “Peanuts” character.
🎙️ “Top of Mind Florida,” the podcast by Michael Williams and Brian Crowley, meets with Patrick Franklin, president & CEO of the Urban League of Palm Beach County. Franklin shares details of his career from geophysics training to 24 years of community leadership in South Florida and breaks down what the Urban League is doing and what’s at stake in the months to come. (Listen now; watch after 4 pm today)
561NSIDER: 🥘 Cooking up connections with ‘Roots & Recipes’
A dozen students and their senior citizen mentors gathered in March at Extraordinary Charities in West Palm Beach to cook family recipes from “Roots & Recipes, a Community Cookbook.”
Why it matters: Diane Lewis, co-founder of Feeding Hope Village, the nonprofit that organized the event, said the intergenerational culinary storytelling was the culmination of a project to bring together seniors and youth.
Lewis matched participants from senior and youth empowerment programs to produce a cookbook of the seniors’ recipes, transcribed by the kids. They wrote down 17 recipes and the stories behind them.
On March 21, the groups prepared their dishes at a celebration with colorful decorations and plenty to eat. Family and friends were invited.
The idea for the yearlong project came from church cookbooks, a popular fundraising tool in the early and mid-1900s. Congregations gathered the best of the potluck dishes and published them.
With financial support from the city of Riviera Beach and the Kiwanis Club of Riviera Beach, Lewis said, things took off.
Extraordinary Charities provided the kitchen and the expertise of its chef, Greg Schiff, who leads the students in the Recipes for Success program that Stet News wrote about last year.
In the room: Una Mitchell taught Milani Stephens and Oscar Lewis III to make traditional peas and rice, Mitchell’s grandmother’s recipe.
“Sundays, holidays and Christmas, it’s on the table. They did really well,” she said in praise of her helpers.
Milani easily recited the recipe. “We used peas, coconut rice, garlic, onions and Scotch bonnet peppers.”
The hardest part? “Cutting the onions made me cry,” Oscar said.
Meet more of the seniors and students at StetNews.org.
— Janis Fontaine
📬 We love to hear from you. Write to us at stet@stetnews.org.
