Stet NewsHappy Tuesday, Stetters! For you today, Joel’s post-mortem on last week’s charged Project Tango vote; an update on the drive to create a tax district for the sheriff’s budget; news from the Port of Palm Beach; guidance for voters; and a surprise success story in Lake Park.
🗄️ Project Tango showdown
The showdown over Project Tango is over, but the proposal for a hyperscale AI data center on the property at Southern Boulevard and 20-Mile Bend has a long way to go.
County commissioners voted 5-1 to deny the request to allow more development on the site. When they were done, they urged staff to heed their decision in processing existing data center applications on the site that don’t require more public hearings.
- Commissioner Maria Marino cast the lone yes vote, and Mayor Sara Baxter recused herself because she had announced earlier that she would oppose the proposal.
Why it matters: Commissioners previously approved 2.02 million square feet of development as part of a master plan for the 202-acre industrial site next to the Arden community. Landowners have the right under the county’s zoning code to ask the staff to let them shift proposed uses. For example, one landowner wants to shift from a warehouse of more than 1 million square feet to a data center.
Zoom in: Commissioners took the position Wednesday that the AI hyperscale data centers of today do not fit an older definition of a data center and would not be compatible with the county’s comprehensive plan.
What they’re saying: “The board has given clear direction at this point about how we feel about this use and its compatibility with our comprehensive plan,” said commission Vice Chair Marci Woodward shortly after the 9:30 pm vote Wednesday. “That would be considered by staff, would it not?”
- “Yes,” came the reply from Zoning Director Wendy Hernandez.
Zoom out: The meeting, which started at 9:30 am, became heated, with four people thrown out, one for applauding.
The tension in the room rose eight hours into the meeting, when Nik Salanitro, a video blogger with the Nik & Colton show, told commissioners he had photos of text messages exchanged between Commissioner Maria Marino and Brian Seymour, the attorney for the applicant.
That drew applause from one person and shouts from Karla Bowsher, who writes a blog called The Acreage Advocate. Woodward ordered both removed.
- Later, Arden residents Ben Brown and Maria Blake were forced to leave after they spoke out from the audience.
“No one was removed without a warning,” Woodward told Stet News. “This is about not having the mob bully the people in the chambers.”
Of note: Salanitro posted a video of his comments at the meeting but as of Monday had not posted any evidence of wrongdoing.
Watch the meeting:
Read more about the Project Tango showdown at StetNews.org.
— Joel Engelhardt
🚔 Sheriff tax plan shifts burden
Palm Beach County commissioners last week moved a step closer to creating a special taxing district to pay for a large chunk of the $1.2 billion-a-year operations of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
But whether the commission will move forward with a plan that would raise taxes in unincorporated portions of the county while lowering them in cities remains to be seen.
Driving the news: By a 5-2 vote, commissioners agreed July 14 to set up a framework for a municipal service taxing unit, or MSTU, to raise money to cover the sheriff’s mounting expenses.
- County Mayor Sara Baxter and Commissioner Maria Sachs, who represent large portions of the county’s unincorporated areas, voted no.
Why it matters: The tax shift would give county commissioners pinpoint control over who pays for services provided by the sheriff, allowing residents of cities to avoid paying for services they don’t get.
State of play: Currently, all county landowners pay for all the sheriff’s services, including patrols in unincorporated areas.
What they’re saying: Commissioner Maria Marino, a Republican, said one of the advantages of the MSTU would be that people would be able to see how the sheriff, a Democrat, spends his agency’s money.
- “I’m in favor of the MSTU because I’m in favor of his budget being a lot more transparent,” she said. “The sheriff will have to justify whatever millage rate he collects in the MSTU. He has to justify his budget in order to collect.”
The other side: Sachs, who has no cities in her sprawling district west of Boca Raton and Delray Beach, called the proposed taxing scheme unjust and discriminatory.
“This is a discussion about the fairness of taxation,” she said. “This is unfair taxation on people depending on where they live.”
- Commissioners representing cities countered that the current system is equally unfair on city-dwellers.
What’s next: Commissioners could dump the plan when they consider it for final approval on Sept. 15. Or, they could refuse to activate the MSTU next year, the first time they could tap it to pay for a portion of Bradshaw’s budget.
Keep reading to find out how much the sheriff’s budget has grown at StetNews.org.
— Jane Musgrave
🪑 Port fills vacant seat
The Port of Palm Beach Commission, long split over how to fill a vacant seat, came together last week to appoint recently retired West Palm Beach Fire battalion chief Brian Lamb to the opening.
Why it matters: The move ends Lamb’s campaign to unseat commission Chair Blair Ciklin in the August Democratic primary. Even though Lamb’s name will appear on the ballot, votes cast for him will not count, leaving only Ciklin and challenger Serge D’Haiti in contention for the Group 4 seat.
Catch up quick: The commission crept toward a decision last month, when Ciklin dropped his opposition to weighing finalists through a ranking system as long as new candidates could be considered beyond the 12 who applied in February.
- Lamb and five others submitted applications, including Jean Enright, the longtime port commissioner whose resignation last October created the vacancy.
Commissioners picked three finalists: Lamb, Enright and Taniel Koushakjian, who is running for the Group 5 seat held by Deandre Poole.
Poole nominated Enright. Ciklin supported her nomination, but the other two board members, Wayne Richards and Varisa Dass, did not.
Dass nominated Koushakjian but drew no support, leaving Lamb, who drew support from all four commissioners.
What they’re saying: “I haven’t been this excited about something in quite a while,” said Lamb, who retired this month after 30 years. “This is something completely new and I’m absolutely excited about it.”
What’s next: Lamb will be sworn in next month. His term will run through 2028. Ciklin will face D’Haiti in August and Poole will face Koushakjian, with the winner challenged in November by Republican Ted Sarandis.
Read more of the story at StetNews.org.
— Joel Engelhardt
ℹ️ An election guide in your phone
Carolyn here. If you are looking for information about every candidate on your Aug. 18 Florida primary ballot, I suggest you start with the League of Women Voters’ online guide.
Why it matters: The statewide league and the Palm Beach County chapter have gathered information about everything from the governor’s race to County Commission, county judge and School Board.
- And it’s all in one place at Vote411.org.
State of play: You will find a description of each elected position, including the salary, the candidates’ backgrounds and a Q and A. There are also links to the candidates’ social media profiles that provide insight into how they are speaking directly to voters.
The big picture: Statewide, more than 60% of candidates answered the league’s questions, local league Vice President Joyce Sullivan told Stet News. In Palm Beach County, 90% of candidates responded.
Pro tip: Skip the homepage and go to Vote411.org/ballot, where you can type in your address and party affiliation for a customized list of candidates in your races.
What they’re saying: “Whenever I give a presentation, I always ask everybody, who do you plan to vote for for judge?” Sullivan said. “And the only people who raise their hand are league people who have been on Vote411.”
About the league: The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization that encourages informed participation in government. The Palm Beach County chapter, led by President Amy Kemp, is one of the largest in Florida.
What’s next: Once the primaries are decided, the local chapter’s all-volunteer team will complete its printed and online guide for the November election.
Editor’s note: Carolyn is a member of the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County.
— Carolyn DiPaolo
🍊 The Juice
💎 The gap between what the wealthy pay for a home in West Palm Beach and what everyone else pays is now the widest in America. The typical luxury home in the city sold for $4.51 million during the three months ending in May, nearly nine times the $506,609 that a typical non-luxury home fetched over the same stretch. (Redfin)
📈 Republicans could overtake Democrats in voter registration in Palm Beach County — a longtime Democratic stronghold — by next year, according to an analysis of voter registration data released by Mi Vecinos, an influential Florida-based group that mobilizes Latino voters. (WLRN)
🛠️ Two brothers from a prominent Miami Beach real estate family, Josh and Jared Robins, paid $2.02 million for a shuttered 1945 building in downtown Lake Worth Beach across the street from the Lake Worth Playhouse with plans to revive it. (Lake Worth Beach Independent $$$)
🏗️ Developers have broken ground on a 21-story mixed-use project at 506 Datura St., just west of the downtown West Palm Beach Brightline station that will feature a Marriott Tribute hotel and apartments. (South Florida Business Journal $$$)
🗺️ Two properties recently annexed into Wellington at Southern Boulevard and Seminole Pratt Whitney Road are in line for Live Local Act approvals of 212 apartments proposed by developer NuRock. (Town-Crier)
🐕 Florida DOGE officials worked to export their playbook to other states at an event in Washington, D.C., and revealed how the state’s effort at rooting out local government waste relies on AI and far-right organizations. The leader of the group that issued invitations has posted Nazi and racist material on X. (Florida Trident)
🐄 The Florida Cracker Trail started in the 1500s when the Spanish would drop off cattle in Fort Pierce on the east coast and drive them across the state to the Manatee River on the west coast for shipping to Mexico. Now it’s memorialized with a reenactment every winter and the Cracker Trail Museum in Hardee County’s Zolfo Springs. (TC Palm $$$)
🐟 Ocean experts Catherine Uden and Evan Orellana will speak on preserving oceans and shorelines at 8 pm Thursday at the Mandel Public Library in West Palm Beach’s third-floor auditorium. The event is sponsored by the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group Energy Committee. (Register here.)
🅿️ Charges for parking at Riviera Beach waterfront lots will resume Aug. 10, City Council members decided last week. The move follows a pause that started in June and several improvements in the system that tracks parking in spots at Ocean Walk and parts of the Marina Village. (City Council meeting recording starting at the discussion)
ICYMI Part 1: Long before she climbed Machu Picchu and paddled down the Amazon as an adventurous grandmother, Dorothy Wilken blazed a legacy-defining trail in Palm Beach County as a fearless political dynamo who shattered glass ceilings and fought for growth control. (Stet News)
ICYMI Part 2: Palm Beach County commissioners have abandoned plans to charge county residents to park at 12 beachfront parks. (Stet News)
🎧 “Top of Mind Florida,” the podcast by Michael Williams and Brian Crowley, looks at the how Byron Donalds’ fundraising lead reshapes the GOP governor’s race and why Gov. Ron DeSantis has been so quiet about the campaign of his lieutenant governor, Jay Collins. Also the U.S. Senate race and the amendment to reduce property taxes. (Listen now; watch after 4 pm today.)
561NSIDER: 🍝 A tiny restaurant with big success
A couple have opened a 60-seat Italian restaurant, Due Cuori Ristorante, in a former Lake Park diner spot a block west of the marina, and they have social media buzzing.
Alfredo Verrone, from a small town near Bologna, Italy, and Monique Rabyor, of Loxahatchee, named the restaurant for their relationship. The phrase is Italian for “two hearts.”
A few weeks after their Memorial Day opening, a diner raved about the restaurant on a neighborhood social media feed.
Then Due Cuori was turning away diners for lack of waiting space. The owners had to cancel lunch to prepare for the big dinner crowd.
What they’re saying: “We have created a monster,” Verrone said. “We didn’t know we were going to blow up like this.”
Why Lake Park? The eatery is tucked in a small space in the plaza at 405 U.S. 1, just north of the new Nautilus 220 condo.
- “We watched the progress of Seahawk Prime,” Verrone said, referring to the steakhouse in the Nautilus a couple of blocks south of them that opened at the end of 2025. “We decided to look at this, and take a chance.”
The good stuff: If you can’t find it in Italy, it’s not at Due Cuori, says Verrone. “There’s no Alfredo sauce. No vodka sauce.”
- Diners start with focaccia dotted with sun-dried tomatoes and onion before the meal. It’s served with roasted garlic in oil for dipping.
- The signature pizza is a ricotta-cheese base, topped with eggplant, guanciale, mushrooms and spinach..
- The menu is filled with classics: cacio e pepe, osso buco with saffron-infused rice, and lasagna — the authentic style from central Italy made with béchamel.
- They have added dishes customers want: veal Parmesan, veal Milanese and the Italian-American favorite, chicken Parmesan.
How much does it cost? Prices are described as reasonable, especially for the large portions, Verrone said.
- A burrata and prosciutto salad is $14, fritto di calamari verdure is $18; lasagna a Bolognese is $28; spaghetti with housemade polpette (meatballs), $26.
Pro tip: Due Cuori is open Tuesday-Sunday for dinner beginning at 5 p.m. Reservations are strongly recommended.
Read more about the restaurant’s menu at StetNews.org.
— Jan Norris
