‘Who do you trust behind closed doors?’ Port of Palm Beach candidates go head to head

In the Aug. 18 primary, incumbent Blair Ciklin faces Serge D’Haiti, and incumbent Deandre Poole faces Taniel Koushakjian.

At the close of an hourlong forum among the four candidates running for two Port of Palm Beach Commission seats, incumbent Deandre Poole let loose.

Knowing that it’s hard to stand out when running for a post most people know little about, Poole became animated as he framed the race in the Aug. 18 Democratic primary against Taniel “T.K.” Koushakjian as one of trust.

“I think the question that you have to ask yourself is, ‘Who do you trust? Who do you trust behind closed doors when these decisions are being made?'” he told the audience packed into the Riviera Beach Marina Village event center on July 27. “I’m not afraid to speak up and tell it like it is.”

For Koushakjian, the reference to closed-door meetings raised eyebrows. 

“That’s shocking to me. I would hope that all of our port’s decisions are made in the public,” he said in an interview. “The voters deserve an explanation of what decisions are being made behind closed doors.”

Poole, an FAU instructor, called the reference metaphorical as he sought to differentiate himself in a campaign focused on promises to add cruise ships, rebuild the passenger terminal and expand the landlocked port, which is jammed between West Palm Beach and Riviera Beach along the Intracoastal Waterway.

Only Democrats who live in the port district can cast a ballot in the Group 5 primary as the winner will face Republican Ted Sarandis in November. 

The other port race on the ballot, for the Group 4 seat, pits longtime incumbent Blair Ciklin against first-time candidate Serge D’Haiti, both Democrats. It is open to all port district voters because no one else qualified to run.

Votes cast for a third candidate on the Group 4 ballot, Brian Lamb, won’t count. With Ciklin’s support, Lamb won a Port Commission vote July 16 to fill the vacancy left by the October resignation of Jean Enright. 

Editor’s note: In Group 4, Ciklin won with 68.4% of the 37,600 votes cast. In Group 5, Poole got 71.2% of the 29,900 votes cast to defeat Koushakjian.

Port commissioners oversee a $27 million budget, providing a critical industrial and trade connection with the Caribbean. The port also is home to the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise gambling ship to the Bahamas. 

Port commissioners have not exercised their power to levy a property tax since 1975.

Poole, during his impassioned closing at the forum sponsored by When We All Vote, pointed out that he could have pushed for his opponent, Koushakjian, to be appointed to the vacant seat.

“I’m not going to play these political games,” he said. “I’m tired of that. I am sick and tired of it.”

‘Stomp on Jesus’ instructor

Instead, Poole, who raised $36,000 in 2022 when he defeated Varisa Dass in a three-way Democratic primary and slipped past Republican Roderick Clarke to win his first term, is up against an opponent who has outraised him through July 24. Dass later was appointed to the commission to fill a vacancy and won election in 2024.

Koushakjian, 44, has raised $20,000, including $4,000 from entities linked to attorney Harvey Oyer, $1,000 from the Marine Industries Association and $3,000 from entities linked to Forest Development, the developer selected to rebuild Riviera Beach’s Marina Village, which is next to the port.

Poole, who will turn 46 this month, has raised $16,000, including $10,100 in loans from himself, and $5,000 from companies run by port contractor Juan Gonzalez of Hialeah.

Poole drew international attention in 2013 for the so-called “Stomp on Jesus” exercise meant to help students focus on the power of symbols. He invited his FAU students to write the word “Jesus” on a piece of paper and step on it. 

Some did and some didn’t, but one student complained publicly, drawing outrage over the exercise and a demand for an investigation from then-Gov. Rick Scott. FAU placed Poole on paid administrative leave because of concerns for his safety.

Two months later, FAU rehired Poole for the next school year. When asked if he would have stepped on the piece of paper, he said he would not have.

Now, Poole, a senior graduate school instructor in the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies at FAU, also serves as the pastor at First Church of God in Christ in West Palm Beach.

“I see what’s happening in this community,” he said at the forum, referencing comments by his opponent about the importance of working with area chambers of commerce and building relationships with lawmakers. “All this fancy talk, what I did in D.C., what I did here, and that. Let me tell you something. I’ve been here. I’ve been working. I was born and reared in this community. I pastor in this community. So you can trust me. I’m gonna do the right thing.”

Great-grandson of Armenian genocide survivors

Koushakjian says that his experiences as a member of the port’s audit committee and as a lobbyist in Washington plus his good relations with business groups and local officials, have prepared him for the port position, which pays $12,500 a year.

In a 16-second campaign video, Koushakjian shows people struggling to pronounce his name before coming on screen to say “My name sounds complicated but my message is simple: A port commission that delivers results.”

“You can call me TK,” he says at public events.

In 2016, he ran for County Commission as a Republican using his middle name, Shant, instead of his last name. He lost to Democrat Mary Lou Berger for the south county seat. He switched to the Democratic Party in 2022.

“Being a first-generation American, great grandson of (Armenian) genocide survivors, first person in my family to get an education, I’ve lived the struggle,” he said at a July 28 League of Women Voters forum. “I know the struggle that families are currently facing in our community, and that’s why I’m so focused on jobs and making sure that people have the self-sustainability that they need to provide for themselves.”

Dispute over economic impact study

Koushakjian proposes an apprentice program to help young people get into maritime trades and emphasizes the need for an economic impact study before investing large sums on port improvements. 

His opponent disputes the need for such a study.

“We know what our needs are,” Poole said in an interview. “We know what we have to do to build on the success of the port.”

But Koushakjian is adamant an impact study is the first step to plotting out hundreds of millions of dollars in spending.

“When we have a plan, an economic impact study … and we talk with our federal and state partners and with the private industry, the cruise ships, then we can collaboratively put together what that plan looks like, what the timeline is, and what the resources are going to require to get it done,” he said.

Koushakjian supports port Executive Director Michael Meekins. While Poole voted in 2024 to fire Meekins he said he has been impressed with Meekins’ leadership since then and now supports him.

Pursuing a second cruise ship

While port commissioners have been talking about adding another cruise line for decades, the port can’t compete for the biggest cruise ships because of the size of the harbor and the depth of the water, which is considered shallow. (“What we’re looking for … is a ship that can fit,” Ciklin said at the league forum.)

But to attract a second cruise ship beyond the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, the port would need a bigger terminal, a parking garage and a luggage laydown area, where passengers can quickly find their suitcases, the candidates say.

Tracking down federal and state grants to help make that happen plays into his strengths,  Koushakjian said.

“I have great relationships with people in Tallahassee and in Washington, D.C.,” he said.

While he cites his experiences at the South Florida Water Management District as chief of communications and public policy officer, he held the job for only five months from May 2024 until October and would not discuss his departure.

More recently he worked as director of communications for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. He also runs a consulting business, BreakThru Strategies.

“I’ve spent my career solving complex problems, leading public organizations, working in critical infrastructure (and) securing funding for state agencies and for local nonprofits,” he said at the league forum. “And I believe public service is about showing up and making a difference.” 

Longest serving port commissioner in America

Ciklin, 76, a vice president at Morgan Stanley in West Palm Beach, refers to himself as the longest-serving port commissioner in America. He has served for all but two years since 1978, a 48-year stretch that would reach 52 years if he were to win another four-year term.

In 2022, Ciklin received 51% of the vote to narrowly defeat Republican Doreen Benson. More than 150,000 voters cast ballots in the 2022 November general election after just 35,000 voted in the Democratic primary for port that year.

Ciklin has 12 contributions of $1,000 each, including $5,000 from companies run by port contractor Gonzalez. But he has $73,000 to spend because he injected $60,000 of his own money into the race.

He comes from an influential local family. His brother, Cory, is an appellate court judge, and another brother, Alan, a land-use attorney.

Where will the passengers come from?

D’Haiti, 43, has loaned his campaign $4,300, accounting for nearly all of his money. He worked as an accountant for the Florida Department of Revenue for seven years and shorter stints at the Health Care District of Palm Beach County and Florida Department of Financial Services before going into business for himself in 2020.

D’Haiti, a Pahokee native making his first run for office, concedes lack of knowledge going up against the person more versed in the port’s issues than anyone. Often during forums, he would say, “My knowledge fails me in this area.”

Despite his opponent’s longevity, he maintains that few people he meets on the campaign trail are familiar with Ciklin.

“A lot of people don’t know who he is, and he’s been there that long,” D’Haiti said, noting that his analysis of the port’s financial statements indicate that revenues have decreased in the past year and the existing cruise line does not run at capacity.

“I”m not sure what the plan is for that,” he said of the calls to add another cruise ship. “Where will the extra passengers come from to fill the next cruise line?”

He asks voters to give him a chance.

“This is another way of giving back and I want to be able to be an inspiration to the next generation of leaders in the community to see that they are able to make a change, and their voice does have an impact, and their work does make an impact for everyone else,” he said at the league forum.

Tenants urged Ciklin to run

Ciklin said he will be meeting in Miami this month with an interested cruise ship operator.

“We could actually add another ship tomorrow if the right one came about, because remember, if they’re doing a seven-day cruise, they’re only going to be in the port for one day, so it won’t really affect our other cruise line, which does four-day cruises now,” he said at the league forum.

Raising money to pay for major projects, such as a rebuilt terminal, motivated Ciklin to seek one more four-year term. 

“At the port right now, we have over $200 million of infrastructure that has to be completed. … So that’s one thing that I am pretty good at,” he said. 

“When I was deciding whether to run for reelection once again, a lot of the tenants had contacted me and said, ‘Since we just lost one of the commissioners that had to resign (Enright), we think that it would be a good idea if you could stay for one more term.’ And thinking about it, I said ‘Fine,’ and that’s why I’m here.”

Continued talk of an inland port

In the 1990s, as the Panama Canal expanded to take on bigger ships, the Port of Miami eyed a role in landing them but needed space to store containers before transport to the Northeast. The Port of Palm Beach, which has rail and road connections to the Port of Miami, pursued an inland port, a vast holding area to warehouse goods and containers, selecting a location owned by Florida Crystals. 

The project never happened. But the concept did not die.

While the other three candidates embraced pursuit of an inland port, Ciklin said the focus should be on expansion near the port.

“It would be great if we could get some parcels a little bit west of the port right now, so we can park some of our trailers there,” he said at the league forum. “Our biggest tenant, Tropical Shipping, is increasing their volume every year, and if we can find the land, which is not that easy, that would certainly be something I’d be in favor of.”

He alone appeared less than enthusiastic about televising port meetings, which are not video recorded, saying that in the past the commission did a survey that found few people would watch.

“We’ve had meetings where we’ve only had a handful of people actually show up at the port,” he said. “But if someone can convince me and show me that people would actually tune in and watch, I would have no objection to that.”

While Koushakjian said he has seen cruise ship passengers walking along Broadway with their luggage to avoid the port’s $19 a day parking fee, which counts even a fraction of the day as a full day, Ciklin said studies have shown the fees are lower than parking at the newly renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport.

But the airport has a surface lot just a five-minute walk from the terminal that charges $8 per 24-hour period.

“It might seem expensive,” Ciklin said of the port’s fee, “but unfortunately, these days, if you look at any port in Florida, especially Palm Beach County airport, we’re actually much cheaper than any of the others.”

Residents of the port district can vote. The district runs along the coast between Southern and PGA boulevards, and takes in all of Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee and the Glades communities.

Editor’s note: This story was changed after publication to note that the port hasn’t levied a property tax since 1975.