City Council - Regular Meeting

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Good morning and welcome to the organizational meeting of the Boca Raton City Council. It is March 31st, 2026. The time is 10:30. The first item of business is the pledge of allegiance. Will everyone please join and rise there. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Miss Siddens, will you please call the role? Mayor Singer here. Deputy Mayor Nlas here. Council member Ducker here. Council member Thompson, thankful to be here. Council member Wter here. All present.

Thank you. Our first item of business is our ceremonial proceedings and we'll begin with recognition of and comments by outgoing mayor and council members. Um I'll first start with um our remaining council members. Miss Ducker, would you like to um have any comments, please? Certainly. Thank you. If you'd like to say anything about the council members who are departing. Oh, I thought it was my comments.

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry, I didn't have an agenda in front of me. Um, so I'll hold my comments to later, but first I want to just welcome everyone to city hall. Thank you all for being here. Um, congratulations to everyone that got elected. You'll have part of my comments for later. Uh, but I also wanted to thank uh, Mayor Singer, Deputy Mayor Nas, and Mark Wiger, Councilman, Mark Wter. It's been an honor and a pleasure to serve with you all, and I know that the three amigos will reme will still be will still be the three amigos um, as we exit out of here. So, I have prepared comments that I'll save in the essence of time. Thank you, Mayor Singer. Thank you, Mayor Elect Thompson. You'll have an opportunity for comments. I don't know if you want to take any now or you can wait until after. I was expecting to do so later if that's okay. That's fine. Thank you. Then we'll turn to Council Member Mark Worer.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you all. Thank you all for coming. Uh thank you my colleagues. Thank you all for the support and the honor of being your councilman for the past three years. As many of you know, I'm the son of a Holocaust survivor and my mother was raised in communist Romania. So, as a first generation American, entering public service is something many in my larger family can only dream about. Over the last three years, I've had lots of thoughts and observations and ideas, long-range planning in the downtown and in the city, lots of PowerPoint presentations about bike trails, pedestrian bridges, anything else you can imagine. So, first and foremost, I'd like to thank my colleagues for listening to it all. I'd like to thank the mayor just for his leadership. I'd like to thank my council colleagues, past and present, for listening, but actually listening, for being engaged in everything they do, not just in at meetings, but for the city. I don't think of you guys just as colleagues and as I said before, as friends, but really partners. And there is no greater honor than to be in partnership with such amazing people like you guys. Thank you. Thank you all. But in addition to all those thoughts, I had questions. Questions as to how the city works or should work, what it's doing, how it's paying for things that of course are planned for the future. So to Mark Sahini, Josh Kaylor, George Brown, previous city managers, Leaf, city attorney Deanna, our city managers, city attorneys, department heads, Jim, George, Andy, Zach, Lauren, Nesh, Chief Trainer, Chief Muio. All of you always provided me not only the information that I asked for, but the information that I didn't ask for. That is the history, how the city actually works, what's happening, and what our future can look like. To all of you, and I can't name you all, thank you. Thank you so much. We're planning a

future that's better today than when we started. Although we talk a lot about specific items in city council meetings, we come to learn that of the 30 or so projects that come before us are really just the tip of the iceberg in managing a city this complex. There are 10,000 other permits that don't come before us. And there's thousands and tens of thousands of issues handled by our great workforce of the city. And to all of them, thank you. There's 1,800 or so people that manage this city, most of which we will never meet, that are so dedicated. They love this city as we do. I see it when I walk the streets. And they're so dedicated. To all those people who keep the city coming, thank you. I'll make a quick special mention about our great police and fire departments, the bedrock of municipal government. Over the past several years, I've come to know many, and all I could say is that we're lucky to have such amazing teams for public safety and life safety. But two quick anecdotes. A few months ago, as many of the people here know, I had to be rushed to the hospital, as everyone here knows, and uh, of course, my station is station 7. They responded. It was one of the twins, Shelly or Sherry. I can never get it right. Uh, and I apologize. Uh, they're gonna, you know, they're going to give me crap for it after, but uh, and a couple of guys. I was in and out of consciousness during the drive and the drop off. But it was a weird perspective because although I was feeling awful, I was thinking somehow about fire department operations. How many minutes did it take to pick me up, to get me to the hospital, to drop me at the ER? What did the ER waiting room look like? Right. We've been talking a lot about that. Our people do this 20,000 times a year. Wow. Talk about being happy that we're a full-ervice city. I was so lucky. But it indeed reminded me that Station 8 still needs to be fully staffed. And one of the things I'm sorry for is that I

didn't push harder for that as I was learning this job and trying to find new revenue sources to pay for it without raising taxes. I hope the future council can appreciate these needs and make that happen. It's time. Lastly, of course, October 7th, 2023 was a terrible day. On October 8th, my children were afraid to go to school because they go to a Jewish day school. I couldn't believe that could happen in the United States of America. October 8th, after that, there were vigils and whatnot all over the city. And I was driving home. It was perhaps 10:30 at night and I saw Sergeant L, then Sergeant Laz and a few other guys stationed downtown around the Kabad. So I asked what's going on and he said nothing. Just making sure everything is okay and that it stays that way. In a way I couldn't believe it. Just a day before I was terrified that my family didn't feel safe. And then I went to a complete level of confidence that I knew that they were not indeed just safe but really safe in Boca Raton because of our people because their dedication to Bokeh. Our force does the job no matter what. Thank you for keeping me and my family safe. And with that, most importantly, thank you to the people of Boca Raton for working with me, allowing me to work with you, for contacting me, and challenging me to be better than I was before. The people spoke clearly and strongly on a direction they prefer in this election and I wish I could have done more. But the support I did receive was incredible and I'm so thankful for it. There's also more work to do personally and professionally for me, but I'm grateful for the time that I had on this council for a period of transition to new management, a new century of great things to come in Boca Raton. And to my dear family, Fran, Malcolm, Amelia, and Henry, thank you all for your love and support always. My

family continues to inspire me to do more public service. Though I think the person who is happiness happiest I lost this election could be Fran Wiggner. And though the baton passes from one council to another, my ancestors remind me that we must be so thankful that we have the freedom to participate in this continuous process of democracy in our great state of Florida and the United States. as we seek to preser preserve and defend our city, but also continue to seek to form a more perfect union in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. All things in great supply and beautiful Boca Raton. To the incoming city council, Mayor Thompson, congratulations. Council members, good luck. Think long, ask lots of questions, and Godspeed. On behalf of my family, thank you for this honor. Thank you. [applause] Deputy Mayor Nicholas.

Thank you, Mayor Singer. Thank you all for being here today. Some of you may have heard this before, but I think my appreciation is worth repeating. So, here we go. To this day, I'm truly honored and deeply humbled to have served as your council member, CRA chair, and deputy mayor. It hasn't always been easy, but service isn't meant to be easy. It's meant to matter and this has mattered to me every single day. I want to begin by thanking the residents of Boca Raton for placing your trust in me, for sharing your voices, your ideas, your concerns, and your hopes for our community. It's been a real privilege to serve all of you. To my colleagues, past and present, thank you for your thoughtful leadership, your collaboration, and commitment to the city that we care so deeply about. To our city leadership, city manager Mark Zahaney, former city manager Lee Fenel and George Brown along with all of our deputy city managers, thank you for your steady guidance and professionalism. and to our city attorney Josh, who I love sitting next to and asking lots of questions of, and former city attorney Diana Grubfer, and your entire teams, thank you for your counsel, and for your dedication. To our extraordinary police department, fire department, and ocean rescue, you are the backbone of our safety, and we're forever grateful to all of you. to our public works team, Zach, Lauren, Nesh, who I call near miss Lesh Nes because he saved my life out on a bike ride one day, and everyone who keeps this city running smoothly behind the scenes. Thank you. to Marissa, Andrea, Tamara, Alba, Patricia, to Mary and Phil, and Cindy

and Alex and Ilana and Brooke and Anmarie, Amy, Andrea, Hadas, and Amanda, to Brandon Shad and the entire development services team, to Jim Zervis and our financial services team, your work matters and it shows every day. to my friends Chris Hellfrick and utility services, Mike Denorsio in the building department, and Frank Dario and our incredible video and IT teams, especially Mark, John, Sam, and Walter in the back. Thank you for your work that you do that goes so often unseen but never unappreciated. and to our outstanding economic development team, Jessica Delvecio and Kelly Kennedy. Thank you for your leadership in helping shape a vibrant and economically strong Boca Raton. To my friend and former council member Al Travasos and his beautiful wife Eileen, thank you again for your friendship and your service. to Valerie Nielsen and my colleagues at the Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization and to the chamber Sarah and Troy and to the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District. Thank you all for your partnerships. And I'd also like to extend a special thank you to Rabbi Dan Leven and Pastor Ron Brown for your guidance, your perspective, and the quiet strength you bring to our community. And to all of our advisory board members and volunteers and every city employee who works every day to keep Bokeh safe, beautiful, and thriving. Thank you. You are what makes this city exceptional. To Mayor Elect Thompson and the incoming council members, congratulations. I wish you a productive and meaningful term, and I hope you come to love this service as much as I have. To Mayor Singer, thank you again for your many years of dedicated service and

for the lasting impact you've made on this community. To Mark Wiger, the city was fortunate to have your leadership and I'm grateful to have served alongside you. And to Vet Trucker, keep being the champion you are for transit, for children, and for this city. And for you, the best is still yet to come. Over the past three plus years, I've had the privilege of working with so many incredible people. I'm especially proud of the work we've done from advancing thoughtful growth to strengthening our financial foundation to supporting initiatives for more affordable housing with the CIMD ordinance. Shout out to David Abers for being the first to step up while also embracing more advances in technology like AI and autonomous vehicle pilots. And while I'm proud of what we've accomplished, I know there is always more to be done. That's the nature of service. We've been entrusted with an extraordinary city, and our responsibility has been to preserve what we love about Boca Raton while preparing thoughtfully for what lies ahead. Keeping our city safe, growing with intention, and maintaining a strong financial footing will continue to be essential for generations to come. To everyone who called, emailed, stopped me in the grocery store, joined me for a walk or a bike ride. Thank you. I have valued every conversation and I've learned from each of you. You are what makes poker tone Just

responsibility. to serve as our city council members. Miss Growl, Mr. Pearlman, Miss Sipple, may you all find the same fulfillment we have, including Deputy Mayor Nacklas and Councilman Wiggar, who conclude this chapter of their service after devoting so much of their passion and insight on this day as they had for decades in the community as I got to know each of them as a nonprofit leader and dedicated public health advocate um as a dedicated volunteer, business leader, and thought leader. You've both served with excellence, insight. Okay, thanks. At this time, it is my pleasure to invite forward Miss Michelle Grow and her husband Antonio Grow to come forward and conduct the swearing in. [applause] Okay, please raise your right hand. I, Michelle Grow, do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support, protect, and defend the constitutions and governments of the United States and the state of Florida and the charter and ordinances of the city of Boca Raton and I am duly qualified to hold the office of council member under the constitution of the state of Florida and the charter of the city of Boca Raton and that I will well and faithfully perform the duties of office I'm about to enter.

I do. Okay. Congratulations. [applause] Thank you. She should come and sit. Yeah,

hold on. She's just getting her some stuff. Next up, we have Jonathan Pearlman, who will be sworn in by his wife, Luda Pearlman. So, if you guys could come forward and conduct the swearing in, please. [applause]

[applause] [clears throat] I, John Pearlman, do solemnly swear that I will support, protect, and defend the constitutions and governments of the United States and the state of Florida and the charter and ordinances of the city of Boca Raton, that I am duly qualified to hold the office of council IL member under the constitution of the state of Florida and the charter of the city of Boca Raton and that I will well and faithfully perform the duties of the office I am about to enter.

I do [applause] [applause]

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And finally, we invite up Stacy Sipple with her husband Patrick to come forward and swear her in. [applause] I, Stacy Sipple, do solemnly swear that I will support, protect, and defend the constitutions and governments of the United States and the state of Florida and the charter and ordinances of the city of Boca Raton, that I am duly qualified to hold the office of council member under the constitution of the state of Florida and the charter of the city of Boca Raton, and that I will well and faithfully perform perform the duties of the office that I'm about to enter.

I do. Congratulations. [applause] [applause]

Let's give one more round of applause to the newly inducted and sworn in city council. [applause] [applause] At this time, we'll have some comments by the newly elected mayor and council members. I will go first and be very brief. The opportunity to be the this city's next mayor is an incredible blessing for which I praise and thank God. I pray that I put him first in all things, but especially this. I'm immensely thankful to the residents for granting me this opportunity and this blessing. and it took the work of many many people to get to this place. First and foremost is of course my wife Joanna who is incredible in all things. It's only with her help that we were able to to do something like this. I want to thank also my children Ally, Maddie, Henry, Charlie, and Joey who are excited to be here, I think, but more excited about the day off of school that they got today. Thank also my father Tom who's here who instilled for me from a very young age the the need and desire to give back to a community and to love this country. I thank my mom who's now been gone for several years. Dad and I miss her deeply and so does my brother, but I know she's looking down. I want to thank Pastor David Cassidy and the folks at Spanish River Church who did lots along the way but especially prayed for this venture. I want to particularly thank my best friends, Alex Price and Jonathan Whitney, who are here today, who have been with me through all of this. I want to thank the team that helped get me elected. Cornerstone, chief among them, Nick, Alistister, Charmaine, Craig, Agnov, deserves special recognition, as do several others, including Christian, and

Michael. We had a team of volunteers that helped make this happen. Joe, Buffy, Mark, Richard, Martha, Dawn, many others. And if I if I if I skipped you, I'm sorry. I will am so very thankful for everything that you all did. I'm thankful for my law firm who allows me to give back to the community in this way and for uh our friends and neighbors who took the time out of their day to help give in some in many ways often. And it's without them this could not have happened. And I'm so very very thankful to the outgoing members of the city council, Mayor Singer and Fran and Mark. The three of them are incredibly smart and dedicated public servants. It has been a pleasure of mine to be able to work with them for the last couple of years and for Mayor Singer for several years longer than that. And the city is tangibly better thanks to the service that they performed in this role. And I think we all owe them a debt of gratitude. to my new colleagues, Michelle, John, Stacy, all of them likewise are talented and passionate about the city and love the city immensely. It was that love of the city that I know pushed you to step up and to seek leadership in this community and I very much look forward for the opportunity to work with you all. I'm excited for the opportunity that we all as a group have together. And there's lots of important work for us to tackle, including outlining a path for our city facilities and the proper dedication of Memorial Park, which we will do so immediately if it's up to me at our first meeting in a couple of weeks. But more than any one action item, I think though I also want to thank John Pearlman and Stacy Sipple who worked with me un with

their unwavering dedication every day to protect our park and public lands. Together we ca overcame many obstacles. I am humbled and grateful to the thousands of SEAB bokeh volunteers who stood in the heat and the rain, gathered signatures, knocked on doors and spoke up and most importantly voted. You are my hometown heroes. This historic election showed us something powerful that the people of Boca Raton truly care about our community and the character of our city. You didn't just show up, you stood together.

Just where I live. It's where my roots are. It's where memories were made. It's where values were learned. And it's where community once felt like family. And in this historic election, the residents of Boca Raton spoke clearly. They are ready for a change. Not just any change. More than prestige, more than appearances, I want it to be known for its heart, for its character, for the way it shows up, for its people, and how guests feel when visiting our city. Let me be clear why I'm here. I'm not here to climb. I'm not here to take the next step in a political journey. I'm here to serve as a steward of my hometown and its residents to protect what matters to listen when it counts and to help ensure that Boca Raton remains a place where f

that does how do we feel about taking a fiveminut break because while I'm so happy to see so many people here I don't anticipate that everyone's going to stay for the rest of our business and I want to respect that. You want to take a fiveminute break and then we can reconvene and handle the organizational matters. Does that work? Five minute break it is. We'll be back at 11:25. Thank you.

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Michelle, let me pause for a second just to say if you don't mind if you could just if that's a nomination that you would like to make, perhaps we could just rephrase it by saying that you'd like to nominate and I recognize you, Miss Sipple, you would nominate I would like to nominate Michelle Growl. Is there a second? I second that. Mr. I I second the motion. Wait a second. [applause] Any other nominations? Mr. Thompson. So, I just wanted to have a conversation before I move forward. By the way, for those of you that I was deputy mayor for Scottsanger, um I really would like to see Michelle Growl as a C. Those in favor, please say yes. Yes. Yes.

Congratulations, Mr. Pearlman. We have just a few ma matters of other business. We have the selection of the I park interlocal plan amendment review committee representative and alternate. We really need an alternate for that. [clears throat] Okay. Okay. Well, we I guess I'm told we need an alternate for that as well. So, it do we have any nominations for the I park representative? I was at one point the I park representative. I was in that role for a year. It never met. So, wait. [laughter] I don't know if that was a reflection on me. I don't think it was. Mayor Thompson. Yes, ma'am. They they they definitely are meeting now because of the master plan. The master transportation plan for the county has been tasked under that um I park.

All right. So, an increased role. So this is an exciting opportunity. Does anyone want to offer a nomination for that? Don't everybody speak at once. I would nominate Miss Sele and uh we need an alternate like you need an alternate and sometimes you could call into the meeting if you don't want to go um in person actually. So why don't we let's I agree on the alternate part. Why don't we start with the representative? Uh, Miss Sipple. Is this a role that you were willing to accept? Yes. Excellent. Do we hear a second for that? I'll second it. Sounds like a good idea. All those in favor of nominating Miss Sipple as the I park representative, please say yes.

Yes. Yes. All right. Congratulations, Miss Sipple. And now for the alternate.

I would nominate Mr. Pearlman. works for me. Is there a second for that? I second. Excellent. All those in favor of appointing Mr. Pearlman to be the alternate to our I park representative, please say yes. Yes. Yes. All right. Excellent.

Moving along, we now get to the League of Cities voting delegate and alternate. You all probably are familiar with the role of the Palm Beach County League of Cities is an important role. I will entertain any nominations for that voting delegate. I will nominate Miss Grow and I would like to continue to be the alternate I said on Florida League of Cities and National League of Cities and everyone could attend the meetings. Just Miss Grow would be the voting member and um I look forward to mentoring you guys so you could take over some of my roles when I start coming off the council. That works for me. I think I'll second that slate. Any other nominations for this role or alternate? If not, all in favor, please say yes. Yes. Yes.

All right. Congratulations to the two of you. Finally, we have the MOO, the Metropolitan Planning Organization Representative. We have two of them and alternates. Um though, as a chair, I'm not supposed to do the nominating. I do think it makes sense to have Miss Ducker continue in that role given her job as chair and a very important job. Uh but we need another representative beyond that. Do I hear any nominations? I would like to remain as an MO chair. So I'll second myself I think. And why don't we get a nomination first from someone and then we can and in addition to the other voting representative.

Yes. So we need two. So I'll self-nominate to be the NO chair. I'd like to nominate Michelle as well. Okay. And then my alternate I [clears throat] will do Sele. Yeah. It's probably worth clarifying. Miss Sipple, would you mind just telling us how because as somebody whose name is spelled or pronounced Simple. Simple. Got it. Okay. Very good. Glad we cleared that up. So the two nominations, just so we have clarity, myself and Michelle, and then you need an alternate, which the body typically appoints, but um who wants to be an alternate on the MO. Now recognizing that the chair will almost always be there, right? And then who is going to be the alter?

Unless I win the lottery. Yeah, possibly. Um, uh, yeah. So, we could have one. It has to be it has to be two because in the, in the past, we had all three of all the three remainder as alternates, but the charter changed last year. So, it has to be like Iette Ducker and whoever. And then it has to be Michelle Grout and whoever. It has to be two and two. Two and two. Correct. And we meet monthly and it's a live meeting in Palm Beach um, and West Palm Beach. Sorry. All right. Well, in that case, how do Mr. Pearlman, how does it sound to be one of the voting alternates for say for example Miss Grow? Sure. Accepted that. Do I hear a nomination in that form? Could I please second?

Okay. So the slate will read Iet Ducker, Stacy Sipple, and then Michelle Growl with Mr. Pearlman as the alternate. Everyone clear on that at staff? I think so. All in favor of that terrific slate, please say yes. Yes. Yes. All right. Yes, for me too. So, that concludes our business on the organizational items and the other business. I don't believe we have any other business before us. So, at this point, at uh 5 minutes to noon, I hereby conclude our organizational meeting. Thank you everybody.

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