Patience, Passion & Picking a Public Servant

On Monday, October 26th, Boca Raton’s City Council Members listened to a long list of applicants who were volunteering to be chosen for the seat vacated by Jeremy Rodger’s Military Leave of Absence. Thirty two individuals put their name on the list. Each were offered the opportunity to state the case why they should be picked.

The people who stepped forward were impressive. We truly do live in a wonderful city, as demonstrated by the level of excellence among the people who threw in their hats. Not only did they ante up an impressive level of credentials, the sincerity and eagerness in their voices made this author glad to be a resident of Boca Raton.

Some familiar faces were present. Among these were people who’ve served the City and/or run for office already. Among these were Jon Carter, Tamara McKee, and Nancy Jo Feinberg. The full list of applicants is below, linked to social media profiles where possible:

If there is no link to the applicant’s social media profile it was most likely because they did not represent Boca Raton as their place of residence on Facebook.

If you’re one of the applicants who didn’t get a profile linked, and would like your profile to be linked to, please post a link to your social media profile of choice in the comments below.

City Council Members stated, at the beginning of the process, before the prospect appointees spoke, that they did not want to appoint someone who would be running in the upcoming election, and asked of each member to state that they would not be running in the upcoming election. Nancy Jo Feinberg made a point of asserting how important she felt it is to only appoint someone who is not running in the upcoming election, for the sake of fairness.

Amanda “Mandy” Rodgers was among the applicants. She reminded council members how there were no other applicants who could represent her husband, Jeremy, more in his absence. She also stood out as an applicant who admitted to watching City Council meetings most often.

Conspicuously absent was the only candidate who ran last election, Bernard Korn. Yvette Drucker admitted she will be running in the next election, the criteria that council members stated would result in an appointee being less than ideal. In spite of that she had a good opportunity to introduce herself to listeners. Council Member Andy Thompson asked her to commit to not running in the upcoming election if appointed, however that did not dissuade Candidate Drucker from withdrawing from being considered. She made it clear, whether appointed or not, she would be running for Seat C.

Lots of residents voiced concerns about traffic and the growing demand for Boca Raton as a place to live. Second to this concern was how the city was going to repair the economic damage caused by the response to the coronavirus pandemic. One participant, Mr. Montoya, credited Mayor Singer for getting him to move to Boca Raton through a social media post Mayor Singer shared. The post made him excited about the new train station and schools, and made him decide Boca was the place he wanted to move his family to. As this author has pointed out before, Mayor Singer is a great salesperson, our spokesperson who represents our City very well, helping increase the demand for, and therefore the value of Boca Raton homes.

Overall, this was a very cool opportunity for residents and neighbors to learn about the thirty two people who stepped forward. If you want to hear their voices, reasons for wanting to be considered, and their concerns about Boca Raton, you can listen to them through the City’s website by watching the meeting or listening to the audio (without video).

UPDATE POST DECISION:
It’s obvious the 3 members of City Council somehow had their minds “made up” outside the public eye before the Council meetings. It’s questionable whether this is appropriate, or legal, given Florida’s Sunshine Law. Even though they made everyone else vow not to run, their pick, Yvette Drucker refused to say she wouldn’t run if appointed. And lo and behold she was picked. It’s no surprise. Even Randy Schultz of BocaMag couldn’t stop himself from mentioning how appointing someone to the seat who was in the March race would give an unfair advantage to the the candidate. I’ve heard people describe their choice to be like laughing in the faces of residents. I’ve also heard it referred to as “narcissistic arrogance typical of today’s politicians”. I can’t say much to disagree with them. It’s highly disappointing to see such favoritism flaunted and Councilman Rodger’s sentiment ignored. Why is he even putting his life on the line overseas if this is what he’s protecting? What have we become?