In December 2022, the Boca Raton city council voted to extend their terms and future terms in office from three to four years. Three of the five voted in favor of this power grab. Boca residents will vote on this city charter amendment on March 14, 2023. This one issue on the ballot will cost Boca residents 255,000 dollars.
Donald Trump was president of the United States four years ago, and COVID didn’t exist. If someone told you that people would be staying inside, afraid of catching the plague, wearing masks, and hoarding toilet paper, you would think they were telling you about a dystopian novel. That was in 2019. In 2020, our world changed. In 2021, we had President Joe Biden. Within two years, everything changed from our economy to our culture to how we view someone just coughing. We live in a world where eggs are a luxury item, and you can’t use the word “field” without being called a racist.
How can anyone say that four years isn’t a long time?
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The current council is gaslighting the residents by saying they’re not making this decision; the voters are. The voters did not vote to have a change to the city charter on the next ballot. The city council made that decision for them.
Congress has elections every two years. Why? Accountability. You’re giving voters the right to choose whom they want in office. You’re empowering the people. The only ones who benefit from longer terms are the politicians, not you.
Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer and his Dem Allies Should Cancel Self-Serving March Election
Councilwoman Mayotte said she was “taken aback” at first by the suggestion of longer terms, but she feels the learning curve takes a year and a half. Please don’t fall for it. Two years is acceptable for Congress and the Florida legislature. The Boca Council people already have three years.
Councilwoman Drucker agrees about the learning curve and claims to have also been “caught off guard” by the term extension idea. Then she said something about the nonpartisan aspect of her position and not wanting to run when there’s a presidential election. She believes in people over politics and says that’s the way she’s governed for two years. It sounded like someone who could be scared to run in a Republican climate in the future.
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Councilwoman O’Rourke voted against this. She had gotten quite a few emails, all negative. O’Rourke is the only one on the council who will not be affected personally by this vote. She feels that six years is enough time to be in office.
During public comment, someone said that the issue isn’t about the people currently in office. It has nothing to do with the job they’re doing. It’s about the years after these people are out. Who knows who will be in and how good they will be?
Councilwoman Nachlas voted against the term extension. She didn’t want to vote yes on something that would personally benefit her. She also had gotten multiple emails in opposition. It couldn’t have been easy to vote against something the mayor wanted during her first meeting on the council. She did the right thing.
The oddest point came at the end of the meeting. Boca doesn’t have term limits for city board positions. O’Rourke feels this needs to be discussed because some people in Boca have served on these local boards for 20, 30, and 40 years. The natural thing for the council to do is reappoint these people when city boards could benefit from some new blood. Other cities do term limit these positions. Singer doesn’t feel this is necessary, but O’Rourke’s reason to term limits these seats is why longer terms aren’t suitable for Boca either. Sometimes when people are in office for longer than they should be, they don’t see how things as they are but as they used to be. That’s when it’s time for new blood.
Boca residents, this isn’t a little thing. Don’t let this happen. You must vote in March and send the message that we, the people, have the power.
Call and email the Boca Raton Gang of Three and let them know your thoughts.
Mayor Scott Singer
Phone: 561-393-7708
City Council Member Yvette Drucker
Phone: 561-393-7708
City Council Member & CRA Chair Monica Mayotte
Phone: 561-393-7708
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