February 7, 2025 • 20 mins
Turkin is the incumbent in Boynton Beach's District 3 seat and is running for re-election.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Joel Malcolm for wjn O dot com and with
(00:03):
my election spotlight on the city of Boynton Beach. You
have a couple of races there. In District one, there's
no race because Angela Cruz, the incumbent there, ran unopposed
for her second three year term, and there are two
three year terms. Those are the those are the term
limits there in Boyton Beach. There is a mayoral race
as well, and that's busy after ty Penn Serga's termed out.
(00:26):
You've got four candidates in that one and right now
we're focusing on the the race for Commission District three
and the incumbent, Thomas Turkin being challenged by Dominic Vargas,
Thomas looking for his second term.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hey, thanks for having me, Joel. I hope you got
a cup of hot coffee and the jacket.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Arg Yeah, there you go. Well, I'm indoors so I
did have.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Actually, and we are speaking on January twenty fourth, Friday mornings.
For folks if they listened to this much later and
they wait, when was that? It was the morning when
one of the mornings that we had temperature in the
forties and I live in Martin County, so it was
even a little cooler there, and a little bit further
to the west too, so you can imagine I had
two jackets. I had a hoodie because it's got the
(01:10):
hood and then I have my Levi's denim jacket that
I picked up recently on a trip to Jacksonville. You
can't find too many of them here, but this year
I've been needing them this winter, so that's good. I
didn't waste my money. Anyway, Enough about me and the
cole let's talk about Thomas Turkin. Give us some for
folks that maybe are new to Boytant Beach or just
haven't been politically inclined, and maybe they're trying to get inclined.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
They want to know about the candidates.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Tell us about your background, and then we could talk
about some of your some of your accomplishments.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Sure, thanks Bill, Thanks for having me on again. It's
always nice to be on here. So a little bit
about me. Originally from Georgia, I moved down here in
about twenty twelve. You know. As far as my professional experience,
I managed their maring clinics, you know, for the last
ten years or so. Off I than you know, multimillion
(02:01):
dollars brodjects overseeing you know, teams from anywhere from twenty
to a portfolio of one hundred and fifty individuals also
in the military as well as a reservist. And then
your current commissioner for District three. Boytant Beakers.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
All right, let's talk about you know, you've served a
three year term term limit, so this would be your
your your second term, should you defend off your opponent?
What you know, what are some of the things you'd
like to hang your hat on from the first three years.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, you know, there's there's a lot, so we'll try
to run through them all. I think I've forgotten a couple.
But you know, you know, first and foremost, you know,
a lot of the campaign promises I made last go around,
we delivered on right. And the big thing is public safety.
And for the first time in our city's hisstory and
happy announce we had a fully staffed police department. You know.
We also, I think last time I was on the Schoedule,
(02:56):
we we talked about the largest fantannel bus that we
had in the city history. I think the county too,
if I'm not mistaken. And that was forty four pounds
or forty four kilos I don't remember off the top
of my head worth a fentanyl taking off the streets.
And we you know, we reduce traffic acidents, you know,
like twenty percent in District three reduction and violent crime.
(03:17):
We've implemented city wide and district wide profit comming measures
to mitigate the speeding. We have a beautification team as
well that we lost the last October to just identify
iores in the city, you know, tackle on that low
hanging through correcting you know, signs, trading them, training those out,
(03:39):
pressure washing, you know, picking up that ss press along
our corridors throughout the city. In District three, we regulated
short term rentals and gave the city a little bit
more death to hold bad actors accountable. We lowered the
tax militar rate. As you know, we can't really control
the market. And so when you have and in bus,
(04:01):
you know, and property value, you know, attax rate will increase.
But we have mitigated that by lowing the military advocated
to block the fire assessment. Was able to do that
the first few years, and then my colleagues decided to
vote for an increase on the fire assessment which I
voted know on. You know, we've really focused on hiring
(04:21):
veterans and local leadership throughout the city. We instilled a
additional home homestead tax exemption for seniors as well, so
if they meet certain stipulations and being a primary resident
with this city over a certain span of time, they
are entitled to an additional homestead extemption. Sorry. In addition
(04:46):
to that, we've paved multiple roads throughout the district and citywide. Right,
you know, we always want to focus on our district,
and we're elected by a district, but we're a team.
You want to focus on all the residents of Boyton
Beach and make sure that we were collaborately to you know,
represent not just Staste of three, but the city as
a whole. We created a new dog park that was
(05:08):
a big thing that people wanted last day around. So
we created a dog park over in District three as
well on a federal highway. And then, you know, one
of the big things I heard last time was was
traffick and development, right, and so I was able to
pat push forward some policy that reduced this density from
(05:30):
one hundred units in acre to sixty inns an acre
as a cap and then one hundred and fifty feet
of building high reduced to eighty five, which is over
forty percent. And that was one thing that was very
important to distantly residents because of the rapid development going on.
We didn't want to become a Fort Lauderdale or Miami
(05:50):
or West Bombee. We want to say again.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I was just agreeing with you.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So I hear that on every you know, most most
of our Palm Beach County municipalities. We hear that all
the time.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, and so you know that that's one of the
things we have to get creative about and how we
can mitigate that.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
You know, there's a lot of legislation at the state level,
you know that allows developers to kind of supersede that.
And so you know, happy that we were able to
get some of these done things done before we were
superseded by the legislation. One of you know, another big
thing is the old Homing Inn which is all federal,
you know, and my leadership that lose that was sold
(06:32):
through a nuisance abatement program and now they've invested I
think five or six million dollars maybe more into rehabilitating
that site and creating a boat tea higher end hotel.
I think their average rates with three hundred three hundred
dollars a night and for the first year, I think
this year, we haven't had any shootings and we've seen
(06:54):
a huge reduction I think and maybe one hundred percent
decrease in crime over there because of that that investment
into that site. And I'm sure you know that that
used to be a huge epicenter for crying over at
the old High homing in. The other thing is we
brought back Pirate Fest. You know, when we came in
(07:15):
as a new body, that was flated out of the budget.
So we were able to incorporate that into the city's
budget and continue that our downtown Amphitheater area. You know,
we do I think roughly between forty to fifty events
a year there and you know, I've really created and
here for people to visit downtown Boyton and so you
(07:36):
know a lot of families and residents of District three
really enjoy that. We you know, we saved Harvey Oil Park.
We instilled they are such a decovenant in there to
make sure that that that boat ramp stays a boat
ramped in perpetuity and could not be sold to a developer,
you know, without unanimous without unanimous support and let loan
(08:00):
you know, having that restricted decoveant would be we need
to be lifted from that. And you know, we've had
as far as economic development goes, nine hundred new businesses
in the city over the last of the years roughly
and almost one billing and I think we're at nine
hundred and twenty nine hundred and forty hundred dollars worth
of private investment into the city. We also instilled developer
(08:24):
impact fees to make sure that you know, the residents
aren't paying for the growth in the city and that
you know everyone's paying their fair share. We have the
Point and Beeach Circuit, which you know provides a lower
task translivitation for around the cra district. And then you know,
it looks like the malls back on the market now.
(08:45):
I know last time I spoke about you know, having
a recreational you know, mixed news site there. I don't
think anyone wants to see hundreds of thousands of apartments
still there. We need to make that an anchor for
the city and something to really active activate West of
ninety five.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Has there been a decision on exactly what that's going
to become.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Uh, you know, I've called for multiple public threats whenever
that field goes under contract. You know, there's multiple stakeholders.
It's complicated, but the city has instilled, you know, certain
measurements to you know, hold that the property owners accountable.
You know, there's a lot of code issues there and
so now they're they're under contract or on the market,
(09:30):
I believe, and you know, once and once, once those
things start rolling, I hope to have a community threts,
public input meetings between you know, the purchasers, the city,
and of course more importantly the public so we can
get that organic feedback of what the people really want
to see there.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So we don't know yet as far as that that's
been that, but that's been that. That that precedes your
your run three years ago, I mean by far.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah, that's been ongoing at for the last decade, maybe longer.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah, it's been it's been a while, and last time
I was at that mall, it's been a while, but
I know the mall is still quote unquote open. I
put that in quotes because there's a lot of stuff
that wasn't last time I was there. I can't imagine
it got better. Right, of course, the movie theaters there
and they're open, and I'm sure they do decent business.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
With the movie business. Coming back somewhat after COVID.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I'm going to read you something off of your opponent's website,
and I want you to tell me if this is true.
Quote trust in our city is at an all time low,
and we need leadership focused on restoring integrity and accountability.
This is about transparency that he is questioning is trust
in it's in our city hall. It says trust in
(10:48):
our city hall is at an all time low.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Is that is that true?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
I don't see any data. I don't see any spurvey.
I think that's just semantics and inside ball that's being
you know, utilize, try to splay public opinion. You know,
when I talked to the voters a District three, you
know what I hear is we've never had so much
response from a commissioner or a city executive staff like
(11:15):
we've seen. Our city manager actually lived in the city.
You know, I don't know the last time Boyant Beach
had a city manager that lived in the city and
that has served in the city. And so you know,
we've also conducted. I think a record amount of town
halls between you know, all the districts, not just District three,
and so when you talk about transparency, communication and results,
(11:35):
I think it's quite the opposite. I think what we
see is, you know, things are getting done right. The
town Square deal has been resolved. You know, that project
was a little bit denser than my liking. I did
not support it, but you know, the city's out of
that litigation where you know, it was a horrible, horrible deal.
And you know, when I talk to people outside of
(11:57):
the city in the county, you know, a lot of
people like what's going on in Boyden. They see the progress,
they see the change. The city's moving in the right direction,
you know, especially in the east side. You know, we're
seeing more patrol, We're seeing more you know, friendliness, and
you know we I think there's more communication than ever
between the you know, the folks in the city and
(12:19):
and city Hall.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Speaking of your opponent, there was an incident, it was reported.
I want to give you an opportunity to address these
kinds of things. So that's why I'm bringing them up
where I guess uh you were on video potentially grabbing
uh your opponent's phone apparently had some sort of an incident,
refusing to give it back for a time.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
You know, would you like to explain what was going
on there?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Told that's ongoing, So I don't want to, Uh, I
don't want to comment on that right now, all.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Right, And I'll bring up the other one. And you
was I guess it was last year where you know,
you were apparently on the scene where a friend had
gotten pulled over may or may not have been a
DUI didn't get she didn't get arrested. There had been
accusations out there that you may have had something to
do with that. I know that internal affairs I believe
(13:17):
cleared the officers involved, So I wanted to give you
an opportunity to address that as well.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Yeah, so that was actually two years ago. The media
is obviously spinning that that came. You know, that's been
politicized quite heavily right before the qualifying period, and what
we're seeing here is just malicious media, you know, targeting myself.
I was fully exonerated from that, and you know it's
(13:43):
just being politicized.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Okay, So no no wrongdoing on you. You didn't say, hey,
you know, this is a friend of mine. Don't don't
arrest her or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
I was fully cleared.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Okay, you went over several of the A comp PSH.
How many of those did you know? Did you bring
to the diis yourself?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Oh gosh, let me go. All right? So the heighth limitation,
that was something I brought forward. Uh, preserving the Harvey
Oil Park. I brought that forward. Leading the initiative of
public safety and reducing traffic and violent crime. I brought
that forward. The traffic calming measures, I brought that forward.
Regulating short term Reynolds rentals, I brought that forward. You know,
(14:30):
I've always been, you know, an advocate of boring the
tax military. I really wanted to slash it the first year.
I didn't get support for that, but again that's the
collective decision.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Was it slashed and it wasn't slashed the first year,
But obviously I guess you said the second was it
slashed again or was it just slashed the ones?
Speaker 3 (14:49):
It was to two out of the three years we
lowered the military.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
And then I know you talked about the point meech
mall and and what the next possible steps are there?
What are what is another key thing? Uh, if re
elected that you know you really want to make happen
or improve in the city of Boynton Beach over the
next three years.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
In addition to the mall or you.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, yeah, I mentioned I know you we were talking
about the mall.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
But what what other what other are what other issues
are there that you you'd like to get done.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Yeah. So one of the big things that I've advocated
for and I'm going to continue advocating for, is abolishing
the red light cameras. Right.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Let me let me because people might be listening and
they are not aware, I believe, and correct me if
I'm wrong.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Boynton Beach right now is the.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Only city in the county, possibly I don't think the state,
but definitely in Palm Beach County the only city that
is actually using them and finding people correct, that is correct.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Boyton Beach is the only city in Palm Beache County
utilizing the red light cameras. It is not the only
sit in the state of Florida. There's probably there's a
there's a good bit throughout the state. But yes, we
are the only ones in Palm Beach County and I
am going to push to abolish those.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yes, and what is your main what is your main
reason for that?
Speaker 3 (16:19):
You know, again, I think we kind of just ASCEEPPI
that we're the only city in the county that utilizes it.
You know, I understand the mechanism, I understand the why
behind it, but I think, you know, I think a
lot of times there's there's errors with that, and those
can be disputed. But you know, I I just I've
gotten a lot of feedback from residents, and you know,
(16:41):
it's not necessarily about what I want, It's what the
constituency wants, you know, and they don't agree with the
red light cameras, and so you know, I'm going to
deliver on that. The other thing, you know, we want
to focus on too, I think from an economic standpoint,
is really activating our waterfront. Looking at our waterfront, you know,
making sure that we're preserving the main grow first and foremost.
And you know we can we can double down on
(17:04):
boy between a coastal city and giving people a reason
to get off ninety five. And you know, I think
when we look at you know, Voydant, historically it's always
been a fishing town, and you know that was one
of the big reasons I advocated for Harvey Er uh,
you know boat ramp and keeping that park and perpetuities
to you know, really double down on our fishing tourism
(17:26):
and allow those charter captains proceed, you know, recreational boat
uh commercial boat captains to utilize that space, and then
you know, activate our waterfront and have the city you know,
take a look at what what can we do, you know,
to really implement change along there. You know that could
invite you know, eco tourism.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
You referenced the we're getting ready to wrap up, but
you referenced the police department early on and uh, there
were some issues between the community and the police department.
And I know there's been a lot of change changed
with the leadership and whatnot with the police department.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
How are things going right now.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Between the community in your opinion as a member of
city Hall, between the police department and the community.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
I think I think it's good. I think we're doing
I think I think under the new leadership, there's been
a lot of events added. You know, one of those
being the cookout with the cops that sergeant's shock had spearheaded.
You know, that was actually televised a few weeks ago.
And and that's that's one of those events that's great
where you know, the police department comes out to the community,
(18:33):
you know, and spend time with community, play sports, you know,
have a cookout and just you know, talk about things
that everyone can relate, relate to, you know, as far
as you know our constituency, you know, in the city
as a whole. You know, I am getting reports that
people are seeing more police presence, and you know, we're
we're we're we're definitely cracking down, all right.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
And then finally you're running, as I said, you're for
a second and final term based on the based on
the term limits. What what is the main reason why
should folks essentially vote for you over your opponent in
a nutshell?
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Yeah, So I got the spirit, I got the experience.
You know, I've been I've been on the job for
the last three years, and I kept my work. You know,
almost every single thing that residents and voters brought before
me last time, I got it done right. We wanted
there was an issue with the development and the density
in the height. You know, we we tackled that, there
(19:33):
was an issue with you know, police presidence. You know,
we tackled that there was an issue with speeding, you know,
we instilled those traffic coming measures. We tackled that. You know,
there's an issue with short term rentals. We tackled that.
So the most important thing is this is you know,
I I'm not a typical politician and I'm not here,
(19:54):
you know, to build a build a political career. I'm
here because you know, I want I want to see
my neighborhood get better. You know, I've kept my word
and I will continue to keep my word. And I
have the proven track record that shows.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
That all right, District three, incumbent Commissioner Thomas Turkin, these
races open for folks living in those specific districts. We
appreciate you calling in speaking to us here on WJ
and O.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Thank you, Thanks Jo, I appreciate you
Hey, Joel Malcolm for wjn O dot com and with
(00:03):
my election spotlight on the city of Boynton Beach. You
have a couple of races there. In District one, there's
no race because Angela Cruz, the incumbent there, ran unopposed
for her second three year term, and there are two
three year terms. Those are the those are the term
limits there in Boyton Beach. There is a mayoral race
as well, and that's busy after ty Penn Serga's termed out.
(00:26):
You've got four candidates in that one and right now
we're focusing on the the race for Commission District three
and the incumbent, Thomas Turkin being challenged by Dominic Vargas,
Thomas looking for his second term.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hey, thanks for having me, Joel. I hope you got
a cup of hot coffee and the jacket.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Arg Yeah, there you go. Well, I'm indoors so I
did have.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Actually, and we are speaking on January twenty fourth, Friday mornings.
For folks if they listened to this much later and
they wait, when was that? It was the morning when
one of the mornings that we had temperature in the
forties and I live in Martin County, so it was
even a little cooler there, and a little bit further
to the west too, so you can imagine I had
two jackets. I had a hoodie because it's got the
(01:10):
hood and then I have my Levi's denim jacket that
I picked up recently on a trip to Jacksonville. You
can't find too many of them here, but this year
I've been needing them this winter, so that's good. I
didn't waste my money. Anyway, Enough about me and the
cole let's talk about Thomas Turkin. Give us some for
folks that maybe are new to Boytant Beach or just
haven't been politically inclined, and maybe they're trying to get inclined.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
They want to know about the candidates.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Tell us about your background, and then we could talk
about some of your some of your accomplishments.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Sure, thanks Bill, Thanks for having me on again. It's
always nice to be on here. So a little bit
about me. Originally from Georgia, I moved down here in
about twenty twelve. You know. As far as my professional experience,
I managed their maring clinics, you know, for the last
ten years or so. Off I than you know, multimillion
(02:01):
dollars brodjects overseeing you know, teams from anywhere from twenty
to a portfolio of one hundred and fifty individuals also
in the military as well as a reservist. And then
your current commissioner for District three. Boytant Beakers.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
All right, let's talk about you know, you've served a
three year term term limit, so this would be your
your your second term, should you defend off your opponent?
What you know, what are some of the things you'd
like to hang your hat on from the first three years.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, you know, there's there's a lot, so we'll try
to run through them all. I think I've forgotten a couple.
But you know, you know, first and foremost, you know,
a lot of the campaign promises I made last go around,
we delivered on right. And the big thing is public safety.
And for the first time in our city's hisstory and
happy announce we had a fully staffed police department. You know.
We also, I think last time I was on the Schoedule,
(02:56):
we we talked about the largest fantannel bus that we
had in the city history. I think the county too,
if I'm not mistaken. And that was forty four pounds
or forty four kilos I don't remember off the top
of my head worth a fentanyl taking off the streets.
And we you know, we reduce traffic acidents, you know,
like twenty percent in District three reduction and violent crime.
(03:17):
We've implemented city wide and district wide profit comming measures
to mitigate the speeding. We have a beautification team as
well that we lost the last October to just identify
iores in the city, you know, tackle on that low
hanging through correcting you know, signs, trading them, training those out,
(03:39):
pressure washing, you know, picking up that ss press along
our corridors throughout the city. In District three, we regulated
short term rentals and gave the city a little bit
more death to hold bad actors accountable. We lowered the
tax militar rate. As you know, we can't really control
the market. And so when you have and in bus,
(04:01):
you know, and property value, you know, attax rate will increase.
But we have mitigated that by lowing the military advocated
to block the fire assessment. Was able to do that
the first few years, and then my colleagues decided to
vote for an increase on the fire assessment which I
voted know on. You know, we've really focused on hiring
(04:21):
veterans and local leadership throughout the city. We instilled a
additional home homestead tax exemption for seniors as well, so
if they meet certain stipulations and being a primary resident
with this city over a certain span of time, they
are entitled to an additional homestead extemption. Sorry. In addition
(04:46):
to that, we've paved multiple roads throughout the district and citywide. Right,
you know, we always want to focus on our district,
and we're elected by a district, but we're a team.
You want to focus on all the residents of Boyton
Beach and make sure that we were collaborately to you know,
represent not just Staste of three, but the city as
a whole. We created a new dog park that was
(05:08):
a big thing that people wanted last day around. So
we created a dog park over in District three as
well on a federal highway. And then, you know, one
of the big things I heard last time was was
traffick and development, right, and so I was able to
pat push forward some policy that reduced this density from
(05:30):
one hundred units in acre to sixty inns an acre
as a cap and then one hundred and fifty feet
of building high reduced to eighty five, which is over
forty percent. And that was one thing that was very
important to distantly residents because of the rapid development going on.
We didn't want to become a Fort Lauderdale or Miami
(05:50):
or West Bombee. We want to say again.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I was just agreeing with you.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So I hear that on every you know, most most
of our Palm Beach County municipalities. We hear that all
the time.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, and so you know that that's one of the
things we have to get creative about and how we
can mitigate that.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
You know, there's a lot of legislation at the state level,
you know that allows developers to kind of supersede that.
And so you know, happy that we were able to
get some of these done things done before we were
superseded by the legislation. One of you know, another big
thing is the old Homing Inn which is all federal,
you know, and my leadership that lose that was sold
(06:32):
through a nuisance abatement program and now they've invested I
think five or six million dollars maybe more into rehabilitating
that site and creating a boat tea higher end hotel.
I think their average rates with three hundred three hundred
dollars a night and for the first year, I think
this year, we haven't had any shootings and we've seen
(06:54):
a huge reduction I think and maybe one hundred percent
decrease in crime over there because of that that investment
into that site. And I'm sure you know that that
used to be a huge epicenter for crying over at
the old High homing in. The other thing is we
brought back Pirate Fest. You know, when we came in
(07:15):
as a new body, that was flated out of the budget.
So we were able to incorporate that into the city's
budget and continue that our downtown Amphitheater area. You know,
we do I think roughly between forty to fifty events
a year there and you know, I've really created and
here for people to visit downtown Boyton and so you
(07:36):
know a lot of families and residents of District three
really enjoy that. We you know, we saved Harvey Oil Park.
We instilled they are such a decovenant in there to
make sure that that that boat ramp stays a boat
ramped in perpetuity and could not be sold to a developer,
you know, without unanimous without unanimous support and let loan
(08:00):
you know, having that restricted decoveant would be we need
to be lifted from that. And you know, we've had
as far as economic development goes, nine hundred new businesses
in the city over the last of the years roughly
and almost one billing and I think we're at nine
hundred and twenty nine hundred and forty hundred dollars worth
of private investment into the city. We also instilled developer
(08:24):
impact fees to make sure that you know, the residents
aren't paying for the growth in the city and that
you know everyone's paying their fair share. We have the
Point and Beeach Circuit, which you know provides a lower
task translivitation for around the cra district. And then you know,
it looks like the malls back on the market now.
(08:45):
I know last time I spoke about you know, having
a recreational you know, mixed news site there. I don't
think anyone wants to see hundreds of thousands of apartments
still there. We need to make that an anchor for
the city and something to really active activate West of
ninety five.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Has there been a decision on exactly what that's going
to become.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Uh, you know, I've called for multiple public threats whenever
that field goes under contract. You know, there's multiple stakeholders.
It's complicated, but the city has instilled, you know, certain
measurements to you know, hold that the property owners accountable.
You know, there's a lot of code issues there and
so now they're they're under contract or on the market,
(09:30):
I believe, and you know, once and once, once those
things start rolling, I hope to have a community threts,
public input meetings between you know, the purchasers, the city,
and of course more importantly the public so we can
get that organic feedback of what the people really want
to see there.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So we don't know yet as far as that that's
been that, but that's been that. That that precedes your
your run three years ago, I mean by far.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah, that's been ongoing at for the last decade, maybe longer.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah, it's been it's been a while, and last time
I was at that mall, it's been a while, but
I know the mall is still quote unquote open. I
put that in quotes because there's a lot of stuff
that wasn't last time I was there. I can't imagine
it got better. Right, of course, the movie theaters there
and they're open, and I'm sure they do decent business.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
With the movie business. Coming back somewhat after COVID.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I'm going to read you something off of your opponent's website,
and I want you to tell me if this is true.
Quote trust in our city is at an all time low,
and we need leadership focused on restoring integrity and accountability.
This is about transparency that he is questioning is trust
in it's in our city hall. It says trust in
(10:48):
our city hall is at an all time low.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Is that is that true?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
I don't see any data. I don't see any spurvey.
I think that's just semantics and inside ball that's being
you know, utilize, try to splay public opinion. You know,
when I talked to the voters a District three, you
know what I hear is we've never had so much
response from a commissioner or a city executive staff like
(11:15):
we've seen. Our city manager actually lived in the city.
You know, I don't know the last time Boyant Beach
had a city manager that lived in the city and
that has served in the city. And so you know,
we've also conducted. I think a record amount of town
halls between you know, all the districts, not just District three,
and so when you talk about transparency, communication and results,
(11:35):
I think it's quite the opposite. I think what we
see is, you know, things are getting done right. The
town Square deal has been resolved. You know, that project
was a little bit denser than my liking. I did
not support it, but you know, the city's out of
that litigation where you know, it was a horrible, horrible deal.
And you know, when I talk to people outside of
(11:57):
the city in the county, you know, a lot of
people like what's going on in Boyden. They see the progress,
they see the change. The city's moving in the right direction,
you know, especially in the east side. You know, we're
seeing more patrol, We're seeing more you know, friendliness, and
you know we I think there's more communication than ever
between the you know, the folks in the city and
(12:19):
and city Hall.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Speaking of your opponent, there was an incident, it was reported.
I want to give you an opportunity to address these
kinds of things. So that's why I'm bringing them up
where I guess uh you were on video potentially grabbing
uh your opponent's phone apparently had some sort of an incident,
refusing to give it back for a time.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
You know, would you like to explain what was going
on there?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Told that's ongoing, So I don't want to, Uh, I
don't want to comment on that right now, all.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Right, And I'll bring up the other one. And you
was I guess it was last year where you know,
you were apparently on the scene where a friend had
gotten pulled over may or may not have been a
DUI didn't get she didn't get arrested. There had been
accusations out there that you may have had something to
do with that. I know that internal affairs I believe
(13:17):
cleared the officers involved, So I wanted to give you
an opportunity to address that as well.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Yeah, so that was actually two years ago. The media
is obviously spinning that that came. You know, that's been
politicized quite heavily right before the qualifying period, and what
we're seeing here is just malicious media, you know, targeting myself.
I was fully exonerated from that, and you know it's
(13:43):
just being politicized.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Okay, So no no wrongdoing on you. You didn't say, hey,
you know, this is a friend of mine. Don't don't
arrest her or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
I was fully cleared.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Okay, you went over several of the A comp PSH.
How many of those did you know? Did you bring
to the diis yourself?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Oh gosh, let me go. All right? So the heighth limitation,
that was something I brought forward. Uh, preserving the Harvey
Oil Park. I brought that forward. Leading the initiative of
public safety and reducing traffic and violent crime. I brought
that forward. The traffic calming measures, I brought that forward.
Regulating short term Reynolds rentals, I brought that forward. You know,
(14:30):
I've always been, you know, an advocate of boring the
tax military. I really wanted to slash it the first year.
I didn't get support for that, but again that's the
collective decision.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Was it slashed and it wasn't slashed the first year,
But obviously I guess you said the second was it
slashed again or was it just slashed the ones?
Speaker 3 (14:49):
It was to two out of the three years we
lowered the military.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
And then I know you talked about the point meech
mall and and what the next possible steps are there?
What are what is another key thing? Uh, if re
elected that you know you really want to make happen
or improve in the city of Boynton Beach over the
next three years.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
In addition to the mall or you.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, yeah, I mentioned I know you we were talking
about the mall.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
But what what other what other are what other issues
are there that you you'd like to get done.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Yeah. So one of the big things that I've advocated
for and I'm going to continue advocating for, is abolishing
the red light cameras. Right.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Let me let me because people might be listening and
they are not aware, I believe, and correct me if
I'm wrong.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Boynton Beach right now is the.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Only city in the county, possibly I don't think the state,
but definitely in Palm Beach County the only city that
is actually using them and finding people correct, that is correct.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Boyton Beach is the only city in Palm Beache County
utilizing the red light cameras. It is not the only
sit in the state of Florida. There's probably there's a
there's a good bit throughout the state. But yes, we
are the only ones in Palm Beach County and I
am going to push to abolish those.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yes, and what is your main what is your main
reason for that?
Speaker 3 (16:19):
You know, again, I think we kind of just ASCEEPPI
that we're the only city in the county that utilizes it.
You know, I understand the mechanism, I understand the why
behind it, but I think, you know, I think a
lot of times there's there's errors with that, and those
can be disputed. But you know, I I just I've
gotten a lot of feedback from residents, and you know,
(16:41):
it's not necessarily about what I want, It's what the
constituency wants, you know, and they don't agree with the
red light cameras, and so you know, I'm going to
deliver on that. The other thing, you know, we want
to focus on too, I think from an economic standpoint,
is really activating our waterfront. Looking at our waterfront, you know,
making sure that we're preserving the main grow first and foremost.
And you know we can we can double down on
(17:04):
boy between a coastal city and giving people a reason
to get off ninety five. And you know, I think
when we look at you know, Voydant, historically it's always
been a fishing town, and you know that was one
of the big reasons I advocated for Harvey Er uh,
you know boat ramp and keeping that park and perpetuities
to you know, really double down on our fishing tourism
(17:26):
and allow those charter captains proceed, you know, recreational boat
uh commercial boat captains to utilize that space, and then
you know, activate our waterfront and have the city you know,
take a look at what what can we do, you know,
to really implement change along there. You know that could
invite you know, eco tourism.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
You referenced the we're getting ready to wrap up, but
you referenced the police department early on and uh, there
were some issues between the community and the police department.
And I know there's been a lot of change changed
with the leadership and whatnot with the police department.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
How are things going right now.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Between the community in your opinion as a member of
city Hall, between the police department and the community.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
I think I think it's good. I think we're doing
I think I think under the new leadership, there's been
a lot of events added. You know, one of those
being the cookout with the cops that sergeant's shock had spearheaded.
You know, that was actually televised a few weeks ago.
And and that's that's one of those events that's great
where you know, the police department comes out to the community,
(18:33):
you know, and spend time with community, play sports, you know,
have a cookout and just you know, talk about things
that everyone can relate, relate to, you know, as far
as you know our constituency, you know, in the city
as a whole. You know, I am getting reports that
people are seeing more police presence, and you know, we're
we're we're we're definitely cracking down, all right.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
And then finally you're running, as I said, you're for
a second and final term based on the based on
the term limits. What what is the main reason why
should folks essentially vote for you over your opponent in
a nutshell?
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Yeah, So I got the spirit, I got the experience.
You know, I've been I've been on the job for
the last three years, and I kept my work. You know,
almost every single thing that residents and voters brought before
me last time, I got it done right. We wanted
there was an issue with the development and the density
in the height. You know, we we tackled that, there
(19:33):
was an issue with you know, police presidence. You know,
we tackled that there was an issue with speeding, you know,
we instilled those traffic coming measures. We tackled that. You know,
there's an issue with short term rentals. We tackled that.
So the most important thing is this is you know,
I I'm not a typical politician and I'm not here,
(19:54):
you know, to build a build a political career. I'm
here because you know, I want I want to see
my neighborhood get better. You know, I've kept my word
and I will continue to keep my word. And I
have the proven track record that shows.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
That all right, District three, incumbent Commissioner Thomas Turkin, these
races open for folks living in those specific districts. We
appreciate you calling in speaking to us here on WJ
and O.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Thank you, Thanks Jo, I appreciate you
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