February 7, 2025 • 18 mins
Shelton is running for the open Mayoral seat in Boynton Beach.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Joel Malcolfour WJNO dot com. My election spotlight on
the city of Boynton Beach. There are two active races
on your ballot if you live in Boynton Beach, the
mayoral race among them, and there are four candidates there.
This is an open seat with outgoing Mayor ty Penserga
being termed out, and we have one of the four
(00:22):
candidates on that ballot, Rebecca Shelton, joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Now.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Thank you for coming on with me, Thank you for
having me today.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I would love to let you let the voters know.
I know you and I.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Have spoken before, but it was typically on behalf of
other candidates for other races around the county. I don't
believe in and you can correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't have you ever run for office before yourself?
Speaker 4 (00:49):
I have not.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay, we're going to get to the question as to
why you're doing it this time, if you don't mind that,
Let's get some background information on you first.
Speaker 5 (00:58):
My name is Rebecca Shelton in and I have lived
in Boynton Beach for twenty years, but I've been a
Palm Beach County resident for thirty years. I am a
local business owner in Boynton Beach. I own a real
estate brokerage, Core Realty Company, where we specialize in mostly
divorce and probate real estates. I opened up five years ago.
(01:19):
I've been in real estate for ten years, but prior
to that, I was in politics for over twenty years,
running primarily nonpartisan races, municipal races, but mostly judicial races
in the county.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Right.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
And I know you that's how we had spoken. You'd
put me in contact with them, some of those some
of those candidates, and those are very important candidate. You know,
those are very important candidates to speak to because voters
are always asking you know what you know, I don't
I don't understand who to vote for because you know,
they can't talk about.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
It rat And they're very challenging races simply because they
are nonpartisan. And although all parties vote, so you have
such a high turnout.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Yet there's so many restrictions when a.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
Judge is campaigning, or a candidate to be a judge.
You know, they're not allowed to disclose their party, they're
not allowed to.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Give their opinion on any issues at all.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
So it's it is a little niche that is a
fine tune campaign avenue.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
To be in for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Well, you can give your opinions on things, and we
hope you do as far as as far as things
that issues around the city of Boynton Beach one of
the well here, let me ask you now, what made
you decide you wanted to run for office yourself this
time around.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
I think as a local business owner, I've been able
to be more involved in the community on a resident
level as opposed to a campaign consultant in my former life.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
I've been a resident of.
Speaker 5 (02:45):
The downtown for twenty years. I think that it's time
that we kind of give back to the people that
have invested in this downtown.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
You have a lot of people that moved here since COVID.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
Our demographics have definitely gone up in there. It's a
very diverse group of people that live in Boyton, and.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
I think that we all need to be represented.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
And I think that my experience in the county, I think,
my business experience, and also just my level of community
service of what I've done just in the city and
on the county level as a volunteer and supporter of
many nonprofits. I think it actually is just the right
time in my life to do it and get back
to the community on this level.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
There is a candidate in this race who had mentioned
to me something to the effect of the city manager
maybe having something to do with you running. I figured
i'd give you an opportunity to ass address that.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
That is absolutely not true.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
I did not ask permission to run, or I was
not encouraged.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
By anyone at city Hall.
Speaker 5 (03:44):
Actually, my neighbors spoke to me about running, and a
few community leaders that I know out in the west
and that's why I filed. I did not go through
the normal procedure of calling everyone and saying if I file,
would you support me?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
I just filed.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
One of the issues that I've been bringing up a lot,
and it's because it's been a topic in Boyton Beach
for many years, and it probably goes back more than
two or three election cycles ago, maybe a lot more.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Is the point. And Beach Mall property.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
You, being obviously in real estate, I'm sure have your
finger on the pulse of this somewhat.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
This is a.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Can I use the word dilapidated mall. There's a lot
of stores. Last time I was there was a couple
of years ago. But I can imagine it hasn't gotten
a lot better, and I know that it's for sale
for what close to one hundred million dollars, but no
takers so far. What is the latest on that and
what are your thoughts regarding that. This is where you
get into your opinions, right.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
I have been going door to door and meeting with
multiple residents, and obviously the mall is a very big
issue when you go on that western corridor of Congress.
I think it's something it's a mixed batch. People do
not want residential there. They obviously don't still want a
mall that has not been functioning for.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Over a decade. Them all closes at seven or eight pm.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
There's very little stores in there. And I actually did
go in there around Christmas time and it was very
sad to see what's going on in the mall, which
is absolutely nothing.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I think we.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
Definitely need to put a committee together to talk to
the residents so they're not overly concerned that it's just
going to be a ton of apartments and nothing that
caters to them. The western communities such as Hunters Run
in Leisureville, that is really their backyard, so it's important
that we reach out to them and start to try
to work with the developer if the right developer comes
along to redevelopment that property.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
But I have been.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
Told that a lot of people in the West, and
I think even the East would benefit from this, is
that some type of mixed juice property, but also utilize
to make a green space for these people. Are possibly
an amphitheater because sometimes if you are in the senior
community and you may not drive or you're home bound,
it's a lot easier to go to a lowcation out
there than it is the downtown.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
You know, I was just thinking of the amphitheater something
Boyton doesn't have. Isn't it even out west because you know,
we know Boca Ratone has their you know, miser amphitheater.
Obviously West Palm has amphitheater several communities.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
In the county. There is none in Boyton Beach currently
is there.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
We have the little amphitheater that was put right by
city hall, and that has been very successful.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Our downtown events have really been well.
Speaker 5 (06:29):
The last couple of years, and I have to tell
the city that they've done a great job our holiday events.
It was so busy that again I live right across
from city hall. I have not seen the turnout and
on those two decades that I've seen recently, so I
think something in the west to provide. It's more space,
number one, so you could probably have bigger events and
there would be more parking for people. But to have
(06:51):
a large constituent base out there and even pushing into
the north side of the city that are gated communities,
and it would be great for them to be able
to travel five or ten minutes and have an ice
green space. And ultimately I do think that there would
end up being some type of mixed use.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
They just don't think it should be over development. And
I'd like to see more.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Ownership opportunities than apartments because we have a lot of
apartments coming into the east right now.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
How about affordable housing.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
Affordable housing, we have a lot of that that's coming down,
but right now, what is affordable It depends on who
you're asking.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Of what is affordable at this time.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
So there's definitely a need for that, but again that's
controlled by the market and the landlords and even the
independent landlords here are charging an insane amount of rent
and it's really hard for people to even obtain rentals,
which is even more hard for them to save money
to buy a home.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And then of course you have when we talk about
affordable housing. Go the next step further and this new
state law regarding public sleeping, for lack of a better
way of saying it, but where residents in business owners
can actually sue the city if there are people sleeping
on the streets, and you know it.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Has the city been doing anything.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I know the county's trying to do some things on
its own, but obviously this also goes on the onus
of the cities themselves.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Correct, correct, But I have.
Speaker 5 (08:20):
To say again, living downtown for twenty years, I lived
here when we had the sober homes, we.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Had heavy prostitution.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
I took care of my dad for seven years and
he lived in this house with me.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
He was mugged on Ocean Avenue.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
That would have been in twenty eleven. I've had I
had many petty fats going on over the last two decades.
But now I can walk downtown and I rarely see
a homeless person now. So I do think the city
has been very proactive. And we had a lot of
crime activity on Boyne Beach Boulevard. In Federal there's a
(08:55):
CBS there, and again there was a lot of prostitution
and things that the city did not need, and that
has definitely changed.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Back to the mall area, I was speaking with somebody.
I was at the South Florida Fair and there's a
guy selling NFL merchandise. He said, you know, and I
ended up talking to him about the Point Beach Mall.
He said, yeah, I have a store in the mall
and this and that and the other, and we got
to talking and I mentioned the movie theater there. He
(09:24):
was telling me that he believes that movie theaters, as
long as Cinemark wants, it's going to stay because they
actually own that property, right so whatever's built, whatever's bought there.
I guess that doesn't that there would automatically still be
that movie theater sitting there if Cinemark wants to stay.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
I've heard conflicting stories on that at the moment, so
I don't have.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Confirmation on that. But I was told that possibly the least.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Would not be renewed on the mall, I mean on
the movie theater by the mall, But again I don't
have confirmation of that, and I think those are things
that I'll be able to assess better if elected, because
I'm going to have the information.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
That I need.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
So one of those uh yeah, fuzzy kind of things there.
I'm a movie buff, so I naturally asked him about that.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
It's like, what about the what about the movie that
is the only one I go to as well. I
mean it's it's easy, it's it's not very busy a lot,
so you can go in there. I'm not going to
drive to Boca or even the I pick in Delray.
I don't want to deal with the parking. So it
is a nice opportunity to go there, and especially for
the senior citizens that like to go in the afternoon,
they don't have to struggle with parking.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, and remember no more No More movie theater in
West Palm Beach now with City Place happy to demolish
that one. And uh, you know you do have the
Regal Royal Palm and then you have the theater. I
believe it's a CMX these days in Palm Beach Gardens.
But you know, I live on the Treasure.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Wellington closed, right, I just saw that on.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
That Yeah, that the little one in Wellington. Yeah, but
there is one I believe in the mall at Wellington Green,
so that's probably what you know, what happened there. I
went to that one a couple of times, a little
one there in Wellington. It was a nice Sometimes it's
nice to go to the little theaters, you know, and
support the small companies. Let's talk about traffic, because that
is something. Congress right down that thoroughfare is just you know,
(11:08):
one spot that I can speak up through past experience.
It's been a while since I've been in Botant, but
I can tell you specific times a day that can
be pretty pretty.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
Testy, correct, And you're going to deal with that in
most municipalities now, especially after we had such an influx
of people buying here during COVID and after in our
demographics have clearly increased. I think it depends on again
when you go back, so you look at the west
side of Congress, where you have Renaissance comments best by Target.
(11:38):
That is a very productive side of the road, and
I'm sorry the east side.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
The west side is not where the mall is.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
A lot of those stores, even on the outside of
the mall, are struggling. So I think it depends on
how things would.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Be built to structure some of that traffic.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
But again, we live in South Florida and we can't
control the amount of people.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
That have moved here.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
It's not that bad when we're not in season. And
also there's other ways to go around it. So if
you live in Boyington and you want to get the
gateway in Congress, you can always go behind the Target
and behind.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
The vest Buy. There's a beautiful road.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
There's a dog park there, it's a lovely place to walk.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
There are a lot of apartments there, and at the
end is Renaissance Commons.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
So there are these little side streets that if you
live here, you're able to avoid that.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
All right, any other big issues that you'd like to
bring up before we start to wrap up.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
The one reason that I did file was I think
that we have some code compliance issues and it does
connect to crime, and we see that more in the
East than we are in the West. Again, the West
has more hoas s gated communities, but in the East
there are no hoas, So when you have that, you
don't have that structure of a community watching.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Out for it.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
We do have intense code issues going on, and I'd
like to see the beautification from City Hall through all
the way down to Bethesda because there are a lot
of eye soares and I'm often told, well, that's a
county road. Well, I understand it's a county road, but
I don't think that the county would be coming down
on us as a city if we took some measures
to beautify it and clean it up.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
One issue that did come up with one candidate was
in this race was the red light cameras, and that's
something that we should point out. City of Point and
Beach the only one in Palm Beach County that's using
those actual everybody's got them right. They're all over the
place around the county, but they're only in use to
catch red light runners and find them in Boynton Beach,
(13:33):
and I was told that that is running at a
actual loss. How do you feel about the red light
cameras moving forward?
Speaker 5 (13:43):
I definitely would like to revisit that if elected, and
I would like to see where that revenue is exactly going,
which I did make a public records request on that
a few days ago to see if I can.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Get that information, because I'm.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
Curious, you know, how much money are they really making
and where is it going?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Is it going into help.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
With safety measures in the city that would be one thing,
but if it's just some sort of flush fund, I
don't support it.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
How do you feel the city Commission's been been running
overall for the last few years.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I think that there's been a lot of division up there.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
And the one thing is Mayor I would like to
offer is I think the mayor is responsible to make
sure they're supporting the commissioners in.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Each of their district.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
And this is what you run into when you have
commission seats that do not run at large. So you
would have a commissioner that tends for their district only
and focus on their districts only because one they may
want to be reelected or two their constituent base might
just always be on them about certain things. And I
understand that I want them to be able to be
participating and taking care of.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Their own district.
Speaker 5 (14:46):
But as a mayor, you need to look out for
every single district, and you need to drive these districts,
and you need to go up and down, and you
need to be on the ground and understand that we
are living in Honestly, it's almost two different areas because
we have more crime in the East than we do
the West. We have more co enforcement in the East
than we do the West.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
So as a mayor, you really need to be.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
Somebody that supports the commissioners but also is the watchdog
of every single district and make sure that they're treated
equally and everyone feels safe.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
A lot of people leave the East to move to
the West because.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
They feel that they're going to be in a more
safe situation. I think everyone in the city deserves to
feel that way.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
There's a candidate in this race for mayor that's talking
about being the only one with experience from you formerly
being as a city commissioner in Boynton Beach.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
You obviously I got him elected.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
You obviously would be a first time right.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
Well, maybe how do you feel?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
How do you feel? You know, I mean, what would
you say to that.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
I don't think that my opponent, who was a city
commissioner probably over ten years ago, I just don't believe
he brings the qualifications to leave the city. I don't
think that he did it well when as a commissioner,
and that's why he was not reelected. And let's not
forget he was riddled.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
With some serious issues.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
You know, there was some improprieties on our cra director
which costs the city about thirty thousand dollars in an investigation.
He's had financial ethics violations on him for his campaign reports.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And I did have a conversation.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
With him when I filed. He called me and he said,
why are you running? And I told him some of
the answers that I told you, and I said, why
are you running? And his answer was my ego? And
I don't think anyone should be running based on their ego.
You're either prepared to serve the citizens, because when you
are elected as a mayor, you work for every citizen
(16:42):
in your city, and you have to make sure that
you have a pulse and that people are comfortable approaching
you and talking to you about the issues.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
And I don't think he brings that to the table.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
All right, And my final question for you is, ultimately
four candidates, why should folks give you their.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Vote as a mayor?
Speaker 5 (17:01):
I'm going to lead with a vision and integrity, and
I've shown my commitment to this community and to this
county in various ways. I've been a big volunteer and
supporter for Age for Violence of Domestic Abuse. I would
like to see our city have a better connection with
AVDA who supports a lot of municipalities in the account
in the county, and I think that we're lacking. I
think needs a better relationship with that and I think
(17:24):
that my community service on the Senior Advisory Board or
being a former member of the Children's Museum, I understand
which each demographic are going through, and I also understand
the issues. And I do understand government from my experience
of twenty years.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
And I also bring the business experience.
Speaker 5 (17:40):
I'm the only one in this race that has a
local business in Boynton Beach, and I think that that's
important because I know what's at stake and I invested
in this city during COVID to open a business.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
All right, well, I appreciate you joining us in of course,
more importantly speaking to the listeners who will be well
hopefully will be voting in the city.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (18:02):
Yes, you know, I don't want to see a low turnout,
and it's traditionally there is a low turnout in this races.
So any anybody that can spread the word that there's
an election on March eleventh would be greatly appreciated. On
behalf of all the candidates, we'd like to see the
voters participate all right.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Rebecca Shelton, candidate for mayor of Boyton Beach here on
WJ and O dot com
Hey, Joel Malcolfour WJNO dot com. My election spotlight on
the city of Boynton Beach. There are two active races
on your ballot if you live in Boynton Beach, the
mayoral race among them, and there are four candidates there.
This is an open seat with outgoing Mayor ty Penserga
being termed out, and we have one of the four
(00:22):
candidates on that ballot, Rebecca Shelton, joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Now.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Thank you for coming on with me, Thank you for
having me today.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I would love to let you let the voters know.
I know you and I.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Have spoken before, but it was typically on behalf of
other candidates for other races around the county. I don't
believe in and you can correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't have you ever run for office before yourself?
Speaker 4 (00:49):
I have not.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay, we're going to get to the question as to
why you're doing it this time, if you don't mind that,
Let's get some background information on you first.
Speaker 5 (00:58):
My name is Rebecca Shelton in and I have lived
in Boynton Beach for twenty years, but I've been a
Palm Beach County resident for thirty years. I am a
local business owner in Boynton Beach. I own a real
estate brokerage, Core Realty Company, where we specialize in mostly
divorce and probate real estates. I opened up five years ago.
(01:19):
I've been in real estate for ten years, but prior
to that, I was in politics for over twenty years,
running primarily nonpartisan races, municipal races, but mostly judicial races
in the county.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Right.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
And I know you that's how we had spoken. You'd
put me in contact with them, some of those some
of those candidates, and those are very important candidate. You know,
those are very important candidates to speak to because voters
are always asking you know what you know, I don't
I don't understand who to vote for because you know,
they can't talk about.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
It rat And they're very challenging races simply because they
are nonpartisan. And although all parties vote, so you have
such a high turnout.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Yet there's so many restrictions when a.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
Judge is campaigning, or a candidate to be a judge.
You know, they're not allowed to disclose their party, they're
not allowed to.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Give their opinion on any issues at all.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
So it's it is a little niche that is a
fine tune campaign avenue.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
To be in for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Well, you can give your opinions on things, and we
hope you do as far as as far as things
that issues around the city of Boynton Beach one of
the well here, let me ask you now, what made
you decide you wanted to run for office yourself this
time around.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
I think as a local business owner, I've been able
to be more involved in the community on a resident
level as opposed to a campaign consultant in my former life.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
I've been a resident of.
Speaker 5 (02:45):
The downtown for twenty years. I think that it's time
that we kind of give back to the people that
have invested in this downtown.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
You have a lot of people that moved here since COVID.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
Our demographics have definitely gone up in there. It's a
very diverse group of people that live in Boyton, and.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
I think that we all need to be represented.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
And I think that my experience in the county, I think,
my business experience, and also just my level of community
service of what I've done just in the city and
on the county level as a volunteer and supporter of
many nonprofits. I think it actually is just the right
time in my life to do it and get back
to the community on this level.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
There is a candidate in this race who had mentioned
to me something to the effect of the city manager
maybe having something to do with you running. I figured
i'd give you an opportunity to ass address that.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
That is absolutely not true.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
I did not ask permission to run, or I was
not encouraged.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
By anyone at city Hall.
Speaker 5 (03:44):
Actually, my neighbors spoke to me about running, and a
few community leaders that I know out in the west
and that's why I filed. I did not go through
the normal procedure of calling everyone and saying if I file,
would you support me?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
I just filed.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
One of the issues that I've been bringing up a lot,
and it's because it's been a topic in Boyton Beach
for many years, and it probably goes back more than
two or three election cycles ago, maybe a lot more.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Is the point. And Beach Mall property.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
You, being obviously in real estate, I'm sure have your
finger on the pulse of this somewhat.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
This is a.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Can I use the word dilapidated mall. There's a lot
of stores. Last time I was there was a couple
of years ago. But I can imagine it hasn't gotten
a lot better, and I know that it's for sale
for what close to one hundred million dollars, but no
takers so far. What is the latest on that and
what are your thoughts regarding that. This is where you
get into your opinions, right.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
I have been going door to door and meeting with
multiple residents, and obviously the mall is a very big
issue when you go on that western corridor of Congress.
I think it's something it's a mixed batch. People do
not want residential there. They obviously don't still want a
mall that has not been functioning for.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Over a decade. Them all closes at seven or eight pm.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
There's very little stores in there. And I actually did
go in there around Christmas time and it was very
sad to see what's going on in the mall, which
is absolutely nothing.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I think we.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
Definitely need to put a committee together to talk to
the residents so they're not overly concerned that it's just
going to be a ton of apartments and nothing that
caters to them. The western communities such as Hunters Run
in Leisureville, that is really their backyard, so it's important
that we reach out to them and start to try
to work with the developer if the right developer comes
along to redevelopment that property.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
But I have been.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
Told that a lot of people in the West, and
I think even the East would benefit from this, is
that some type of mixed juice property, but also utilize
to make a green space for these people. Are possibly
an amphitheater because sometimes if you are in the senior
community and you may not drive or you're home bound,
it's a lot easier to go to a lowcation out
there than it is the downtown.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
You know, I was just thinking of the amphitheater something
Boyton doesn't have. Isn't it even out west because you know,
we know Boca Ratone has their you know, miser amphitheater.
Obviously West Palm has amphitheater several communities.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
In the county. There is none in Boyton Beach currently
is there.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
We have the little amphitheater that was put right by
city hall, and that has been very successful.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Our downtown events have really been well.
Speaker 5 (06:29):
The last couple of years, and I have to tell
the city that they've done a great job our holiday events.
It was so busy that again I live right across
from city hall. I have not seen the turnout and
on those two decades that I've seen recently, so I
think something in the west to provide. It's more space,
number one, so you could probably have bigger events and
there would be more parking for people. But to have
(06:51):
a large constituent base out there and even pushing into
the north side of the city that are gated communities,
and it would be great for them to be able
to travel five or ten minutes and have an ice
green space. And ultimately I do think that there would
end up being some type of mixed use.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
They just don't think it should be over development. And
I'd like to see more.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Ownership opportunities than apartments because we have a lot of
apartments coming into the east right now.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
How about affordable housing.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
Affordable housing, we have a lot of that that's coming down,
but right now, what is affordable It depends on who
you're asking.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Of what is affordable at this time.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
So there's definitely a need for that, but again that's
controlled by the market and the landlords and even the
independent landlords here are charging an insane amount of rent
and it's really hard for people to even obtain rentals,
which is even more hard for them to save money
to buy a home.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And then of course you have when we talk about
affordable housing. Go the next step further and this new
state law regarding public sleeping, for lack of a better
way of saying it, but where residents in business owners
can actually sue the city if there are people sleeping
on the streets, and you know it.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Has the city been doing anything.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I know the county's trying to do some things on
its own, but obviously this also goes on the onus
of the cities themselves.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Correct, correct, But I have.
Speaker 5 (08:20):
To say again, living downtown for twenty years, I lived
here when we had the sober homes, we.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Had heavy prostitution.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
I took care of my dad for seven years and
he lived in this house with me.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
He was mugged on Ocean Avenue.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
That would have been in twenty eleven. I've had I
had many petty fats going on over the last two decades.
But now I can walk downtown and I rarely see
a homeless person now. So I do think the city
has been very proactive. And we had a lot of
crime activity on Boyne Beach Boulevard. In Federal there's a
(08:55):
CBS there, and again there was a lot of prostitution
and things that the city did not need, and that
has definitely changed.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Back to the mall area, I was speaking with somebody.
I was at the South Florida Fair and there's a
guy selling NFL merchandise. He said, you know, and I
ended up talking to him about the Point Beach Mall.
He said, yeah, I have a store in the mall
and this and that and the other, and we got
to talking and I mentioned the movie theater there. He
(09:24):
was telling me that he believes that movie theaters, as
long as Cinemark wants, it's going to stay because they
actually own that property, right so whatever's built, whatever's bought there.
I guess that doesn't that there would automatically still be
that movie theater sitting there if Cinemark wants to stay.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
I've heard conflicting stories on that at the moment, so
I don't have.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Confirmation on that. But I was told that possibly the least.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Would not be renewed on the mall, I mean on
the movie theater by the mall, But again I don't
have confirmation of that, and I think those are things
that I'll be able to assess better if elected, because
I'm going to have the information.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
That I need.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
So one of those uh yeah, fuzzy kind of things there.
I'm a movie buff, so I naturally asked him about that.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
It's like, what about the what about the movie that
is the only one I go to as well. I
mean it's it's easy, it's it's not very busy a lot,
so you can go in there. I'm not going to
drive to Boca or even the I pick in Delray.
I don't want to deal with the parking. So it
is a nice opportunity to go there, and especially for
the senior citizens that like to go in the afternoon,
they don't have to struggle with parking.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, and remember no more No More movie theater in
West Palm Beach now with City Place happy to demolish
that one. And uh, you know you do have the
Regal Royal Palm and then you have the theater. I
believe it's a CMX these days in Palm Beach Gardens.
But you know, I live on the Treasure.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Wellington closed, right, I just saw that on.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
That Yeah, that the little one in Wellington. Yeah, but
there is one I believe in the mall at Wellington Green,
so that's probably what you know, what happened there. I
went to that one a couple of times, a little
one there in Wellington. It was a nice Sometimes it's
nice to go to the little theaters, you know, and
support the small companies. Let's talk about traffic, because that
is something. Congress right down that thoroughfare is just you know,
(11:08):
one spot that I can speak up through past experience.
It's been a while since I've been in Botant, but
I can tell you specific times a day that can
be pretty pretty.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
Testy, correct, And you're going to deal with that in
most municipalities now, especially after we had such an influx
of people buying here during COVID and after in our
demographics have clearly increased. I think it depends on again
when you go back, so you look at the west
side of Congress, where you have Renaissance comments best by Target.
(11:38):
That is a very productive side of the road, and
I'm sorry the east side.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
The west side is not where the mall is.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
A lot of those stores, even on the outside of
the mall, are struggling. So I think it depends on
how things would.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Be built to structure some of that traffic.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
But again, we live in South Florida and we can't
control the amount of people.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
That have moved here.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
It's not that bad when we're not in season. And
also there's other ways to go around it. So if
you live in Boyington and you want to get the
gateway in Congress, you can always go behind the Target
and behind.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
The vest Buy. There's a beautiful road.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
There's a dog park there, it's a lovely place to walk.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
There are a lot of apartments there, and at the
end is Renaissance Commons.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
So there are these little side streets that if you
live here, you're able to avoid that.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
All right, any other big issues that you'd like to
bring up before we start to wrap up.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
The one reason that I did file was I think
that we have some code compliance issues and it does
connect to crime, and we see that more in the
East than we are in the West. Again, the West
has more hoas s gated communities, but in the East
there are no hoas, So when you have that, you
don't have that structure of a community watching.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Out for it.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
We do have intense code issues going on, and I'd
like to see the beautification from City Hall through all
the way down to Bethesda because there are a lot
of eye soares and I'm often told, well, that's a
county road. Well, I understand it's a county road, but
I don't think that the county would be coming down
on us as a city if we took some measures
to beautify it and clean it up.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
One issue that did come up with one candidate was
in this race was the red light cameras, and that's
something that we should point out. City of Point and
Beach the only one in Palm Beach County that's using
those actual everybody's got them right. They're all over the
place around the county, but they're only in use to
catch red light runners and find them in Boynton Beach,
(13:33):
and I was told that that is running at a
actual loss. How do you feel about the red light
cameras moving forward?
Speaker 5 (13:43):
I definitely would like to revisit that if elected, and
I would like to see where that revenue is exactly going,
which I did make a public records request on that
a few days ago to see if I can.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Get that information, because I'm.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
Curious, you know, how much money are they really making
and where is it going?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Is it going into help.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
With safety measures in the city that would be one thing,
but if it's just some sort of flush fund, I
don't support it.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
How do you feel the city Commission's been been running
overall for the last few years.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
I think that there's been a lot of division up there.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
And the one thing is Mayor I would like to
offer is I think the mayor is responsible to make
sure they're supporting the commissioners in.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Each of their district.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
And this is what you run into when you have
commission seats that do not run at large. So you
would have a commissioner that tends for their district only
and focus on their districts only because one they may
want to be reelected or two their constituent base might
just always be on them about certain things. And I
understand that I want them to be able to be
participating and taking care of.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Their own district.
Speaker 5 (14:46):
But as a mayor, you need to look out for
every single district, and you need to drive these districts,
and you need to go up and down, and you
need to be on the ground and understand that we
are living in Honestly, it's almost two different areas because
we have more crime in the East than we do
the West. We have more co enforcement in the East
than we do the West.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
So as a mayor, you really need to be.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
Somebody that supports the commissioners but also is the watchdog
of every single district and make sure that they're treated
equally and everyone feels safe.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
A lot of people leave the East to move to
the West because.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
They feel that they're going to be in a more
safe situation. I think everyone in the city deserves to
feel that way.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
There's a candidate in this race for mayor that's talking
about being the only one with experience from you formerly
being as a city commissioner in Boynton Beach.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
You obviously I got him elected.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
You obviously would be a first time right.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
Well, maybe how do you feel?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
How do you feel? You know, I mean, what would
you say to that.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
I don't think that my opponent, who was a city
commissioner probably over ten years ago, I just don't believe
he brings the qualifications to leave the city. I don't
think that he did it well when as a commissioner,
and that's why he was not reelected. And let's not
forget he was riddled.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
With some serious issues.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
You know, there was some improprieties on our cra director
which costs the city about thirty thousand dollars in an investigation.
He's had financial ethics violations on him for his campaign reports.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And I did have a conversation.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
With him when I filed. He called me and he said,
why are you running? And I told him some of
the answers that I told you, and I said, why
are you running? And his answer was my ego? And
I don't think anyone should be running based on their ego.
You're either prepared to serve the citizens, because when you
are elected as a mayor, you work for every citizen
(16:42):
in your city, and you have to make sure that
you have a pulse and that people are comfortable approaching
you and talking to you about the issues.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
And I don't think he brings that to the table.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
All right, And my final question for you is, ultimately
four candidates, why should folks give you their.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Vote as a mayor?
Speaker 5 (17:01):
I'm going to lead with a vision and integrity, and
I've shown my commitment to this community and to this
county in various ways. I've been a big volunteer and
supporter for Age for Violence of Domestic Abuse. I would
like to see our city have a better connection with
AVDA who supports a lot of municipalities in the account
in the county, and I think that we're lacking. I
think needs a better relationship with that and I think
(17:24):
that my community service on the Senior Advisory Board or
being a former member of the Children's Museum, I understand
which each demographic are going through, and I also understand
the issues. And I do understand government from my experience
of twenty years.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
And I also bring the business experience.
Speaker 5 (17:40):
I'm the only one in this race that has a
local business in Boynton Beach, and I think that that's
important because I know what's at stake and I invested
in this city during COVID to open a business.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
All right, well, I appreciate you joining us in of course,
more importantly speaking to the listeners who will be well
hopefully will be voting in the city.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (18:02):
Yes, you know, I don't want to see a low turnout,
and it's traditionally there is a low turnout in this races.
So any anybody that can spread the word that there's
an election on March eleventh would be greatly appreciated. On
behalf of all the candidates, we'd like to see the
voters participate all right.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Rebecca Shelton, candidate for mayor of Boyton Beach here on
WJ and O dot com
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