ELECTION 2010: WELLINGTON MAYOR AND ROYAL PALM BEACH COUNCIL SEAT 3 SEE CANDIDATE PROFILES THIS WEEK, PAGES 8 & 9 THE
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Volume 31, Number 10 March 5 - March 11, 2010
HANLEY CENTER FAMILY LUNCHEON
YMCA Hosts ‘Polo With Pedro’ Brunch At The International Polo Club
The YMCA of the Palm Beaches held its sixth annual brunch “Polo With Pedro: A Tribute to the Spirit of Pedro G. Morrison” at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington on Sunday, Feb. 28. Page 2
First EDI Task Force Meeting Focuses On Vision For The Future
The Palms West Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Task Force unveiled its Regional Economic Development Initiative on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Page 3
Gerard’s Dream: Siblings Raise Money For Autism Research
The dream of a better life for their autistic brother has inspired Kristina and Brian Cooney to join millions of families in the search for a cure. The siblings have raised $1,370 for Walk Now for Autism Speaks on Sunday, March 7. Page 16
Opinion Town-Crier Candidate Endorsements For RPB, Wellington Elections
Municipal elections will be held Tuesday, March 9 in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach. The Town-Crier has been covering the candidates for the past several months, including extended candidate interviews with our editorial board. We’ve covered candidate forums, printed in-depth question-answer sessions and done long profiles of each candidate. Here we offer our opinions on each race. Page 4
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The 15th annual Hanley Center Foundation Family Luncheon was held Sunday, Feb. 28 at the Winter Equestrian Festival. It featured a silent auction to raise needed funds for addiction treatment. Shown here are: (front, L-R) Miranda and Dylan Green; (back) Barbara Langaro, Susan Goldstein, Cindy Sulzberger and Darin Goldstein. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 15 PHOTO BY LAUREN MIRÓ/TOWN-CRIER
RPB Candidates Spar At Forum By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Royal Palm Beach Village Council contenders Tinu Peña and Richard Valuntas squared off in a televised debate Tuesday, March 2 at the Village Meeting Hall. The forum was supposed to include mayoral candidates Matty Mattioli and Steve Petrone. However, Petrone was unable to attend due to a last-minute family emergency. The event was hosted by the League of Women Voters, and league rules precluded Mattioli from participating if Petrone was not there. Tuesday’s forum was held one week to the day before the March 9 municipal election. Peña, a 10-year resident raising two children in elementary and middle school, is a civil engineer and veteran of the U.S. Army. She is an alternate member of the Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Commission. Peña said she is running because she believes in maintaining the quality of life in the village.
Valuntas moved to Florida as a child from Pennsylvania and grew up in Broward County. He graduated from Miramar High School in 1988 and attended Florida State University, where he financed his own education, receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminology, and later a law degree. He currently works for a legal firm representing condominium and homeowners’ associations. The Valuntas family moved to Royal Palm Beach in 2001, and he volunteered to serve on the Recreation Advisory Board in 2002. He currently chairs the board. Valuntas said he is running for office because he feels it is important to have citizens participate in government. Valuntas cited problems at Royal Palm Beach High School, traffic issues and foreclosures as the three most important issues facing the village. “Children, unfortunately, are heading out of Royal Palm Beach to magnet schools,” he said, explaining that he would follow
Councilman David Swift’s work with a committee that includes school officials to address problems such as student safety and the school’s poor rating by the state. Regarding traffic issues, Valuntas said a study is needed to assess the feasibility of opening the Madrid Street connection to the State Road 7 extension. The council has voted to keep the connection closed. Peña said the three most important issues are taxes, traffic and the high school. In regard to traffic, she wants to look at traffic light timing on Okeechobee Blvd. during peak traffic hours and increase the pressure to get Roebuck Road built. Regarding the high school, Peña commended Swift for taking the lead in getting a committee organized. “The ball was dropped somewhere, and I will make sure this does not become an issue again,” she said. To address problems with residential and commercial forecloSee RPB FORUM, page 22
Loxahatchee Groves Council Takes Aim At Foreclosures By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council decided Tuesday to take an inventory of homes that have been abandoned and look into an ordinance that would require the upkeep of foreclosed homes in the largely rural community. Local Realtor Bill Hammond noted that the number of foreclosures and abandoned properties have increased dramatically in the town. “Nobody seems to want to take care of them,” Hammond said. “With many people out of work, it’s probably going to get worse. It’s not a situation that’s going to correct itself. Houses are burning down. They’re just sitting there.” The banks and mortgage companies that wind up owning the properties do not want to have anything to do with foreclosed and abandoned homes in Loxahatchee Groves, Hammond said. “It is my idea that we as Loxa-
hatchee Groves create ordinances with regard to maintaining these properties inside and out and figuring out who is the rightful owner,” he said, explaining that the town could do the repairs and send the bills to the owner. If the bill isn’t paid, the town would put a lien on the property. “It’s devaluing your property if you have one in the neighborhood,” he said. “For the last 10 years, we’ve been building $500,000 homes and looking like Wellington. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but we have really come up in Loxahatchee Groves, but by this devaluation, we’re going down — at least down in price anyway. Let’s not go down any faster.” Hammond said he had not gotten the exact number of foreclosed homes in Loxahatchee Groves. However, he estimated that it is not as bad as the problems in Wellington and The Acreage. Nevertheless, it is a problem that should
not be ignored. “We’ve watched people leave in the middle of the night,” Hammond said. “They call me and ask, ‘What’s my house worth?’ and I say it’s worth $400,000 and they say, ‘Well, I owe $600,000 on it.’ That’s not uncommon, and they’re gone a week later.” Hammond hopes that being proactive can help stem the tide of property devaluation. “If we can strengthen ourselves with regard to some sort of control, maybe we can slow it down a little bit and continue our good growth,” he said. Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District Supervisor John Ryan recalled visiting a friend who had an abandoned property behind her. “It had been made into a skeleton of what used to be a pretty nice house,” Ryan said, adding that he would support an ordinance to enforce maintenance by owners See GROVES, page 22
Serving Palms West Since 1980
Wellington Hopefuls Make Final Pitches As Election Nears By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Wellington Village Council hopefuls gathered at the Wellington Community Center on Wednesday, March 3 for a televised candidates’ forum held less than one week before voters head to the polls on Tuesday, March 9. Issues discussed ranged from K-Park and taxes to the equestrian community and senior issues. The Palms West Chamber of Commerce organized the forum with questions from a panel of local media. Seat 2 candidates Anne Gerwig, Wismick St. Jean and Ernie Zimmerman, along with Mayor Darell Bowen and his opponent Carol Coleman, participated in the two-hour question-andanswer session, during which they were able to make their final pitches to village residents. While all the candidates supported higher education, they were divided on what to do with the KPark property, which remains in village possession after a failed attempt to bring Palm Beach Community College (now Palm Beach State College) to Wellington. “We have to find out what the best use of the land is,” St. Jean said. “I would put it to a referendum and let the voters decide.”
The land is zoned for civic use, which Gerwig said means it should not be sold off for a profit. “We could sell the land for $35 million, or whatever it’s worth,” she said. “But then the land is gone forever. I would look for a public-private partnership that would let the village retain some use of the land.” But for Zimmerman, the answer was easy: don’t give away the land for free. “If they want it, let them pay for it,” he said. “We’re paying $40,000 a month on that land to watch weeds grow. I’d like to see something done with the land. But we can’t afford to give it away for free.” While Bowen felt that the KPark property wasn’t even near the top of the list of issues the village will deal with next year, he supported putting out a request for proposals to see what the land is worth and what ideas are out there. “But if you want to bring in higher education, you have to do a public-private partnership,” he said. “Public schools don’t buy land. They generally trade for services to benefit the community.” Coleman said the issue should be sent to a referendum to let votSee VOW FORUM, page 21
CEO DiLallo Leaving WRMC For Bradenton By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Longtime community leader Kevin DiLallo will be leaving his post as chief executive officer of Wellington Regional Medical Center next month. DiLallo, the current chairman of the Palms West Chamber of Commerce, has been promoted to vice president of the Manatee Memorial Health System in Bradenton. During his 12-year tenure at WRMC, DiLallo has led the development of many services and projects, including expansion of the hospital’s cancer center, Level II and Level III neonatal intensive care units and a patient care tower. The hospital’s 59-acre campus has also added several new medical office buildings and a five-story parking garage during his tenure.
DiLallo told the Town-Crier that he regrets leaving Wellington, but the timing is right. “It was an opportunity I was looking for,” DiLallo said Tuesday. “It’s a promotion within the company I work for. The time was right, the promotion was right, and it was hard to say no.” Yet the decision was not an easy one to make. “It’s bittersweet for me to leave because it appears that I’ve had an impact here,” DiLallo said. “I like the community. I’ve put a lot of time into it. I’m going to miss it.” Dr. Jeffrey Bishop, chief medical officer at WRMC, will miss DiLallo. “He has become a good friend, a great mentor to me, and his leadership in our organization has been See DILALLO, page 22
GLOW BALL GOLF IN RPB
The Royal Palm Beach Rotary Club hosted its second annual Glow Ball Golf Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 27 at the Links at Madison Green. Rotarians braved the elements and played nine holes of golf in the dark to benefit Little Smiles and the Rotary Scholarship Fund. Pictured above, Craig Mancini buys raffle tickets from Nancy D’Angelo and Joan Scherer. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
South University Dedicates Royal Palm Beach Campus
South University staff and Royal Palm Beach officials cut the ribbon to dedicate the local campus.
By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report South University’s new Royal Palm Beach campus was dedicated Friday, Feb. 26 in front of faculty, students, staff and local representatives eager to learn more about the university and its programs. “We are absolutely thrilled to have South University in Royal Palm Beach,” Mayor David Lodwick said. “It’s a perfect fit for our community. It’s a perfect fit for all the western communities.” South University was established in 1899 in Savannah, Ga., and has expanded with several campuses on the East Coast. The private university opened
its campus at State Road 7 and Belvedere Road in January, and more than 1,000 students have enrolled. This marks the first of three buildings that will comprise University Center, and the first institute of higher education in the village. “We all know that education is bedrock for economic revival and revitalization,” Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation Chairwoman Maria Sachs said. “This is going to be one of the foundations for this area’s economic revitalization. You can’t get a better location than this.” The university offers various degree programs, including bachSee CAMPUS, page 22