Delray commissioners take first step toward revising terms

By David Sedore, Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — On Election Night, Delray’s city commissioners took a first step toward changing the way municipal elections are conducted.

Commissioners approved first reading of an ordinance extending the terms in office for mayor and commissioner to three years from the current two.  If approved on second reading later this month, voters would have final say on the matter during the March 8 municipal elections.

Mayor Woodie McDuffie said the change would make the commission more productive by giving members a little time to breathe between elections. “It’s like being on a treadmill all the time,” McDuffie said of the current system.

If the change is approved, commissioners and the mayor would still be limited to a maximum of six years in office as they are now, only in two terms instead of three.

Delray, however, would be able to hold elections every other year instead of every year, saving the city about $35,000 to $38,000.

Commissioners Fred Fetzer and Gary Eliopoulos voted against the change, although both favor the concept of a three-year term.

Fetzer said he did not want the change to go into effect until all current members of the commission were either off the panel or ineligible to seek reelection. As drafted, the change would go into effect in 2012; to satisfy Fetzer’s concerns, the effective date of the change would have to be delayed for several more years.

Eliopoulos said preferred to have any changes come from a charter review board as part of a broader package of recommendations rather than one piecemeal amendment coming from the commission.

In other business,  commissioners approved conversion of the Hartman House, 302 NE 7th Avenue, to a bread and breakfast under new city rules. It will be the first bed and breakfast in Delray Beach.

“We appreciate your vote of confidence,” project architect Roger Cope said.

“It’s a smart step forward for Delray,” McDuffie said.

Commissioners agreed to allow 32 East to pay a $15,600 fee instead of adding a parking space required by the addition of a balcony to the Atlantic Avenue restaurant. The city will use the money to help cover the costs of providing public parking in the downtown.