McDuffie: Delray in good shape despite economy

By David Sedore, Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — The housing market is down; city revenue is down; unemployment is up. But despite a litany of problems caused by the steepest recession in 35 years, the state of Delray Beach, in a word, is good.

So said Mayor Woodie McDuffie at the annual “state of the city” address Thursday before members of the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce. Also during the meeting, the chamber installed its 2010 officers and heard brief remarks from new Chairman Brian Cheslack.

“It was a challenging year for us,” McDuffie said of the process of putting together a budget for the year that began October 1. “We continue to find decreases in revenue and, unfortunately increases in expenses. In the short term, we are going to continue to face challenges.

“We believe our budget will be just as difficult as last year if not more so ”

If so, it will be a third consecutive year that the city has been forced to make sharp cuts in order to make ends meet. The city has avoided cutting employee pay and benefits so far, but that could change this year, McDuffie said.

Still, Delray Beach rates high as a place to live: in city surveys, 90 percent of respondents grade it as good or excellent over the last two years. The quality of city services rates nearly as high.

“Our approval ratings have gone in opposite direction than the economy,” McDuffie said. Evidence Delray’s success:

— Its ability to attract new businesses,  most notably the the Seagate Hotel on Atlantic Avenue, which opened in 2009.

— The hiring of an economic development director, Francisco Perez-Azua by the chamber and the city’s community redevelopment agency as part of a united effort to bring more new businesses to Delray.

— Efforts to make the downtown safe and vibrant while expanding westward toward I-95.

— Improvements to the city parks and neighborhoods, including a revitalized Hilltopper Stadium, new neighborhood historical markers and creation of an Old School Park.

— Improving grades to the city’s public schools. Of the nine schools either within Delray or “adopted” by Delray, four are “A” schools; four are B schools. The one “C” school, Plumosa Elementary, is soon to be a magnet school of the arts, which will improve how it grades, McDuffie said.

— Delray is more “green.” It no longer dumps millions of gallons of treated sewage water into the Atlantic each day, reclaiming the water instead for irrigation. It also has established “a sustainability officer,” and has moved to more efficient vehicles, including hydrids where feasible.

McDuffie also said Delray will be establishing new ethical standards and disclosures for city employees and advisory board members, and will be piggybacking on the League of Cities lobbyist registration effort.

Officers of the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce for 2010 were sworn in Thursday. They are, from left, Immediate Past Chairman Jay Alperin; Vice Chair for Special Events Susan Tauriello; Vice Chair Governmental Affairs and Education Scott Porten; Vice Chair Technology Charles Canone; Vice Chair Membership Kimberly Comejo; Chairman Elect and Vice Chair Economic Development Gregg Weiss; Chairman Brian Cheslack.