Boca Raton Plans To Hold Off On Filling Vacated Council Seat Until March Election

Boca Raton city hall, Boca Raton, FL, Sept. 2024. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Boca Raton officials this week decided against appointing a temporary member to fill a soon-to-be open seat on the city council, instead favoring a plan to wait for voters to decide who will fill the post in March.

Councilwoman Yvette Drucker will leave the governing body Nov. 10 following the upcoming election for Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller, in which she is representing the Democratic party. The vacancy will occur regardless of the outcome of the election, though Drucker is widely favored to win the race, especially since criminal charges are pending against her opponent. Under Boca Raton’s form of government, the city council has the ability to appoint a resident elector to fill the seat until the next election, which occurs in March, however some members of the council felt doing so for just a few months could unduly influence the March race.

“We can work through the issues, and I prefer to leave the seat vacant and allow the voters to decide who should sit on the dais and participate in our decisions,” said Councilwoman Michelle Grau.

Mayor Andy Thomson, however, said he preferred moving forward with the appointment of a person who is, specifically, not running for the seat in March so they could break potential ties between during the four month period when the governing body will have just four members.

“I like the idea of a caretaker role – appointing someone who is not running in March so we don’t put our fingers on the scale,” said Thomson.

Councilwoman Stacy Sipple, however, said choosing a person to appoint might end in a deadlock since some council members may favor appointing someone who has already announced they were running.

“I’m in favor of not appointing anybody at this time,” said Sipple. “We’d have to have three of four of us agree on the person, and I feel as if that would be like herding cats. I just don’t see the three of us agreeing on the same person.”

Two seats are up for grabs in March – Drucker’s seat as well as the seat currently occupied by Sipple. The candidates vying for Drucker’s seat include Mike Liebelson, Rachael Paul, Earl Starkoff and Lisa Mulhall. Sipple is running for re-election to her post, facing off against Mark Holler, Ellen Vanderbilt and Mark Stahlbaum. Bernard Korn registered to run for both seats, at one point, but withdrew his candidacy.

The council ultimately decided, collectively, to hold off on appointing a temporary member, though Thomson said if tie votes become a major issue after Drucker leaves, the issue could be revisited.

“If that keeps happening, I suppose we could re-kickoff our application process,” he said.