I’ve lived in Boca Raton for 47 years. I have served our community as a businessperson, volunteer, and public servant for two terms on the City Council. What is happening now has fractured our community and taken us to a place that feels unfamiliar.
Boca Raton has long prided itself on civic engagement and respect for residents. Passionate debate is healthy. Disagreement is part of democracy. But when the process itself feels compromised, something deeper is at risk.
From the beginning, the so-called “unsolicited proposal” felt off track. I wanted to believe otherwise. So I stayed engaged, evaluated the options presented and ultimately believed that, if the project were to move forward, Terra/Frisbie represented the strongest proposal available.
The current council is silent. And in its silence, it hides the truth that Terra/Frisbie’s only role now is the construction of a transit-oriented private development adjacent to the Brightline station.
As the project evolved, one principle remained constant for me: the people’s right to vote on their own public land. That belief is not new. I have held it dearly since the 4035 Ordinance, Mizner Park and Wildflower public land referendums (yes I’ve been around a long time!). These were moments that defined Boca’s history of residents having a voice in decisions that would shape our city for generations. Especially decisions about public land.
To its shame, this Public Private Partnership proposal did not begin as the 7+ acre plan it is now. The current City Council envisioned a 31 acre project on public land. The reduction to 7 acres did not happen in a vacuum. It happened because residents paid attention, spoke up, and demanded change. Residents preserved Memorial Park and proved that a community engagement process matters.
The Turning Point
The approval of biased misleading ballot language was the final straw. The lack of neutrality was a shocking betrayal of public trust. What has followed only intensified those concerns. Residents are now being bombarded daily with messaging in their mailboxes, on television, and through text messages, messaging that is misleading at best and outright false at worst.The project is continually being described as the “Downtown Campus Redevelopment Project”, framed as expanding green space and saving Memorial Park. That is not true!
When One Boca messaging blurred who is paying, what is being built, and who benefits, our city council did not stand up to them and provide the clarity voters deserved.
Equally troubling is the tone of the Terra/Frisbie One Boca campaign itself. Rather than one of clear facts and transparent explanations, Terra/Frisbie messaging leans on emotionally charged appeals on things that have nothing to do with its project. To their disgrace, it includes using veterans and deeply symbolic imagery designed to pull at residents’ heartstrings. Our veterans deserve respect, not to be used as marketing tools in a commercial development campaign.
At a time when the discussion should be about substantive issues, we have been given emotional manipulation. The current city council has allowed it which has broken public trust.
- Memorial Park was preserved because residents demanded it, not because of One Boca.
- Taxpayers, not Terra/Frisbie are funding the government campus.
- The current council has spent $17 million of taxpayer reserves to erase city workers from downtown. At first it was presented as temporary but surprise, now it’s permanent.
- Taxpayer funds will finance the park, community center, city hall and police station improvements that Terra/Frisbie brags about in their “One Boca” campaign.
- Meanwhile, the current council is silent. And in its silence, it hides the truth that Terra/Frisbie’s only role now is the construction of a transit-oriented private development adjacent to the Brightline station.
Silence Is Complicity.
These things matter. When One Boca messaging blurred who is paying, what is being built, and who benefits, our city council did not stand up to them and provide the clarity voters deserved. Residents told you this time and time again:
Regardless of where anyone stands on the project itself, we should all agree on one fundamental principle: decisions of this magnitude must be grounded in honesty and transparency.
Our Mayor has repeatedly criticized residents for spreading misinformation. Yet much of what came from the public appeared to stem from confusion caused by a deceptive process or simply disagreement labeled as misinformation by those in power. Now, however, the full throated misinformation campaign by the City’s chosen development partner Terra/Frisbie (One Boca), has had no such public correction. These are not Boca Raton values.
Mistruth Has Become Normalized
If this ordinance moves forward under these circumstances, it raises serious questions about the kind of partnership we are entering into and the standards we are willing to accept.
Public-private partnerships require confidence, transparency, and shared values. Without those, the foundation is unstable. This moment is bigger than one project.
- It is about a city council culture that allows misleading narratives to shape public decisions.
- It is about residents no longer able to trust that major initiatives are handled with integrity.
- It is about whether our community has any values to guide our actions.
For me, this has been deeply disappointing, not because of disagreement, but because it feels that the majority of current city council has made a forever departure from the standards Boca Raton has worked for and upheld for 100 years.
Boca Raton deserves better than spin.
Boca Raton deserves better than confusion.
Boca Raton deserves transparency, honesty, and respect for the people who call it home.
Because in the end, the TRUTH MATTERS more than anything.
I cannot support Ballot Question #2 under these circumstances. This decision is not about resisting change or opposing progress, it is about insisting on transparency, honesty, and a process worthy of the community we love. Because HOW we do something is just as important as WHAT we do.
