Balfour Wins

Malcolm on top

According to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections' web site, Malcolm Balfour was elected to the Lantana Town Council on March 12: http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/FL/Palm_Beach/46042/115332/en/summary.html#

Balfour will serve as the councilman from Group 2 of the town, which includes View Street. He fills a council seat that had been vacant. His opponents were Joe Farrell and Rosemary Mouring. Balfour won more than 50 percent of the votes.

Many of our community's residents went to the polls last Tuesday to cast their ballots. The race for the council position was the only item on the ballot.

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ELECTION DAY

From THE COASTAL STAR

Town Council Candidate Visits

Malcolm Balfour on View Street

A few View Streeters had the opportunity recently to chat with one of the three candidates in the Lantana municipal election to be held on March 12.

Malcolm Balfour is a council candidate in the town’s Group 2 competition.

The other two contenders for the office are Joseph Farrell and Rosemary Mourning.

Balfour was on View Street to meet the residents and ask for their votes.  

Visits by the two other candidates for the council slot are anticipated.

Balfour said he is concerned about tax revenues for the town after property tax rates began to drop throughout the county following the international fiscal crisis more than three years ago. The town not raised taxes for the past 10-years, Balfour said.

He said the sale of the old hospital that dominates the Lantana landscape might be the right response to the town’s economic woes.

 “A major part of the solution to our financial difficulties could come from the privatization of the state owned A.G. Holley Hospital property.  For 60-plus years the state-owned building, in our Town's prime location, but has paid no taxes.  With two airports close by, it is an ideal location for commercial development,” Balfour said.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has said that he plans to sell state-owned properties.

 Balfour came to Lantana in 1972 as an editor of the National Enquirer.  He has stayed on as an independent reporter and television producer. He served as chairman of the Lantana’s Nature Preserve commission. Balfour and his wife, Ilona, I have two grown children.

Balfour’s campaign is planning a “meet and greet” event at the Grumpy Grouper Grill, 224 No. 3^rd St., on Wednesday, March 6 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. View Streeters are invited to attend.

Campaign graphic supplied by the candidate:

     

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NEW BOARD

Powers & Powers 

Don Powers was named VSHOA President in a meeting of the new Board of Directors in the Clubhouse on Monday, January 21.

Vice President is Dave Powers.

The two are not related. The Board will serve in its new form for one year

Secretary again is Donna Blake.

Members at large are Gena Nagyfy and Gail Conner. Both women served on the Board during the previous year.

Don Powers has been a View Street resident for more than 15 years and has been on the Board before.

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FROM ELVIS TO EDUCATION

OLD ENQUIRER SITE TO BECOME SCHOOL

The Lantana property that was once home to the National Enquirer will become a high school.

The 7.6-acre site is at 600 East Coast Ave., west of the railroad tracks near Dixie Highway. The building has been vacant since a charter school moved out some time ago. 

In its heyday, the Enquirer weekly tabloid employed a battalion of journalists who traveled the world in pursuit of bizarre and sensational news. The newspaper now has offices in Boca Raton.

The new occupants will be the Palm Beach Maritime Academy. Students at the Lantana facility will be in grades 6 to 9, with the anticipated addition of other grades later. The school is expected to open in August.

The change was approved by the Lantana Town Council. 

A number of town residents voiced opposition to the plan at the meeting. Most of them complained of possible traffic congestion.

The Maritime school expects to enroll about 600 students.

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BRIDGE-BUILDING NOISE

Council action

The Lantana Town Council has decreed that the rebuilding of the bridge on East Ocean Avenue can continue every night until 11 o'clock.

But that may not mean that the pounding of pile drivers -- heard often here on View Street --  will be a late-night problem.

The council said the contractors can work after dark in order to reach completion by November, but that the loudest  noises must stop at 6 p.m. 

We might hear late generators, but no pile drivers. The new bridge will have 145 piles. Only about 30 piles remain to be driven.

Most of us agree that the completion of the project can't come too soon. The new bridge will put the beach back in walking distance.

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NEW BOARD MEMBERS

TAKING THE REINS

If you attended the Annual Meeting on January 15, you know that five people were nominated to fill the three vacancies on the Board of Directors.

Since the meeting, two of the candidates have withdrawn: Walter Allan and Pat Sacco.

This means that the other three candidates will fill the posts without a formal election.
The new Board members are:
Dave Powers,   Don Powers    and incumbent Gail Conner.