When Marilyn Muñoz heard that soon-to-be Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter was pushing to hold next year’s annual Mayors’ Ball to help the homeless at Mar-a-Lago, she was struck by the absurdity of the proposal.
“Our current administration just disappeared all the homeless out of Washington, D.C.,” said Muñoz, referring to President Donald Trump’s recent crackdown on homeless encampments in the capital. “So it’s kind of weird to think of having it at Mar-a-Lago. It’s just not a good look.”
As the former longtime director of the Homeless Coalition, which organizes and benefits from the gala, Muñoz is more than a little surprised that an event that began with such harmony has morphed into a battle that threatens not just the gala but the work of the nearly 40-year-old agency that has an annual budget of about $2.8 million.
On Tuesday, at the request of Baxter, the commission will decide whether to cancel a 10-year, $150,000 annual contract with the nonprofit that provides money to other homeless assistance agencies, such as The Lord’s Place, Adopt-a-Family and Gulfstream Goodwill.
Whether Baxter will push for the Homeless Coalition to be stripped of its ability to organize the ball is unknown. But the 2019 contract, which expires in 2029, gives the coalition the go-ahead to hold fundraisers to help accomplish the county’s 2008 plan to end homelessness. The gala is a key part of that effort.
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Since Priscilla Taylor, the mayor in 2014, tapped the coalition to organize the ball and use it to raise money, more than $1.5 million has been collected to help people and families get off the streets and back on their feet, according to the agency and its supporters.
Baxter, a Republican and Trump supporter scheduled to become mayor in November, told fellow commissioners this month that she had uncovered evidence that the coalition “was not actually serving as many homeless people as we thought.” She pushed to have the commission eliminate its funding.
Focused on adopting next year’s $9.6 billion county budget, commissioners said they needed more information but would consider Baxter’s request.
But in a memo to commissioners, county staff seemed to dispute Baxter’s claims.
They cited the valuable work the coalition has done to coordinate homeless assistance programs, raise awareness of the problems and solicit businesses to help combat them.
County staff specifically mentioned the coalition’s involvement in the Parks2Work program, which provides housing, stipends, job training and resume-writing classes to homeless people who clean county parks.
“To date, 158 unduplicated individuals have completed the program, with 80% not re-entering the homeless system of care,” county staff wrote. Many have found permanent jobs.
If the program isn’t coordinated by the coalition, another agency would have to be hired, they wrote. Further, they said, as a nonprofit it can seek grants that are off-limits to government.
Helping end homelessness is critical because a 2024 state law, banning sleeping in public places, requires local governments to provide shelter or face lawsuits.
Baxter criticizes nonprofit’s spending
The drive to defund the coalition was unexpected. But Baxter, who has drawn a Republican challenger for her 2026 reelection, has made no secret of her objection to giving tax money to nonprofits.
In August, she unsuccessfully sought to reduce the amount of money the county gives agencies that help struggling children and their families.
Still, her attack on the coalition came without warning at the end of each of the county’s budget hearings.
“One of the projects that seemed to be concerning to me was the Homeless Coalition, so I would like to pull that funding going forward,” she said at the hearing on Sept. 9.
Two weeks later, at the final hearing, she doubled down. “It seems like the majority of their budget goes to employees and that isn’t why they were created. They were created to help our homeless,” she said. “So, I would like to make the motion to pull their funding from this year’s budget.”
Many speculate that the dispute began as part of a clash between Baxter and her Democratic predecessor, former Commissioner Melissa McKinlay, president of the board of the coalition.
The dispute intensified when the coalition pushed back at Baxter’s suggestion that the Mayors’ Ball be held at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach. The cost was much higher than that of previous venues, such as last year’s ball in March at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens or its traditional location at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
By the time the coalition learned of Baxter’s interest in Mar-a-Lago, there was little time before a Mar-a-Lago deadline to confirm a date, McKinlay said.
The only date available would have been on a Friday, which would have been more difficult for working guests, she said. The gala has always been held on a Saturday night.
The coalition board worried about the higher cost of hosting the event at Mar-a-Lago, as well, she said.
No decision on a venue has been made.
When asked about the rift between them, neither McKinlay nor Baxter responded.
McKinlay said she was “looking forward” to Tuesday’s meeting and clearing up any misconceptions commissioners may have about the coalition’s work.
More than one mayoral gala
But, McKinlay also voiced frustration that another gala may make it difficult to hold the Mayors’ Ball in the spring.
The Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches plans to hold its first Mayor’s Gala on May 2 to honor West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James and raise money for programs to help small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“We were thrown a curveball on this,” McKinlay said.
Michael Zeff, chamber president and CEO, said it picked a date it believed wouldn’t conflict with “similar events.”
The county’s Mayors’ Ball has typically been held in March and April. One that has been held in Boca Raton since 2015 is in the fall and this year is planned for Nov. 1 at The Boca Raton resort.
Sidestepping questions about possible competition between the two galas, Zeff described the event that will be held at the Kravis Center.
“It will be an elegant and impactful evening that brings together civic and business leaders to celebrate innovation, entrepreneurship, and public service,” Zeff said in an email.
But McKinlay said she worries that some of those civic and business leaders that both the chamber and the coalition depend on might not be willing to open their wallets for sponsorships or $500-plus tickets to two events that are weeks apart.
Also, unlike the galas in West Palm and Boca, the county’s ball is supposed to be more than a celebration of the one mayor, McKinlay said. It is to honor all mayors — the county’s and those leading 39 municipalities.
To reflect that, this year, County Mayor Maria Marino changed the name from Mayor’s Ball to Mayors’ Ball. McKinlay said Marino believed that moving the apostrophe was important.
Muñoz said that over the years some other nonprofits tried to muscle in on the ball.
While the contract doesn’t specifically give the coalition the right to organize it, county officials recognized that it would be a way to raise money to accomplish their goal of ending homelessness.
It also insulates commissioners from conflict of interest allegations that could come if they sought large sums from developers and others who depend on County Commission votes for their projects. The coalition raises the money, not the commissioners.
Homeless Coalition is ‘Switzerland’
Further, unlike other nonprofits, the coalition doesn’t directly benefit from it, Muñoz said.
Instead, it gives the money to other agencies. “The Homeless Coalition was the best vehicle because they’re Switzerland, they’re neutral,” Muñoz said. “It was a win-win situation for everyone. All of the money went to direct services to the homeless.”
That was also the idea behind the county’s decision to pay the salary of the agency’s executive director and to provide it office space, she said. It was another way to make sure the roughly $1 million the coalition raised annually from various programs and events would go to services, not salaries.
But, Baxter said, cuts have to be made in the county budget to reduce the tax burden on seniors and families who are struggling. Social problems are intractable and priorities have to be set.
“You can’t spend enough money to solve all of the problems in Palm Beach County — whether it’s affordable housing, whether it’s homeless, we can go down the list, substance abuse,” she told commissioners. “We really need to look at areas we can cut back.”’
What’s next: The County Commission plans to discuss the coalition at its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 30, broadcast live on Channel 20 and YouTube.
