Under increasing pressure after eight months of talk but no action, a divided Port of Palm Beach Commission agreed last week on an approach to fill the vacancy left in October by the resignation of Commissioner Jean Enright.
But first, at the insistence of Chair and longtime Commissioner Blair Ciklin, the commission agreed to open applications beyond the 12 people who met the initial Feb. 19 deadline to apply.
Interested residents of the port district have until July 1 to submit a letter and resume to be considered to fill the remainder of Enright’s four-year term, which expires in November 2028. They can apply here.
One potential applicant is Brian Lamb, Ciklin’s opponent in the port’s Group 4 Democratic primary. He told Stet News he would apply.
The vacancy has led to community pressure on port commissioners including an effort by Democratic state Sen. Mack Bernard to enact legislation that would give voters a say at the next scheduled election when a vacancy occurs with 28 months or more left on the term.
Without such a rule, which is in state law for other openings, such as sheriff, the seat could remain vacant until the term expires.
With no time to get that bill passed during the legislative session, Bernard tried to inject it into the budget through a provision that would cut state spending at the port if the seat were not filled. The measure did not get into the budget approved on May 29.
But it appeared to inspire port commissioners to compromise.
Finalists to be selected before July 16 meeting
Under an approach proposed by Commissioner Wayne Richards, each of the four commissioners will select two finalists in early July and submit them to staff. Those with the most selections, a number Richards said without explanation that he hoped would be two, would be considered by the commission at its July 16 meeting.
The commission would rank the finalists, but with just two finalists, the commission runs the risk of a deadlock as two commissioners could support one finalist and the other two commissioners could support the other.
In March, Richards and Commissioner Varisa Dass opposed Ciklin’s proposal to reopen the application pool, but Richards said he could go along now in the spirit of compromise.
“We have egg on our face. We need to pass this,” Richards said. “So I have to compromise. We’re much further along than we have been. I think it will get us there.”
At the beginning of the discussion, the fourth commissioner, Deandre Poole, resisted, saying he opposed “rushing to fill the seat” even though he’s been told the only reason he faces an opponent in this year’s election is the seat hasn’t been filled.
One of his two opponents is Taniel Koushakjian, who applied for the Enright opening and is challenging Poole in the Aug. 18 Democratic primary.
Ciklin supported the approach. In an interview, he explained the importance of finding the right person for a complicated job.
“This is not just something you give to a friend,” he said.
Potential applicants
Enright, who served for 20 years, attended the meeting, and several members of the public spoke in favor of reappointing her. She did not return a phone call to say whether she would apply or why she had resigned from the board.
Lamb, a West Palm Beach fire battalion chief and union local president who is running against Ciklin and Serge D’Haiti in the August primary, told Stet News in an interview he would apply for the appointment.
No applications had been submitted as of June 23.
D’Haiti, a Democrat like Ciklin and Lamb, said he had no plans to apply and would face Ciklin in the primary. Because no Republican is running, that primary is open to all voters regardless of party.
If Lamb were appointed, his name would remain on the ballot but he would have no reason to mount a campaign against Ciklin. Ciklin, who has not faced a Democratic challenger since 2010, would need more than 50% of the vote to win in August.
Ciklin told Stet News he had met Lamb but did not know whether he would apply.
Both Lamb and D’Haiti registered to run before Ciklin announced that he would seek what he said would be his final four-year term. Ciklin, 76, a Morgan Stanley vice president, has served on the board for all but two years since 1976. He has more campaign money in this election cycle than any other candidate because he loaned his campaign $60,000.
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The port district leans heavily Democratic. It runs along the coast between Southern and PGA boulevards, and takes in all of Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee and the Glades communities.
Original 12 applicants
Among the 12 applicants in February is Katherine Waldron, a former port commissioner and one-term state House member who recently qualified to run for County Commission District 6.
Former Riviera Beach City Council member Terence Davis and former port commission candidates Jeffery Jackson, a retired sheriff’s office captain; Kelly Fleury, who runs a charity that helps Haitians; and Roderick Clarke, a sales manager for a car dealership, also submitted.
Other candidates: Erik Range, chief of staff to Riviera Beach Mayor Doug Lawson; Joseph Russo, a one-time candidate for Palm Beach Gardens City Council; W. Bradford Gary, a Palm Beach resident and close observer of port activities; and Ann Marie Sorrell, president and CEO of a West Palm Beach-based marketing and advertising agency.
Also: Moeti Neube, a financial planner and co-owner of a Riviera Beach realty company; Greg Turner, a harbor pilot at the port for 37 years; Kevin Harris, a small-business owner with experience as a liaison to the ports of Los Angeles and Baltimore; and Koushakjian, formerly a senior adviser to the chief executive of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and chief public policy and communications officer with the South Florida Water Management District.
Port commissioners oversee a $27 million budget. Its largest customer is the cruise ship, Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, which travels several times a week to the Bahamas.
The port’s industrial tenants, led by Tropical Shipping, primarily serve the Caribbean.
This story was originally published by Stet News Palm Beach, a WLRN News partner.
