BOCA RATON, Fla. — Boca Raton Mayor-Elect Andy Thomson is preparing to be sworn in on Tuesday alongside three new city council members, marking what he calls a reset for the city.
Thomson won a contentious race by five votes, becoming the first Democratic mayor in the city in three decades.
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"The community is really divided. It was you can see it in the results in the election. So now is the time, I think, with brief reset, we get the chance to really try to come together as a community and remember all the good things," Thomson said.
He will officially take office during Tuesday's city organizational meeting at 10 a.m.
"It’s such a wonderful opportunity and a blessing to be able to do this and have this chance to lead our city," Thomson said.
Thomson said he is looking forward to working with the new council, including Jon Pearlman, Stacy Sipple and Michelle Grau.
"We have a lot of good opportunities, with a lot of fresh faces and I think it’s going to be great," Thomson said.
The new leadership follows a recent shakeup that saw two deputy city managers and the police chief leave. The outgoing police chief received low marks in a union survey last August. Thomson said finding a new police chief is a priority.
"We want to make sure that these people have a great leadership environment around them. So, I want to make sure that we have, see somebody come in that has documented and obvious experience in dealing that kind of management level. I think that’s going to help lead our city," Thomson said.
Thomson said the need for a new police headquarters remains, and the question of funding could be on the ballot in August.
"The voters were clear that they were not in favor of building one that cost up to $175 million. We can have a perfectly suitable and functional police headquarters that looks just fine and that should cost less than that. And that is my plan going forward," Thomson said.
Public outreach will be conducted regarding the city hall, community center, and possible recreation renovations.
"We do need a city hall still and we do need a community center. The need for those has not gone away. The question now is just how are we going to accomplish getting these new facilities? We can look at what we have in use of existing resources — meaning what our reserves are and what kind of financing capacity we have that doesn’t require voter approval," Thomson said.
Thomson is also keeping a close eye on property tax proposals.
"If there is gonna be property tax relief, I get the desire for that. My hope is that it doesn’t do it in a way that is a massive disruption to local government," Thomson said.
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