Boca Raton City Council Strategic Planning Session - May 7, 2025
Boca Raton City Council Strategic Planning Session - May 7, 2025
The Boca Raton City Council held a strategic planning workshop on May 7, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at 6500 Congress Ave. Facilitated by Trainnovations, the session aimed to align council and staff on long-term visionary goals for 2030 and 2050, focusing on high-level outcomes rather than operational details. The day included public comment, facilitated discussions on six strategic focus areas, and identification of next steps.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Monique Grabo (99 Southeast Meisner Boulevard) requested increased traffic enforcement downtown, lower speed limits, no right-turn-on-red at major intersections, and more trash bins to address litter. She expressed that Boca Raton is a dangerous place to walk and bike.
- Robert Duquet (5351 Northwestern Terrace, BoCotica area) raised concerns about public safety, specifically opposing a four-lane road through a 70-acre park (Jeffrey Street crossing), and asked for improved transparency with mailed notifications to residents within 500 feet of significant rezonings or site plan amendments.
- Jonathan Unjin (6501 Congress Avenue) urged the council to enable proper planning for development in the area, particularly around the Live Local Act and the DDRI, and criticized the practice of placing new residential units next to old commercial buildings without a comprehensive plan.
- Judy Morrow (1305 Northeast Fifth Avenue) spoke on behalf of tennis players, requesting a guarantee of at least eight tennis courts in the downtown redevelopment (Terra Frisbee plan) after learning that options reduced the count from the current ten. She noted she spoke with Rob Frisbee for 58 minutes but still had no guarantee.
Discussion Items
- Campus Master Plan ("Master Plan Plus Plus") – The council discussed the vision for the downtown government campus, emphasizing a vibrant, walkable, mixed-use transit-oriented district that enhances civic identity and economic growth. Key themes included connectivity to Meisner Park, the beach, and other nodes; the need for multimodal transportation (e.g., gondolas, shuttles, bike paths); integration of AI and technology; and the need to balance infrastructure maintenance with new projects. Mayor Singer stressed that the plan should be a vibrant center tied to the larger city, not a siloed development. Councilmember Drucker advocated for bold pedestrianism, including potentially closing streets to vehicles. Councilmember Wigder highlighted the financial necessity of increasing the tax base to replace expiring CRA funds beyond 2042. The council agreed to hold a workshop once the interim master plan is received (expected May 12) to discuss specific policy choices, including street widths and traffic lanes.
- Community Safety – Chief Mucio and Fire Chief Trainer presented goals for public safety, noting that increased density and vertical development will require more staffing and equipment. They asked the council for examples of effective safety programs seen elsewhere. Councilmember Drucker cited West Palm Beach's downtown ambassador program as a potential model. Councilmember Wigder emphasized the need for long-term planning for staffing, stations, and succession. The council agreed on the importance of maintaining a feeling of safety and over-communicating with the public.
- World-Class Services – The discussion focused on defining world-class services as convenient, innovative, efficient, reliable, responsive, and transparent. Councilmembers stressed the importance of balancing technology with human customer service, maintaining infrastructure, and setting clear expectations. The city's triple-A bond rating and strong general fund balance (25% of expenditures) were noted. Staff sought policy direction on whether to prioritize maintenance of existing infrastructure over new projects; council agreed maintenance should be prioritized.
- Financially Sound – The council discussed core principles for financial decision-making: maintaining a diverse business base, staying agile in response to legislative changes, keeping the general fund above best-practice benchmarks, and being prepared for economic shifts. Concerns were raised about potential impacts of state preemption (e.g., CRA legislation), tariffs, and a slowdown in property value growth. The possibility of a mobility fee to fund multimodal improvements was raised, but staff noted complexities with the county partnership.
- Vibrant Economy – Staff presented data on business tax receipts, showing top industries. Councilmembers requested more granular trend data (e.g., job growth, wages, age of companies, NAICS codes) to better target economic development efforts. Mayor Singer emphasized the need to focus on high-growth industries, especially financial services and tech, and to attract both small and large businesses. Councilmember Drucker stressed the importance of entry-level jobs and retaining young talent. Councilmember Thompson noted the city's success in small business and advocated for remaining flexible. A key takeaway was the need for better data collection, possibly through BTR modifications, to track economic outcomes.
Key Outcomes
- Campus Master Plan: Council agreed to hold a dedicated workshop once the interim master plan is received to discuss specific design options (e.g., street widths, pedestrian zones). The vision is a vibrant, walkable, transit-connected downtown. Staff will prepare a list of open questions for council.
- Community Safety: Council directed staff to continue planning for increased staffing and equipment needs as density increases, and to explore innovative programs like ambassador models.
- World-Class Services: Council affirmed prioritizing maintenance of existing infrastructure over new projects, and directed staff to develop metrics for customer service, responsiveness, and reliability.
- Financially Sound: Council emphasized maintaining a strong general fund reserve, diversifying revenue streams, and staying agile in response to legislative and economic changes. A mobility fee option will be explored further.
- Vibrant Economy: Council requested staff to provide trend data on job growth, wages, business age, and industry composition within 90 days. The city will continue to support small businesses (defined as 50 or fewer employees) while also pursuing larger corporate targets, potentially through an external partner. The small business definition for policy purposes is 50 or fewer employees.
- Next Steps: The workshop will continue on May 8, 2025, at 10:00 AM, focusing on remaining strategic focus areas: Transportation & Mobility and Growth Management.
Meeting Transcript
Well, good morning and welcome to the first of the two days of the City of Ocaraton strategic planning sessions for 2025. It is Wednesday, May 7th, 2025. The time is 9 o'clock. Our first item of business will be the Pledge of Allegiance. Well, everyone please rise and join in. I pledge allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, my nation. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Well, welcome. This is always an exciting time for the city, especially in our centennial year. We're very pleased, and I'll welcome in a moment our facilitators from Trainovations, Trina Polium and Melinda Miller. And Sarah, I did not know her last name, though. Thank you, Sarah Spurlock. Welcome. Thank you. Glad to have you all here. I'm glad that we can all be around the table to think about some important strategic goals from a very high-level perspective. Over the course of the two days, I understand we're going to have eight different presentations from staff that have been curated in a thoughtful way to get us to find some consensus on some key areas. We're going to continue to try to have open dialogue in the spirit of having consensus through collaboration. We're going to focus on strategy and visionary goals for our city and where we're going. We're going to try to avoid to get into the weeds, and I will do my best myself too on specific items, budget line items, other concerns, and hope that we can consider the long-term goals for the city in the most thoughtful way and find that we are in a clearer place and that staff has more clarity on the direction that we want to go in. So if there's no other comments now, I'll welcome Trina Polyam to kick us off, please. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. Mayor Singer, Deputy Mayor Knockless, and Council members, good morning, City Manager, Mr. Brown, and all of the staff, both in the conversation. All of us will be participating today. Our goal today is to make uh this very participatory. The staff needs to hear from you all as an elected body on a very visionary level. Where we're going. What is this city going to be like in 2050? That's the those are the decisions that you will make today, and for the rest of this year, this council is directing what the city will look like in 10 years, 20 years. This is huge generational decisions that you're making, and we would like to discuss on a very high level. What do you need? What will it look like? The council needs to hear from staff. What do you think? What do you believe? How do you feel about where you're going and what you're doing and what you have to do to meet the council vision? For the benefit of the community, I would like to uh quickly introduce us. Thank you for for being here, everyone, and uh everyone who is online as well. My name is Trina. I am joined by Melinda Miller and Sarah Spurlock. We are the team uh that has uh been charged with doing this project for the City of Boca Raton. We um have been at this for 30 years in many, many cities across the state of Florida, and uh we only work for local government. So we understand the challenges that cities uh have and we are going to help the City of Boca Raton overcome some of those challenges and be supervisionary and continue to be the benchmark and the best practice for the state of Florida. So thank you all for being here and doing that. These topics have been carefully uh considered.
openpublica.com