Posted: Sep 17, 2015 8:49 AM EDT Thursday, September 17, 2015 8:49 AM
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - There's a fear people may have less of a say in Boynton Beach's mission to revitalize the city.
All because city leaders are considering taking citizens off the Community Redevelopment board.
With his sign and dance moves, Juelz Dawn attracts business.
"I bring customers into Cafe Frankie's," the Boynton Beach sign spinner says.
The Community Redevelopment Agency does kind of the same thing. It brings developers to Boynton Beach to replace blight and slum with productive properties.
It focuses on the the east side of the city and the Heart of Boynton Beach neighborhood.
Currently, the CRA board is made up of the city's five elected commissioners plus two citizens.
Tuesday, commissioners voted to move forward with a proposal to take the citizens off the board.
"[It shows] no respect to the citizenry of Boynton Beach," explains Commissioner David Merker. He missed Tuesday's discussion because of Rosh Hashanah.
He doesn't like the move saying it turns the city into a "dictatorship."
"It's going backwards, not forwards," he says. "We're supposed to move forward together."
Commissioner Joe Casello says he wanted to make the switch to put accountability of the CRA's successes and failures in the hands of elected officials who answer to the people, instead of in the hands of appointed citizens who aren't held to the same standard.
James "Buck" Buchanan and Woodrow Hay are the two citizens on the board. Both say they were surprised by the proposal and disappointed.
Vivian Brooks, the CRA director, says a change could show instability on the board and negatively impact future projects.
Dawn doesn't like the idea. He thinks keeping citizens on the board would give decision-makers a better perspective of how the people feel.
"If they keep an even balance of civilians and commissioners they have the full picture right there," Dawn points out.
The change will come back to commissioners for a vote next month before it's final.
Boca Raton city council members make up that city's CRA. Independent citizens run the CRA in Delray Beach