March 9th Election – Candidate Profiles
Posted by PBG Watch on January 30, 2021 · 4 Comments
In March, there will be a Palm Beach Gardens City Council (Group 2) Municipal Election to fill the seat vacated by newly elected County Commissioner District 1, Maria Marino.
The election is considered a “special election”, and the winner will fill out the remainder of Maria’s term which ends in March of 2022.
The candidates are previous Council Member (and Mayor) Marcie Tinsley and newcomer Rob Nanfro.
Marcie Tinsley, a land planner and landscape designer is Vice President of Karl Corporation, a land management company. She was term-limited out in 2017, and is eligible to run again after sitting out a three year term.
Rob Nanfro, A CPA and Sr. Director of Taxation for ECN Capital in West Palm Beach is a newcomer to the Gardens, having moved here from New Jersey in 2019.
To help you make sense of who these candidates are and what they would do if they win, we asked each of them to describe themselves to our readers by answering 5 questions:
- Why do you want to be on the Council?
- What do you see as the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing Palm Beach Gardens now and in the near future?
- What involvement have you had in the issues that the council has faced over the past few years?
- What is your “vision” for the city?
- What else would you like the voters to know about you and your candidacy?
Further information and links to their websites can be found in our online voters’ guide, and a printed copy of these profiles can be had at the [PRINT] link to the right of the title (above).
Here are their responses:
| Group 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
 Rob Nanfro |
 Marcie Tinsley |
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| 1. Why do you want to be on the Council? | ||
| Rob Nanfro: My wife, Claudia, and I instantly fell in love with Palm Beach Gardens and I immediately became PBG Proud!. I believe – if you love where you live you should get involved. With the encouragement of a few long-time residents, I did my due diligence and decided, as a tax expert, that I could help PBG by serving on the City Council. I am running for Transparency, Fiscal Responsibility and will honor the current “Term Limits’ of 2 three-year terms. What made me run was the lack of transparency for just 4 issues over the last decade: 1. $14M Bond – At the 01/14/2021 City Council meeting, various reports and documents were brandished from 2013 through 2019 as transparency in government for the Resolution [Lucky #] 7, 2021. Why weren’t the materials, brandished from the dias, from 2013-2019 easily accessible on the website? The truth about the $14M Bond – it is dependent on recreational impact fees and “projected” revenues, not guaranteed revenues. Any shortfall will be footed by the taxpayers. 2. The “Sears Lawsuit” – The City Council became involved in a private corporate dispute when it passed an Ordinance that affected Sear’s ability to sublet its retail space at the Gardens Mall. Sears sued and the Appellate Court ruled the City Ordinance was unconstitutional and it awarded Sears $625,000 in legal fees to be paid by the City. Ultimately it was the taxpayers that paid because it was not covered by the city’s insurance policy. Not only was this a waste of time but costly to our residents. 3. The Stadium – Astros Leadership acknowledged that the City had been in talks with the City since 2012 for a potential spring training Facility in PBG. Even with the team’s general council stating in mid-November 2013 that the Astros were only focusing on the 117-acres site off Central Blvd. After the City Council approved $60K for a PR firm to work on the stadium project, my opponent stated, just three days later – “I would love to be able to tell you what my position is,” Tinsley said. “At this point, there is no proposal to base a decision on.” We all know an MLB team would not make such a statement unless some guarantees and a preliminary proposal were in place. 4. Term Limits – In 2014, the residents voted for term limits of 2 three-year terms but in 2017, the City Council put forward a deceptive measure trying to extend the term limit to 3 three-year terms. This strategy landed the City back in court which cost the taxpayers $100K to put the measure on the ballot with court-ordered mandatory education for the voters. These funds were on top of the monies already spent by the City to try and defend what the City Council wanted to extend the term limits the residents voted for in 2014. Originally my opponent stated the voters should decide “Term Limits” but once she was “termed-out”, she changed her tune. Her subjective view stated approval for ‘reasonable’ term limits and what is out there isn’t reasonable.” Her return to the political landscape after sitting out for one term might be legal, but in not in the “spirit’ of the term limits concept. This “spirit” is to have new people with fresh ideas and diverse expertise in leadership positions of our City for two 3-year terms. As a CPA and tax expert, I am the best choice to bring government transparency and fiscal responsibility to the City Council. |
Marcie Tinsley: Palm Beach Gardens has been my home for almost 20 years. I began public service by Volunteering at Allamanda Elementary School in 1989 while attending college. My husband and I have raised our three children in PBG, I have continued to serve my community by volunteering on boards and committees on a local and regional level for the last 20 years. My family and home are the biggest investment of my life and are located in our beautiful city. I supported term limits and have listened to the will of the voters. I took a break from politics and had an opportunity to watch our city grow from the sidelines. I was encouraged by friends, many residents and business owners to serve again. As an empty nester, I now have more time to dedicate my leadership skills and experience to our city. I have always been a consensus builder. In today’s challenging time, I can use my knowledge and history to protect our neighborhoods from over development while protecting our natural resources. I can help bridge the gap between the past and present and lead our city into the future. |
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| 2. What do you see as the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing Palm Beach Gardens now and in the near future? | ||
| Rob Nanfro: strength and a weakness are derived from the same dominant thinking. A Strength for a City Council is having consistency in leadership structure. The weakness creeps in when the leadership structure does not change and there is complacency with a lack of improvement relying on the status quo. Strengths – “Our Signature City” has many strengths. I believe that we can all agree that Our #1 strength is the reputation for being a best city to live in Florida, with great quality of life metrics and stellar public safety programs. BUT, the “Palm Beach Gardens Biggest Strength” came from you, the voters. In 2014, you passed a measure with 80% of the voters supporting “term limits” with City Council members serving 2 three-year terms and then they must step down. History has shown that “term limits” strengthen democratic institutions over time because the change in political hierarchy encourages a rising generation of leaders with fresh ideas and views to suggest policy changes that will strengthen a municipality. The election of the new City Council members does not allow city management nor council members to become stagnant and complacent which helps “Our Signature City” grow and encourages “Fiscal Responsibility” and “Government Transparency”. Weaknesses – I always look at a weakness as an opportunity to improve. In reviewing the current 2021 Adopted Budget, I noticed that the City Council’s budget is a staggering $545,129 for 5 members. This is an astonishing 40% higher than the 2019 Actual Budget of $388,572 during a pandemic. Why is it so high? The answer is that the City Council is paid a salary with health benefits, a pension, travel per diem, memberships/dues, professional service fees and contingency fees. This is a part time position and our City is budgeting over $109,000 for each person. I believe that this is too much and should be curtailed. Opportunities – Fiscal Responsibility, Government Transparency, Impact Tax & Helping local businesses.
Threats – The lack of Government Transparency, no resident workshops, and the planning with no oversight from the community are dodgy practices which lead to rapid growth, the misuse of impact fees, and a neglect of the infrastructure. I am sure if the City Council is scrutinized, there will be a finger-pointing blame game. I have three questions: 1. Why is there NO COLA (Cost of Living Increase) for the PBG Police Department when all other departments have it? |
Marcie Tinsley: Strengths: The strength of our city is its people, businesses, amenities, and government working together. It provides an opportunity to live, work, play in a safe and beautiful environment. Our community leaders and residents are able to voice their concerns. It is up to local government to listen and respond. Our city has award winning first responders that are second to none. Weakness/ Threats can blossom into opportunity: |
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| 3. What involvement have you had in the issues that the council has faced over the past few years? | ||
| Rob Nanfro: As a tax expert, I have been involved with various municipal councils regarding multi-million-dollar projects regarding footprints, job growth, and working with the various state/municipal councils to ensure that the entity I represented was being a good corporate neighbor. Most recently, I have been attending current and reviewing previous Palm Beach Gardens City Council meetings. While the City seems to be run efficiently, I believe fresh ideas and full transparency are needed at the Council level. During the last two council meetings, observing first in December and then participating in the January meeting, I left the last council meeting perplexed – how could the City Council vote on a Resolution [Lucky #7], a $14M Bond, and claim transparency when no document or study they referenced was available on the City Council website, for public review? |
Marcie Tinsley: As a public servant, volunteer and resident, I have been an active problem solver in our community for many years. I now have the unique perspective of being able to see things through the eyes of a resident, property owner, mom and government official. I have protected property owners by lowering taxes, protected neighborhoods from over development and also supported local business. I listened to residents and I fought for more transparency in government. This resulted in live streamed council meetings and a very informative city website. In addition to the examples above, serving on the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, gave me the tools to solve many traffic problems. It also was instrumental in creating policy to keep developer impact dollars local to pay for roadway improvements in our city. More specifically, I used my land planning skills to improve the safety and traffic flow of 117th Court North. I witnessed parents driving up on the same sidewalk that students of both Timber Trace Elementary and Duncan Middle school were walking. Cars were backed up on Central Blvd causing mayhem each morning. I collaborated with the School Board, The City Public Works and Engineering Department and came up with a plan to solve the traffic, parking and access issues while vastly improving the safety of our young pedestrians. There are a myriad of examples to share that exemplify my passion in helping to improve local government and our community. |
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| 4. What is your “vision” for the city? | ||
| Rob Nanfro: A more transparent City Council that will create meaningful change that encompasses MacArthur’s vision and the opportunity to become a forward-thinking community. Innovation is the key to success. The City Council should invite participation from the residents by; having interactive council meetings, when necessary, to review project areas and the neighborhood(s) that will be affected, resident workshops and interactive council meetings that include social media and local cable stations, with the ability for residents, not attending in person, to be able to ask questions or make comments and be on the record. |
Marcie Tinsley: My near term vision and goal is to help our residents through the pandemic and help get our economy moving again. I also want to make sure our city grows in a thoughtful manner while keeping taxes low and protecting our natural resources. |
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| 5. What else would you like the voters to know about you and your candidacy? | ||
| Rob Nanfro: I have No Agenda I will Fight For Transparency I believe in Term Limits I will Fight To Close Loopholes |
Marcie Tinsley: It is not easy to get things done in a bureaucracy. I am a consensus builder and am proud of what I have accomplished. I have taken a step back and have a clear vision, I am willing to dedicate the time and use my knowledge, history and skills in leading our city into the future. I would love the opportunity to do more. |
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Joe Russo and Eric Jablin worked for Palm Beach Gardens for over 40 years of combined service as Mayors and Councilmen. Over that period, they would show up at city hall and be seen by resident and city employees on a regular basis. I believe They were forced out with the aid of partisan special interests politics under the pretext of retroactive term limits and no thank you for your many years of service event. PBG Mayor and Council members are paying employee positions, yet their offices are empty? Patch throughs don’t work without some sort of face to face in city hall meetings.
If term limits are so great, why doesn’t the the US Congress have them?
New Broms sweep clean. My money’s on a fresh face and hopefully someone who will show up at the office once in a while and be seen. Having purchased my 1st home in 1968 on Gardenia, I know a little bit about Palm Beach Gardens and I’m voting for Rob Nanfro.
I have only lived here since 2007 but in comparing the two candidates, I also am favoring Rob Nanfro.
I have lived in PBG for 20 years. It is obvious during this period that the elected leadership of the city has pandered to powerful people at the expense of the general population, over and over again. The western annexation and traffic on Northlake Blvd. are modeling the Browardization to the south. Meanwhile, a series of speculative high rises, office towers, and retail complexes approved by compliant commissioners sit underutilized.
Then voters were subjected to a vague referendum question regarding PBG commission term limits. All the double talk did not convince the engaged constituency, but it was clear to all that SOMEONE was trying to fly under the radar.
This afterthought of an election has an insider versus an outsider. The insider is going all out with soft, family oriented happy talk, filled with promises and platitudes.
I have received a succession of mailers from the insider. Today I received two 12×9 inch full color glossy mailers appealing to taxpayer and “neighborhood” issues. Really! Two in one day! Postal carriers have enough trouble without having to deal with oversized junk mail. They are only the latest campaign appeals my “household” has received from the insider. What gives? The amount of campaign dollars being spent seems grossly disproportionate to the office.
Where does ALL the campaign money come from to wage such an EXPENSIVE campaign to fill a one-year term? It appears a lot of powerful interests support the insider’s campaign. Evidently they think throwing around some money on this campaign will further their unspoken agenda.
PBG needs some new blood on the City Commission. Not the same old game of wheeling and dealing.
I’ve lived in PBG for 25+ yrs, and agree that the agenda of city council has been too much in favor of special interests such as land speculators, realtors, and developers. Marcie has huge red flags with endorsements from the Chamber of Commerce and the Fraternal Order of Police which is almost an automatic guarantee a person will not govern in the interests of the people.
But term limits are an awful idea that empower special interests, who can rotate through new puppet candidates every election cycle, while worthwhile candidates are rare and take time to build and earn the trust of the community. To force them out only benefits the interests of those who can fund new candidates every cycle.
If the challenger was anyone else and brought good ideas and values to the table, I would be voting for them in a heartbeat, but unfortunately we weren’t given an good options this election. Maybe next year someone will step up.