Boca Raton spans 29 square miles and more than 18,000 acres. You wouldn’t know it based on social media conversations these days.
Much of that online chatter is centered around the Brightline District/Government Campus initiative, which many support because it’s the right investment for our city. Our entire city. That is why I continue to support moving the analysis and review forward, and keep urging the planners to work with and listen to the community as they revise their plan so it respects our past, enhances our parks and responsibly plans for our future.
Of course, just like other big ideas in Boca Raton’s history, there are passionate voices in opposition. Mizner Park had years of fighting. Blue Lake, bitter conversations. Even the evolution of what is now called The Boca Raton has, at times, been a hotbed of controversy with hundreds crowding the community center in opposition. Over 400 at one meeting!
I love that passion, and I appreciate and welcome civic engagement and participation. But we need more than emotion and passion to lead a world-class city forward. We need logic, experience and more importantly, the perspective and courage to govern for the future of all 18,000 acres of Boca Raton, not just 30 acres downtown.
When I first ran for City Council, I promised to be a voice for all of Boca Raton, focusing on how each piece fits into the complete picture to improve life for every resident and every generation. That remains my guiding principle today. It is what you asked for.
That’s why, working with my colleagues, we are pressing forward with common sense initiatives that make Boca Raton better. We passed the city’s first attainable housing ordinance, because our teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters — and yes, our own kids — should be able to afford to live in the community they love.
We extended the Community Redevelopment Agency, keeping tens of millions of tax dollars here in Boca to improve our infrastructure now, not later. We’re planning a modern new police station on Spanish River Boulevard instead of the current location pressed up against the railroad tracks, centrally located to better serve the whole city. And we are relocating administrative offices into an existing building, saving taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in the process.
We replace pipes before they break, invest in our parks and libraries and maintain among the lowest property tax rate in Florida for a full-service city. These are the quiet, responsible decisions that keep Boca strong. All of Boca.
Today, Boca Raton has over 100 capital projects underway. That’s because, as a businessman, I appreciate investments pay dividends. When people say, “do nothing,” what they really mean is “go backward.” And the most expensive thing a city can do is nothing.
Doing nothing means broken pipes, declining services and higher taxes. Doing nothing means telling the next generation of Boca families that they can’t afford to live in the city they grew up in. Saying no is not going to save Boca.
Ultimately, we need to have serious conversations driven by facts. Everyone in Boca deserves that. We are a world-class community that deserves first-class services. We can’t freeze time or govern by nostalgia. We have to keep investing wisely, managing our growth responsibly and ensuring our city — all of it — stays vibrant and financially strong.
Boca Raton’s civic dialogue should not be consumed by 30 acres. It should be about 18,000 acres. About the neighborhoods east and west of 95, the businesses along Military Trail and Federal Highway, seniors living their golden years, the students at our universities and the families and hardworking people all throughout Boca Raton.
Marc Wigder is a Boca Raton city councilman.
