Delray Seat 4 election: Allegations fly concerning candidates' business practices

DELRAY BEACH — With Delray Beach City Commissioner Shirley Johnson termed out, two longtime residents are running for her District 4 seat, with each making strong allegations against the other ahead of Tuesday's election.

As voters are seeing with the Seat 2 race in Delray, the mudslinging between candidates has taken center stage more often than the city's pressing issues: overdevelopment, affordable housing and aging infrastructure, to name a few.

Angie Gray, vice-chair for the Community Redevelopment Agency and a former commissioner, faces Angela Burns, a newly retired teacher who’s served on several city boards. Both are longtime residents of Delray Beach — Gray for 47 years, and Burns for 58.

Gray faces claims of using her position in government to promote cryptocurrency. Burns faces accusations of mismanaging finances for a failed business started by her son with help from the CRA.

Did Angie Gray promote cryptocurrency without disclosing her involvement to potential investors?

In the spring of 2022, Gray was posting on Facebook about working with the city to create Delray’s own cryptocurrency coin, as Miami and New York City have. It would serve as another revenue stream, she wrote.

“She calls herself the first lady of crypto,” Burns said of Gray. “Holding Tupperware parties to recruit people to invest in this, what turned out to be a scheme. She was encouraging people, people who work so hard for their money.”

What Gray didn’t disclose is how MiamiCoin lost nearly all of its value.

"I'm always bringing things and ideas to the city of Delray Beach so that we can figure out how, or if there is an opportunity, to save the taxpayers money," Gray said.

Gray said she stands by her decisions and still believes in Bitcoin. Her goal had been to educate people, and she did not receive any compensation for pushing cryptocurrency. The city, though, did not move forward with the idea.

Did Angela Burns mismanage taxpayer funds?

Burns faces accusations of receiving more than $66,000 in taxpayer funds to open a daquiri bar and eatery, and later failing to cooperate with the CRA, which granted her the funds.

Burns said it was her son’s business, which she supported as an investor. But after 11 months, her son shut it down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Documents obtained by The Palm Beach Post show that the business was evicted for nonpayment of rent.

Also in question is the liquor license that was obtained for the business.

“Only recently did her investors find out that the business’ liquor license was sold for $340,000 without telling any of them, which was required under their agreement,” a campaign advertisement for Gray said of Burns. “The money has now disappeared.”

In an interview with The Post, Burns denied receiving this amount for the liquor license, but she did not clarify how much she did receive. Her son never owned the license, she said. He had been leasing it for a year.

“The owner of the license was generous enough to give him the equity to allow him to pay off sales tax and the liquor vendors,” Burns said. The investors, too, she said, received a small check. But some are suing her to recoup their losses.

“Investments, sometimes they work out,” Burns said. “Sometimes, they don’t.”

Affordable housing, development, public safety: Where the candidates stand on Delray’s key issues

Gray’s campaign priorities are overdevelopment, affordable housing, traffic and parking, and repairing the city’s aging infrastructure.

As the current vice-chair of the CRA, she’s been working to address affordable housing. During her time on the agency, several housing projects aimed at making housing more affordable, such as Cory Isles and Carver Square, have been approved. The CRA also recently partnered with the housing authority, dedicating $1 million to build more affordable housing.

“We need smart growth,” Gray said. “I want to revisit the city’s land development regulations and put policies in place to ensure we get the compatible growth we desire.”

She also would look into allowing the city’s downtown employees to park in the Old School Square garage for free. This would free up the downtown surface lots and create more parking for neighborhood businesses, she said.

Burns, if elected, would prioritize public safety, lowering the cost of living and managing the budget responsibly.

Public safety is Burns’ top priority. She said she would aim to collaborate with local first responders and keep the city’s police and firefighters well-compensated.

With the growing economy and home values rising, now is the time to lower taxes, Burns said. She believes the route to doing so is by working with with local stakeholders, residents and community leaders.

Burns, citing lawsuits in the case of Old School Square, said ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely is important.

“We need to get back to being a city that is protecting taxpayers and not wasting city resources on legal issue after legal issue,” she said.

Like Gray, she emphasized the importance of making the city’s growth sustainable, equitable and beneficial to residents.

Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@pbpost.com and follow her on Twitter at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Delray Seat 4 election: Angela Burns faces Angie Gray in heated race