North county elections: North Palm Beach incumbents prevail Lake Park, Juno Beach elect new faces
NORTH PALM BEACH — Three incumbents representing different views on homebuilding regulations won re-election in North Palm Beach on Tuesday night, according to results from Palm Beach County's Supervisor of Elections.
Deborah Searcy, Darryl Aubrey and Mark Mullinix will serve new terms on the village council representing Group 1, Group 3 and Group 5, respectively. All three were facing political newcomers.
The three candidates represent distinctly different viewpoints on the village's plan to limit residential building heights and footprints.
Searcy and Aubrey have supported regulations to keep home development in check, while Mullinix has disagreed with the regulations and celebrated property owners' rights on the campaign trail.
As of Tuesday night, and with 100% of precincts reporting, Searcy won 65% of the votes in the group 1 race, Aubrey won 58% of the votes in the group 3 race and Mullinix won 63% of the votes in group 5.
Elsewhere in northern Palm Beach County, Juno Beach voters chose Alexander Cooke to represent them in seat 5 on the town council.
In Lake Park, incumbents Roger Michaud, Kimberly Glas-Castro, John Linden and newcomer Mary Beth Taylor won seats on the town's commission.
More from NPB: Three incumbents face challengers as homebuilding issues divide voters
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More on Juno Beach election:: Two candidates vow to fight overdevelopment. Here's how they differ.
What to know about North Palm Beach's winning candidates
In North Palm Beach, the village council is attempting to overhaul its building code and handle development that some say is out of character with the town's look and feel.
Waterfront homes with large footprints have divided parts of the village of 13,100 residents into camps for and against the regulations, precipitated by the village's "zoning in progress" effort.
Searcy was seeking and won her third consecutive term. A faculty member in the management department at Florida Atlantic University, Searcy was the village's vice mayor in 2021.
Former Mayor Aubrey won his eighth consecutive term on the council. He's a retired Exxon executive and a former professor at the University of Connecticut.
Both voted for and continued to support the "zoning in progress." They faced builder-backed opponents Robert Silvani and Orlando Puyol, respectively.
Meanwhile, Mullinix will serve his fourth consecutive term. He owns three businesses in the village, including an automotive business and an agricultural-importing company.
He voted against the "zoning in progress" and faced newcomer Shawn Woods.
The village council will choose the member to serve at its mayor at 7 p.m. Thursday at its regular meeting.
Lake Park, Juno Beach election results
New council and commission members also were elected in Lake Park and Juno Beach.
In Lake Park, voters chose three incumbents and one newcomer to represent them as the town commission looks at development near its marina and deals with a sanitation budget deficit. Voters cast one ballot in the race, and the four candidates with the highest votes win commission seats.
Michaud, the commission's only Black member, won the highest percentage of votes with 29%. A data quality specialist with the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office, Michaud has served on the commission since 2017.
Glas-Castro won 19% of the votes. An assistant village manager in Palm Springs, Glas-Castro has been on the commission since 2013 and serves as the vice mayor.
Linden won 18% of the vote. Retired from teaching and the automotive industry, he has served on the commission since 2019.
Taylor garnered 12% of the ballots cast. A retired Palm Beach County teacher, Taylor taught special education and English. She worked at Lake Park Elementary School from 1989 until 2000.
Incumbent Erin Flaherty did not garner enough votes to win re-election. Newcomer Judith Taylor also did not qualify with enough votes to win her a seat.
In Juno Beach, voters chose Alexander Cooke to replace retiring seat 5 town council member Jim Lyons.
The town council in the next year will address development concerns, traffic issues and a plan to build condominiums at Donald Ross Road and U.S. 1.
Cooke is a 44-year-old investment adviser and the president of the Seaside Lane Homeowners' Association.
He has lived in Juno Beach for five years and said he hopes to control development and ensure the beach town is enjoyable for his young children as they grow up. He won 58% of the vote.
"I’m very excited," Cooke told The Palm Beach Post late Tuesday. He said he's looking forward to helping Juno Beach down the path to a "safe, small, little beach town."
kkokal@pbpost.com
@katikokal
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Election results: North Palm Beach returns incumbents to office
