Palm Beach Town Council candidates Moran, Corey make their pitch to voters at forum

With four weeks remaining until Election Day in Palm Beach, candidates for the Group 3 Town Council seat made their pitches to voters Monday at a forum organized by the Palm Beach Civic Association.

John David Corey and Bridget Moran, who are vying for the seat currently occupied by council president Maggie Zeidman, appeared at the hour-long event at The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-By-The-Sea.

Zeidman announced in October that she would not run for a fifth term.

The election is scheduled for March 19.

Corey, who moved to Palm Beach in 2012, and Moran, a Palm Beach resident since 1998, announced in October that they had filed to run for Zeidman's seat.

Both serve on town boards, with Moran in the midst of her first term as a regular member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission and Corey set to complete his second term as a regular member on the Architectural Commission on March 1.

Both also serve as directors of the Palm Beach Civic Association.

Monday's forum, which drew more than 150 people, was moderated by WPTV-TV anchor Michael Williams.

It included opening statements from Corey and Moran, questions from Williams to the candidates, questions from the audience to the candidates, one question from the candidates to each other, and closing statements.

During her opening statement, Moran talked about her volunteer efforts with the town during the past two decades, including her work with the Palm Beach Police and Fire Foundation, St. Edward Guild, Safeguard Palm Beach, Town of Palm Beach United Way, the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, and the landmarks board.

She also highlighted the challenges that she believes the town needs to address, including identifying and implementing traffic solutions, opposing development that threatens the town's character, prioritizing public safety, identifying safe and reliable drinking water, maintaining the town's beaches, and ensuring fiscally sound money management.

"You can trust that my experience and good judgment make me the best candidate for town council here in Palm Beach," she told the audience.

During his opening statement, Corey spoke of some of his earliest memories as a visitor to Palm Beach before transitioning to his advocacy for better and safer walking conditions within the town through the advocacy group Palm Beach Walks, and his work with the Civic Association to chair its beautification committee.

"With committee members, we dream up projects all over town," Corey said. "We've raised over $100,000 to replenish the tree canopy. I mention these projects to demonstrate to you not only my love of Palm Beach, but my roll-up-my-sleeves, getting-things-done approach. That is the mandate I will take to the town council and be your voice for residents first."

During the question-and-answer portion of the forum, the candidates were asked to state their positions on a variety of issues important to residents, including growth management, water supply options, zoning code reform, traffic congestion, parking scarcity, future expansion at the Port of Palm Beach, and tidal flooding.

Questions related to growth and traffic management drew particularly impassioned responses from both candidates.

In response to a question about how the candidates would 'keep Palm Beach, Palm Beach' in the face of development in West Palm Beach and on the island, Corey said the town needs to look to its nearly completed 2024 comprehensive plan as a guide.

The first draft of the plan, which sets the binding goals and policy recommendations that will be the “guiding vision” to the town code and any regulating document, was presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission in October. A final review deadline is set for April 1.

"I view the comprehensive plan as our sort social contract," Corey said. "It is the underlying agreement that we all partake to. The town of Palm Beach is essentially a built-out community. It has grown and developed into a premier residential community of exceptional beauty. As a result, the future of the island will be focused on preserving and protecting the island community while maintaining the cultured serenity and unique character of the town. We have amazing code in this town. We need to follow it."

Moran agreed that the town's comprehensive plan influences all aspects of daily life within the town.

"We have wonderful advisory committees that know Palm Beach," she said. "Their advice goes to town council, but the most important thing is the comprehensive plan that we have. It is like our Bible. That defines everything that we want Palm Beach to be moving forward. Under Gail Coniglio's steering at P&Z, they're revising that for some things that need to fit a little better in order to have it coordinating with the ordinances. If we just pay attention to the rules and know where we want to be and have good leaders making good decisions, that might be the best way to make sure Palm Beach is Palm Beach."

Both candidates also shared their frustration with traffic congestion and parking shortages within the town.

In response to a question from Williams about what they would do to alleviate those issues in addition to what is being implemented through the town's seven-point parking plan, Moran said she would look to technology to address some of the town's traffic issues.

She said the current artificial intelligence system that is used to control traffic lights and route vehicle and pedestrian traffic isn't working well in some traffic hotspots, so the town should look to other methods such as using its camera system more efficiently, or adjusting the way it manages traffic remotely.

"I don't think there's a great cure," she said. "I think there's going to be a series of little things that we could do to implement and make adjustments. We need to be reactive, and proactive. It might be a good idea to see if we could rework the traffic lights remotely rather than having to send somebody. We can do things like sit in a room and manage traffic, if we could figure that out and make that work. I think we just need to throw everything at it and do as much research as we can. There has to be something out there that we don't know about. We need to do better."

Corey said he would support enhanced efforts to have uniformed police officers control the lights in some areas of town, particularly at four critical intersections including Royal Poinciana Way and North County Road; the two intersections by Green's Pharmacy; and Bradley Place and North Lake Way at Wells Road.

"That type of active, visible help from the police department, with encouragement from the town council, will go a long way, even if you're stuck in traffic," he said. "If you see or know that there's a police officer that's helping control the situation, it gives you a sense of calm. I think that's what the residents want."

The candidates fielded several questions from the audience, with one asking them to state their positions on the 475-member private club that is being proposed for the Paramount Theatre.

Corey has been vocal in his opposition to the project as it was originally presented, and on Monday he expressed continued concerns about the potential intensification of the site.

"We should be very careful about looking at the existing intensity of the site, whether it's car traffic, whether it's potable water," he said. "There are criteria for concurrency, which is basically the measurement of whether or not the site is intensified with new development. I think the town needs to be, to some extent, on offense and say, 'this is the allowed intensification of the site. Does a 475-member club meet those requirements?' If they don't, we have to push back."

Moran said she was less concerned with the number of members in the club compared to the number of seats that are allowed at any given time.

"I believe that the membership is not really as important as the seats we allow in their restaurants," she said. "I think we need to take a really good look at whether we're going to allow events there. They may call it member programming, but if you have a wedding there, that's an event and you have to cap that. How many people can you have in the space at the time? Are you going to allow things like outside music? I think we still have really good ways of controlling it. It doesn't mean that we can't say you can have 475 members. I don't think that's realistic. They wouldn't fit there."

To conclude Monday's forum, each candidate made a closing pitch to voters.

Moran reiterated her vision for Palm Beach, telling audience members she will focus on her priorities if elected to town council.

Those include real solutions to traffic concerns, halting development that harms the town's character, prioritizing public safety, receiving and reviewing proposals on future water supply, continuing the town's sand management program and maintaining fiscal responsibility, Moran said.

"I believe I'm the best choice for town council," she said. "I've been a leader in every position I've served in as a volunteer. I'm a good listener. I'll collaborate and work with members of staff. I know what the issues are. I will not micromanage. I will ensure we have the best leaders, and I will hold them accountable."

Corey told audience members that the campaign trail has been "truly special," as it has given him the opportunity to meet with residents and brainstorm creative and doable solutions to often tricky issues.

"I look forward to tackling North End zoning reform and construction concerns, Midtown intensification, traffic congestion, quality of life challenges, South End A1A widening and certainly island-wide storm protection, with life safety underlying all of this," he said. "I promise to be your voice on the town council, with endless energy and a can-do, positive attitude. Transforming ideas into reality is my strongest suit, and I do think I have the track record to prove it."

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Town Council candidates make their pitch to voters in Palm Beach