Endorsement of Steven Grant for Mayor of Boynton Beach From the Sun Sentinel Newspaper:

Select political newcomer Steven Grant for mayor

Sun Sentinel Editorial Board

Choose Steven Grant for mayor

One number doesn't often tell the whole story about cities. In Boynton Beach, one number tells a lot.

At 71,000, Boynton has 6,000 more residents than Delray Beach, its neighbor to the south. Yet Delray's taxable property value is $8 billion — nearly double that of Boynton Beach.

Why? Delray has a natural downtown, centered on Atlantic Avenue, that connects to the public beach. Mainly, though, for roughly 25 years, Delray Beach has had superior elected leadership.

Since 1995, over three stretches, Jerry Taylor has been mayor of Boynton Beach. What does he have to show for those 14 years? Boynton may be close to saving the 1927 high school and turning it into a gathering spot, or not. Boynton may be close to a surge of development in the historic downtown, or not. Boynton may be on the verge of needed fire and police pension reform, or not.

Yet as he campaigns at age 80 for re-election in the March 15 election, Taylor touts himself by saying, "I've been elected five times," adding that he wants to "make Boynton Beach the best that it can be." If Taylor were the leader he claims to be, the city would be much closer to that goal.

David Merker, who resigned his City Commission seat to challenge Taylor, casts himself as the can-do alternative. Yet during the candidates' interview with the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Merker — whose record includes a bankruptcy — focused more on attacking Taylor than offering a more compelling, specific agenda. One can envision many needlessly long, unproductive commission meetings with Merker leading them.

So we turn to attorney Steven Grant. He has not held elective office, though he did serve on the Financial Advisory Board. At 32, he is 38 years younger than Merker and 48 years younger than Taylor. Even the mayor notes that Boynton Beach's average age is 44. "The city is attracting more families," Taylor said. "There's an amazing number of children at city events."

Grant has the right priorities — saving the old high school, beautifying the city, filling the vacant commercial spaces. "I want to be that force," he said, to make Boynton realize its potential. Neither Taylor nor Merker would be that force. Neither would the other candidates, Carl McKoy and Piotr Blass. The Sun Sentinel endorses Steven Grant for mayor of Boynton Beach.