November 2017
Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
Along the Coast
Volume 10 Issue 11
South Palm Beach
Council fires town manager without cause or notice By Dan Moffett
KING TIDES: Our soggy fall ritual It’s that time of year again, when full and new moon phases combine with the moon’s position to give us higher than usual tides and flooding. ABOVE, Oct. 6: Driving down Brooks Lane in Delray Beach was a challenge. TOP FAR RIGHT, Oct. 6: A school of mullet reaches grass on a property on the north edge of Lake Boca Raton. BOTTOM FAR RIGHT, Oct. 6: Debris from Hurricane Irma and high water combined to make Marine Way in Delray Beach difficult to navigate. RIGHT, Oct. 20: A mosquito sprayer and a pool man had to cope with standing water on Inlet Cay Drive in Ocean Ridge. Photos by Tim Stepien, Michelle Quigley and Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star Stories on pages 20-21.
South Palm Beach Town Manager Bob Vitas returned from a vacation in Europe thinking he would resolve the last details of his new contract at the Oct. 24 council meeting. Instead it turned out to be his last council meeting. In a swift and surprising move, the Town Council unanimously voted to fire Vitas Vitas without explanation or stated cause. The vote for a resolution of “no confidence” was 4-0, with Councilwoman Lucille Flagello absent. The council gave Vitas 15 minutes to clean out his desk, and he left the building without comment, escorted by Police Chief Carl Webb. “What just happened?” a resident in the audience asked. “He was the best town manager we’ve ever had,” said one longtime town employee. Another employee left the room in tears. A police officer shook his See SOUTH PALM on page 29
Ocean Ridge
Protect yourself, ‘pension detective’ warns By Mary Hladky
He’s been called the “Sam Spade of money management” and “pension detective.” Ocean Ridge resident Edward Siedle, the president of Benchmark Financial Services Inc., has forged a career investigating more than $1 trillion in retirement plan assets, uncovering flawed investment strategies, excessive fees paid to Wall Street firms
hired to manage the funds and plan mismanagement. His expertise is sought out because public employee pension funds and corporate retirement plans are in big trouble. Unfunded pension liabilities — the amount that pension fund assets fall short of commitments to workers — have reached $3.85 trillion, according to a 2017 report by Hoover Institution senior fellow
Joshua Rauh. Most city and state public pension funds are underwater. Pension obligations have contributed to the bankruptcies of Puerto Rico and several cities, including Detroit. The consequences are devastating to many retirees, who have seen pensions they were promised and depended on slashed, cost-of-living adjustments eliminated and the See SIEDLE on page 12
Edward Siedle has made a career investigating flawed and mismanaged retirement assets. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Inside ‘Cinderella’ tale in dance
Budding ballerinas team with pros to create stage magic. Page AT1
House of the Month
Opulent new oceanfront estate in Gulf Stream. Page H15
Turkey takeout
Where to get your Thanksgiving dinner to go. Page H1
Made by the ‘Mad Potter’
Boca Museum hosts exhibition of works by George Ohr. Page AT11