Palm Beach County Commission District 7 includes Delray Beach west of U.S. 1, Boynton Beach between U.S. 1 and Interstate 95, Lantana, Lake Worth Beach, West Palm Beach and parts of suburban West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and Lake Park.
The race for Palm Beach County Commission District 7 is a race in name only.
Incumbent Mack Bernard, a Democrat, has raised almost $300,000. His two No Party Affiliation challengers, Leonard Serratore and Caneste Succe, have raised a combined $15,000, most of that from themselves. Neither completed a Sun Sentinel candidate questionnaire or participated in the interview.
In addition, the district is heavily Democratic. After Bernard won a four-way primary in 2016, he faced no opponent in the general election.
A 1988 referendum expanded the commission from five members to seven and created this district as a minority-access seat. Bernard, a Haitian-American, is the third person of color to hold it.
The district includes most of coastal Palm Beach County’s poorest neighborhoods. To satisfy the rule that districts must be contiguous, a stretch of affluent towns — including a part of Palm Beach — connects the southern and northern portions.
Given the district’s makeup, it’s no surprise that Bernard is the strongest advocate on the commission for more affordable housing. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Bernard had wanted to put on the November ballot a $150-million program to deal with homelessness and to increase workforce housing. If re-elected, Bernard said, he will propose it once a vaccine has helped to stabilize the economy.
Also not surprisingly, Bernard said the commission needs to “help our residents bounce back” from the COVID-19 pandemic and “address the unemployment rate.” People of color have suffered disproportionately. Though Florida’s unemployment rate is down to 7.4%, the rate of monthly job recovery is slowing.
Bernard admits that he and other commissioners were wrong to rush reopening last spring. He cited the “business outcry” as the reason for moving before public health metrics supported it. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths spiked.
The mask ordinance, Bernard said, “took us a little bit of time.” In fact, it took the commission about a month to pass it after asking to reopen. One could argue that Bernard’s delay jeopardized those minority constituents he wants to help. His donations include many from individuals and groups with business before the commission.
Because of the pandemic, Bernard also wanted to place on this year’s ballot a referendum to increase the power of the county mayor. That position, which Dave Kerner holds and which rotates among the members, is mostly symbolic. The previous title was commission chairman.
Bernard would expand the commission by two members and have voters elect the mayor. He told the Sun Sentinel that the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic have shown the need for a change. But he’s vague on how much power to add. He raised the idea just before the deadline to put items on the ballot. His colleagues took no action.
Though he is similarly vague about an overall plan to deal with racial issues in the county, Bernard does support equipping sheriff’s deputies with body cameras. Despite Sheriff Ric Bradshaw’s opposition to civil citations rather than arrests for possessing small amounts of marijuana, Bernard said the county should “continue to work on it.”
Bernard has been a city commissioner in Delray Beach, a state legislator and a county commissioner. He would be term-limited in 2024. It will be interesting to see what comes next.
The Sun Sentinel recommends Mack Bernard for Palm Beach County Commission District 7.
Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O’Hara, Dan Sweeney, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.
