Low Taxes and Smart Growth Top Incumbent Boca Mayor’s Priority List
It sounded more like a rallying cry than a statement, “My work on behalf of the residents of Boca Raton is not finished yet.” So says Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie who is promising to push forward on her agenda of lower taxes, smart growth, and safer neighborhoods.
Despite her list of first-term accomplishments, Mayor Haynie, who is up for re-election next month, says her second term agenda is just as ambitious.
With a population of nearly 90,000 residents, Boca Raton is the second largest city in Palm Beach County. For the past three years, Susan Haynie has worked to make sure its residents receive the services and quality of life they deserve.
“Fighting to make sure our neighborhoods stay safe and our city maintains the highest quality of life is something I’ve been doing for almost 20 years,” said Haynie. “It’s important to me that when I ask the voters for their support, they judge me on my record, not rhetoric.”
Even the city’s toughest critics concede under Haynie’s leadership Boca Raton has made significant progress in major areas. While keeping taxes low, the City has been able to increase services. Nearly 4,000 new jobs have been created over the past three years, with Boca Raton now home to half of the corporate headquarters in the entire county.
“When we hired the city’s Economic Development Manager two years ago, I made it clear that growth is only a good thing if it helps support and maintain our quality of life,” said Haynie. “That has always been my priority.”
Maintaining quality of life has been the driving force behind several of Mayor Haynie’s initiatives over the past three years. Her out-of-the-box approach to governing has led to improvements to city parks and beaches, more efficient downtown parking solutions, and the creation of a Comprehensive Waterfront Plan to improve one of the city’s most important public spaces.
Over the past three years, Mayor Haynie says she has never avoided tough issues and has encouraged the city to consider innovative new solutions. From strategic transportation improvements, including smart traffic signals, to the idea of preserving public beaches by purchasing the land, Haynie says you never know where the next new idea will lead.
Transparency in government has also been a top Mayor Haynie priority. She created a Community Advisory Panel that held its first open town hall meeting in October. The city’s website has been completely overhauled, and with the addition of a new communications manager, the city has had a renewed focus on making sure the public says informed.
“Being effective takes experience and passion. Anyone can sit on the sidelines and claim they can do better. Serving as Mayor, is not about me, it is about improving the lives of the 90,000 residents that depend on us to make sure their City is well run, their neighborhoods safe and their government is doing what it promised., ” said Haynie.
