BOCA RATON — No one gets a free ride in Boca Raton’s municipal election this year.
When the deadline for qualifying arrived at 5 p.m. Jan. 11, incumbent City Council members Anthony Majhess (Seat D) and Constance Scott (Seat C) both had opponent
s for the March 13 balloting.
Newcomer Frank Chapman filed papers early in the qualifying period to oppose Majhess. And Scott, who appeared to be on her way to an unchallenged win, drew an opponent when retired Boca Raton firefighter Bill Trinka filed to run against her shortly before the final bell tolled.
“I love Boca, I’ve lived here 40 years – 32 years in the same house,” said Trinka, who is well known in the community for his activism as well as his height – 6-foot-8.
He said he waited until the last minute to see if anyone else was going to challenge Scott. “No point in showing my cards,” he said.
But when it looked like no one would take that plunge, Trinka threw his hat into the arena.
“I see us going down the wrong road,” said Scott’s challenger. “High density, no parking, traffic… It’s not easy to travel around the city.”
Trinka said he doesn’t want Boca to become “a Fort Lauderdale or a West Palm Beach. We are between two cities. We are between two major airports. I like being right here. I want to keep Boca Boca.”
Scott told the Boca Raton Tribune she is “proud of my record” and will run on that platform of accomplishments. She also cited her work as chairwoman of the Community Redevelopment Agency.
She said she announced her re-election bid in July or August and has been raising funds since then. She said she “never took for granted” the possibility that she would run unopposed.
“I look forward to serving,” she said.
Majhess first won elective office in 2009 when he defeated former Councilman M.J. “Mike” in what was considered an upset.
Chapman, 44, said he is a 1986 graduate of Boca Raton High School and served as an attorney until age 40 when he retired.
Majhess held his re-election kick-off Dec. 29 with an event that drew between 200 and 300 people. The candidate said he took in $7,200 that night. He said the event was organized in eight days and held during a holiday week.
He noted that during the kick-off, he returned $2,500 of a $3,000 donation from a contributor who was tapping money from his individual corporation to endorse the candidate. That is legal, Majhess said, but he felt uncomfortable taking that amount from someone with corporate ties.