After nearly two hours of deliberation, the Pompano Beach City Commission passed the first reading of a resolution approving public financing of civic buildings in the downtown development project in a 4-2 vote. Commissioners Audrey Fesik and Beverly Perkins dissented.
The meeting was marked by questions about the process of creating the downtown project itself. Weeks before, in a special meeting of the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency and the City Commission, four critical votes were delayed after the meeting turned openly hostile between members of the commission and city staff.
During the May 27 meeting, Vice Mayor Allison Fournier described the collateral sent out to residents by the City and CRA for the May 14 meeting as “propaganda” and “misinformation.”
Fesik said to Suzette Sibble, the assistant city manager, “I don’t have confidence in your ability to handle this many millions of dollars.” Sibble has worked for the City since April 2004 in various roles, including as the financial director.
Going further, Fesik said to City Manager Greg Harrison, “I don’t have faith or trust in some of the – in some staff’s or consultants’ ability to tell me the right information because I have found it otherwise.”
Commissioner Perkins also expressed frustration with the process, saying, “this project has caused so much division and confusion in the Northwest, and it’s simply because of the way the project was started.” Going on to say that the City Manager has given people too much power over various projects and that he has hired people to “come after” Perkins.
If the second reading passes on June 10, the City will opt to publicly finance the civic buildings in the Downtown Project. If the resolution fails, the City will finance the project privately through RocaPoint Partners, an option that was built intothe original master developer agreement that was passed in 2024.
City staff estimate that publicly financing the civic components to the Downtown Project will save the City around $100 million over a 30-year period.
