West Palm Beach mayor didn't need to force a resignation to get his way
First, kudos to West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James for somehow convincing officials at Palm Beach Atlantic University to revise their campus expansion plans. The mayor was quite accurate in describing a proposed 11-story parking garage as a "monstrosity" that would have potentially brought more traffic into an already congested downtown.
Last month, PBAU officials won permission from city commissioners to build a 25-story tower and the massive garage along South Dixie Highway to boost campus enrollment by 2,000 students. James objected, contending that the massive garage would be an eyesore and disrupt hope of a pedestrian-friendly downtown. Fair point.
The question we're raising, though: Was it worth the loss of the city's building and planning director? Our answer is a resounding 'no,' but resignations like Rick Greene's are prone to happen when a strong mayor turns petulant.
'He (the mayor) wasn't happy with a presentation that one of my planners made,' Greene told Palm Beach Post reporter Andrew Marra. 'He basically gave me the option of letting that employee go or, if not, I would be fired.'
Having a mayor call for the firing of a city staffer over a presentation is petty and beyond the pale. The planner had told commissioners that the proposed garage had met city standards, which prompted planners to approve the project. That wasn't the explanation James had wanted. City planners in West Palm Beach may work for the mayor, but they aren't obliged to ignore objective recommendations to the city commission because of mayoral whim.
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Greene stepped in to elaborate, in part to complete the presentation and to protect his planner. The city commission approved the plan in a 4-0 vote, an apparent rebuke to the mayor. The order from James to fire the planner came later. Greene took the high road, standing up for a lower-level employee. In calling for the dismissal, James clearly did not.
West Palm Beach is going through a major growth spurt — from simply being the county seat to its higher "Wall Street South" aspirations. The affluence ranking in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach put the area among the fastest growing 'wealth hubs' worldwide, according to Henley & Partners World's Wealthiest Cities Report 2025.
With that wealth comes major commercial and residential investment that will change the face of West Palm Beach. Whether it's the ongoing changes at CityPlace, proposals to build high-rise condominiums and office towers along the Intracoastal Waterway, the restoration of historic homes in the city's El Cid to the recent rezoning that envisions Broadway Avenue on the city's northside as a grand boulevard, the need for credible municipal planning is key.
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That can't happen under the leadership of a city leader who's thin-skinned enough to order a department head to fire a city employee who simply but accurately made a presentation during last month's city commission meeting.
According to Greene, the mayor had expected the planner to emphasize reservations about the garage's size during the meeting before the vote. The planner didn't, only saying that the project met city standards. At that point, Greene went to the podium and explained that the staff had tried but failed to get the school to lower the garage height. Still, Greene concluded that staff thought the garage had met city standards, thus warranting approval.
"He was expecting her to say certain things at the city presentation," Greene told the Post. "What she presented wasn't the exact wording that the mayor wanted."
Although all city staff ultimately are answerable to the mayor in West Palm Beach, the call for termination was unjustified, unwarranted and resulted in the resignation of a longtime city official whose experience in overseeing the city's growth and large-scale development in the planning and zoning process will be sorely missed.
Again, credit James with successfully obtaining a concession from the school and maintaining the city's long-term goal in addressing traffic and becoming more pedestrian-friendly. Now, he must renew confidence in that process and fill the void at planning and zoning with someone who will insist on objective analysis for projects coming to the commission. It's not a job for a yes-man.
Finding the right person should be an easy task for a strong mayor. It will be a challenge for a small one.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm Beach's PBAU garage goes ahead – with a price | Editorial
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