At the June 8, 2021, Board of County Commissioners meeting, the board took the following actions:
Special Presentation — Declared June 8, 2021 as Special Agent Adam Whisenant Day for his dedicated service during the midst of the COVID 19 Pandemic. Adam was assigned to the Palm Beach County Covid Education and Compliance Team (CECT) as part of the county, municipal and state multi-jurisdictional team. On April 27, 2021, sadly Adam passed away after fighting a brave battle against COVID-19, the virus that he worked day and night to combat as a member of the CECT Team.
COVID-19 — received a report on local COVID-19 mitigation efforts from Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the Florida Department of Health PBC and Emergency Management Director Mary Blakeney. New reports dashboard called QLIK will be launched in the coming weeks. New reports will be issued on Fridays. The daily lab positivity is at 2.9%. Total people vaccinated Palm Beach County is 752,237 or 58% of the population age 12 years and older.
Financial Management and Budget — Received and filed the Property Appraiser’s FY 2022 budget proposal following a brief presentation by Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks on current property market and taxable values. Market value exceeded $3 billion and has tripled in last 20 years. Taxable value has an increase of 5.05%. New construction is valued at over $3 billion.
Administration — approved a Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners of Palm Beach County, Florida, amending the Palm Beach County Administrative Code for the purposes of updating the Code; changing the name of the Department of Housing and Economic Sustainability (DHES) to the Department of Housing and Economic Development (DHED); adding the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Recognized Deputy County Administrator Jon Van Arnam for his many years of service. Van Arnam emerged from retirement in March 2019 to return as Deputy County Administrator, the position he held for 3 ½ years prior to retiring. Jon was a pivotal force supporting County Administrator/Incident Commander Baker during the 400+ days of activation at the EOC responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The BCC and County Administrator Baker wished him well on his second retirement.
Supervisor of Elections — approved creation of a voting precinct on a vacant area of land in the northern portion of the county within District 1 boundaries.
Engineering — approved a resolution to shift funds of the Palm Beach County Five Year Road Program. This approval allows the Program projects to be adequately funded, designed and to promote a more efficient construction of the road projects over the next five years.
