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Palm Beach County Commissioner Marcus decommissioned (PBP) 11-19-12 Posted: 5:23 a.m. Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 Palm Beach County Commissioner Marcus decommissioned: term-limited official leaves environmentalist legacy Palm Beach County Commissioner Karen Marcus talks with Lisa Interlandi, director of the Everglades Law Center,during the Seven50 Road Show and Work Group meeting at the Palm Beach County Vista Center on Friday,Nov. 16,2012. This was one of her final appearances as a county commissioner,as she will be term-limited out of office on Tuesday after 28 years. (Lannis Waters/The Palm Beach Post) By Jennifer Sorentrue Palm Beach Post Staff Writer When Palm Beach County Commissioner Karen Marcus made her first run for office in 1984, opponents painted her as a pro-development candidate beholden to the builders and special-interest groups that contributed to her campaign. But after 28 years on the dais, she is heralded by many county residents for controlling growth—not promoting it. Marcus leaves office Tuesday as a result of the county's decade-old term-limit rule. Republican Hal Valeche, a former Palm Beach Gardens councilman, will take her place. Marcus, 60, leaves a legacy as one of the most influential figures in Palm Beach County. She has successfully fought business leaders, developers, priests and politicians to prevent development from rising in areas where she felt it didn't belong and even stared down her party's governor, Jeb Bush, over one of his legacy issues, The Scripps Research Institute, and where in the county it should be built. She is credited with shaping development in the county's north end, keeping buildings off of thousands of acres of environmentally sensitive land and oceanfront property now in public ownership. "I always look at it like a picture," Marcus said of her conservation efforts. "These are the things that are important and I will draw around them." Bush backed plans to build Scripps on the 1,920-acre Mecca Farms property advocated by influential county business interests, several miles west of Florida's Turnpike. Marcus was adamant that the sprawling site was needed to help restore the Loxahatchee River and she successfully fought to build the project farther east instead in Jupiter. The shift could bring many of Scripps' coveted spin-off businesses to Marcus' north county district. Environmentalists consider Marcus one of their strongest allies. With her departure, some political observers question whether environmental concerns will take a backseat to other issues, such as job growth or the economy. "There isn't anybody on the commission who knows as much or who cares as much about what happens policywise," said Joanne Davis, with the environmental group 1000 Friends of Florida. "She is the voice of reason." Proud of her legacy on preserving land Looking back on her time in office, Marcus said she is most proud of her work to promote a series of voter- approved bond issues to buy environmentally sensitive and agricultural lands in the county. Marcus, who grew up in North Palm Beach, remembers when village residents could walk across U.S. 1 to the beach. She said she fought to protect that kind of access for her children and grandchildren. "I can drive up U.S. 1 and see all of the beachfront property we acquired in the early '80s," Marcus said. "Right after I got elected, there was a recession. We pretty much bought whatever wasn't developed. It still remains a lot of the way I remember it." Marcus said she plans to continue to work on environmental issues after leaving office. She has begun meeting with local farmers, fearing there will be a push to build more homes in the county's 20,500-acre Agricultural Reserve after she leaves office. "Karen really believes the Ag Reserve is a special piece of property and we can't replace it," said Dagmar Brahs, a western Boynton Beach resident who has worked to shield the area from development. "Even though Karen was representing the north end, she watched out for the whole county, not just her district." The reserve, located west of Boynton Beach and Delray Beach, is the last agricultural enclave of its kind in the state. It was created in 1980 and strict rules were put in place to control development there. In 1999, voters passed a bond issue that provided $100 million to buy land in the reserve. Marcus has suggested the possibility of another bond issue to purchase more land in the reserve, but says that is just one option. Many farmers in the reserve need to expand their crops to keep pace with demand, she said. "The message we got was that we need more land," Marcus said. "They just need folks to understand that." A former Palm Beach County employee who spent eight years working as an aide to then-County Commissioner Dennis Koehler, she began her political career at the urging of Democratic political activist Andre Fladell. Fladell and a group of south county leaders encouraged Marcus to run for the commission seat, which at the time was decided by voters throughout the county. Marcus, then a Democrat, faced environmentalist Leah Schad, who was backed by Commissioner Dorothy Wilken. Schad and Wilken painted Marcus as a pro-growther who took contributions from "profit-seeking special-interest groups." "Karen gets elected and does everything, except everything they accuse her of," Fladell said. "She becomes the leading figure for `don't chop down the tree.' " In 1988, voters approved single-member commission districts, which expanded the board to seven seats and required commissioners to be elected only by residents living in their individual districts. A year later, Marcus changed political parties. Her north county district was heavily Republican, but Marcus said her party switch had nothing to do with the makeup of the district. At the time she said that she had become "increasingly dissatisfied with local Democrats." In 1985, the Palm Beach County Democratic Party censured her and fellow Commissioner Jerry Owens because they cast votes to elect the lone Republican on the commission as chairman. It was the first time the local party had voted to censure elected Democrats. Politics sometimes drew spotlight Marcus faced her toughest re-election challenge in 1992, after angering developer E. Llwyd Ecclestone and an allied group of business leaders. Ecclestone, who developed PGA National, helped bankroll the campaigns of her opponents, arguing that Marcus failed to block the extension of Jog Road through his community. Marcus said that the two have since "gotten over" the contentious campaign. But there were other bumps. During her tenure, Marcus was dogged by accusations that her husband's construction company, D.B. Marcus Construction, benefited as a result of her position with the county. In 2001, federal investigators subpoenaed information about a construction contract approved by the Paradies Shops Inc., a concessionaire at Palm Beach International Airport. County records show that D.B. Marcus Construction completed $50,000 worth of renovations under the 1997 contract. But nothing came of the federal probe. Marcus was in the spotlight again in 2006, after questions were raised about a developer's $50,000 contribution to a sea turtle sanctuary she supported shortly before a controversial zoning vote. Marcus acknowledged she had encouraged Sam Klein, a co-owner of Palm Beach Aggregates, to contribute to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center of Juno Beach in April 2004. Later that month, she had joined Commissioners Tony Masilotti and Mary McCarty in a push to rezone Palm Beach Aggregates' property, a swift decision that allowed 2,000 homes on land that had been restricted to just 120. Marcus said that Klein's contribution to the turtle sanctuary had nothing to do with the zoning decision. The questions about the contribution came during one of the county's darkest periods. Federal investigators had set their sights on the county's leadership. When their probes were over, three county commissioners and two West Palm Beach commissioners had been sent to prison. Marcus said she questions whether the current crop of commissioners "learned their lesson." "I am a little worried," she said. In April, Marcus pushed the commission to make it harder to approve more development on Peanut Island, county-owned environmentally sensitive land and publicly owned property in the Agricultural Reserve. She asked the commission to require super-majority votes on land-use changes that would ease building restrictions in those areas, but the board voted against her request. Marcus contends that term limits approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2002 have left new commissioners unfamiliar with the long-term history behind major decisions. Single-member districts, she said, have been bad for the county, causing many commissioners to focus solely on their individual districts. Marcus fears that the term limits and single-member districts together will be a"nightmare" for the county, ultimately resulting in a new breed of commissioners who lack a historical knowledge of countywide issues. "I think the business community is starting to figure that out," she said. Changing of the guard Palm Beach County Commissioners Karen Marcus and Burt Aaronson leave office on Tuesday. They are the first commissioners forced from office by the county's decade-old term-limit rule. They leave with a combined 48 years on the dais. Looking back High points • Fought Gov. Jeb Bush to build The Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter. • Supported voter-approved bond issues to buy environmentally sensitive and agricultural land. • Became a champion for environmentalists who turned to her to fight development. Low points • Faced accusations that her husband's company, D.B. Marcus Construction, benefited as a result of her position with the county. Nothing came of the allegations. • In 2006, faced questions about a developer's $50,000 contribution to a sea turtle sanctuary she supported. The contribution was made shortly before a controversial zoning vote but she was not sanctioned.