Boca's new city manager talks growth, City Hall improvement, reconnecting with residents

BOCA RATON — The city has a new manager. What does this mean for Boca Raton and its nearly 100,000 residents?

George S. Brown, a city of Boca Raton employee for more than 40 years, was appointed as city manager in January, replacing Leif Ahnell, who served in the role for 24 years.

As city manager, Brown will manage nearly 1,800 city employees across eight departments, including police and fire rescue services, municipal and utility services, recreation, financial and development services. A city employee since 1977, Brown has worked for building inspection, code enforcement, public works and development services.

Here is his vision for Boca Raton.

Palm Beach Post: How have the first few months on the job been?

George Brown: They've pretty much been like the last 20-some years. I've worked here for a long time.

PBP: What's it like, being the first new city manager in more than two decades?

GB: Because I wasn't coming from the outside, a pretty easy transition. I knew all the players, knew how things had run and how things needed to continue to keep running. The real difference from before is that I have a lot more direct, regular interaction with the City Council members and the mayor.

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PBP: What are some issues you are hoping to address?

GB: One is trying to improve the City Hall campus, the downtown area around the City Hall, to make it more useful to the public. We want to kind of activate the space, take advantage of the Brightline train station being a new anchor in our downtown, try to develop this area as a place that people will want to come to, not necessarily to do business with the local government, but to come to a place that's desirable.

PBP: Do you have a specific vision in mind for the City Hall campus?

GB: When people get off the train, there's something more to attract them to stay here. I'm thinking of interesting retail, restaurants, coffee shops, things that people would enjoy visiting when they come here, public spaces that are pleasant to be in. I think the City Hall property itself is kind of nice to walk around, but we really don't have any place to gather. It's a challenge because of the railroad tracks and Dixie Highway. We need to figure out how to work on connectivity between the eastern part of downtown and the western part.

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PBP: How about the future of the police station?

GB: Police services needs to be able to function more or less where they are. It's located in a really good spot for access to the city, fast access in all directions. So it really needs to kind of stay more or less where it is. Now there may be functions that move elsewhere that don't necessarily need to be there to respond, but I think we should always have a presence right about where they are.

PBP: How will you address the rapid growth happening in Boca?

GB: If the development improves our tax base, activates the space and meets the standards that are necessary for the traffic side of things, then I think it's probably positive. It's ultimately up to the City Council to make that policy decision. I think that people have to understand that we are no longer a suburban community. We have suburban areas, but we have become an urban area. Boca Raton, by establishing the community redevelopment area for downtown, made a conscious decision in 1988 that we would, in fact, be an urban center district.

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PBP: What are some issues in Boca that you haven't seen previously addressed? How will you address them?

GB: As far as the city itself goes, I think we need to be more connected to our residents through things like a citywide survey of our residents, about their feelings about things. We haven't done that since the 1990s. I want the residents of the city to know that the staff, the city workers, almost 2,000 of us who do our work every day, that we're there for them. I want them to know us as their public servants, their neighbors, their friends. I say that because if we have a significant issue, like a serious hurricane, we're going to be much better able to work together.

Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@pbpost.com and follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today.