Goodbye Michael

The Mayor of Riviera Beach, home to an eminent domain battle, was defeated for re-election yesterday.

Bishop Thomas A. Masters can add "mayor" to his list of titles, after Riviera Beach voters ousted four-term Mayor Michael Brown.

Masters, who lost to Brown in 2005, soundly defeated him Tuesday, running a grass-roots campaign. The win is a reflection of voters' frustration with Brown and the city's lack of progress on its $2.4 billion waterfront redevelopment plan.

Brown, however, refused to concede to Masters. He questioned the results issued by the supervisor of elections office. He also questioned whether Masters improperly handled absentee ballots, saying candidates are not allowed by election rules to turn in those ballots to the elections office.

"I will be looking into those issues," Brown said. "It doesn't make sense to me. There were glitches in the system all night."

Margaret Duncombe Shephard came in a distant third.

Masters was swept into office with support from both Singer Island and the mainland. In his second try for office, Masters hired political consultant Richard Giorgio of Patriot Games to run his campaign, hoping to take advantage of Brown's growing unpopularity.

Brown, meanwhile, ends an eight-year run as mayor. The homegrown attorney was considered the architect of the city's $2.4 billion waterfront redevelopment, but he couldn't overcome allegations of being divisive and putting redevelopment ahead of other city issues.

Palm Beach Post writer William Cooper is also forgettting the corruption allegations and investigation, plus strongarming of political opponents. Then the kooks at the Post endorsed Mayor Brown for re-election, saying his opponents were inexperienced. The Post is willing to turn a blind eye to corruption just to see their candidates and policies succeed. How can Randy Schultz and Brown's backers at the Post sleep at night is beyond me.

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