Delray Beach election results: Newcomers Rob Long, Angela Burns win close races

DELRAY BEACH — After two contentious campaigns, former chair of the Soil and Water Conservation District Rob Long will represent voters of the “Village by the Sea” in Seat 2, and former teacher Angela Burns will represent them in Seat 4.

Long defeated Deputy Vice-Mayor Juli Casale, gaining 53% of the vote to her 47%. Burns defeated Angie Gray by a margin of 51% to 49%, according to unofficial results published on the county elections website.

Long, 38, is the owner of a community outreach business called Door 2 Door Strategies, which he founded in 2018. He also sat on the city’s Planning and Zoning Board, among several other city boards including the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce Board. He has lived in the city for 13 years.

Casale, who was running for re-election, was elected to the Delray Beach City Commission in 2020. She’s lived in the area for approximately 18 years and also has served on the city’s Planning and Zoning Board.

Leading up to the election, both candidates had engaged in a thread of accusations against one another, mainly calling into question one another’s character.

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Seat 4 race pitted Angela Burns and Angie Gray

The Seat 4 race was not much different.

Burns faced Gray, former commissioner and Vice-Chair for the Community Redevelopment Agency, for Seat 4, previously occupied by Shirley Johnson before being termed out. Both Burns and Gray are longtime residents of Delray Beach; Gray for 47 years, and Burns for 58.

Burns, 66, spent the past 34 years working as a teacher for the Palm Beach County School District. She also has served on various city boards, including the Delray Beach Education Advisory Board, Delray Beach Democratic Club Board and Delray Library Advisory Board. She has been a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People since 1983.

Gray served on the Delray Beach Commission from 2009 to 2014 and as vice-mayor for two of those years. She's a Realtor and also has held positions on city organizations, such as the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Small Business Advisory Committee and the Kiwanis Club of Delray Beach.

Voters pass public safety, park improvement bonds

Also on the municipal ballot this year were two bond referendums. Voters approved a $100 million bond to pay for public-safety renovations and equipment and also a $20 million bond to pay for park improvements.

The public-safety renovation bond was passed by a 61% approval and the park improvements bond was passed by a 63% approval.

The public-safety bond will finance the cost of renovations to the police station on West Atlantic Avenue, the Ocean Rescue Headquarters on South Ocean Boulevard and four of the city’s fire stations. The parks bond will fund projects and improvements at Catherine Strong Splash Park and Miller Park, among other city parks.

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

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Delray Beach election results: Newcomers win contentious, close races