ENDORSEMENTS

Marcie Tinsley was a Palm Beach Gardens City Council member from 2010 to 2017 and appointed mayor in 2016. Now she’s back, competing for a one-year council term in the Group 2 seat vacated by Maria Marino, who was elected in November to the Palm Beach County Commission.

Tinsley’s return is permissible under the city’s hard-fought term-limit law, if not entirely within its anti-incumbent spirit. Nevertheless, residents may be glad to have this long-time resident back in city government. As she notes, the city will be losing three veteran council members in the next two years, and it will be prudent to have some seasoning at the helm.

Tinsley, 52, has lived in Palm Beach County most of her life and in Palm Beach Gardens since 2003. The longtime vice president of the Karl Corp., a land management company, she has a deep interest in horticulture and embraces the nickname, “The Land Planner.”

One lasting accomplishment from her prior council career is the new, city-paid $11.2 million North County District Park, boasting five lighted soccer fields and 600 parking spaces. Tinsley was "very persistent and dogged" in pushing for an agreement to get the park done, said former county commissioner Hal Valeche at the 2018 groundbreaking.

Her opponent…has lived in Palm Beach Gardens – indeed, in Florida – for less than two years but has been smitten with the community. An advocate for fiscal responsibility, he told the Post Editorial Board that his study of the city budget revealed areas for trimming. After watching council meetings since November, he spoke up in January and February. “I attacked the city council for not doing their job,” he said. Asked on the Editorial Board’s questionnaire for his current civic activities, he answered: None.

Tinsley, unlike her opponent, prioritizes helping residents and businesses get through the pandemic. She has written a resolution for the City Council to consider, asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to provide a steady supply of COVID vaccines to enable 200 residents to get shots six days a week at city facilities such as fire stations.