But the one generating the most discussion is a purported endorsement of Neering by the Whitehall Condominiums of the Villages of Palm Beach Lakes — where Waldron lives and has been part of a heated dispute with the condo board.
Waldron moved into the Whitehall complex in June and soon became involved with a group of unit owners critical of the board’s management. Two of those owners, Cary Collins and Sean Kupfer, filed a lawsuit Oct. 7 accusing the association and then-presidentVincent Rossi of mismanaging funds and asking a judge to appoint a receiver to temporarily manage affairs.
Then, on Oct. 17, condo regulators in the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation said Rossi was ineligible to serve because he had been tardy paying his quarterly assessment. Rossi, who denies the mismanagement accusations in the Oct. 7 suit, said he paid his dues on time and was victim of an accounting mix-up.
On the day the DBPR letter disqualifying Rossi was issued, Waldron was part of a group of owners who briefly took over the association office after showing up with a locksmith who removed old locks and installed new ones. West Palm Beach police officers were present for the change of locks, though accounts differ on who called them.
Waldron said she participated in the office takeover because she believed she had been appointed to the board by board member Sylvia Kaufman at an emergency meeting Oct. 17. Kaufman’s board membership is in question because she submitted a handwritten resignation letter last March but said the board never accepted it.
Kaufman said she appointed Waldron, Collins and Kupfer to the board because she believed the rest of the board had been removed or suspended and, as the only remaining board member, she had the authority to appoint replacements. Kaufman said she came to this belief after conversations with DBPR and attorney Dane Leitner.
Leitner said Kaufman was mistaken because of “miscommunication” with the DBPR. When the mistake was realized and it was determined that the other board members had not been removed, Waldron and others relinquished control of the office by Oct. 22.
“We entered the office to secure it,” Waldron said Friday. “We only did it when we in our minds were board members.”
The incident led the condo association to file a lawsuit this month that names Waldron and four others as defendants. The suit accuses them of “forcibly” breaking into the office and claims they caused $8,695 in damage to the office and equipment in it.
Waldron disputed the claims and called the litigation a “nuisance suit” aimed to silence critics of the board.
“The police were standing there when the locksmith, who was shown paperwork from the state DBPR, removed and changed the locks. There was absolutely no forcible entry, no ransacking and no destruction of any property at any time. We are property owners protecting our property,” Waldron said.
While the dispute has played out, Neering has advertised a Jan. 5 letter on Whitehall letterhead that states the condo association had “voted unanimously” to endorse him. The letter is signed by the board’s current president, Charles Keeling. But Keeling said last week that there wasn’t a vote by the association and the letter should have stated merely that he and other board members were supporting Neering.
In what could become a crowded 2016 Democratic state House primary, Wellington Councilman Matt Willhite is moving quickly to line up endorsements. Palm Beach County Clerk and ComptrollerSharon Bock, State Attorney Dave Aronberg and state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, are among the Dems who have already weighed in for Willhite more than 18 months before the primary.
Willhite is running for the seat of term-limited House Minority LeaderMark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach. Also running: Tracy Pafford, the wife of the incumbent.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made several trips to Florida last year to help Gov. Rick Scott’s re-election campaign. The pair will be reunited March 6 in Palm Beach when potential presidential candidate Christie keynotes and Scott will be a featured guest at the Palm Beach County GOP’s annual Lincoln Day fundraising dinner at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
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