Boca Raton council adopts resolution reaffirming March 10 binding referendum on downtown campus

The Boca Raton City Council on Jan. 27 voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 6-20-26 and introduced Ordinance 57-72 to reaffirm that a citywide referendum on the downtown campus public-private partnership scheduled for March 10, 2026, is binding.

City Attorney Taylor told the council the legal effect is clear: "nothing about this project happens unless the voters approve it," and that the vote scheduled for March 10 will be "1 question, 1 vote, and 1 answer" that is binding. Taylor said Ordinance 57-72 merely clarifies the conditional repeal language already included in Ordinance 57-69 and in the transaction agreements: if voters reject the project, the authorizing ordinance would be automatically repealed and the transaction would have no legal effect.

Mayor Singer and multiple council members echoed that message during the hearing, saying the documents and agreements condition the project's effectiveness on voter approval. "Everything about this deal is contingent upon the vote of the residents," Mayor Singer said, urging opponents to stop circulating what he called false statements. Council member Thompson said the referendum was secured in earlier actions and described a second petition as redundant and confusing.

The council closed the public hearing and adopted Resolution 6-20-26 on a 5-0 roll-call vote. The clerk recorded the votes in favor as: Nattlis; Drucker; Thompson; Victor; Singer. The resolution directs the city clerk not to process or accept signature pages submitted pursuant to the petition affidavit that the resolution finds duplicative of the already-scheduled binding referendum.

Ordinance 57-72 was introduced (not voted on) as a "belt-and-suspenders" measure to make explicit the legal consequences of a negative result at the March 10 referendum, including the conditional repeal of Ordinance 57-69. City Attorney Taylor and outside counsel in the room (identified in the record as Claudia McKenna and attorneys from Weiss Sirota Healthman, including Dan Abbott and Jamie Cole) said they reviewed the charter, ordinance language, and transaction agreements and concluded the March 10 referendum is the controlling legal mechanism.

The council’s action leaves the next substantive step to voters: ballots for the March 10, 2026, citywide referendum are being prepared and mailed to vote-by-mail voters. If the referendum passes, the city said the transaction moves forward; if it fails, officials said the deal would not take effect and the council would have to consider options for the downtown campus going forward.