Boynton Beach residents chanting ‘Say no to PBSO’ get their wish as merger talks officially end
By Tara Jakeway
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BOYNTON BEACH, Florida (WPBF) — After countless emotionally charged meetings at Boynton Beach City Hall, there will be no merger between Boynton Beach Police and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw released a letter Monday afternoon stating the city of Boynton Beach no longer wants to move forward with a merger between the two departments.
Earlier this month a city Commissioner foreshadowed this exact action saying, “I’m ready to make a motion that we stop all negotiations once and for all with PBSO.”
That was met with a round of applause from a group of residents that will likely be pleased his motion came to fruition. In the public comment time some shared their disapproval of a potential merger saying, “when it comes to PBSO we do not want them in our city,” and “say no to PBSO.”
In July, the sheriff’s office submitted a more than $42 million proposal that would allocate more than 270 PBSO employees, including 80 deputies to the city of Boynton Beach. The proposal prompted more questions than answers at community meetings with one commissioner saying, “this document to me has no substance.”
One resident said he felt insulted by the lack of effort put in by the sheriff’s office saying, “It doesn’t seem like they were even serious about that proposal.”
Even Boynton Beach Mayor Ty Penserga echoed the sentiment saying, ” the reality is we all saw that proposal and there was hardly enough information in there.”
In Bradshaw’s letter he seemingly points to new additions from the city derailing the discussions saying in part, “On August 12th, the City informed the Sheriff’s Office they had a substantial Pension Fund Liability that affects the merger.”
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