Palm Beach County Perspective

Episode 55 offers a glimpse at one of our residents, Rayna Rose Exelbierd, an Entrepreneur, Motivational Speaker, Youth Mentor, and Children's Author. Rayna dedicates her efforts to empowering youth. She has personally mentored thousands of students from around the world including India, Romania, Israel, Poland, Austria, Cuba, Latvia, Germany, Canada, and the United States. As she explains, Rayna’...

Episode 54 a llows me to sit down and talk to a very interesting member of our community. Chris Simpson and I met several months ago at one of the many galas held to support the nonprofit agencies in our community. Chris was introduced to me as a member of the US Secret Service. As you might imagine, that immediately caught my attention with the normal questions one might have for someone who has,...

Episode 53 addresses the services available to residents who have mental health and/or substance abuse issues. Our guests include Mark Astor, an attorney who has dedicated himself to assisting clients with substance abuse and mental health issues. Mark began his legal career as a Palm Beach County Assistant State Attorney, a position he held until 1999.  In February 2016, Mark formed Drug and Alco...

Episode 52, as promised we have invited Professor Robert Watson back for a second episode. As mentioned last week, Watson is a prolific writer. He is the author of 47 books and approximately 200 scholarly articles, essays and chapters on topics in history and politics ,  a professor, author, historian, media commentator and community activist.  This week we pivot away from local politics and take...

Episode 51 as we begin our second year of podcasts (yes, we did take a few weeks off when we took a cruise around Iceland), we finally snagged a guest we've been chasing for over 6 months. Professor Robert Watson is a busy, busy guy! An author of 47 books  and approximately 200 scholarly articles, essays and chapters on topics in history and politics ,  a professor, author, historian, media commen...

Episode 50 is something of a milestone - we celebrate our 50th episode with Evan Darnell, the self-proclaimed "Secretary of Steak" at the Red Meat Lovers Club. This is an exclusive networking club where, as you might surmise,  there are copious portions of red meat (as well as cigars and adult beverages). The ultimate mission of the club is to make sure the members are stronger as a group. While t...

Episode 49 is a chance to kick back and just talk about the state of affairs in Palm Beach County with our producer, Brian Howie. Brian came to our county a little over a year ago with the idea of creating studios for people (like me) who had an idea for a podcast, and opened his third PodPopuli location right here in Boca. It remains for you to decide if I made the right decision to jump into thi...

Episode 48 returns an important theme, education. In this episode, we are happy to welcome Daniel M Gropper, PhD and Dean of the College of Business at Florida Atlantic University. Dan joined FAU after a 25 year career at Auburn University where he was the Associate Dean for Graduate and International Programs. At FAU he is leading one of the top 20 largest AACSB accredited business schools in the...

Episode 47 offers an opportunity to have a conversation with three "social influencers" in our community. Michelle Olson-Rogers is the founder of Modern Boca Mom, a leading lifestyle site for the stylish and modern South Florida parent. Her website features local businesses, events, lifestyle and family travel options and she also is a regular contributor to Boca Raton Magazine. Shaina Wizov is th...

Episode 46 offers me an opportunity to have a conversation with Jason Hagensick, President and CEO of the YMCA of South Palm Beach County. Jason is a recent "transplant" to our community, arriving in 2016. Prior to arriving with his wife Liz and their two children, Jason was on the national staff of the YMCA as a national director of its US operations. A native of Texas, Jason and his family have...

Episode 45 offers me an opportunity to talk with my frined, Rabbi Josh Broide. Rabbi Broide was named the first Director of Community Engagement for the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, which is but one of the many hats he wears. He has served the local Jewish community in a number of presssional roles since moving to Boca Raton in 2000. He has served as Executive Director and Youth & Teen...

Episode 44 continues on a recurrent theme for our podcasts, addressing the needs of our most vulnerable citizens. While our county boasts over 40 billionaires living in our community, there is a segment of our community that can easily be overlooked as they grapple with the forces of economic disparity. What I find most gratifying is the collaboration between the government and the nonprofits agen...

Episode 43 addresses a subject that can be a little difficult to talk about, the safety of our children from abuse. My guests for this episode are Cherie Benjoseph, Co-founder of KidSafe Foundation, the foundation's CEO, Laura Askowitz and Matt Spritz, a friend of both KidSafe and this podcast. For over 13 years, KidSafe has been making children harder targets for sexual abuse, exploitation and hu...

Episode 42 may sound a little different from our past installments of Palm Beach County Perspective. The reason is two-fold - first, we are out of the studio this week - on location at "The Standard," a venue located in Boca Raton where a great happy hour menu is offered and the clientele is always friendly. The second reason this installment sounds a bit different is that my guest, community acti...

Episode 41 addresses the subject of resiliency - our ability to adapt to a changing environment. The headlines are replete with stories about natural disasters pummeling the world in which we live. Recognizing that we cannot remain spectators to the changes confronting us, Palm Beach County (like many other counties and municipalities in South Florida) established an Office of Resilience to ensure...

Episode 40 o ffers our listeners an opportunity to plan their summer. Lots going on in a county where, just a few years ago, a large portion of our residents were "snow-birds," flying off to the north in April and returning to our fair county in the late fall (generally right after election day). Now, more of our residents are "year-rounders," opting for a vacation for a few weeks in Europe or up...

Episode 39 offers our listeners a real treat as we sit down for a discussion with Arlene Herson. Arlene has had a remarkable career interviewing celebrities on television and on radio. Sammy Davis Jr., Liberace, Phyllis Diller, Walter Cronkite and even NYC Mayor Koch have been among the guests interviewed. Arlene provides snippets of her past conversations with these well known celebrities and new...

Episode 38 offers an opportunity to understand how we are keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive (especially for our students) while honoring the many survivors who have made South Florida their home. Our guests today are Keith Myers, president and CEO at MorseLife Health System, a senior living facility in Palm Beach County. He is joined by Randi Posner, past president of Next Generations, a S...

Episode 37 takes us back to the cultutal arts in Palm Beach County. One of the most versatile venues for culture in our county is the Kravis Center which first opened in 1992. Raymond F. Kravis was a prominent geologist and philanthropist from Tulsa, OK, who wintered in Palm Beach for more than 35 years. In 1985, a consortium of his friends donated more than $7 million to name the facility for Mr....

Episode 36 returns to talk economic development. After all, unless you are independently wealthy (something I am afraid I cannot claim) there's probably a need to earn a living! Today's episode foucuses on the World Trade Center Palm Beach. The license for the WTCPB is the property of Boca Raton resident, Al Zucaro. Al, who served as a City Commissioner in West Palm Beach from 1995 to 2002 has bee...

Episode 35 circles back back to the roots of our county. We touched upon this previously when we had as our guest, Mary Csar, Executive Director of the Boca Raton Hostorical Museum. Today we welcome back Pastor Bill Mitchell for the third time to our podcast. This time, however, the spotlight is on his father, Bill Sr, and his grandparents, James Cleveland and Floy Mitchell. The Mitchells settled...

Episode 34 continues our discussions with Florida's Constitutional Officers. We have the privilege of sitting down with Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. The Sheriff is a career law enforcement professional responsible for leading the largest law enforcement agency in Palm Beach County. Bradshaw rose through the ranks of the West Palm Beach Police Department and in 996 was appointed Chief of...

Episode 33 continues our discussion on transporation. This is such a complex subject we're devoting two episodes to a deep dive into how transportation is impacting residents of our county and the opportunities before us to make it easier to move from place to place without a private passenger vehicle. Our guest for this episode is Valerie Neilsen, Interim Executive Director for the Palm Beach Tra...

Episode 31 kicks off a two-part look into the subject of transportation. This is such a complex subject we're devoting two episodes to a deep dive into how transportation is impacting residents of our county and the opportunities before us to make it easier to move from place to place without a private passenger vehicle. Our guests for this episode are Patrick Goddard, President of Brightline Trai...

Episode 31 is an opportunity to take a look at two organizations in Palm Beach County giving much needed services to some of our residents with special needs.   Our first guest is Sharon Alexnder. She serves as the CEO of Unicorn Children's Foundation in Boca Raton, Fla. It is a one of a kind organization that changes the lives of people living with developmental differences who are disconnected,...