By sampay 
Boynton Beach residents decided the fate of one city commission seat during Tuesday’s municipal election, while the other was slated for a runoff.
As of 8 pm, 1,765 votes were cast — both by mail and in person — between the two races. Here are the results for the Boynton Beach city commission’s District 2 and District 4 seats:
District 2: Woodrow Hay, Mack McCray in runoff
Incumbent Woodrow Hay and former city commissioner Mack McCray — the top two vote-getters — will move to a runoff election. Neither is a stranger to Boynton Beach or the District 2 seat.
With all precincts reporting, Hay captured 36% of the votes (293 ballots) while McCray secured 42% (345 ballots).
Hay, a resident of Boynton Beach for more than five decades, was first elected to the commission in 2007 before serving two consecutive terms and then running again in 2020. He also served as the interim major for more than a year starting in early 2012, after police arrested the former major, Jose Rodriguez, on corruption charges.
Hay, 78, is also an ordained minister and a former employee of the Palm Beach County School District, where he worked as an application systems specialist before retiring. His resume also includes a stint at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft/United Technologies, where he worked as a computer programming analyst, among other roles.
His priorities include:
- Improving public safety though needed funding and the use of more officer and citizen training classes.
- Addressing the housing issue by pushing developers to increase their percentage of affordable housing units in new construction.
- Focusing on neighborhood revitalization by creating incubator programs and using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
- Reducing youth violence by investing in youth programs and building sports complexes and youth centers.
- Continuing to reduce the millage rate.
McCray, a funeral director at Roy Mizell & Kurtz Funeral Home in Fort Lauderdale, has held the seat on and off since 2001, alternating with Hay over the years. McCray has also served as vice mayor several times.
He sat on the city’s Cemetery Board from 1999 to 2001. He is also a longtime member of St. John Missionary Baptist Church.
McCray’s priorities include:
- Expanding affordable housing.
- Supporting youth programs.
- Fixing the city’s drainage issues.
- Beautifying the roads.
- Support local businesses.
- Marketing Boynton Beach High School.
“Thank you for voting, and for those who did not vote, I urge them to come out for the runoff election and show support for the candidate of their choice,” McCray said, citing low turnout on Tuesday. “We need to move Boynton forward.”
District 4: Aimee Kelley retains seat
Aimee Kelley, the incumbent for District 4, successfully fended off two challengers and secured a three-year term on the commission.
Kelley, 46, has held the District 4 seat twice in the past. Tuesday was the first time he won the seat in an election, securing 64% of the votes (612 ballots).
“I’m excited that the residents came out to support me overwhelmingly, and I’m excited to keep the momentum going with all the great stuff that’s going on in the city,” Kelley said on Tuesday evening.
The commissioner appointed Kelley to the seat in 2018, after the former commissioner, Joe Casello, joined the House of Representatives. Kelley finished out the final few months of Casello’s term and chose not to campaign at the end of her temporary appointment.
She again secured an appointment last year, after Ty Penserga resigned from the District 4 seat to run for mayor. Kelley was among five applicants who applied to fill the vacated seat at that time.
Kelley, a longtime paralegal and the wife of a Boynton Beach police captain, has lived in the city for nearly two decades. She is also a board member for the Palm Beach County Advisory Commission on Women and the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee.
Her priorities include:
- Improving police response times and investing in public safety equipment and technology.
- Lowering taxes without sacrificing the quality of city services.
- Addressing housing costs by encouraging collaboration between government leaders, residents, nonprofits, builders and developers.
“As a paralegal, my professional career has been focused on looking out for injured persons,” she recently said. “The same mentality that I bring to my job representing people at the law firm is the one I bring to the Boynton Beach City Commission: listening to and responding to the concerns of my constituents.”
Giuseppe Sabella is a reporter covering Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.