Politics

Coral Springs Candidate Hosts “Family Meet and Greet” Night

by Sharon Aron Baron July 6, 2012

by Sharon Aron Baron July 6, 2012 24 views

Family fun was the theme at the recent Meet and Greet for Mayoral Candidate Vince Boccard.

While most political events are usually adults only. Boccard and his wife Terry decided to host a “Family Meet and Greet” event at Wings Plus which included face-painting, balloon making and sidewalk chalk art.

First elected to City Commission in 2006 and reelected in 2010, Boccard is now a candidate for Coral Springs Mayor. Besides his busy position as a City Commissioner, Boccard works as a general contractor and co-owner of Boccard Homes and Kessler Construction. Boccard and his wife Terry have three children ages 25, 23 and 4.

“Coral Springs is about families. I raised my two kids here and now I’m watching my youngest, as well as my granddaughter grow up here as well.”

Public Service runs in the Boccard family: His father served as both Mayor and Commissioner in Miami-Dade County for 20 years. Boccard said he practically lived at city hall and would help his father during election time. His mother was politically active as well and helped start Crime Watch back in 1975 along with former Attorney General Bob Butterworth. Before moving to Coral Springs in 1997, Boccard served eight years as Vice Mayor and Village Commissioner of El Portal in Miami-Dade County.

I love being a public servant, and no one had to coax me to run.” – Vincent Boccard – on running for Mayor of Coral Springs

Boccard says he truly loves the city and believes that it’s at a crossroads where the city needs to reinvest in the looks and curb appeal of its public spaces. One of the things Boccard wants to see is improvement to the parks and medians. “We have old parks, old equipment and old restrooms,” said Boccard.

Soon, Pride Park which is located on Riverside Drive will be having a ribbon cutting ceremony after its recent renovations. Boccard would drive by and see children playing in the street but not in the park. He said that the park was once overrun with thugs and the equipment was old and needed repair. Now the park has been cleaned up, has new equipment and the loitering issue has been addressed.

Currently, the commission is working on developing a five year Capital Improvement plan and Boccard says it’s necessary to keep the ball rolling because we can’t afford a learning curve.

“I want to keep the momentum rolling that the city is taking, and we need true leadership for that.”

Besides leadership, Boccard said he has a great vision for the city. One thing he would like to initiate is an amnesty program for new businesses. As Mayor, he would like to see permit fees waived as an incentive to do business in the city.
If residents want to have a meeting with Boccard the Commissioner or in the future as Mayor, they’ll never have a tough time. They make themselves easily accessible to meet with the public and businesses. Hours and locations are posted on the city website listing the various places where they meet, which includes restaurants, parks and of course, city hall.

“We’re the most approachable commission. We ask the citizens to get involved with us.”

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To read more about Vincent Boccard, please visit: Boccardformayor.com

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Sharon Aron Baron

Editor of Talk Media and writer for Coral Springs Talk. CST was created in 2012 to provide News, Views, and Entertainment for the residents of Coral Springs and the rest of South Florida.