Lake Worth Beach’s City Commission voted 4-1 on Oct. 27 to give Compass Community Center a new 20-year lease on the downtown building it has rented from the city since 2007.
Commissioner Anthony Segrich cast the lone no vote, the Palm Beach Post reported.
The deal landed about two months before SB 1134, Florida’s new law on local “diversity, equity and inclusion” spending, kicks in. City Attorney Glen Torcivia and Mayor Betty Resch said the law can’t reach city contracts signed before Jan. 1, the Post reported.
“It’s about quality of life. It’s not just about how many dollars you can get,” Resch said.
Anthony Segrich’s Case Against the Compass Rent
The new lease starts Dec. 1. Rent climbs to $2,628 a month and goes up every year after that, according to the Lake Worth Beach Independent. Commissioners added a yearly performance report.
Segrich, a real estate agent, told colleagues at an Oct. 23 work session that he thinks the building costs the city close to $100,000 a year. He argued that a below-market rent amounts to handing Compass money while the city pays market rates elsewhere to house its own staff.
“I’m saying you have to look at the economics of these contracts,” he said, according to the Independent.
Segrich allowed that nonprofits “do provide valuable services.” Still, he said, “This city needs to be operational and healthy from a budget perspective.” He also raised the chance that the city could get sued under the new state law, the Post reported.
Commissioner Chris McVoy disagreed. “The process of governing and leading a city is much more than just bean counting,” McVoy said.
“If you want to run Compass out of town, I think that should be stated clearly,” he added. Segrich said that wasn’t his goal.
Compass’s HIV Clinic at 201 N. Dixie Highway
Compass got its start in 1988 as the Stop AIDS Project of South Florida. It now runs a low-cost HIV clinic plus youth and support groups, and it puts on Palm Beach Pride.
CEO Julie Seaver told commissioners that more than 60% of Compass’s HIV clients are heterosexual, the Post reported.
Commissioner Mimi May said those patients keep “coming back because the people there love them, and walk them through that door, and made them feel safe.”
“Some people are so vulnerable their families won’t do that for them,” May said.
“I understand Commissioner Segrich’s concerns, but we just want to continue to provide services for the next 20 years free to the community,” Seaver told the Independent before the vote. In May, the Stonewall National Museum named Seaver to its first class of Stonewall Honors honorees.
The Independent has reported that SB 1134 could end the city’s partnership with Palm Beach Pride.
How SB 1134 Already Held Up Repairs at the Compass Building
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 1134 on April 22. It bars Florida counties and cities from funding or promoting DEI. Groups that get a local contract or grant have to certify they won’t use that money to make workers or volunteers take DEI instruction. It covers contracts signed or renewed after Jan. 1, 2027, under the Florida Senate’s bill summary.
“The bill is necessary because cities and counties have been funding and promoting divisive activities under the guise of DEI,” state Sen. Clay Yarborough said in the governor’s announcement.
On April 24, Palm Beach County housing staff turned down the city’s bid for a $308,000 federal block grant to fix the building’s air conditioning and elevator, citing SB 1134.
“This situation is frustrating, but it does not define us,” Seaver told CBS12 at the time.
County Administrator Joe Abruzzo reversed that call within a week, saying the law didn’t apply until 2027. “Compass is open to all,” Abruzzo told the Post.
In May, the county said no money would be committed until HUD finished its review, WFLX reported.
