Convention hotel project gets more delays

Plans for a hotel in West Palm Beach, next to the Palm Beach County Convention Center, have been dealt another blow with the corruption investigation of former County Commissioner Mary McCarty. Officials
said it could take four or five years to see the project through after
the county commission in October scrapped a development deal with
Delray Beach-based developer Ocean Properties. A federal corruption
investigation allegedly found that McCarty and former commissioner Warren Newell
took free and heavily discounted resort hotel rooms from Ocean
Properties before and after they voted to award the company the $100
million development deal in 2004. McCarty left her post last week and is expected to plead guilty.