Ties between Boca Raton’s Mayor Susan Haynie, her husband’s property management company and prominent Palm Beach County developers have led the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics to take action.
The ethics commission has asked the city of Boca Raton to hand over emails related to Haynie’s husband’s firm, Community Reliance, and real estate developers James and Marta Batmasian, who own the company Investments Limited, according to WPTV.
The commission would not confirm to WPTV that an investigation is ongoing on Haynie, who is running for a Palm Beach County commission seat, but it did ask for emails between the mayor, City Attorney Diana Frieser and attorney Joshua Koehler, between January 2013 and December 2013. Ethics investigators are also looking at Boca site approvals involving the Batmasians, Tottenham Investments, Mummaw and Associates and other entities from 2013 to 2017.
Since 2013, Haynie has approved several major development projects proposed by Investments Limited, including the nearly 300 apartments and condos of Royal Palm Place.
The mayor’s husband Neil Haynie’s property management firm has also received $12,000 to $14,000 annually for managing a 1,600-unit apartment complex in Deerfield Beach called Tivoli Park, which is controlled by James and Marta Batmasian.
The Batmasians are the largest commercial property owners in Palm Beach County, with a portfolio valued at more than $100 million, according to the Palm Beach Post. In 2014 James Batmasian was reportedly sued by two former employees who accused him of sexual harassment and financial fraud. [WPTV] – Amanda Rabines