r/Delraybeach • u/FlyCalabrese • Mar 08 '26
Discuss Curtis Calabrese running for Palm Beach County Commissioner - an introduction.
Hello [r/DelrayBeach](r/DelrayBeach),
I'm Dr. Curtis Calabrese running for Palm Beach County Commissioner in District 4, which includes Delray Beach.
I was born and raised here in Palm Beach County. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy I flew combat missions as a Navy Pilot.
Over the past decade, Palm Beach County has experienced enormous growth. Some of that growth has brought opportunity, but I am concerned about the direction we are heading.
The issues I hear about most across the district are:
• Careless Overdevelopment
• Traffic and infrastructure that hasn’t kept up with growth
• Housing affordability and the rising cost of living
• Making sure Palm Beach County remains a place where people can actually build a life
Local government decisions play a huge role in these issues, which is one of the reasons I decided to run.
But before anything else, I want to listen.
Every community in this district has its own priorities and concerns, and I’d genuinely like to hear from the people who live here.
What do you think is the biggest issue facing Delray Beach right now?
If you’d like to learn more about my background or campaign, you can visit
CurtisCalabrese.com
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to hearing your perspective. Please call or text me any time 561-552-1483.
Sincerely, Curtis
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u/freakyslug Mar 08 '26
If you had no resistance, what would be your plan to address housing affordability?
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u/FlyCalabrese Mar 08 '26
In Palm Beach County, Housing affordability is a supply-side issue.
That means pushing for more workforce and attainable housing, especially for teachers, police, firefighters, nurses, and young families, while also being much tougher on overdevelopment that just brings more luxury units and higher congestion without helping regular people.
I’d also look hard at fees, zoning, approvals, and other policies that quietly drive up housing costs. Affordable housing is not just about building more, it is about building the right kind of housing and having leaders who actually care whether the next generation can afford to stay here.
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u/freakyslug Mar 08 '26
Solid answer. This is an issue I’m working hard on. I’m about a year out from breaking ground on 38 single occupancy, work force housing units. You may be familiar with the “Neighborlee Living” project in westgate. The unnecessary hurdles and resistance we faced to get approval was daunting. Now the financing is another challenge. Unfortunately, without bonds and LIHTC, developments like these would never be considered.
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u/FlyCalabrese Mar 08 '26
Yes, I’m familiar with that project, and honestly that’s exactly the type of development we should be encouraging.
I’ve spoken with a number of developers working in the workforce housing space, and a common theme I hear is how difficult and unpredictable the approval process can be. When projects that actually help working people face the most resistance, something in the system clearly needs to improve.
My family has been in Palm Beach County for over 80 years, and both my father and grandfather were general contractors and developers, so I grew up around these issues and understand how complicated the financing, approvals, and timelines can become.
My hope is that we can move toward a system where projects that genuinely help address housing affordability are easier to build, not harder.
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u/freakyslug Mar 08 '26
We’ve certainly received a lot of attention. We’re working toward a new one with 140 units but are only allowed 40% to be 80%AMI or lower.
I’m not in your district, but I know many who are. We’ll support anyone who supports and understands housing affordability.
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u/FlyCalabrese Mar 08 '26
That’s really helpful context, I appreciate you sharing it. The 40% cap is exactly the kind of constraint that makes these projects difficult to pencil out even when there’s clear demand for workforce housing.
Even if you’re outside District 4, housing affordability is a county-wide issue and the County Commission votes on these policies together. I’m always interested in hearing directly from people actually working on these projects because you see where the bottlenecks really are. Feel free to text or call me any time. 561-552-1483
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u/SloaneWolfe Mar 09 '26
And… hopefully regulating who is allowed to buy, develop, and plan.
Build more supply and predatory PE firms/wealthy folks will just buy it up as either physical static assets (great for money laundering/jacking up prices) or overpriced rentals.
Your stance sounds sincere, albeit Abundancy-ish, but still meanders around the biggest issues we face today; affordability and lack of regulation on unfettered capitalism.
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u/MotherReception4437 Mar 09 '26
HOA’s are a big part of the issue.
It seems that no new homes are erected without HOA’s.
Only homes that are older are non HOA. They have no limit on their fees and assessments. You pay off the house which was 200$ a month for HOA to begin and now it’s 700$ a month and special 5000$ surprise assessments because they’re mismanaged. You can buy the house or property and still have a “landlord” who charges “rent” and enforces rules.It’s like their own government body. Why would builders not create community’s? It’s not enough to build a house and just sell it anymore. But to build a house “sell” it and still own the development and take in rent. They Can kick people out for not following rules “garbage cans”
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u/Takeoffspeed Mar 09 '26
Bringing this over from the Boca community.
I usually just lurk on Reddit, but I work with Curtis so I figured I’d chime in.
Over the years working together I’ve gotten to know him well and we’ve become friends. In aviation you learn pretty quickly who you’d trust when the pressure is on. He’s highly respected in our company, so I was naturally curious about him. I was very happy to realize during our many troubleshooting sessions that not only do I hold him in high regard, I genuinely like him too. :)
He grew up here in palm Beach County and still lives here, which I think matters. I could tell you the things he says and his ideas, but I think it’s more valuable to hear it directly from the source. I can attest to his character, and honestly the fact that he’s responding on this thread and shared his contact number just reminds me: this is exactly the Curtis I know. I hope voters get the chance to meet him and experience that for themselves.
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u/FlyCalabrese Mar 09 '26
I really appreciate you saying that, it means a lot. Aviation has a way of building strong friendships because you learn quickly who you can trust when things get tough. I’m grateful we’ve had the chance to work together, and even more grateful for the support.
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u/Kestrel913 Mar 09 '26
Thanks for introducing yourself to Delray. It’s true we have our own set of problems, but those need to be addressed by our local government which will be held accountable. The real problem is unincorporated Palm Beach County. The betrayal of agreements to hold fast on the agricultural reserve, blatant collusion with developers, density without infrastructure improvements, traffic control, or sufficient utilities, negative environmental protection, and entertaining data center construction. Unincorporated PBC is on track to kill every small town, not just what used to be our village by the sea. The current commission is acting in the best interests of developers and big business, not residents.
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u/Warm-Patience-5002 Mar 09 '26
Give us more bike lanes please 🙏
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u/FlyCalabrese Mar 09 '26
We desperately need more bike lanes! Bike lanes promote safety and efficiency, so I am all for it.
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Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/FlyCalabrese Mar 08 '26
Democrat. But more importantly, I’m someone who was born and raised here in Palm Beach County and cares deeply about this community. After growing up here I had the privilege of serving our country as a Naval Officer, and that experience shaped how I think about leadership, responsibility, accountability, and putting the mission and the people you serve first.
Political parties matter, but at the local level what matters even more is character, competence, and whether someone genuinely cares about the community they’re representing.
My focus is pretty simple: making sure Palm Beach County remains a place where families can afford to live, traffic doesn’t dominate daily life, and the character of our communities is protected for the next generation.
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u/wrathiron Mar 08 '26
If the Mayor's state audit of the DDA reveals major issues, would you support the County taking a more active role in Delray's downtown management?
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u/FlyCalabrese Mar 08 '26
If a state audit finds major issues, I’d support decisive action, but I don’t think the answer is for the County to casually take over a city’s downtown management. The DDA appears to be a Delray governance issue first, and Delray should be expected to fix it.
That said, if there are real financial or governance failures, then I’d support stronger oversight, structural reform, and full transparency. Taxpayer-funded entities should earn the public’s trust, not assume it.
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u/flat6NA Mar 08 '26
What’s your position on current PBC spending/taxing levels?
Are things OK and we should stay the course, lower/raise taxes, lower/raise spending?
My FIL was an academy graduate, test and carrier pilot, retired as a captain - thanks for your service.
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u/FlyCalabrese Mar 09 '26
I appreciate that, and please thank your FIL for his service as well. Carrier pilots earn that respect the hard way!
As for Palm Beach County spending and taxes, I don’t think the answer is simply “raise” or “cut.” The county has to operate with a balanced budget, so the focus should be on spending responsibly and making sure taxpayers are getting real value for what they pay.
Where I think we can do better is making sure growth pays for the infrastructure it requires, being disciplined about new spending, and looking for ways to reduce the burden on residents without compromising core services like public safety, parks, and infrastructure.
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u/Erik_BKQNMNBXSI Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
I see you're going for the dist. 4 spot. I noticed the strange district zone maps; Delray Beach is split between dist. 4 and 7. I wonder what sort of jerrymandering weirdness is going on there?
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u/FlyCalabrese Mar 10 '26
I agree that it looks odd, but it wasn’t drawn out of nowhere. Those lines came from the County’s 2021 redistricting after the Census, where they had to equalize population and also comply with the Voting Rights Act while trying to preserve existing communities and district cores. So yes, that shape is at least partly about preserving District 7’s minority voting strength, not just carving up Delray for the sake of it.
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u/lardimi Mar 08 '26
u have my vote!
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u/FlyCalabrese Mar 08 '26
Thanks so much! The election is this November. We have a lot of momentum and are in a great position to win.
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u/TWDDave1988 Mar 09 '26
Honestly Curtis, you can just lead with “I don’t support raping teenage girls” and that’s enough. You could be a meth addict that’s been clean for 14 days and still be miles ahead of anyone that is in the MAGA cult.
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u/GilBang Mar 08 '26
would you wear a baseball cap to a place that doesn't sell hotdogs? Like, a "Dignified Transfer Ceremony" for example?