Water quality, parking are top issues in Wilton Manors mayoral race

Wilton Manors will have a new mayor soon, as a city activist and a current city commissioner duel over issues of water quality, parking, utility bills and city spending.

The mayor’s post is opening this year, because Gary Resnick is stepping down to run for a City Commission seat.

The city’s mayoral elections are nonpartisan, and both candidates, Boyd Corbin and Justin Flippen, are registered Democrats. The job pays $11,250 a year.

Corbin, a 50-year-old homeowner who lives on Northeast 26th Street, is making his third attempt at the mayor’s position, having lost in 2014 and 2016. In recent years, he became known for his 2012 arrest, using it as a platform for denouncing the Wilton Manors Police Department. Charges against Corbin eventually were dropped.

He said he was falsely accused of instigating a tussle with a drag queen at a Halloween party. He was dressed as a KKK member, with fiery tiki torch in hand. He was wearing the costume ironically, he said.

“It was making fun of racist Republicans who refused to vote for Obama,” Corbin said.

He is still engaged in litigation over the incident, which he described as a false arrest.

Corbin’s top issue has been the quality of the water supply. Both candidates agree that water bills are too high. Wilton Manors buys its water from the city of Fort Lauderdale and is working on a study of the utility rates.

But Corbin takes his water complaints further, challenging the quality of the tap water.

Partly in response to Corbin’s allegations, the city of Fort Lauderdale produced a fact sheet saying the water meets federal standards and is safe to drink. The city flyer called some of Corbin’s claims “fake news” from a “publicity seeking, politically motivated Wilton Manors mayoral candidate.”

Corbin says the city should change its water filtration methods in order to eliminate the water’s discoloration. He is a regular speaker at Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors meetings, denouncing Fort Lauderdale’s use of ammonia in its water supply — though it is legal — and alleging the water makes his scalp itch and gave him “cradle cap,” a skin condition.

Flippen said he’s pushing for lower utility bills and would want to pursue better water quality, but he’s not spending his candidacy chasing Corbin’s claims.

“At the end of the day, I have to decide is he a credible source of information? And unfortunately, he does traffic in misinformation and that is to the detriment of the people he is seeking to serve in elected office.”

Corbin opposes eliminating lanes on Wilton Drive, a project that recently got under way. Flippen supports it, saying it should be “more of a Main Street” than a commuter thoroughfare.

Corbin is also critical of employee raises and the privatizing of parking meter enforcement. He says the city needs a parking garage to help businesses on Wilton Drive.

Flippen says he wants to maintain the “island city’s” small-town charm but supports modernizing the development codes, so the city isn’t “left behind.”

“We don’t want to create a downtown Fort Lauderdale in Wilton Manors,” Flippen said, “but do have an antiquated code system.”

Corbin doesn’t have a traditional job but earns money renting his home out to vacationers. He said he’s “doing fine” financially. He has money, he said, “partly from an inheritance, partly from a motor vehicle accident I got a settlement [from] last year.”

In prior years, he said he has worked on boats and in restaurants and hospitality, worked for a friend’s architecture business and built his home as an owner-builder.

He has no endorsements and no campaign contributions, self-funding his effort with $30,000.

Flippen is already on the dais, serving as a city commissioner. He left the city post during his first term to run unsuccessfully for state Legislature, then won election in Wilton Manors again. Flippen, 40, lives on Northwest 30th Court, in a Wilton Shores condo he co-owns with close friend Stephen Ferrante, a former Broward County top manager.

Flippen works for Broward County as a tourism project manager, under Stacy Ritter, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. Ritter was Flippen’s boss before, when she was a county commissioner and he was her aide. He also has worked as a legislative assistant to former state Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, and as an intern for former Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla.

Flippen has a law degree from the University of Florida but did not take the Florida Bar and can’t practice law.

“I felt if someone wants to make laws affecting people,” he explained, “having a law degree would be an important tool.”

Flippen raised $18,596 as of Aug. 31, from developers and others in the construction industry, and contributors from the worlds of law, real estate, insurance, nonprofits, tourism and garbage hauling. He also some contributions from Wilton Manors retirees.

Asked one thing that would surprise people, Corbin responded in his Sun Sentinel questionnaire: “I speak Thai.”

Flippen responded, “I have visited all 50 of the United States of America.”

Early voting will be held Oct. 22 to Nov. 4. Wilton Manors City Hall is an early voting site. All registered voters in the city of 12,000 can participate.

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