Many longtime residents can sense a distinct change in how the Town relates to us.
Whereas Town Hall was once a friendly place where residents could stop by with
cookies and have a free fax sent out, it now has multiple security cameras that
create a sense of being regarded as a potential threat.
The change has been incremental:
• Mayor Tompeck prohibited the Town clerk from reading comments from
residents unable to attend Town meetings. This policy was not codified. No
explanation was given. No provisions were made for the ill or disabled. One
resident called the policy “show up or shut up.” The mayor also implemented
a policy of not allowing a speaker to cede their time to another speaker.
• The resident Code Enforcement Board was sidelined in favor of hiring a
Special Magistrate for over 3 years. Legal costs increased, greatly, and 39
of 40 rulings favored the Town. Currently, the CEB is used for half of the
hearings and Special Magistrate for the balance. It is moving in the right
direction, but not quite back to the way it used to be.
• The Town Manager claimed that the Charter Review Committee had voted to
disband itself. This was untrue, but he repeated it a second time.
• The Town charter calls for a resident planning board, but we were told by a
commissioner that only credentialed planners are allowed to participate in
planning. This is contrary to what our charter states, and there is nothing in
the Florida Statutes that requires a credentialed planner. The commission
has not appointed residents to a Town Planning Board and instead, the town
contracts with a “Certified Planner” to opine on issues.
• On 14 October 2025, the Town amended Ordinance 52-24 (c), mandating
that all new patios and driveways not constructed with permeable pavers
have a drainage plan or grate. The goal was to encourage permeable material
to be used on driveways. Yet they recently put in a solid concrete driveway
at a Town property at 78 S. Sewall’s Point Road.
• Public records requests, which were once the purview of our Town clerk, are now managed by the Town Manager, increasing response time and potentially reducing transparency.
• On Easter Sunday (4 April 2026), an unsupervised contractor working
without a permit caused a malodorous effluent spill into our Indian River
Lagoon at the Archipelago. Despite three layers of supervision, the spill
lasted 24 hours before it was stopped. Many upset Archipelago residents
attended the 4/28/26 town meeting. But our commission majority declined
to penalize the contractor or to make them pay remediation costs. They only
wanted to ensure that it does not happen again.
• Several weeks later, the Archipelago HOA was performing its routine annual
maintenance dredging. Our Building Official, Jack Reisinger, shut the work
down. The Town Manager claimed that “a contractor” had complained that
the work was not being done properly. Despite having a valid FDEP permit,
work was held up for a month. Does this appear to be a coincidence, or
retaliatory abuse of power by the Town? It is distinctly unfriendly and may
not have happened under past administrations.
To add insult to injury, a sign was damaged on the Archipelago during the
loading of dredged material. Mr. Reisinger wrote, “Additionally, please
advise who will be responsible for reimbursement to the Town for the
damage to the bridge sign caused during unloading operations.”
• The Hookers at 6 Morgan Circle have filed several complaints against the
construction at 7 Morgan Circle alleging code violations and the improper
issuance of a building permit. They were summoned before the Code
Enforcement Board for a violation of having their air conditioner in the
setback. It had been in the same location for 30 years and approved at the
time of installation. The CEB ruled in their favor.
South Sewall’s Point residents have noticed that large generators are appearing on certain streets, such as Ridgeview North. The Town provided no advance notice explaining their presence.
Today, commissioners were notified that there will be a special meeting Thursday at 5:30 to talk about generator placement.
Contractors hired by residents are not allowed to begin work before 8AM, and must be off-site by 5PM. Why the double standard?
Considering the growing body of incidents, does Town hall does regard residents as valued partners sharing the common goal of creating and maintaining an
environment of mutual respect and trust? Or as a nuisance?
The one constant that has not changed for the worse is our Police Department.
Officers and staff are always friendly and accommodating to residents.
Thank you, Chief Tina!