Termed out after eight years — the first and only Haitian-American on the Palm Beach County commission and former county mayor is moving on, taking his public service and vision to the state level.
State senator-elect Mack Bernard, a Democrat, told WLRN that among his legislative priorities on day one will be addressing water quality struggles in Riviera Beach, supporting economic and affordable housing initiatives and promoting land conservation. He faces a big hill to climb politically because Republicans command a super-majority in the Florida Legislature. including the 40-member Senate.
In June, Bernard was elected to Florida’s Senate in a special election, succeeding Bobby Powell Jr., another prominent Democrat. The election was part of a “seat swap,” with Powell Jr. later winning Bernard’s seat on the Palm Beach County Commission in the general election.
In Palm Beach County, Bernard was recognized for championing policies that tried to address economic development in the rapidly growing county while balancing home building and environmental conservation needs during the county’s current housing crisis. Despite his advocacy for more homes, he was one of the deciding votes that prevented a controversial proposal to build luxury homes on protected wetlands west of Boca Raton and Delray Beach.
On the economic front, he led a successful effort to bring the prestigious Vanderbilt University to West Palm Beach, a move expected to bring billions of dollars in economic activity to the county.
As for housing, he was most recently involved with Prosperity Village Cottage Homes, a new transitional housing community scheduled to open this month.
The 17 single-family development for homeless families in Lake Worth at 4531 Clemens Street is owned and managed by the West Palm Beach Housing Authority — the $6 million community features two- and three-bedroom cottages as transitional housing that range from 980- to 1,200-square feet and a 1,200-square-foot community center.
It’s for people “who’ve faced homelessness to be able to transition and to have the opportunity to live in dignified housing,” Bernard told WLRN.
READ MORE: How Palm Beach County’s newest, fastest-growing city is making housing affordable
Building enough affordable homes remains a challenge
Most notably, Bernard spearheaded the successful 2022 housing bond initiative — the $200 million measure, that voters approved, aims to build 20,000 affordable housing units in the county within the next decade.
Bernard called the bond “a work in progress” since the county has experienced roadblocks, such as the growing cost of each unit and the lengthy time it would take to build each unit.
County commissioners now argue the housing bond, a program intended to be a “gap financing program” — which closes the financing gap between the cost of projects and capital lenders — is being overused for some individual housing projects and are now suggesting a percentage cap before issuing bond funds to developers.
Mack Bernard said despite the challenges of creating affordable housing across the state, he’s heading to the Senate to champion some of the legislative priorities he helped spearhead in Palm Beach County.
He spoke with WLRN’s Palm Beach County reporter Wilkine Brutus. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
WLRN It’s a GOP dominated Florida legislature. What’s the reality of being in the Democratic minority in Tallahassee? How much can you realistically accomplish?
BERNARD: It’s not a Republican issue. It’s not a Democrat issue. It’s not an independent issue. It’s a dignity issue that I believe that we will work together to address the cost of housing for our residents. Many of our residents throughout the state are dealing with a condo crisis and we as a state need to step it up to address this need for our residents.
WLRN: Some of the legislative priorities you’ve championed on the local level are magnified on the state level. As the current senator elect, what are some of your key priorities on day one?
BERNARD: On day one, I represent the city of Riviera Beach, and the city is struggling to address the water quality for the residents. And I look forward to championing, working with the state to create some type of funding opportunity mechanism that will help the residents. And we need to continue to create vocational technical opportunities for our residents and to continue to increase the teacher pay.
WLRN: Despite your advocacy for more housing development, you were also a key vote that prevented a lot of development in the agricultural preserve. How do you balance your positions between more housing and land conservation?
BERNARD: When I eventually had to vote and to make the decision, I believed that it was best for us to not create those housing at that location [Agriculture Reserve] because those were preserved land and that those are God’s land that we have to continue to preserve.
We cannot just replace the environment for our residents. And we have to make sure that we create a balance. Good growth, smart growth, but we have to preserve our land.