It started with Jimmy Carter. Since then, a parade of statesmen, politicians — and maybe a scoundrel or two — have spoken to members of the county’s business and political elite at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches.
The organization is celebrating its 30th anniversary this spring.
The meetings, usually lunch but occasionally breakfast, often attract a congressman or two, countywide elected officials, and an assortment of mayors, commissioners, council members and judges. With that kind of audience, it’s no wonder the organization gets top-notch speakers.
Carter, who was running for president during his 1976 appearance, was followed by four justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, 11 governors from Florida and elsewhere, and 21 ambassadors.
Its next meeting on May 15 is almost certain to generate news. The two Democratic candidates for governor, U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa and state Sen. Rod Smith of Gainesville, are scheduled to debate. In 2002, the Forum Club was the sponsor of the year’s only debate among the three Democratic candidates for governor.
In an increasingly contentious political world, the group remains nonpartisan, though that doesn’t mean it’s a politics-free zone.
“We are a nonpartisan organization. What I tell people is you may love one speaker we have and hate the next. And that’s our function. We live to provide a forum,” said Gayle Pallesen of Lake Clarke Shores, the executive director.
With its steadfastly nonpartisan approach, the organization held two gatherings for its anniversary month in March, both Latino political leaders. One was New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who’s testing the waters for a possible 2008 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. The second was U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.
“It’s an unwritten code that partisan politics stops at the door. Whether you’re Democrat or Republican or Libertarian, everyone is there for the same purpose, to hear the speakers,” said Vern Pickup-Crawford of Wellington, whose firm Schoolhouse Consulting lobbies the state Legislature on behalf of the Palm Beach County School District.
“You’ve got a bunch of people that do agree you’re not going to use this as a hoot and holler time. You’re going to get people to sit together,” Pickup-Crawford said.
The organization has grown from 200 members to between 500 and 550. From 350 to 600 people attend the gatherings at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach.
“It’s a wonderful mixed bag. Young. Old. Democrat. Republican. Retiree. Business people. A handful of young people. White. Black. Just a good mix of people who are somewhat news junkies. People who are involved in the communities in one way or another,” Pallesen said. “These are people who listen to NPR or listen to the news at night and read the newspapers and at some level are involved in their community in one way or another.”
Members pay $300 the first year and $150 in subsequent years. Members pay $25 for luncheon tickets, their guests pay $35, and members of the public pay $50. Applicants must have the sponsorship of two members.
It’s tough to tell if it’s the quality of the speakers that attracts the audience or the quality of the audience that attracts high-profile speakers. Maybe both.
“It’s the speakers they bring to town,” said George Elmore, founder of the Delray Beach-based paving company Hardrives Inc. “They’ve had some great speakers over the years.”
Elmore is one of 20 original members still active in the Forum Club 30 years later. He also sponsors a table or two of high school students, one of whom gets to pose the first after-lunch question to the day’s speaker.
Art Kobacker of Boca Raton, now retired, headed a company that owned 700 shoe stores operating under his name. A friend asked him to join him for a Forum Club lunch years ago, and now he attends regularly, often with his wife, Sara Jo.
“It’s interesting and edifying,” he said.
Others are attracted by what happens before lunch as much as for the speakers. With the kind of crowd that attends club gatherings, audience members do a lot of pre-meal networking.
“Before lunch begins, people go around and say ‘How are you?’ It’s that visibility factor,” Pickup-Crawford said. Pallesen said that’s the main draw for some.
Pickup-Crawford credits the success largely to Pallesen’s ability to attract a diverse mix of high-profile, engaging speakers.
The former newspaper editor has been with the club since 1992 and its executive director since 1993.
Pallesen said she can get good speakers because of the nature of the organization. “We aren’t endorsing anybody for any office. When they come to speak to us, they are speaking to an audience that is interested in their topic, period,” she said. That often gets news media attention for the speakers.
Even though the Forum Club doesn’t pay speakers, Pallesen does have a sweetener. Out-of-towners are put up at The Breakers.
More information is available at www.forumclubpalmbeach.org
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-228-5501.
