Property tax proposal knocked down

Due to what the Florida Supreme Court decided was a misleading ballot summary, the citizens initiative of limiting property taxes to 1.35% of highest taxable value was knocked off the 2010 ballot.

Those organizations fighting the property owners were the Florida League of Cities (a group diabolically opposed to citizens and one Retha Lowe just loves), Florida School Board Association and Florida Association of Counties.

Go to the Cut Property Taxes Now web site for more information.

Stimulus money to American workers only

Illegal workers

Start sending faxes to our Senators to make sure that they also include language to keep Stimulus jobs from going to illegal foreign workers. In 2008, we lost 2.6 million jobs, the highest level in six decades. Taxpayer money should serve LEGAL citizens of this country.

Go to NUMBERS USA and send your FREE fax.

Rene Varela writes the Commission on Ethics

Mr. Mayor and Commissioners,

I want to first congratulate you all in proceeding with a much needed ethics ordinance here in the city of Lake Worth. While we have not been tainted to the degree that other sister cities and certainly the county, it is vital to respond to the climate of public discontent and lack of confidence in our public officials.

Many cities in our county are only making rudimentary progress in adopting transparency measures, which has only fed the public's poor perception of government. I strongly encourage you all to move quickly in adopting stringent ethics measures in our city for all public officials, elected and unelected. I also encourage you to implement for all public officials an ethics pledge modeled after Leadership Palm Beach County's Pledge (see below), if not using it directly. Likewise, I strongly encourage you to institute an ethics policy such as the one recently employed by our county tax collector (see below).

Ideally, the roll-out of these measures should be made publicly, with at least the most visible public officials taking the pledge in a public forum for the public and media to observe. These three facets will serve as a multi-tiered ethics and transparency approach that is likely to create an initial mood of good will from your citizens.

It is up to our public officials, elected and non-elected, to live up to the high ethical standards that are set forth in your ambitious new policy.

Thank you for your time in the matter.

Sincerely,

Rene' A. Varela
Lake Worth Resident

Palm Beach County Ethics Pledge

Palm Beach County Tax Collector's Ethics Policy

US Lifesaving Assn writes Commission

Joseph McManus, President of the United States Lifesaving Association, challenges the City of Lake Worth's recent decision to close our beach two days a week with people swimming at their own risk on Tuesday and Wednesday. He says it is a safety issue and cites Florida Statutes 401.435.

Read his letter to the City Commission.

No "false bravado" here

Watch out for that Pelican flying over your head.

South Florida Fair--only a few more days

Photos from Thursday

Inauguration Today at the Fair

Drew Martin taking the Oath of Office

The January Board Meeting of the Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District was held today in one of the Conference rooms at the South Florida Fair. As you recall, our own Lake Worth Resident, Drew Martin, won his seat in the November election. He is the new Supervisor for District 2 and today he officially takes his office after being sworn in by Susan Bucher, Supervisor of Elections.

Why we live in Florida

Photo just sent to me taken at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Ethics is not about politics

With only five residents there and our PB Post reporter, this was one of the better workshops. The Mayor covered excellent points to either consider or incorporate into Commissioner Jennings' (who was in Maine with 3 feet of snow and joined the meeting via phone) original proposal, giving http://cityethics.org as a reference. Reducing corporate contributions to $200 was discussed along with the reduction of cash to $25.

I remember the first two meetings on Ethics in 2008--one in June and the other in September. Back then it was like pulling teeth for the majority Commission to admit that we even needed an ethics policy. There were a few citizens in the chamber accusing Commissioner Jennings of pushing forward on a policy only because she could not garner enough contributions to beat her opponent. If you recall, Commissioner Jennings raised more money than any candidate in any race in Lake Worth this past November.

In September I stood before the Commission and said that an Ethics Policy was a no brainer—vote it in. They didn’t. The same three said no" to ethics. I went home that night wondering what I had missed.

Some of the things on my mind are--

It is essential that we bring back trust in government. For Palm Beach County to be known as the most corrupt county in the nation, is a distinction for which we all should feel shame. Lake Worth can rise above the rest.

Staff must listen to their bosses, ultimately the Commission, and not continue to place stumbling blocks to progress by following what they believe to be the right course and undermining Commissioners and the will of the people who elected them.

Board members need to remember that they represent the best interests of the residents and should be reprimanded for public outbursts as well as negative commentary against citizens. Good behavior and courtesy is essential. They should not be working against elected officials. Even a housewife's opinion is important.

We need to stop the “City Secrets” privilege that has permeated throughout City Hall. All information must be disclosed, other than attorney client privilege, and in a timely fashion.

We need to end the abuse of no-bid contracts.

Ban the free lunch. No political gifts or donations allowed from lobbyists, contractors or those doing business or want to do business with our City. Lobbyists must register. Full disclosure is imperative.

Elected officials should be cognizant that they are in place to promote the will of the people and not their own special interests.

Follow the laws of the land and ordinances of this City. Stop political favors. Stop giving variances to everyone who is a special friend.

Give government back to the people. Lake Worth can and must raise the bar.

Ethics is not about politics. It’s all about what’s right and what’s wrong and applies to all.

Obama Stimulus Plan

House, in 244-188 Vote, (not ONE Republican vote) Approves President's Stimulus Plan

The House voted, 244-188, tonight for President Obama's package of federal tax cuts and spending worth $819 billion and meant to jump-start the economy out of its worst crisis in decades.

Pay to Play Ordinance 2008-12

It does make you wonder sometimes as to the importance of ethics. Ethics are falling by the wayside and more and more elected officials and staff are putting everything they were taught and believed about ethics in their back pocket.

Back in June 2008, Commissioner Cara Jennings introduced a Pay to Play Ordinance. It was decided after much discussion that it should go to the State Attorney for an opinion. The Ordinance was apparently stricter than the State law on it and our City Attorney Karns thought it might be unconstitutional to make an Ordinance that was more strict than the State of Florida. He thought.

On September 16, 2008, the Pay to Play Ordinance came back and was defeated on a 3 to 2 vote with Commissioner Retha Lowe stating that she did not agree with it and objecting to the title of it as did the Mayor. Ms. Lowe wanted more citizens to speak out, like that meant something to her, that it would make some sort of a difference. The Commissioners (Lowe, Jennings, Clemens, Golden and Vespo) all agreed to send it to a workshop.

Here it is, over four months later. We are finally getting that workshop. It is high time, past time and way over due. Palm Beach County is known as the Pay to Play capitol of the country. The FBI is still working here. The State Attorney says there are more arrests to come. Commissioner Lowe already was found guilty by the Florida Elections Commission.

Can you imagine while Palm Beach County and local cities are sending elected officials to prison, the City of Lake Worth’s Commission has a problem setting an ethical standard for Lake Worth? Has anyone walked off with the silver during this long wait? Let’s stop talking. Let’s take action. Let’s pass Commissioner Jenning’s well thought out Ethics Ordinance and raise the bar. The rest of the County will follow us.

Beach Revenue

If you don't think losing 1/4 of our upper level parking at the beach due to the use of it as a staging area for pier repairs has not cost us, think again. Closing the pool did not help either. People want that upper level parking. They won't stop at our beach and park at the lower level.

But I think the biggest factor of losing a bundle over the past year might have been when we changed our parking meter system.

All you have to do is look at the facts.
What do you think?

In the News

• 62,000 jobs cut worldwide on Monday
  

• U.S. has lost 2.59 million jobs since December 2007

• Unemployment is at 7.2%

• Home Depot eliminates 2% of global workforce

• Freddie and Fannie want MORE billions
  

• 6 cities in PB County either have or are considering cameras to catch re-light runners.
  We had the good sense to say "no."

• Fl Real Estate Commission goes easy on Jim Exline. He loses Broker's license for 6 months.

• It could be worse. We could have the West Palm Beach Commission that just approved a 299 foot tall condo to be built at 1515 S. Flagler, 3 times larger than the previous building.

• Home prices stabilized during December

• Obama overhauls energy and ethics policies and wants information released, not concealed. Let's hope that Lake Worth can follow the example and vote in an Ethics Policy and that we can get public information in a timely fashion.
  

• And someone stole someone's foot. No kidding.
  

Citizens Come First 's Chair takes position on the beach

I have been closely involved with beach redevelopment since 2001 and in touch with the citizen’s desires from that time forward. I have spoken to large numbers of citizens during many petition drives. In 2002, there was significant sentiment against commercialization of the beach and that has increased as years have passed.Go to Citizens Come First and read the entire letter.

Update to Sheriff story

We just received word that the offender has been served...given a 30 day notice to vacate! The Sheriff is on the case.

Politics at the beach--a run-away horse

Commissioner Lowe says 30 years. Well, it certainly seems like 30 years that we have all been discussing our beach. It’s been at least since 2002 when the Mayor, Rodney Romano, decided to jack-hammer our casino and “prove” once and for all that our casino had to come down. “Tear down that building,” he said. This is when all routine maintenance stopped at our casino. The Mayor must have been thinking of Ronald Reagan when President Reagan said, “ Mr.Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” because he was determined that our structure would be demolished and his developer and Realtor friends would come on our beachfront and take over its destiny.

Well, here it is 7 years later and the only thing we have to show for it all is a casino building that was never maintained since year 2002, not once, and even the jack hammered holes were not filled in with cement further allowing our building to deteriorate. A few months ago the City finally covered up the ugliness with boards with the pretense of shoring up our building that was “just about to fall down,” per the Interim Building Official. Not one engineering report in the past had said that this building was structurally unsound other than Mr. Farinelli’s suggestion.

Right now, because of the change in politics, we have the best opportunity to stop this runaway horse in order to keep the present zoning of PROS and refurbish the present building. To wait would be folly. The time is now. The vast majority of the people would approve. And if you don’t believe that, let us vote.

Nunsense

Got home from the Playhouse awhile ago and a lady where I live asked me how I liked the Show. She had attended it also.

I responded, "It was great...loved it." What about you? Well, of course, it was just "so, so" to her. Her face was down and she thought it was nothing to rave about. She sings in church. There are always people who, for some reason, just want to burst your bubble, take the little jab enjoying the fact that they have just made a little dent in what was, until you spoke with them, an up day. Probably if I had said it was lousy, her response would have been different.

I agree with Wes on this one...fabulous musical comedy.

Can you spot them now?????

MUG SHOTS

More on the Sheriff—the big shuffle

The Sheriff’s Department is so big that Lake Worth is a number and those who answer the phones are too.

On Friday, a Director of my Condo and I physically went down to the Sheriff’s office in Lake Worth and went into the building. We wanted to make sure that we talked to someone in person who could advise us correctly regarding something that we felt was of extreme importance. The Clerk behind the bullet plate glass said that there were no deputies in the building. She asked that we explain to her what we wanted a Deputy for and if she considered it worthy, we could proceed further. That is not what she said, only our interpretation of the tone. When I asked where they were, she said, “on the road and it would take about 15 minutes before one could be called back to the building.” She must have liked our reasons as we were instructed to use the phone in the lobby to speak further to someone. We made the call. The person on the other end decided it was worthy, and called for a deputy to meet with us.

And sure enough, after a 15 minute wait, in walked Deputy Guzman. He then took our information and looked up the case in the computer. About ten minutes later he came back and told us that since there was a pending law suit with the City of Lake Worth by the convicted offender, there was nothing we could do. We just did not understand the reasoning behind this but told him that it was our understanding that the law suit had been dropped as of last month. I recall Karns mentioning this during his Attorney Report at a City Commission meeting. Also, the convicted offender admitted it to me. He then said that they would check with city attorney Karns and get him to forward the paperwork, notifying the Sheriff’s Office and that someone would be calling us. In about ten minutes and as we were pulling up into our parking lot, a Lt. Moss called and gave us instructions as to what to do if this person came around.

Today, following those instructions, we called the local number and were routed off to the Sheriff’s office somewhere and got connected with Badge number 7011. He would not give his name when asked. He told our director that there was nothing we could do. Our Director accused him of being a “road block” and stated that “we have rights too.” It seems, once again, the right hand does not know what the left is doing, but it is the weekend.

Tomorrow we will start the process all over again.

Today at the Fair

See if you can spot Donna Ross and Tom McGow! Also my friend, Joanne Squires was with us. We never made it to the Midway. Another day.

Fun in the sun--South Florida Fair

Photo taken at South Florida Fair
Great Egret

Today is Fair day for me! I have been going to this every year since I can remember. In fact, I always buy two tickets because I don't want to miss anything. From the pig races, to Yesteryear Village that transports you into a different time, to the Midway, to the arts and crafts, there is something for all ages. Back later!

Beach Workshop

Every developer alive as well as his brother have come out of a deep sleep and drooling to get hold of our beach. There is a very important workshop meeting on January 27 and everyone needs to attend. Let us end this once and for all and proceed with a building renovation.

The Monkey on our backs

Photo taken at PB Zoo by my brother, Steve Smith

Just living and getting by day to day without a catastrophe is a challenge sometimes, isn’t it?

Take our political scene as an example--Every time you think some thing is solved and you have at last moved on from issues that have been poorly decided or just plain bad political decisions from those who don’t care about the will of the people, only their own agendas, the very same things return, unsolved. It is like taking one step forward and two steps back with that monkey hanging on.

This affects the way we live—our beach, our water, our electric, our policies in general.

44 Presidents

Screw up again

At our last City Commission meeting there was much discussion about the hire of a new city manager. The commission agreed that the search should include those outside of Lake Worth, that the applicant needed to have a degree and at least seven years of government/management experience. They also stated that in the Request for Qualifications, a new City Manager did NOT have to live in the City of Lake Worth.

That was the time when City Attorney Karns should have jumped up and told them the facts. He was silent on the law. We cannot arbitrarily change the law without a vote of the citizens. What ever do we have a city attorney for other than to protect us from ourselves?

Bob Baldwin, if he accepts the city manager's position in Dania Beach, will stay on for one more month in Lake Worth.

We need to hire a city manager who will play by our rules, not his/hers, or the Commission that gave a bad directive to the headhunter.

From the City Charter--
Sec. 2-3. City manager and utility director residence requirement.

The city manager and utility director must establish a bona fide residence in the city, within six (6) months of appointment as city manager. A bona fide residence, for the purpose of this section, is a permanent domicile within the city which has not been adopted with the intention of again taking up or claiming a previous residence acquired outside of the city limits.

(Ord. No. 87-2, § 1, 1-19-87; Ord. No. 88-11, § 1, 5-16-88; Ord. No. 92-11, § 1, 5-4-92; Ord. No. 2006-20, § 1, 6-20-06)

Screw up

Last week at the joint workshop, with the purpose of the P&Z pushing forth its Comprehensive Plan changes and the Commission falling for the bait, Tripp Ciocci made a statement/question regarding the Sunset property--It is our understanding that the zoning is not yet changed.” Larry Karns, the city attorney, vehemently denied it and stated, “It is changed.”

The very next day we sought proof of our statement and Tripp contacted the DCA as did Rachael Bach of P&Z. Sure enough, Sunset is not a done deal. As Save Our Neighborhood, Inc. is so directly involved in this case, we knew that, but once again, we had to prove it

The fact is, no one can get it right. We can’t rely on any answer out of staff to be a fact.

Read the document

Obama initiates salary freeze

On his first day in office, President Obama froze the salaries of all aides making $100,000 or more. He is also having an Ethics briefing.

Read about it HERE

The Big Stall

There are people behind the scenes who are working diligently to stop the casino restoration. There are others who secretly hope or will tell their friends that Peter Willard has a case and will successfully sue us for $40 million dollars. Willard has no case but it doesn’t dispute the fact that there are those who are putting up barriers for us to move forward with what the people want at their beach. Some of those people are city employees who are not taking direction from the Commission.

Last night was a prime example of evil in action. It showed that we still have the “old” regime leading this commission around by the nose. We have a contract building inspector who says the building is about to fall down. Now he says that we must spend more money shoring up the building. We have six past engineering reports and those that I read say differently. What does staff do? They hire, once again, another engineering firm to analyze past engineering reports to see how they compare as to the structural analysis of the buildings. Do you think this next company will finally get it right in the eyes of the City of Lake Worth and recommend demolition? Who gave them this authority? It was not the Commission. How do they spend our money without approval?

Last month Staff was told to come back with a Request For Proposal and expected that to come back to them within a month. Staff revealed last night that it is not even close to getting out an RFP. They are still working on Letters of Interest. What do they do all day long?

Mayor Clemens was correct when he said that they voted on refurbishing the Casino and that he knew that restoration would probably be more expensive than a brand new building. This was revealed in two engineering reports that I read that were received by the City that suggested that. According to Straticon, this building would be totally gutted with nothing left standing but the foundation and outer walls. Everything else would be new. So, we would be getting a NEW building but it would still be considered a restoration. Therefore, there should be no concern from the citizenry or any Commissioner that this building will be anything but built to today’s codes and standards. We know without a doubt that we can restore our existing building. We do not know that we can build a new one.

This process has been bogged down and it was done so on purpose. Mayor Clemens was correct again last night when he said that Staff was pigeon holing the RFP process. Direct Staff to get it done and get it done quickly or give them a pink slip. The Commission needs to get a whole lot more assertive and not allow Staff to continue ignoring its requests and going beyond their authority. The citizens of Lake Worth deserve a whole lot more as well.

Can it get any worse?

Aside from the fact that companies make a lot of money off the City of Lake Worth, I can't imagine why ANY company wants to do business here. Tonight's meeting and discussion on the beach just proves why ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can get done. The reason why it must be a rehab is to keep the zoning as PROS. The present building is grandfathered in. To build a new building would require the zoning to change to BAC.

This is why We Love Lake Worth Political Action Committee petitioned to begin with...to keep the zoning PROS. Now, of course, the City wants to end the law suit and wants WLLW to agree.

Everyone but especially STAFF is jerking this process around. Let's get the RFP to refurbish the building done--now.

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To the front of the bus!

Heaven help us all!

READ OBAMA SPEECH

We, as Americans have to feel pride today as it was just a little over 50 years ago when Rosa Parks took her stand and said “no,” I will sit where I want on this bus. If I were in Rosa’s shoes, I would like to think that I would have been as brave. It was during the age where blacks had separate water fountains and were not allowed to enter certain establishments because of the color of their skin. We referred to certain parts of our city as “black town.” We didn’t go there. What a shameful past we had. We still have the Ku Klux Klan with an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 members nationwide even though we have come so far.

Today, Barack Obama, the son of a white mother and a black father is now the President of the United States. During times of crisis, history has produced the best presidents and Obama has come at no better time. If anyone can affect positive change, it will be he who will do it and bring the world together. He has the vision. We have the hope. President Obama is asking all of us to step forward and be engaged in a way that we have never done and he will show us the way.

We have come a long way, baby! It is up to us. And President Obama is sitting at the head of the bus.

Written by the Post editorial board:

ARTICLE PRINTED IN PB POST

"Building restortation" per Wikipedia

Not all building restoration seeks to follow the original design of the building. It is reasonably commonplace for the shell of a building - its external walls - to be retained whilst an entirely new building is constructed within. This approach is also referred to as adaptive reuse.

Art Fair at the Palm Beach County Convention Center

For all of you who love contemporary art, if you didn’t get to the Palm Beach County Art Fair at the Convention Center, you missed some really unusual and wonderful art.

You would think that I would have seen at least two people I knew. Not so, but I did spot Donna Ross with a friend.

This photo was taken before my camera was confiscated of an exhibit at the Fair's entrance. I thought it most intriguing. West Palm Beach expected 25,000 people to this four day event that ended Sunday. Tickets were $15.

I get a kick out of you

I got a kick out of reading about Lois Frankel’s problem with a budget shortfall of $8.2 million for 2010! Poor Lois. I wonder if she thought about the ever increasing housing market and its values plunging down, down, down when she went around her citizens and built her new city center anyway. She didn’t care about what the residents of West Palm Beach wanted. It was all about Lois. Now she says everyone must make sacrifices.

It seems, the only people working for the City of West Palm Beach who are not in jeopardy (if they negotiate like Lake Worth) are those Union workers whose contracts come up this year and negotiations begin December 2009. Personnel costs are estimated to rise by 9% with the police and fire taking one-half of their budget right off the top.

I wonder if our Mayor here in Lake Worth is thinking about ad valorem when he keeps talking about building a new city center here which would include a new library in one of the highest millage rate cities in PB County and certainly one of the poorest. I wonder if the CRA thought it out when they committed over $13 million to the Gateways to attract development.

Press One for English

States depicted in blue are English only states

30 States Have Made English Official (28 Laws Still in Effect)

FLORIDA (1988) Constitution--84% vote in referendum

It seems that it is only Spanish speaking immigrants who do NOT want to learn our language, at least around here. We spend fortunes on printing information in Spanish. If they have come to America to adopt our culture, than there is no direct evidence of it with most of the Hispanic immigrants in Lake Worth. I conclude that is not their mission. Look at Miami. It is Little Cuba, Little Haiti, Little Mexico, south of the border for sure, with nearly 70% of the populous of Hispanic heritage. The English speaking citizens were literally driven out of their city.

Those Hispanics who come to America through a legal process learn English, for the most part, and many of their children are brought up bi-lingual, a good thing. Some of the very old can’t be bothered and I don’t fault them for that. A lot of elderly have “difficulty” in learning something new. Part of my extended family came from Cuba.

In 1914 President Theodore Roosevelt stated, “We have room for but one language in this country, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house." That was then. This is now. We have an active ACLU that says differently. We have Socialists that say differently. We have the Open Border people who say, "Y’all come and you don‘t have to fit into our culture.” We have a government looking the other way and in a quandary as to what to do about this illegal explosion. I have been told that loitering on Lake and Lucerne is part of THEIR culture so therefore, knock off the complaints. And Thailand has such an immigration problem that their military is towing illegals out to sea and putting them in God’s hands. I wonder if they can row to Florida?

Even though English is the official language of our State, no one seems to put an importance on that today. It is a law, but then other laws are ignored too. We continue to cater to those who don’t speak English by printing various information in several languages and catering to the illegal in every way.

Illegals break our laws and get free care and free help once they are in this country. They get what they want for nothing and the legal citizens here suffer the consequences. Many come with the purpose of having children here who as a result become instant American citizens. Have you ever seen an Illegal woman in Lake Worth without a stroller and another child in tow? It’s their mission. Once they do this, the parents know that they will not be sent back to their country.

The only right the illegals should have is to go back home to wherever they came and speak their chosen language...go home to a culture in which only they feel comfortable. And the right we have as legal citizens of this country is to insist that our elected officials enforce our laws.

A picture speaks 1000 words

Photo sent to me and taken by Paul Darst,

a LW High Alumnus who was visiting here during Christmas

Sometimes when you just feel like "getting away from it all," there is nothing more relaxing or more beautiful than the soothing sound of rolling waves and the quiet serenity of our ocean/beach. Photo taken at Phipps Park.

Another failed decision

I put the Hammon Park dilemma up in the marquee last night. I am sure that all of you read about it this morning—it looks like it is doubtful that the New Urban/RFC Lake Worth will get the Grant from the State that it desperately needs to build affordable housing on Dixie and keep its project alive because of massive budget cuts. The economy had been headed south even when the CRA made this decision.

Now that the CRA along with other agencies have pledged an estimated $600,000 towards this failed project thanks to heavy lobbying from developers and backers of Hammon Park, the CRA can now use this money in better ways, say, saving our Museum for a starter. What about just cleaning up the blight, one of its main objectives, or so I thought.

We have so much affordable housing in the City of Lake Worth that it isn’t funny.

Strides in the right Direction

In spite of the fact outside developers are still trying to get hold of our beach project and build it “their” way, Greater Bay is suing us for their non-performance, and a handful of citizens are suggesting a passive park (the worst idea), this Commission has taken big strides in the right direction.

This month we have had a meeting on the nutty contract with Palm Beach County for water and will appeal to the Palm Beach County Commissioners and their sense of doing what’s right for the people in their County who live in Lake Worth versus a few citizens who led us astray and allowed a former Commission to vote the way in which it did.

Early yesterday morning I received an e-mail urging me to get down to the PB County Courthouse and see Mary humble herself. I see no joy in hovering around like a bunch of vulchers salivating while Mary McCarty apologizes to us. I believe her sincerity. She really is sorry. Of all the Commissioners there as well as Karen Marcus, I believed Mary to be honest. To find out otherwise was a surprise but taking into consideration the culture of our politicians here it shouldn't have been. It is nothing to celebrate. She is down and broken so I should now stone her to death?

On January 28th at 5:30 there is a workshop to discuss ethics. I find it so sad that we have to make policy for ethics. The Ethics Resource Center found that 60% of government employees at all levels had witnessed violations of ethical standards, policy or laws in the workplace last year. It is a growing scourge and Lake Worth needs to strive to a standard above the bar.

During this past election, Katie and I invited Mary Lindsey to lunch. When the bill came to be paid, she would not let us pay hers. I was totally surprised, not thinking that this was anything serious as she was not even an elected official at that point and there was no way we could influence her for $5. How many politicians or those running for office do that? I mean, afterall, it was just a few bucks! Mary held herself to an extremely high standard. This is what it will take to turn around this lack of trust or uneasy feeling we have with our elected representatives…high self standards as well as an Ethics Policy.

What is at stake is to turn around the lack of public trust. We have had a lot of problems here in Palm Beach County as well as in Lake Worth in that regard. Even when there are campaign violations it always asks the question, what more hanky panky is going on…what else is that official up to? With an Ethics Policy it has been proven through a study by the Ethics Resource Center that “in government organizations with well-implemented ethics programs and strong ethical culture, misconduct fell by 60%, and the reporting of bad behavior increased by 40%.

Every Commissioner, this time, must vote “yes” for an ethics policy.

Lake Worth Citizens, a new group

Last night I met with a newly formed citizens group, Lake Worth Citizens. I joined the Group online just to see what it was all about and its intent. They have a big concern about the direction of government, not only in our city but primarily at the Federal level. The room was filled with mostly Republicans I would guess but the Group itself is non-partisan. I attended just to listen and observe.

Its founder, David Wood, is a Constitution expert and firmly believes, without any doubt in his mind, that we are wandering way off course. I am sure that he believes, as do I, that the President does not have the sole power to implement programs, raise or lower our taxes, decide all issues and virtually run the government like a dictator. Sound familiar?

The Federal government is so out of control. We are just a hair away from bankruptcy. They continue to run up the national debt and it is unimaginable to me how they will pay for it. We can’t continue the bailouts. Now Obama wants an $825 BILLION stimulus package to help the “poor and unemployed and hand out huge grants for local schools and state governments.” We can NOT continue to borrow and spend. Look what the bailouts have done under George Bush?” NOTHING. All they have done is to allow foreign countries to own more of our country.

Racking up debt for which we can't pay, we borrow from foreign countries who end up owning a big piece of this country. We have the same problems here on the local level. We are outsourcing this and that to Palm Beach County, chipping away at our own autonomy. Here in Lake Worth we have a chance to eliminate some of the horrendous decisions of the past by voting the abusers out. Why some of these decisions were made by our local officials is up to conjecture. With all the corruption in Palm Beach County, I do not discount that.

When it comes to the illegal immigration issue here in Lake Worth, the Socialists know that the Feds aren’t doing much about it so they pushed forth their Mentoring Center program and gave this group our public building for an illegal purpose for $1 a year.

Next we have a volunteer politically appointed Board, the CRA, whose seven members have decided that Lake Worth will be an artist’s destination. Seven people with the Commission’s support, has made this decision with NO citizen input. Have you ever seen a wealthy artist? A lot of them are on food stamps and VanGogh died broke. Where is the Commission oversight? They have to approve all CRA spending by Ordinance. We have a Commission that truly understands the concept of implementing policy by citizen approval. Will it keep that in mind when it goes along with a directive of seven people who want to change our City?

The Lake Worth Citizens group is well intentioned in that it recognizes we have major problems of huge proportions and its founder wants to solicit support from other concerned citizens. The best way to ever affect change is to first sit down with others and hash it out, perhaps coming up with some proposals that might work. We can all sit back and do nothing or take a strong dose of reality at what is happening in our country and try and do something. Mr. Wood does believe that the power should remain in WE THE PEOPLE according to our Constitution but "it was lost to those leaders acting in the name of government, such as politicians, bureaucrats, judges, lawyers, etc."

I wish that I could have received a better feel as to what this Group really wants to achieve. I didn’t.

Illegal immigration costs us all

Call State Senator Dave Aronberg at 433-2627 and tell him your concerns about the illegal immigration situation.

Talking Points:

• Please sponsor immigration enforcement legislation this year!
• Floridians need these laws to protect the citizens from the economic and criminal impact of illegal immigration.
• Illegal immigration costs Florida taxpayers nearly two billion dollars annually.
• Florida should follow the budget-cutting lead of twelve other states that have enacted similar laws.
  

X'mas in Lake Worth is endless

This graphic is dedicated to the CRA Director, Chamber of Commerce, Pugh, Hammon Park, Hands on Consulting, the owner at 102 S. C St and those who complain that our city is going to hell in a hand basket but happily accept CRA funds for hurricane impact windows, doors, pavers, sprinkler systems and new air conditioning units.

When I first started to read this letter to the editor, I thought it was someone from Lake Worth complaining about the CRA Director and her successful lobby to get a 10% raise from her Board. …bringing her salary to $110,000, plus car, plus phone, benefits, etc. But instead, it was a woman from Stuart complaining about government workers making over $100 thousand in general.

We, as citizens, can see the problem with the decision that the CRA made. Why can’t the CRA? That is my problem with that Board. They seldom say “no” to anything or anyone when it comes to spending our money.

This Director pulled the same shenanigans that every corporate CEO pulls and one of the reasons why we are in such dreadful financial shape in this country. The “ME” factor must go. This year, the CRA Board should have considered our financial crisis since its Director would not.

Letter to the Editor

Those 'living' on $100k should think of others
Times are tough for everyone, but I think that if everyone thought about his fellow American, instead of just himself, life could be better for all instead of just some.

The paper published a list of salaries for public employees in Martin County. I wondered what made these people so special that their salaries had to be over $100,000. What about our schoolteachers, firefighters, etc.? Are these people not special?

Why, since there is such a crunch, can't these people survive on $100,000 and refuse the excess so that perhaps their neighbor with two children could have food on their table, or the retired person on the other side can afford a loaf of bread? These people need to look around and see the hungry people who are being fed at the local churches. These are their neighbors. These are our working-class people who once had a good job but, because of budget cutbacks, were let go.

This is why our country is failing. There is no one to do the work, only the ones to give the orders. What happened to the justice for all?

CAROL BALL
Stuart

The Mentoring Center

The Mentoring Center gets grant--

Mentoring Center, Inc.(Lake Worth, Palm Beach County) - For the Lake Worth Resource Center (LWRC), $110,000 (Galadriel Peace Fund II, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Fund, The Hans and Mary Stratmann Intergenerational Fund)

City taxpayers must foot the bill for new roof, parking lot resurfacing and bathrooms for the Mentoring Center that is on a $1 year lease.

Fatties, not hotties in Miami

58.5% of those in Miami speak Spanish as their first language. Feeling marginalized, English speaking citizens are now trying to fit in and be a part of their own country. How are they doing it? They, too, are eating more and more junk foods.

Miami has now been voted the Fattest City in America by Men’s Fitness Magazine. Miami went from number 7 in 2008 to first place this year. Way to go, Miami! It must be all the stress from that Third World Invasion that has no intention of assimilating into our culture other than eating Big Macs and drinking soda pop.

Elected Boards, could that be the answer?

Commentary on the CRA and P&Z Boards

Now don’t get excited. Most graphics are used for effect and poetic license. I believe that the majority of Board members should be applauded for their service to our City. It is their supreme authority that I challenge. This commentary is aimed specifically at Planning and Zoning and the CRA Boards because that is where I see a very big problem. It is my opinion that these two Boards have too much power, for these are the Boards that affect our lives the most.

Many Board members are too political and behave as if they have been elected rather than appointed by the City Commission. These members even have the audacity to make snide remarks against our Commissioners at any and every opportunity, the very people who appointed them, as well as comments against the public, the very people they should be listening to and who are actually paying for their projects. They really believe that they know better and make no bones about who holds the power and who, in their minds, has the knowledge. How dare anyone question their decisions?

Monday nights’ workshop with the P&Z Board is a prime example. Even though the Vice-Chair said, “We work for you,” that message was topped off with more disingenuous discourse when all of the Commissioners were invited to call anyone on the P&Z at any time if they did not understand what the Board was promoting…threatened the Bert J. Harris law regarding the Sunset parcel and tried to rush the Commission into a decision on their Comp Plan changes and approve it as it was. You could definitely distinguish the leadership and the power on that Board that night—John Paxman and Phil Spinelli. Commissioner Jennings stopped the Board dead in its tracks. Her argument? The citizens should have the say about the direction the city should go. This is a prime example of why we need Florida Hometown Democracy.

From time to time and especially on big money items, these politically appointed Boards have a tendency to make decisions that are not in the best interest of Lake Worth and its citizens tax money, spending willy nilly on projects that have been lobbied to death such as the CRA's decision on the Pugh property and Hammon Park. The CRA recently voted 7 to 0 on Hands On Consulting to do a study on the Cultural Redevelopment idea of theirs. This Group was pushed through by the CRA Director. She wanted them. She got them. The CRA says we need this study and this direction for our city whether we want it or not and they will spend a big consulting fee ($200,000) to get it. They want this city to be an artists’ destination and firmly believe that is what we need to give it vitality. Once these decisions are made by Boards, our Commission can’t overturn them. It took a lot of pressure and months of time and over $700,000 dollars to finally get the CRA to end the option on the Pugh property. I give Bill Coakley a lot of credit for exposing this bad decision on his web site, lakeworthmedia.com. I personally still question spending $13 million on 6th Ave S and 10th Ave North in order to attract development.

It was mentioned by the CRA attorney last night that the Board does not have to have Commission approval. They can do virtually anything they want. I always thought that the Commission, however, had to approve their budget. The Director at last night’s meeting moved around $1.2 million dollars in the budget to other projects. Tom Ramiccio came before them once again wanting money. This time it was $10,000 towards the Street Painting Festival even though he already received his one grant allowed per year of $24,500 for Evening on the Avenues. He wanted a special exception and got it. The entire Grant is only $44,000 for the year and Tom got 78% of it for his causes. Ms. Olivia fixed that unfavorable percentage by shifting $15,000 from the budget into the Patron’s Grant Fund thus pumping up its available balance.

Does anyone know how much the Street Painting Festival costs? According to Mr. Ramiccio, it is over $200,000 to put on this event and the Street Painting Festival, Inc. even pays for the CHAULK according to the condensed balance sheet that was presented in the back-up. No supporting documentation of these figures was offered. It is an expensive event. Does it help our downtown merchants? If so, to what degree? The propaganda given was that people actually move to our city because of this festival. That's another sale of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Donna Ross, CRA Board member, made a good point during the review process on the CRA Director. In her opinion, Ms. Oliva was directing the Board rather than the other way around and changing the By-Laws was challenged by member Wayne Marcinkoski at last night's meeting. I believe if the By-Laws had been changed last night, the Board would have had less authority than ever before. You can’t have a run-away Board either. The Board makes the decisions but should not allow itself to be bullied or take staff input without question. Because one set of facts are provided does not mean that there are not another set disputing the argument. Boards must do their own homework just like the City Commission. They need to look at both sides of the coin.

A lot of the zoning decisions result in exclusion rather than inclusion. The P&Z made a horrible decision against the Lake Osborne Heights neighborhood when the 4.02 acres on Sunset were annexed into the City and zoning was approved by P&Z to accommodate a developer at the expense of this single family neighborhood. P&Z never listened to the residents and allowed zoning of Multi-Family 20 in a Single Family 7 neighborhood. They did it because they could and now they feel smug because we lost in the Appellate Court on the 5 parcel question.

We absolutely must have planning and zoning laws as well as code enforcement. We must have a Comprehensive Plan that makes sense to the city as a whole and approved by the residents, not just a few planners on boards who are development oriented. I question the argument that we are better off today than we were in the past. The quality of life here decades ago was great.

Finally, the Board members need to be responsible to the greater good of the citizens of Lake Worth. Since the Boards are political anyway and behave as politicians (other than the members who have obvious contempt for the public and the Commission that appointed them) perhaps elected Boards would do the trick. Four year appointed terms are too long because the politics in this city changes every two years and therefore board members should be subjected to two years like any other elected official here. Also, I personally would like to see term limits for appointed board members.

Today's horoscope

The sign of the Goat is traditionally practical, ambitious, disciplined and patient.

From Astrology.com

"Asking the right questions will help you find facts that will get you much farther along in a career goal, right now. This might seem obvious, but you haven't been talking to the people who can really give you the information that you really need. It's time to step out of your safe circle and start trying to expand your network a little bit more aggressively. Start rubbing elbows with people who are not only fun to be around, but also influential and connected."

The only time I read horoscopes is on my or my brother's birthday. Why? I have no clue other than it's fun and if it fits into the mold I want to hear, I “say, yes, that’s right on.” It always seems to fit somehow. We can always derive meanings from them and apply them to situations that we hold true. Although I have no career goals, being a retired resident here, for the moment, I am committed to write about issues that affect us all. It is true that I don’t confer with anyone other than my circle of friends from time to time who encourage me. I write from personal observations.

All of you have a great day even if it isn't your birthday!

Cara's thank you

In this seaside town named Lake Worth--for now

the developers arrived with plans and a plow

A cry rang out....gentrification has come!
we must take action or our city is done

Together we crafted an epic work plan
with all the tools in the box, we would hold back "the man"

With petitions and protests, the momentum did gain
now it was time for an election campaign

They said, "It's a fluke, a radical can't win"
and swore to their cronies, "It won't happen again!"

Donations came in from nearby and far flung
wishing us strength for the work to be done

With cash in the bank and feet on the street,
the power of people could not be beat

We took the city by storm, a hurricane of change
and despite their foul play, we did it again......

I thank you, friends, it has been quite a ride
with your love and support, we turned the tide.

Homeboys are at home here in Lake Worth

Lake Worth Gangs

1. Gangster Disciples
2. La Familia (originated in Broward County)
   
3. La Raza
4. Latin Disciples
5. Latin Kings
6. MS 13
7. Sur 13
8. Top 6 (originated in Lake Worth)
9. Vatos Locos
10. Zoe Pound (originated in Little Haiti, Miami)
11. Folk Nation
12. Lake Worth Boys
OTHERS--

13. L-Dub
14. Makin Life Krazie
15. Manic Latin Disciples
16. Netas
17. South Side Chicos
18. Spanish Cobras
19. Tes Puntos
20. Tru Haitian Boyz
21. West Side
22. 12 Street
23. 14th Street
24. 18 Street
25. Big Time Mafia
26. Crazy Outlaw Soldiers
27. Crazy White boys
28. H Unit
29. Kings of Destruction
30. Krazie Boyz
31. 40 Boyz
32. Big Time Mafia
33. G Street
34. Insane Gangster Disciples
    

Lake Worth has it all. You name, we’ve got it. But along with all the great things here in our City, we have a lot of crime. The Sheriff is working to diminish it but so far, crime is on the rise. We merged with the Sheriff's department with one of the reasons--too much crime and the citizens were fed up. Just the other night, a woman was run down by a drunk with no driver’s license. The City voted to allow package stores to sell alcohol until 2am, with a big lobby from the LW Chamber of Commerce, contributing to our problem.

Several years back a friend of mine said that she had no fear of walking in the crime gang areas during campaigning. That always impressed me. I eventually got over my apprehension too. It has been said that most of these criminals, believe it or not, have standards that they live by: Never mess with small children, old people, religious people, or innocent people. It is the "scavengers or wannabes" that act without remorse or guidelines in most cases. The gangs want to get rid of these types as they "ruin their reputation." I just want to get rid of the gangs.

It has been reported by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's survey conducted last year, that there are more than 1,500 gangs in Florida and between 65,000 and 70,000 gang members.

The Sheriff’s Department closed 52.4% of its cases in 2008, under the national average, some of which were gang related. Gang violence is growing faster in Florida than any other State and in Palm Beach County there are many gangs with a high and growing density in Lake Worth as shown above. Why is Florida so attractive? A lot of these gang members are illegals and have found a new way of life here in our State and in our community.

Is the City falling behind the eight ball? Are criminals winning? With our current pretense that nothing can be done about the illegals that our local government cons us into believing, harboring illegals is a national disgrace, and by the Commission's inaction, it encourages more to settle in our town. Gang membership will be on the rise and criminal activity will increase.

It is time for everyone to speak out.

The Blame Game

One of the biggest problems we have, whether it be nationally or locally, is apathy. This last national election got more people to the polls than ever before. There was a big interest in putting our hope into Obama to affect badly needed change.

The next problem are those people who choose to have tunnel vision on the issues. They want to blame everyone around them for the ills of society instead of blaming themselves and doing something about it.

I had two residents e-mail me today. They were mad. What were they mad at? Well, one blamed me on the slums in Lake Worth and said if I hadn’t voted such and such a way things might have improved in the city. She had some insight as to how I voted in this last election I guess. The other one was just, well, mad. It was her best bud.

Some people who are “mad” at what’s going on in this City need to come to City Commission meetings and speak out. They should attend Board meetings and understand the power structure and what is going on. They need to get active and fight for causes for which they believe. They need to set up meetings with their Commissioners and speak out. But more than anything else, they just plain need to get informed and stop blaming everyone else. Socially produced wrongs can only be cured by our actions. We can’t sit silently by while society and our city changes around us. Try and join a Board. Join a group that has similar beliefs. Get organized and do something.

Blaming any one person for the growing problems in this City is not realistic. Playing the blame game just doesn’t cut it. The more active we get on the issues, the better chance we have of initiating change.

Meet Maya

MEET MAYA

We have so many attractions in Palm Beach County and our Palm Beach Zoo at Dreyer Park is at the top of my list. If you get a chance, this is a must see and it will make your day! Maya is our star of the moment. She is the 5th cub born to Nabalam and Muchacho. See the slideshow below of other photos at the zoo.

FPL--a love/hate relationship

Read about FPL's West County Energy Center and why area activists are standing up for the environment.

FPL's impact on Barley Barber Swamp is draining the wetlands according to the 17 activists who were arrested today.
Click here for PB Post article

A new Lake Worth City Manager

We keep repeating the same mistakes.

If I have said it once, I have said it a half dozen times--let’s get the best manager in the United States and I don’t care about the cost. I don’t mean one of these over-paid corporate execs. Is there any city in the 50 states that is doing things right? Let’s steal that manager away…give him a free house. Whatever.

All we need is someone who understands our city and will not let politics get in the way. We hired Paul Boyer several years back. The City Commission did not listen to him when he said not to go with Greater Bay. They did it anyway. Paul Boyer could not persuade any of them to come in out of the rain. So what happened? He went along with the politics. He went along with it so well that he gave away our pool as part of the Greater Bay deal. There are many other things for which I will not go into.

Next we hired Bob Baldwin. This is like marrying someone who only wants your money. No love. No loyalty. And no clue and never any intention of getting fully committed. He ends up neglecting you to the point of final exasperation. How many times did he tell us he did not want to be here? How many times did he tell us that he did not want to be bothered with the public or a part of our community? Denial of the truth put this city into even more jeopardy because for the last 1.5 years, this City has literally gone down the tubes

He told the City Commission not to give away our public building asset. What did they do? They didn’t listen. But the worst thing is, Bob never lead the Commission in the right direction, a direction that would have been healthy for us. He wanted to get it all off his plate from day one when he informed us that outsourcing was the way to go. Vespo followed suit. The Mayor has always been on that train. Not caring about our City is a travesty. We were worth his fight. He kept telling the Commission to give him direction when they actually needed to be lead by someone with our best interests and someone who understood our city and its needs. When the Commission asked him about something, his pat reply has always been, “I am here to follow your direction.” What in heck do we hire a city manager to do? Sit there like some puppet and do what he is told? That’s not my idea of a manager. We don’t pay someone that sort of money to sit there like a stone wall. It’s not Bob’s fault. He told us. It wasn’t like he was sneaking around during this marriage.
I’m reading a book right now that I can’t put down: The Lion’s Game by Nelson DeMille. In it there is a line that says, “…ninety percent of life is just showing up.” We need a city manager that knows his stuff and can lead us out of this deep dark hole we have dug for ourselves, not someone who just shows up. And that’s been a problem of Bob’s as well—not showing up.

If you noticed at the last city commission meeting, Bob, when asked a question regarding the fire ad valorem and how much right now of our millage went into the ad valorem tax for that service, he did not know. HE DID NOT KNOW! This is after 20 months but he could tell you what Lauderdale by the Sea or whatever did. What is all this about, people? “But I like him,” says Commissioner Lowe. Well, I like him too, Ms. Lowe, but it's a bad marriage for Lake Worth.

The only thing that I have advocated is to hire the best. Recommending the immediate hire of a local resident for two months, to set us on track, makes sense to me. I have never said to go around the RFQ process for a full-time city manager. It is time to think out of the box. Nothing is worse than what we have now. We are in crisis mode. To continue on with what we have, even for two months, could kill us. To continue doing business in the same vein may not be productive. Can't we learn anything from past mistakes? Sometimes that old pair of shoes feels good but they no longer support our arches.

Isn't it just sickening?

Reading the daily newspaper while drinking a cup of hot coffee can be lethal. The news is hot, deadly and surreal at times and you wonder if any elected official is any damn good.

The total unemployed in this country for last year is 2.6 million people. Numbers USA reports that “America’s service industry lost another 273,000 jobs in December, but a major UNION leader in the industry renewed his call for permanently tying up 7 million jobs (largely service jobs) with the ILLEGAL aliens who now hold them.” The Post reports an over-all job loss in December at 524,000. No one is doing anything about the illegals in this country and here in Lake Worth, we hand over a public building to assist with their illegal activity.

Some Somalian pirates held up a Saudi cargo ship for two months that is carrying oil valued at $100 million. They finally got ransom money that was acceptable to these criminals--$3 million bucks. They are from the same terrorist country that dragged five bodies of American soldiers around their blood torn city in 1992 while they were there to protect the delivery of food.

Next comes Blagojevich again, another terrorist. I just hate it when people play the race card. It is done all the time and Lake Worth is no exception as we found out with Commissioner Lowe. But this guy is impeached by the Illinois Legislature 114 to 1 (who was that one vote?) and keeps insisting he committed no crime. “I just made a mistake.” He was heard prior to that making a call to Commissioner Lowe. He defies everyone by appointing Roland Burris to fill Obama’s Senate seat, a black man, knowing that whitey always gets nervous when race is mentioned. We have been told that we are responsible for the sins of our fathers and all generations who came before us and some of us actually believe it. He probably voted against an ethics policy just like Commissioner Lowe. Some elected officials are just defiant to the end.

Then we have the Senate who first said “no way” to Burris and now has backed down and will probably seat him. Scared of that "race thing" I guess. Obama is staying out of it.

And we can’t forget Mary McCarty. Everything you read is so familiar. The only thing she didn’t get were campaign contributions from Sun Recycling.

We even have Obama backing down. Now the president elect wants to negotiate with Hamas. You don’t negotiate with terrorists.

There’s more but my coffee is waiting.