The $154 million 3rd Finger Salute to Democracy and Citizen's Rights

Lois Frankel learned from a Republican

When I was very young, perhaps around 7 or 8, my Mom taught me a valuable lesson and to this day it remains as one of the most defining moments in all my years of living and learning.

We walked to Woolworth’s downtown West Palm Beach from our residence a few blocks away. This was when we had the old library, the one before the next old one that was demolished at the foot of Clematis. I asked my Mom to buy me this pink rubber ball. I liked bouncing balls back then and doing tricks with them. It had to be a high-bounce pink rubber ball. No other color or type would have been acceptable. Needless to say, my Mom said “no.” The ball only cost 10 cents and sells today for $2. It was not the price so much as it was expecting to receive something just because you asked for it and wanted it and expecting someone else to pay for it. That was the lesson. As she controlled the purse strings, I waited until I could figure out if it was that important to buy it myself.

We all want things; we sometimes dream of things that we can’t afford like that home on the ocean, that new Ferrari, etc. But we, for the most part, do not go out and buy them. Credit card debt, the mortgage debt, etc. is getting a lot of us in trouble, however, for trying to buy those dreams, knowing that we can't afford them, not really. We, the common citizens, have learned now that it is not smart to buy something we can not afford. Government, however, never seems to learn from its mistakes on taxing and spending. Look where we are today with over a 11 trillion dollar debt which will double in 10 years.

Lois Frankel took lessons from former President Bush by giving the people of her city the middle finger as more and more of her constituents were losing jobs and losing homes. Unemployment was on the rise. Lois wanted her new city center, an ode to herself, and bulldozed it through in spite of the objections of those citizens who signed the petition and their right to vote challenged by Lois all the way up to the Supreme Court of Florida, where the people won, again. All they wanted was the right to vote on spending $154 million dollars. She said that the citizens had no say in her spending this money which was THEIR money. She had a big fear that she would lose at the polls and she would not get her way. It was all about Lois.

The case was settled by the PAC but it was after Lois had already built the Center, after her total contempt for the voters who put her into power to do the will of the people. The PAC in no way stalled Lois' progress on this being built. And that's all it was for Lois Frankel. She had a dream; she built it and now all residents there are paying for it, never having a vote on the tremendous expenditure. The citizens of West Palm Beach are now indebted for a very long time in the worst economy in 50 years or more. Lois Frankel said screw you, it will be built. It wasn't her money and never should have been her decision.

There is no difference in my mind with what Lois did and my asking someone to pay for that pink rubber ball just because I wanted it. The Taj Majal has been built and it is a sight to behold, no doubt about it. Some say to forget about it; we can’t cry over spilt milk now. It’s there so enjoy and be proud of it. But the people had no choice. Their voice did not get heard at the polls. They are stuck with the bill and we should not forget that democracy got trampled by a mayor and a majority commission unconcerned about the debt and a mayor who was contemptuous of the voters.

The rubber ball of politics keeps bouncing and politicians keep spending and we, the people, continue to do our best in voting in those for whom we hope believe in democracy. We will always have elected officials such as Lois and the people will pay dearly for their egos. We need to be reminded of people like her, an elected representative who does not and will not represent the people who elected her to her believed position of supreme power and one who does not consider the consequences or the very people who elected her when she makes these decisions.

Lois had a quote back then-- “It's inappropriate and it's unnecessary and it's unfair, ... We're circumventing the will of 6 million voters." I have no idea what she was talking about but that's exactly what the voters were crying back then. Many people are forgetting what Lois did but those of us interested in democracy will never forget. She says we can afford it and it takes a lot of money to make a lot of money...this is about progress."

Another quote she referenced in January 2008 at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast was--"You’ll notice on the big screens a promotional ad for the City of West Palm Beach dating back to 1928. It reads, 'Behold your City… a City’s greatness depends upon the vision of its people'.” That's PEOPLE, Lois, not you and not a few other commissioners.

For a visual tour of the New City Center, CLICK HERE

The 3rd Finger Salute

Thanks to Katie Mcgiveron for the title of this article.