The Power should be in the hands of the people--not a Select Few

As I am a firm believer in the people's right to vote, especially when it comes to our assets, I am disturbed at what has and is taking place within our City. I don't believe in the old Mac McKinnon argument, "Why do you want to vote? You elected us; let us do the job." Forget that. Good people with good intentions can get corrupted. Power can corrupt. We got Michael Singer, right? We got the illegal labor hiring hall. We got the seniors kicked out of the Senior Center and gave Compass a lease for $1,000 a year for 20 years when our own city departments need more space. We had a commission that obligated us to a 40 year water deal with PB County essentially taking us out of the water business forever.

Look at all the developers, lobbyists, Realtors, environmentalists (green people) and others hanging around city hall. Even our new city manager said that there are a lot of angry people who have met with her. Elected officials need to listen to the people and allow us here to vote on major issues that change our city, such as land use changes as an example. Florida Hometown Democracy will change all that.

We have a few residents who have become vocal in our community and take stands on certain issues that affect, not only our assets and the cost, but affect the design and look. They say that they know what the people want. You don't know unless people vote at the polls! Those of us, who have been here for decades, some over 50 years, have NO clue, according to them. We live in some other century and the attitude is move over, the younger, hippier, more knowledgeable people are taking over. One actually told me, “and you sound like nobody I have ever heard before.” Right. I come from another planet. There is another citizen who stays angry all of the time and who is now taking time out of his "having a life" and connecting the dots to prove some conspiracy that those he hates have thwarted progress according to what he believes progress is. Geez, being concerned about the rights of the citizens and their right to vote is a strange phenomenon, I guess.

Some of these people mean well but what happened to our fundamental right under the Constitution? We ALL own these assets.

Take our beach, for instance. They want to take our upper level parking away and plant sea grass and install bike paths in its place. A commission sanctioned a fixed survey taken by 200 or so people and now we hear that this is the “will of the people.” I heard a few people for whom I would consider intelligent actually say this. Sickening. They even want to knock down a sea wall. “Let’s just spend the millions, we have it,” they say. They have said that, gee, there will be a drop off place for coolers and kids and that anyone should want to walk from the lower level up to the beach. No problem, says an icon in the community. I say, let them park below and leave the upper level parking for the rest of us who DO want it to remain. Once they get to the top of the dune, we will be there with an oxygen supply. If this is about what the people want, then think about ALL of the people. However, from day one, I have always said this should go out to a vote. This is an asset whose value is incalculable and our elected officials are responsible for its neglect.

Next it is our golf course. When we have something spectacular, there are always some who all of a sudden experience that light bulb sensation going off in their head...let's change it for the greater good of all, they cry, as if they really know what that is. It seems the next brilliant idea is to take some of our golf course away for a bike path…several miles of it all the way up to 20th Ave North. An 18 hole golf course would cost about $25 million or more today to build and we have some people who actually want to take some of it and pave it over for bike riders right at the edge of the Intracoastal Waterway. Any city in the world would die to have a golf course like ours. I have no idea if a bike path is a good idea or not, but if there is any intention to take away any square inch of our golf course, it should be by vote of the people.

Our golf course was opened in 1925 as a nine-hole course. It was designed for the common man and when it was first opened, residents could buy coupons good for 15 days of play for $5. In 1947 the course expanded to an 18 hole course and it has remained one of the best and affordable anywhere around. Through the last decade, we have neglected this wonderful and valuable asset.

Next we will all hear that this is what the people want, "historically," of course. Why is there always a segment that wants to screw everything up—change things for their own selfish reasons without it going to a ballot? If you want to get down to "historics," or anything the least bit relevant, then the people voted and defeated the Beach Plan only 7 years ago. This, too, was taking away upper level parking. The power should be in the hands of the voters when it affects things of this magnitude; should it not?

A beach is a beach and a golf course, is just that. It is not a bike path or any other kind of path other than walking the course from hole 1 to the 18^th with dreams of playing the course par or under and eventually getting to the 19th hole. It does belong to Lake Worth taxpayers.