"Their loss is our Gain"

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So said Commissioner Golden when speaking about our new City manager, Susan Stanton.

St. Petersburg Times

City Manager Stanton and I had a short meeting after the commission meeting adjourned. We discussed her suggestion regarding cameras being banned to the back of the room. I gave her my idea: Designate a specified front row to the media as well as cameramen on the window side of the chamber with Staff on the front row near the door. In this way, staff can leave easily when finished with their commentary and it will solve news people standing at the door and people coming and going. I did say that we have had national news stations here for various topics and I was rather sure that Channels 5, 10 and 12 did not want to film the back of someone's head or their butt. (Yes, I said "butt") I like that our new city manager is reaching out to the public and cares what they might think, unlike past city managers here. She said that she definitely supported public participation.

Yes, the city commission meetings ARE getting much shorter, thanks to Ms. Stanton and her "organizational" skills. In fact, last night, once again, the Commission approved everything on the Consent Agenda without any discussion. There were only three items on Consent not including approving minutes from previous meetings. The only thing that took way too long was The Mentoring Center's presentation which was all about the City of Lake Worth giving them $50,000 so that they could leverage Federal Stimulus money to train a few people for jobs that do not exist. The Mayor was surprised because he thought they were to make a report on its achievements (we would not hear anything on failures, right?) since it has opened-- not there to ask for money. What can you really expect from a Group that exists from public handouts. Then its director, Lisa Wilson, got to talk later during public commentary. We just didn't get enough of them last night.

The Lake Worth Resource Center stacked the chamber with Guatemalans and illegal aliens. They took up one entire side of the chamber. If Jennings was behind the suggestion of packing the chamber with supporters, she did exactly what I would have done to support a cause of mine. I don't fault her for this but I am rather sure that these people were just being exploited once again. One actually nodded off.

In spite of Jennings' love of the Mentoring Center, she made a compromised motion regarding the Energy Efficient and Conservation Block Grant of $150,200. They will only get $40,000 for some training for applicants rather than the entire grant that they were pushing for. I don't think they should have received a dime. The rest will go towards the City's Utility Director's Plan whose strategy is already developed by the Mayor's Energy Task Force. Money will go toward a Pre-paid Meter pilot program and replacement of some city lights with LED lamps. I really liked this idea when heard the other night. I believe it was Jennings who posed the question, "Well, if people can't pay their bill after they have used the electric, how are they going to pay it before they use it?" That is the whole point--we don't want Lake Worth to be stuck with anymore unpaid power bills that are costing this city a lot of revenue. If you can't afford to pay for electricity, then you don't get it--just like any other commodity. This is not a charitable organization. Perhaps they can go to The Mentoring Center for help.

So, as Commissioner Golden, said, "their loss is our gain." Ms. Stanton is consolidating, organizing and cleaning house. She must have staff around her that she can trust. It does not take that much time to find out who is good and who is great and who just does not fit. And commission meetings are not going on to the wee hours of the morning. That's a good thing.