CRA appointments - Congratulations!

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Candidate Wes Blackman for City Commission District 3 wrote a letter to the entire Commission, including the City Manager and City Attorney this morning asking for his opponent, Jo-Ann Golden, to recuse herself from voting for CRA Board member Ed Grimm's re-appointment as well as any interviewee. Inspite of his objection, Mr. Grimm was voted back on the Board. Mr. Grimm works for the CDC, the same employer as Vice Mayor Golden.

As everyone knows, Board appointments ARE political. That is the bottom line. Evidently our City Attorney saw no conflict of interest.

There were six slots opened with the original field of thirty applicants narrowed down to seventeen because of voluntary withdrawals. Those who the Commission felt were the most qualified and showed respect for the City Commission were appointed as follows:

Ed Grimm 4 votes, 2013
Michael Hyde 4 votes, 2013
Cary Sabol 4 votes, 2013
Andy Amoroso 3 votes, 2011
Jessica Rockstein 3 votes, 2011
Peter Meyerhoefer 2 votes, 2010

CRA Interviews starting at 5:40pm

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I understand that several people have dropped out due to two things 1) the postponement at the last minute when they were to interview previously and 2) what the CRA did last week and what they voted upon.

I have been told that these two decisions, the first made by the Mayor and the other made by the present CRA Board itself, have put a damper on the process. Hopefully, we will have a new Board that will understand what the goal is...eliminate slum and blight, not spend nearly a $million on a dream or $15 million on two roads.

There is a cross section of the city applying for this Board and hopefully the City Commission will pick from all the different interests who live and/or have businesses in the city and choose from the various neighborhoods.

A local Hero - Ed Tichenor

If there was a Palm Beach County Hero Award, I can’t think of anyone more deserving than Ed Tichenor. Ed is with Reef Rescue, an organization totally focused and dedicated to saving our coral reefs. It is a continuous battle from boats scraping anchors along the ocean’s bottom thereby killing this living breathing animal to man’s pollution. He is now fighting the greed of a municipality.

Ed wants to bring the Federal protection from as far as the Dry Tortugas just a little farther north of its ending point, the Boynton Inlet, because this protected coral has grown and has reached the Lake Worth Inlet. His biggest opponent? The Town of Palm Beach. Palm Beach still insists on dredge and fill for its eroding beaches, a solution that has proved to be NO solution and one that is destroying our Staghorn coral reefs, protected since 2006 and facing extinction in 30 years.

Reef Rescue has proof positive of its assertions but Palm Beach argues that this is of little significance to them--they don't care--that it is a small amount and uncommon. The Town of Palm Beach is determined to smother over and kill living animals in our ocean. Ed says “no way” will we allow that. Lake Worth concurs.

Commissioner Jennings has brought forth a ballot initiative where all voters who live in Lake Worth can vote on November 3 to prohibit dredge and fill beach re-nourishment projects within the municipal boundaries of Lake Worth and prohibit the use of the Lake Worth beach as a means of ingress and egress for beach re-nourishment projects. This is a big step to protecting our reefs.

With Ed’s tenacity, and the help of Lake Worth, the Staghorn Coral might have a living chance.

Pacific Legal Foundation - My name is Sue

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Nicholas Gieseler from the Pacific Legal Foundation was present on Tuesday for the Sunset issue. This was Sunset Holding's secret weapon. His spiel? The Bert J. Harris Act will do the City in. Pacific Legal specializes in pro business causes. Nicholas drove all the way down from his office located in Stuart.

Pacific Legal is described as "the key right-wing public interest litigation firm in a network of similar organizations funded initially by Scaife Foundations money across the USA to support capitalism and oppose environmental and health activism and government regulation. The organization has been partially funded by a range of corporations and conservative foundations." Say what?

I asked him how much he was being paid and he said "nothing." He told me that he graduated from law school two years ago. He was an earnest and pleasant young guy and I got the impression that he probably never had to do homework when he was in law school. He was only there to try to intimidate a commission old enough, in a few cases, to be his grandparents...people who have actually lived a little and can understand what they read particularly when it comes to the Bert J. Harris Act. Nicholas says the City should settle now because Bert J. Harris is a "slam dunk" case against the City...that the City needs to settle with the property owners now before the ordinances are repealed.

Nicholas, nothing is a slam dunk and that is something that all lawyers should learn in law school. I offer you that advice for free. One thing that they probably do teach those in law school is that the man who wins is the man who thinks he can. Nicholas was not lacking in confidence.

Try again, Nicholas. This is the real world where homework would have helped you realize that there is NO Bert J. Harris taking here.

Blight right across Lake Osborne

Brilliant comment up

Right along with the billboard blight we also have property on Lake Osborne drive in need of some attention. I have been wondering about this property for some time. It has been in this shape for the last 5 years--probably the hurricane did its toll. To my amazement, it is located in the unincorporated area of Lake Worth on Detroit and Lake Osborne Dr. Across the other side of Detroit on Lake Osborne directly to the east of it is the City. So, now I have to wonder if the County even knows about this eyesore.

According to the property records, this property was homesteaded even getting a double homestead last year. The value has gone UP from $75,783 to $101,389. How can this be when it has been abandoned and it is totally falling down. This would be a beautiful property for land alone for someone--high on a hill, direct lake view and cheap. Last years taxes are unpaid. Perhaps someone has bought it on a tax deed.

Lake Worth Alumni Fundraiser Spaghetti Dinner

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Thanks to Katherine Snyder Graves, Class of 1953 for all the hard work to make this such a great success.

Customer Service--we might just get some

Excellent is the grade that City Manager Stanton is striving for in customer service. Customer service has been virtually non-existent in many departments. If I call Finance, forget it. If I call Mark Bates directly, no problem. If I call Lake Worth Utilities, it is usually a hassle.

City Manager, Susan Stanton is on a mission to improve our customer service and will have a system in place over the next two months or so. Every employee will be signed into the phone system during business hours in order to accept phone calls. These calls will be monitored and reports given to management on a daily basis.

The irony here is that I have yet to receive a call back from Ms. Stanton. She does answer direct e-mails to her, however. I have always wondered if she has ever received the few calls I have made that have gone through her secretary. Once this program is implemented, management will know and perhaps so will we. This is a step in the right direction.

Hey Fatty, you should be eating More!

Am I the only one out here who did not know that eating food more often will help you lose weight? I have been doing just the opposite and can't lose a pound. Barbara Jean Webber with her model like figure told me that last night and I had never heard it before. Is it really true? Wouldn't you hate to eat 5 or 6 meals a day and end up weighing 2 tons?

Here are the facts:

One of the best ways to control your caloric intake and lose weight is to eat more often throughout the day. Ideally, you should eat 5 to 6 times per day, with 2 ½ to 3 ½ hours between each meal or snack. There are several reasons why this works.

• Eating more frequently gets your metabolism going and keeps it working at an elevated level continuously throughout the day.
• It will amp up your energy and keep your insulin level constant.
• Because you are eating more frequently, you should eat a smaller portion at each meal or snack. Use some common sense here and remember the key word is SMALL! If you are eating your normal portions, this won’t work! This isn’t as hard as it sounds, because you just won’t be as hungry since you just ate 2 or 3 hours ago.
• Since you are not as hungry, it is much easier to pick a lean and healthy snack. When you let yourself get very hungry, you are much more likely to grab whatever is in sight. This is also when you start to crave all of those things that are so high in fat and calories, and you will probably eat more of it.
• Even though you will ideally be eating LESS food that you are now, you will feel like you are eating MORE. Your mind and body will equate eating more frequently with more food, and therefore feeling more satisfied.
• Knowing that you will be eating more often, you should plan ahead for your meals and snacks. This, too, will help to insure that you pick foods that are good for you and fit into a lean and healthy diet.

Is it easy to incorporate eating 5 to 6 times per day into your schedule? Not at first! It does take a little extra time and planning. Is it worth it? Absolutely! If you do it sensibly, it will help you to control your fat and calorie intake. The result is reaching and/or maintaining your weight loss goals.

Source: ShapeFit

That One Stupid Act

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Campaign Kick-Off party for Jo-Ann Golden Commissioner District 3
Held at the beautiful home of Mr. & Mrs. Ed Grimm

I don’t blame Mrs. Jennings for not shaking my hand last night. She was being a Mother and she also knows, better than anyone, all the good things that her daughter tries to accomplish and the compassion and passion Cara has for certain causes. If the situation were in reverse, I probably would have been a little more vocal. She showed class. She knows that you can't reverse the action and she must know that you can't negate the wrong choices. But as mothers often do, they will never admit when their kid errs or perhaps did something really stupid—like spending the night in jail.

She was mad a me for the Squeaky Fromme comparison. Actually it was not my intention to put Cara Jennings in the same category as Squeaky Fromme who brought a gun to protest the cutting down of California Redwoods when the President of the United States was speaking that day. And even though there was no bullet in the chamber, Fromme paid a dear price.

My article was only to point out that protesting what you consider a good or righteous cause can take you to places you never expected. By committing that one stupid act, it can possibly ruin your life forever.

Last night's rainbow

The rain was still coming down--you can see the drops on the lens--but this rainbow turned out to be a full one. It was really something to see.

More Murder and Mayhem in Lake Worth

I was talking to one of the candidates yeaterday, Scott Maxwel, and he asked me if I had heard about the 3 murders down on South D Street--The three people were shot and killed early Saturday morning in the 1400 block in Lake Worth.

Read about it.

Federal E-Verify

"The U.S. District Court in Maryland ruled in favor of an executive order first issued during the Bush Administration that would require all federal government contractors to use E-Verify.

The order was delayed once by Pres. Bush and three times by Pres. Obama while they were awaiting the outcome of lawsuits filed by various business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce."

Read more on a step in the right direction.

The Poorer you are the more things Cost

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To the few out there who have told me that I write in a negative tone, (only when they don't agree with me) I say it is pointing out the obvious. Do you really want to live in a vacuum? La La Land? The cost of everything is up. Only the government and our CRA don’t understand that it seems, because all of them only know how to do one thing—SPEND and give away money.

State School Board up 6%

Local School Board up 6.2%

Children’s Services up 14.8%

Health Care District up 14.8%

PB County Fire Rescue up 17.2%

Lake Worth taxes up by 1.7981 mils when you factor back in the Fire Rescue

We still pay for the Florida Inland Navigation District, interest on the 2002 Recreational Bond (the $5 mil we have NEVER BEEN GIVEN), Palm Beach County taxes estimated at a 15% increase, PB County debt, the Public Schools debt, South Florida Water Management District and Everglades Construction.

Then we have to pay increased fees from Lake Worth on waste and stormwater. Up the ante for Solid Waste Authority and Solid Waste for Lake Worth, we are paying a whopping $24.80 for every $1,000 of taxable value.

Right now Belle Glade and Pahokee can’t make their budgets that are directly caused by plummeting property values and the increase in PB County Fire Rescue. They are asking for relief from the County to pay their budget shortfall. No sooner does the Lake Worth City Commission elect to go with the County on Fire Rescue, we get stiffed 17.2% overnight for that service. Our property values decreased much more than did Belle Glade and Pahokee. We were affected at 24.3 percent drop in value, 2^nd only to Loxahatchee Groves at a loss of 26.3%. Neighboring cities that also have similar population problems, (I'm trying to be kind here) Greenacres (-23.8) and Palm Springs (-23.6%) besides the Glades, are ranked right next to us with the biggest drop in property values. So there you have it. Not a pretty picture.

Lake Worth has raised fees on everything imaginable. Now they want the Lake Worth Museum to pay rent! Our own Museum!! I don't know whose idea this is but I can say that we have employees who don't even live in this city who have made the recommendations on increases for just about everything here in Lake Worth and the Commission has agreed. This is another reason why we need our City Manager to live here and I am happy that Susan Stanton moved here immediately upon employment and did not circumvent our Charter like the last CM we had. If we are lucky, perhaps she will get a better understanding of our city and address the root causes of our problems.

One faction here in the City believes that by charging more to the residents for whom they feel are the cause of our problems, will make things so expensive that they will eventually move on. Price them out. Some think that the disabled and seniors should be dropped off at our beach and shuttled up the dune and charge everyone a fortune just to use God's beach. Then there are others who still have the build at all costs mentality for the tax base and hell with a single family neighborhood. I dropped in on an 87 year old man the other day and his dinner was a banana, a glass of Ensure and a cookie. Seniors don't have public transportation that is affordable. They can't get to the grocery store and the Publix on Lake Worth Road charges more because they cater to the poor on food stamps and the illegal alien. So many of the elderly are trying to hold on to their independence and won't ask for help, unable to really clean, shop, or put food on the table. They are citizens that have been sacrificed--they have never really asked for a thing...a different generation that has paid their dues.

It just gets “whackier and whackier” as everyone comes up with solutions for all of us to pay more, for less, to be inconvenienced more and pay for that inconvenience. In the meantime certain commissioners pat themselves on the back, say a hail Mary or two, for being so caring to our poor, our helpless and "our" illegal aliens while charging the citizens more for everything and then worry about trees at our beach and spending $5 million dollars to re-configure parking lots.

Before long, we won't have a middle class--those who still have some money to pay the bills. The poorer you are the more things cost and we must tackle the cause before we will ever turn Lake Worth around.

Whistleblowers in Lake Worth

Comment Up
"Let's assume Andres Reyes and Howard Jordan were wrong in their contention that an unauthorized PC plugged into to the mainframe operating the electrical system in Lake Worth, Fla., posed a threat to the state's power grid. After raising their concerns privately, the two employees of city-owned Lake Worth Utilities went public, and for their whistle-blowing, were fired by the city earlier this month."

Read more from Government Information Security

A Memory Refresher

Because Lois Frankel is trying to undo the Charter and run for a third term, it is important to remember what she did and how power is corruptible. She is a great example as to why we do not want a "strong" mayor in Lake Worth.

"Developers and businesses perceive that the City of West Palm Beach is in fact a “pay to play” city. Developers take actions consistent with this conclusion, including the contribution of substantial sums of money to the campaign account of Mayor Lois Frankel. Contributions are made at times significant to approval of or consideration of projects or matters before various boards and the City Commission in West Palm Beach. Campaign contributions in increments of $500.00 were made by wealthy large scale developers to the political campaign account of Mayor Lois Frankel. These contributions came from individuals, companies, and legal entities which were found to be connected to the developers. The total campaign contributions connected to a given developer varied from $5,000 to $21,000. "

Read the Redacted Grand Jury Report February 2007 on Pay to Play in West Palm Beach

Read the 7 reasons to remember

Cyber bullies hiding behind an illusory shield

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Our favorite guy

Maureen Dowd, opinion writer for the New York Times, wrote a piece yesterday especially for you anonymous bloggers, you know, the ones who constantly hide behind the mask...the cowardly ones who love to post and make up outrageous off the wall stuff for the sheer delight of all your fellow gang bangers. They post under pseudo names or anonymous names and perpetuate the lie. Anonymous is fine if what is written is not a personal attack loaded like a stuffed baked potato full of yesterday's garbage. If you want to whack and attack, use your name. We actually have some running for office who let another blogger (our favorite guy) do the dirty for them so their record appears clean as wind driven snow. It is all a sick game and in Lake Worth.

Maureen says, "What is the mentality that lets them get in your face while wearing a mask? Shredding someone's character before the entire world and not being held accountable seems like the perfect sting."

Read more -- THE ARTICLE

This has been going on for years here in Lake Worth with the same people playing in the same sandbox...the ones who describe themselves as "positive."

Virus from City Hall?

Here is part of a message I just received--hope you all have a good anti-virus program.

The Declude Virus v4.3.46 software on mail.avenet.net has reported that you were sent an E-mail from cityweb@lakeworth.org, containing the OBJECT DATA Vulnerability virus in the [In HTML Code] attachment. The subject of the E-mail was "Lake Worth Historical Museum Volunteers Needed". The E-mail containing the virus has been quarantined to prevent further damage.

Give us the money and then take a Hike!

Comment Up

I knew that the day would come when I would agree with The Lake Worth Herald on something—but actually two things? I will touch on one of them now—The Lake Worth beach.

The Palm Beach County “strings” are too high to spend $5 million re-designing a parking lot. This is just a crazy waste of money no matter how you look at it and the County refuses to allow Lake Worth residents to have permitted parking—the very people who actually maintain the beach all year around. Are people in Wellington paying for the maintenance at our beach? Our pool? Are they paying for our lifeguards and their retirement?

The problem is that Commissioner Jennings wanted to eliminate 164 parking spaces on the upper level. 184 residents agreed with the Michael Singer Plan—The City manager stated at the last commission meeting that a majority of residents wanted this plan—no they did not. The Michael Singer presentation over one day was attended by a stacked deck of 220 green people.

If you take all that parking out, then it must be put back in. There begins the problem. This means spending millions on design and implementation to re-figure the lower level parking lot. This is nuts! The money should be put to better uses such as the boardwalk and public bathrooms. Our parking is FULL during the Season Commissioners. This is income to the City. To eliminate parking for green is not business smart. A tree will not bring in revenue; a parking space will.

There was some suggestion about allocating a certain section of the lower level for decal permit holders. Next, if you eliminate free parking for employees at the Casino and Benny's and make them pay for parking, they will all buy parking decals thus taking up any alloted decal parking for residents. Employees at shopping malls don't pay for parking. I don't agree with the Herald on this one but can see the point. It must be worked out for employees too.

My suggestion has always been to leave the parking alone. Plant more trees where you can. Re-figure the lot across from Benny’s and plant trees down the middle between the parking aisles. Hire a landscape professional (maybe John Lang—this might keep him happy) who will design the landscaping for all our parking areas and you will be surprised how great it will look. Again--Leave the parking alone! People want convenient parking. And Ms. Stanton, residents do not want to park at Old Bridge, walk across A1A and trek up the hill. This is OUR beach, not Palm Beach County’s; we should be able to park where it is convenient.

After paying on this Bond since 2002, they should just give us the money without the strings. The County says that it has been “pretty patient” with us. Well, we’ve got news for you. We have been waiting for this money for 7 years. Lake Worth will be asking them to waive the $3.5 mil because we no longer have it. The County wants to tie up our beach for 30 years. If we are asking for one thing that is contrary to the agreement then we can strongly demand decal parking.

Otherwise Katie Mcgiveron and The Herald are right--tell the County to shove it if they don’t budge on the decal parking and charge every person who does not live in Lake Worth double to park at our Lake Worth beach. That should get the County’s attention. Also, scream bloody murder about paying for this money since 2002 every year on ad valorem.

Give us the $5 mil; it’s ours and then take a hike.

998 to Go

Jimy Gilles, a "productive" citizen living at 822 S. 'E' Street in Lake Worth, was finally arrested on Thursday for attempted murder and assault for a shooting back in 2006 right here on Wingfield Street.

Gilles is a member of the Top 6 Gang that is so prevalent here in Lake Worth.

This Gang is affiliated with 41 shootings and 14 known homicides. It is a Haitian-American Gang involved in horrendous crimes such as the shooting at the Boynton Mall on Christmas Eve 2006.

$ 8 Million Dollars

10 Avenue North
Photo taken today

With the national debt now close to $12 trillion dollars, $8 million probably seems small in the scheme of things. What's a million here or there? It is a lot of money to a little city with big budget problems.

Positive messages are opposite

Comment Up
My positive thought is to get excellent, reasonable, sensible, law abiding, down-to-earth, business minded people elected--not anyone who is against everything for which I believe-implying that the City will get sued because of Sunset--not Man of La Mancha--no fantasies from someone singing The Impossible Dream. We all can't agree on everything all of the time.

If you disagree with anyone in this City that is when the name calling begins. It always gets very personal. But the most prevalent tag name they give you is that you are "negative" or when I talk about illegals that I am "racist." I say, it is just another way of looking at it...another perspective to consider in view of the terrible problems we have in this City. All one has to do is look at the record.

Nice poem, Wes. What it tells me is exactly what I think about the $700,000 give away--it MIGHT turn out good but then, it might not...not all decisions are folly, that sometimes there really is a happy ending. Personally, I would rather base my decisions on cold hard facts and not emotions. As a Board, the CRA should be looking at all aspects and take into consideration every possibility before ever handing over one dime to anyone. There should be some sort of sound decision behind it, not that it MIGHT invigorate our downtown.

-

---- Original Message -----

From: Wes Blackman

To: Lynn Anderson

Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 9:46 AM

Subject: Positive thoughts....

Sometimes things don't go, after all,
From bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
Faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail,
Sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war;
Elect an honest man; decide they care
Enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they are born for.

Sometimes our best efforts do not go
Amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
That seemed hard frozen: may it happen for you.

Sheenagh Pugh
from Selected Poems

Just Ask and you shall Receive

Comment Up

Lake Worth About to get more culture

Just come to Lake Worth and you can have it all. That is the message that is out there and it is very loud and clear. We are very generous folks. We don’t ask too many questions if the proposal sounds good. We love to give away buildings. We love to give away assets. We negotiate nothing. We love to waste money. We have all sorts of dreams of green space. We love to re-design parking lots and literally take away potential income at our beach for a tree. We have little thought about taking away decal parking for mangroves. We continue to screw the resident taxpayer in every way possible in order to plant a seed that may never grow from this blighted hollow ground.

What about the CRA’s main mission of cleaning up slum and blight. Somehow over the last several years, that has fallen by the blighted wayside of our city streets and has now been replaced by the visions of total metamorphous.

We have a CRA that just can't figure out how to spend its money fast enough and the other night, simply takes it over the top. The entire room was stacked and packed (I have been told) with business folks and Chamber folks and all those who think that spending all of this money will improve their lives. Perhaps the CRA’s thoughts are, bring more businesses and these owners and visitors will just fall in love with our garbage ridden neighborhoods that have been taken over by criminals ... they will actually buy a house or start a business here.

Instead of starting at the foundation for building this “new house” of ours, the CRA is starting at the top…building the roof first over a bunch of hot air coming directly from the Field of Dreams mentality for which the CRA has paid Hands On Consulting $200,000. Tuesday they agreed to hand over another $700,000 to the Palm Beach Cultural Council, that incidentally, has twice the budget of the CRA. This decision is based on nothing quantitative that the PB County Cultural Council can really do for us only what they tell us they can do-- just hopes, dreams and wishes.

Their presentation was great but give them $700,000? On top of that, the CRA agrees to give away all this money to a group that hasn't even decided on a location. What sort of crazy is that? Just come here...we don't care where you land. That is the reality of what the CRA based its decision. The CRA is in a world of its own when it comes to spending huge sums of money. Immediately the Gateways come to mind.

**
To me the sensible decision would be to buy the 14,381 SQ FT building at 1000 Lake Avenue for $900,000--that's two hundred thousand more to actually own something. Give a reduced rental rate to this Group to locate to this building. Give them some perks. After two years, if they have proven themselves to Lake Worth, extend their favorable lease. We then house our Code Department (if we have a code department still in effect) or use the extra space for other city departments. The CRA can then use this building as its headquarters and stop paying $2,500 a month rent where they are. In the meantime, we own a building on an important corner of an area that the City wants to develop in the future for a downtown government center. It is right across the street from City Hall. That building is on the market at half its value. The property is already very valuable but in five years it would be priceless and owned by us.

It really is time to stop this endless pipe dream of the CRA and all its give-aways and non-negotiated "deals." Prior to this it was the Gateways. It was a bunch of give-aways for those "scam" homeowners and others who took advantage. Now it is the artist’s destination. What next? For a city that is rapidly turning into garbage haven and one that can’t even afford its code officers anymore, you really have to wonder about the priorities.

CRA last night

Comment Up

Looking for my Chair

There are always surprises and last night was no exception at the CRA meeting. After being at the City Commission meeting from 1pm until 5:40pm, there was no way I was going to stay for another meeting. I called Emily at the CRA for the results.

1. In what could be considered as a political maneuver, Brendan Lynch was nominated by Donna Ross, seconded by Shanon Materio and voted in as Chair, some saying that he has the respect and knowledge to lead. Commissioner Ed Grimm wanted to wait until next week when a new Board will be appointed.

2. Donna Ross was voted as Vice Chair.

3. The Palm Beach Cultural Development wants to come to Lake Worth as its headquarters. They asked and the CRA agreed to give them $700,000 in a 10 year forgivable loan at 0% interest. This will be paid in 6 separate draws and will be used on construction costs for a building not yet decided upon. Although totally conjecture and no way of proving its potential value to Lake Worth, some said having them headquartered here will be a great asset for our City.

4. The Budget and CIP were approved.

5. 812 N. Dixie Project. All Site Construction was chosen...$146,221.48

The League of Cities' evil influence

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Trela White

Florida League of Cities voted Trela
Top Attorney in 2008
This woman actually wanted to shake my hand

Trela, I don't sleep with the enemy and I don't shake hands with them either. Perhaps that is something that lawyers do as a lot of it is only about winning; it is a game.

There is one fundamental reason why I do not like the Florida League of Cities—this group is always against the citizens, you know, you and me. We continue, as citizens, to put up with their anti-resident agenda. They got involved in the Sunset case and joined the law suit against Save Our Neighborhood. They were against the SuperMajority and imposed their will, their clout and money. Now they are against Florida Hometown Democracy along with the Florida Chamber and every developer group that ever existed.

Why are they against all of this? Because in some twisted reasoning they actually believe that a citizen should not have any say in what his/her community looks like even when that city government makes a decision contrary to the Comprehensive Plan. They believe that elected officials should be able to do whatever they damn well please and those who elected them should have no say. They actually mentor city officials on how to screw their citizens. If a city wants an excellent attorney to keep its residents at bay, it doesn't have to look too far.

While our Commissioners Lowe, Jennings and Mulvehill, as well as City Manager Stanton, were in Orlando for the League’s convention with Lake Worth taxpayers picking up this tab of $4,500, they were dining on more than roast beef, getting fed full of anti-Florida Hometown Democracy propaganda. City Manager Stanton actually rented a vehicle to transport all of them. We keep paying for membership in an organization that hates any citizen who does not fall in line.

What should have been said at that convention about Florida Hometown Democracy:

• Amendment 4 will replace negative impact development and sprawl with well planned comfortable communities designed to attract business and industry
  

• Amendment 4 will give voters VETO POWER only over projects that exceed what the community’s land use plan approves for a particular site
  

• Too many destructive comprehensive plan changes have been granted in recent years of our elected officials causing congestion, spiraling taxes, costs for infrastructure, lower property values, sprawl, a shortage of water and a lower quality of life for all Florida residents.
  

That’s what they should have said! This is no game. This is all about preserving and saving our State from every square inch of it being paved over with no say.

Vote Yes on 4 in 2010.

Edward Moore Kennedy

The Lion of the Senate is dead. Fighting brain cancer since May 2008, Edward Moore Kennedy could no longer win the battle dying at age 77.

We all remember Ted Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick incident 40 years ago where a passenger in his car, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. He was found guilty of leaving the scene of the accident and was given a slap on the wrist. This was a defining moment for him I am sure. From that point forward, he devoted the rest of his life to public service. And he did a great job passing many major pieces of legislation with 300 of them becoming law. He constantly and consistently fought the battle for human causes.

I will miss his style, his great smile, his earlier years playing football on the lawn at his home in Hyannis Port with his brothers, being a surrogate father to 13 children after the assassinations of his brothers, John and Robert, his love for sailing and my being able to read and watch and therefore be a part of his fascinating life as depicted in the news.

A remarkable man from a remarkable family; he will be missed.

Save Our Neighborhood, Inc. & Friends

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Ron Exline (Intervenor), Lynn Anderson-SON, Jennifer Marchal-SON, Betty Anderson-SON, Katie Mcgiveron-Chair SON, Tripp Ciocci (Intervenor) and Dante Ciocci.

THANKS--
to all the people who have helped us over the last four years, not only in the Lake Osborne Heights Neighborhood but throughout the City. There were many occasions that residents spoke out and supported us in front of the City Commission as well as the Planning & Zoning Board.

to friends of the PAC who supported us through thick and thin.

to spouses who put up with us for 4 years.

to all those who gave money.

to all those who petitioned and signed the petitions.

to our attorney, Lesley Blackner. Without her we would have been nothing.

to this City Commission for righting the wrong we give a special thanks: Retha, Cara, Jeff, Jo-Ann and Suzanne

WPBF- Lake Worth Whistleblowers get fired!

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Message to City Officials from Robert Waples, President of ROLOH

----- Original Message -----

From: Robert E Waples II

To: ROLOH

Cc: sstanton@lakeworth.org ; Deputy Michael Mahoney Community Policing ; Detective Matthew Carreiro Property Crimes ; Deputy Gardenia Arquello Road Patrol ; Deputy Dennis Soto Road Patrol ; Jeff Clemens ; Jo-Ann Golden ; Cara Jennings ; Retha Lowe - District 1 LW ; Suzanne Mulvehill

Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 6:37 PM

Subject: 826 Sunset - Another sign of a new beginning for Lake Worth

Dear Roloh Neighbors and Friends, Mayor Clemens, Vice-Mayor Golden, Commissioner Lowe, Commissioner Jennings, Commissioner Mulvehill, City Manager Stanton and Staff, What do you say after a four year long and drawn out issue such as 826 Sunset Drive other than Thank You. So many people have given so much of thier time, money and effort to challenge this issue from day one and it has been a very long road......today we have reached the right decission and 826 Sunset is no longer high density or zoned multi-family. We all need to thank the many citizens of Lake Osborne Heights and all of Lake Worth for the support and dedication to righting this wrong and with out so many people supporting and volunteering, this would never have been corrected. We need to Thank this Commission for having the courage to reach this decision and to correct that which was not meant to be. This action of recinding the past ordinances is just another sign of Lake Worth coming to a wonderful turning point and becoming a city for its citizens and business owners, and now a chance to grow responsibly. There are many more decisions that have to be made down the road and many of them will be just as tough if not tougher. However, the people through this commission have a voice, and we hope that in the future that we hold this time of change and future prosperity to be a guide to continue to make Lake Worth the BEST place to live, work and thrive in Palm Beach County. Just a reminder to eveyone, it takes everyone's support to make a city a better place to live and by supporting your city and staff, local businesses with your patronage and even giving of your time for needed hours of volunteerism to the many city projects and boards we can all make a difference. One word to future business owners.....Lake Worth IS open for business and this exciting time of new growth and vision for the city is the right time to look at Lake Worth for what it will become in the near future and how it will be a place for new and old businesses alike to grow. Congratulations to everyone on a big victory today and remember....this city is Lake Worth Robert E. Waples II robertwaplesii@yahoo.com President - Residents of Lake Osborne Heights www.roloh.org http://lwcommunitygarden.blogspot.com/ PBSO C.O.P Volunteer Unit 109 Volunteer to make a difference today

PR for Save Our Neighborhood, Inc.

Victory for the residents of Lake Osborne Heights and the political action committee, Save our Neighborhood, Inc.

Lake Worth, Florida, August 25, 2009

In a special meeting held today, the Lake Worth City Commission voted to repeal two city ordinances that would have allowed MF 20 zoning (20 units per acre) into the single family Lake Osborne Heights neighborhood. The undeveloped 4.02 acre property that was the subject of today’s Commission action now reverts to its previous zoning of “County Agricultural” (five units per acre).

Katie Mcgiveron, Chair of Save our Neighborhood, Inc. and Vice President of the Residents of Lake Osborne Heights Neighborhood Association said, “This Commission recognized the absolute necessity of protecting the single family neighborhoods of Lake Worth when they repealed these two ordinances. I will be forever thankful to Commissioners Cara Jennings, Commissioner Retha Lowe, Mayor Jeff Clemens, Commissioner Joanne Golden and Commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill.”

Since 2005, this property has been the subject of intense debate by neighbors demanding that their way of life not be destroyed by up zoning and inappropriate development. In 2005, the Save Our Neighborhood, Inc. PAC collected over 3,000 signatures city wide that wanted the single family zoning kept in place. Former Lake Worth city attorney Larry Karns refused to forward the petitions to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections for verification citing a State Statute that you could not petition on less than 5 acres. A battle in the circuit court then ensued between Save Our Neighborhood, Inc. and the City. Save Our Neighborhood won its case in the circuit court, but the decision was challenged by the city of Lake Worth and the case moved up the judicial ladder into the Appellate court which was then overturned.

“Comprehensive plan changes are always political decisions. With this present City Commission, they recognized the value of the single family residential neighborhoods in the city of Lake Worth. Therefore, they rescinded the up zoning and land use change on the Sunset parcel approved by a previous Commission,” said Lesley Blackner, attorney for Save Our Neighborhood.

Save Our Neighborhood, Inc., 2121 Collier Avenue, Lake Worth, FL 33461

Pd. Pol. Adv. Paid by Save Our Neighborhood, Inc. PAC

Granny has a Right to be Worried

Washington's doublespeak
As Granny sits around and frets that she will be thrown under the bus because of Obama’s healthcare plan, she literally is falling behind the eight ball just to keep her head above water.

Three out of seven elderly are economically poor or vulnerable and many live in the shadow of poverty. When your own government says that there has been NO inflation, perhaps they need a new benchmark for their analysis. No wonder Granny has big doubts; they didn’t ask her.

The government still includes the price of gasoline index and this figure skews the entire stats. According to the Consumer Price Index, we have had inflation of 2.7%. Take out the energy (price of oil) factor, which the government states has gone way down, who knows how high inflation really is?

We know on a local level that the price of services has gone up along with our electric and will continue to do so. Here in Lake Worth, Granny worries about cooling her residence, maintaining her property, putting food on her table and buying her prescriptions. She infrequently drives her car so the price of gas would not be that much of a concern. Grocery prices are up every week as is the price of all consumer goods. Granny has lost 50% of her investments and the banks that have been bailed out by tax dollars are paying peanuts in interest as they raise all their fees. Those who have retired and living in condominiums are ending up paying for the deadbeats who have refused to pay their monthly maintenance and special assessments while banks are foreclosing right and left.

The latest report again is that there will be no COLA increases for perhaps the next two years with the government saying we have had no inflation. In the same breath, the government says that the price of Medicare is going up. That is deducted right out of the social security check. Granny pays more for health coverage but no increase to pay for it.

When our government can bail out every Tom, Dick and Harry and give Stimulus money to losers, then Granny has a right to be concerned. We are totally off base when we can give $25 billion a year in foreign aid. And Obama wanted to double that amount by 2012. Think about this--$25 billion is much more that what our government collected in federal income taxes. Does the government speak in double speak?

Granny worked all her life and now is forced to worry about the illegal alien loophole under the Obama Healthcare Plan and our tax dollars going to foreign countries in aid that will never be repaid, give away plans up the kazoo while she has to forego a couple of bucks raise in social security. You can see why granny is worried.

Elections--where's the excitement?

Comment Up

Have you noticed how "quiet" this election season is. It's only a little over two months away. I keep thinking about how darn hot it is out there and thanking a former Commission for being the catalyst behind the madness for changing our elections from March to November. Another terrible idea right along with the ugly garbage cans. And that reminds me, even the Chamber of Commerce has been quiet.

So far, I only know of two campaign fundraisers--Laurence McNamara's and Rene Varela's for Mayor. Jo-Ann Golden has one coming up this weekend. I actually got invited to two out of the three and one of those was an afterthought. I like invitations when they are personal. If the candidate takes 30 seconds to call, I like that. If they can't be bothered, neither can I. My time and money are too valuable for me to be treated with such aloofness. It's the same reason why I hate a friend sending me an e-card for Christmas or my birthday...not too much thought behind it and the message is clear.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming weeks with supporters wearing their favorite candidate's T-shirt, campaign literature and the debates. It's fun. One thing for sure, I don't want to hear about the removal of beach decal parking or how I can be bussed from the downtown to the beach. That one will fall on deaf ears.

CRA

Comment Up
Tomorrow our CRA meets at 6pm at City Hall one last time before interviews for new members are held on August 31. On the Agenda are several items that are peculiar to say the least.

1. Nomination of a new Chair
2. Nomination of a new Vice Chair
3. Approval of the Budget and 5 Year CIP.

Now why would the CRA schedule items 1 and 2 when everyone on there could be replaced with the exception of Donna Ross? We know that most of the present Board feels that there is no new member who could possibly understand the Budget or the CIP so they want to hurry and get that approved.

Maybe it's all a mistake. Sure it is.

Lake Worth Golfcourse

Comment Up
Aside from our oceanfront Lake Worth beach, our golf course is the most valuable land we own in this city. Aren't we lucky to have an 18 hole, par 70 course right on the IntraCoastal Waterway?

Golfers are a special breed of cat. They will play golf in rain, snow, sleet or hail. Nothing deters them from their sport. Yesterday in 95^ weather, these golfers were not deterred either.

The City Manager has stated that the golf course rounds are picking up. I am sure that our new golf pro, Chris Waller, will make our fabulous property a great success. We needed our own pro.

The Lagoon Restaurant opens at 8am and is doing well according to Karen who answered the phone. When asked if the golfers were supporting the restaurant, she said "yes." If any of you just want a nice place to have lunch with a gorgeous view, remember The Lagoon Restaurant. Let's support our golf course in every way that we can.

Healthcare

Citizens continue to speak out across the country and the Democrats just don't want to listen.

President Obama is taking his first vacation since being elected President. After all these raucous town hall meetings he needs a break. Healthcare is taking a nasty twist.

All the criticism and what the President calls "misinformation" has taken its toll. He's now off to play some golf, relax and come back swinging for a birdie.

Holy Mackerel--what a big Kingfish

Caught this morning at the end of the Lake Worth Pier

As explained, this fish will feed 5 families

FISHING LICENSE FACTS

Who needs a license?
Resident saltwater anglers who fish from shore or a structure affixed to shore will need to buy a shoreline fishing license unless they have a regular saltwater fishing license or are exempt.

Who is exempt?
The new license requirement allows exemptions for residents who are age 65 or older, all children under age 16, resident disabled persons who meet certain qualifications, active duty military personnel while home on leave, and all anglers who fish from a licensed pier. In addition, the license requirement includes two new exemptions - resident anglers drawing food stamps, temporary cash assistance or Medicaid, and anglers who use a pole or line without a line retrieval mechanism (such as a reel) in their home counties.

How much does the license cost?
The license cost $7.50 plus a $1.50 administrative fee.

If I have a regular saltwater fishing license, will I have to purchase a shoreline license too?
No. A resident regular fishing license that covers fishing from shore as well as from a vessel costs about $10 more than the shoreline license and may be the best option for most anglers unless they feel certain they will fish only from shore.

How will the FWC use the money from the new shoreline license sales?
The money will help fund marine resource research, management and law enforcement.

Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Love you Mom

You got comments Mom

IN MEMORIAM
My beautiful Mother
Thelma M. Smith
1-4-17 - 8-23-04
Her final resting place

Lake Worth Beach was her absolute love and morning delight for her entire adult life, going there every single day to swim in the ocean and our pool. Her favorite restaurant was John G's. She loved our shops, our downtown, and most of all, she loved our library. She went there almost daily as she was a voracious reader. She loved her home and her family and life--she was happy in its simplicity. We miss you so much Mom. Remembering you today and your favorite place, the Lake Worth beach.

Don't Hide behind the Chide

Comment Up

After a series of e-mails from the City Manager, I still have no clue as to how we will enforce our Code (if that is even the plan) and clean up our City. Hopefully, this will all be revealed soon to the citizens of Lake Worth.

Living in one of the most blighted cities I have ever seen or resided, code enforcement is a necessity and should not be treated as an expense that we can not afford. All the code violations affect our quality of life and directly affect our taxes. All properties must be in compliance and we need this enforced.

With a lax code policy more and more people who have no pride in where they live or the neighbors they live around will be moving to Lake Worth. The word will get out--come to Lake Worth and you can live like a slob cementing the thought that what you do should be your right with no government interference.

Is this what we want? Have we as a city given up on protecting our taxpaying citizens? Have we turned into a "live and let live" city? We need more code, not less and we need to collect the fines that are owed instead of these deadbeats sticking it in our nose. We might then have a very profitable code department and eventually clean up the blight.

It's up to all of you to voice your opinion--but we haven't heard the "plan."

Tax Bill

Comment Up
I don't get much of interest in the mail these days as I pay most of my bills online. So what I do get is usually good news or junk.

We all received our proposed tax notices today. I predicted that we would be the highest taxed city in Palm Beach County. I was exaggerating to make a point because no one usually can beat Pahokee or Belle Glade when it comes to millage rates. I don’t know how it will work out but one thing for sure, our millage, overall, is set at 24.7999. Last year it was 21.3563.

Millage is the tax rate used to calculate your ad valorem taxes. One mil equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable property value. If your millage rate is 24.7999, then you are paying $24.80 in taxes for every $1,000 of taxable property value.

With the cost of everything UP in the City of Lake Worth as the solution to our budget woes, even nickel and dimming us to death on public information costs, we do need to reduce expense. Code Enforcement is not the area.

Let's let pizza decide the election

Comment Up

One of the Lake Voters has sent this e-mail out to all the candidates--

Hi. I was wondering about something simple. I would like to ask all the candidates for their answer to the following question: Do you like pizza, and, if so, what pizzeria would you call if you wanted a delivery? What toppings, if any, would you ask for? Thank you very much for your time! I am going to vote for the candidate who's answer suits me best. Good luck in the forthcoming election! :-)

Actually, perhaps this voter has hit on something. We know that once someone is elected to office that it finally boils down to THEIR agenda first. They seem to soon forget about the voters and what the people might want. Some even have contempt for our laws. The don't return phone calls. They don't ever return e-mails--forget about that! Public speaking has turned into a joke. Research? Who ever heard of that? Budget? Who understands it? We can't seem to ever rise above getting out of our own way in this City. How do we ever know who will be a responsible leader?


So, let topping on a pizza decide it.

What the heck-- it's all a crap shoot anyway.

Don't throw Granny under the Bus

A CNN Poll polling 1,136 adults indicates that only 3 in 10 Americans think President Obama's health care plan will help their families.

Here on this blog only 20 people participated in the poll with 78% saying that the Healthcare Plan needs work. It does. Those backing Obama are strongly suggesting that it is a generation gap problem with most people under 50 years of age supporting the Plan and those over 50 opposing it.

This sounds like Dennis Koehler's argument to allow Mojito's bar to become a nightlub. Both arguments are meaningless and illogical.

On the Avenue

Evening on the Avenues

Will see everyone on the Avenue tonight!

The campaign has begun.

Our Utility Department

Comment Up

The new Budget for the City of Lake Worth is on-line…all 246 pages of it. One of the interesting sections is our Utility. Why is the Utility so interesting?--because it generates a lot of revenue for our city and we still continue to get behind the eight ball. We pay 31% more than FPL customers and we are not making any money there. Why?

In this Budget you will see how they are eliminating Andres Reyes’ job as well as Howard Jordan’s. Don’t ever try to make things better in this City…don’t dare complain to your supervisor...don't dare be a whistleblower.

On page 91 (page 106 scrolling down the pdf file) is a graph of positions. As you will notice, Mr. Reyes’ job is being eliminated. Then on page 95 (page 110 of the Adobe file) you will see the elimination of Howard Jordan’s job that of Electronic Device Specialist.

This entire matter was not handled properly from the beginning. Bottom Line.

If you look closely, you will notice that the proposed budget by the Finance Department and City Manager Stanton’s proposed budget differ greatly in the Utility. It appears that Stanton wants to outsource services to the tune of $5,577,841, a figure under non-department-other. I am guessing here as to the purpose of the meaning of "non-department" because I can't get a return call to clarify so essentially it is a guessing game. So, let’s get this right, we eliminate an engineer and an electronic specialist and outsource for these services? Someone else on staff does them? Who is qualified? Don't know. It is unclear.

Perhaps there is some other explanation. I left two calls this week for Finance. I have a call into the City Manager since Monday. What's today? Has the "open door" shut?

We demand an explanation to less code, not more!

Lake Worth Alumni Fundraiser Spaghetti Dinner

Comment Up
When: Sunday, August 30

Where: Lake Worth High School Cafeteria

Time: 4 to 6 pm

What you get: delicious dinner, Silent Auction, fabulous door prizes and knowing that you are contributing to a worthy cause...PRICELESS. This event will be bigger and better than before.

Price: $15 per ticket

Where to purchase: At the door

What you need to know: You don't have to be an alumnus of LW High to attend.

Got a clunker? Better Hurry

Another Scam on the American taxpayer

Cash for Clunkers' Program To End on Monday

"The Obama administration plans to end the $3 billion "cash for clunkers" program on Monday, giving car shoppers a few more days to take advantage of big government incentives."

Read More:
Clunkers

E-mail to the City Manager and Commission on Code Enforcement

Comment Up
----- Original Message -----

From: Lynn Anderson

To: Commissioner S. Mulvehill ; .Commissioner R. Lowe ; Commissioner C. Jennings ; Commissioner J. Golden ; Mayor J. Clemens

Cc: Susan Stanton

Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 12:34 PM

Subject: Code Enforcement

Dear Mayor and Commissioners--

City Manager Stanton says that she is re-organizing this department. In actuality, and in my opinion, you are eliminating positions that are vital to cleaning up our City. We need more code enforcement officers, not less. What is the biggest challenge we face in our City? It is obvious to me every time I drive down one of our city streets.

To eliminate four code inspectors out of eight and one of those is paid for by the CRA, is unacceptable. We need to find a way to retain the services of these great employees desperately needed in our city. We need to keep them in Code. To move one to a new department for training residents on how to lower their electric bill is a foolish waste of human resources. You can include that information in a flyer with the bill.

Until we clean up the slum and the blight, we will never rise from the ashes. This is a daily challenge 24/7/365 and code violations are throughout this city, from corner to corner. No one is exempt (with the exception of my neighborhood :)

Please reconsider this reorganization in the Code Department and retain our hardworking employees: Geoff Handley, Tamica Clinton, Sophia Raymond, Joel Rutsky and Ronny Beltran.

Thank you for any consideration you can give to this extremely serious situation.

Lynn Anderson