Gateway Dedication

10th Avenue North under construction
Photo 8-27-09

Usually when you want to feel better about yourself, you go out and have a pedicure, a manicure or perhaps a new hair-do…something within your budget. Not the City of Lake Worth. It spends $15 million dollars without blinking an eye on two streets to attract development.

Today at 1:30pm at 10^th Avenue North and N E Streets will be the dedication of the northern gateway to our city. When you tell people that tax money of $8.8 million went into this street, the answer is from those who spent it, “no it wasn't, it was TIF money.” At least that is an answer I got. Whatever you want to call it folks, it is one heck of a lot of money for a street and a former city commission approved it.

$8.8 million was spent on 10^th Avenue north and $5.7 million was spent on 6^th Avenue South. Former Mayor Clemens likes to brag that the CRA was under budget on 6^th…probably those puny trees they planted and no pedestrian crosswalks. The CRA took out a long term bond to pay for this and now spends $1 million a year on the principal and interest to pay it off—this is YOUR money, or it WAS. Now it belongs to a street—a street for developers who may or may not come. You can’t cross the street unless you want to get killed in the process. Neither roads are what you would call pedestrian friendly for the very ones who actually paid for them.

So today we will hear people clapping and cheering, a press release expounding on Lake Worth’s accomplishment. I hope the developers read it. The cheers will be for the decorative street lights, brick walkways and let’s not forget the pedestrian benches, a street that will not have too many pedestrians. They will have all forgotten the $15 million dollar debt. Money is NO object in this city unless it is to take away a trolley for the aged, poor and handicapped. Past officials, Nadine or Jeff will probably head up the cheerleading squad, who knows. I hope that they cheer loudly enough to wake up the dead because that’s what has happened to development, not only here but everywhere.