No one hears us yet

In spite of an old and tired casino building and the lack of maintenance of our precious asset by the City of Lake Worth, we still have a fabulous beach. That fact is not attributed to the City but to Mother Nature. And we still, at present, have convenient upper level parking. Residents with decals can park anywhere they choose at their beach.

It is difficult to imagine why past city governments and administrations allowed our beach to fall into decay: chewing gum on the pavements never cleaned up, jackhammered holes in the building structure that were finally covered over after 10 years of salt intrusion, never painting the building allowing it to peel and get blighted or making the necessary repairs. And now they want to "take care" of our valuable property by spending $5 million to re-design parking lots, thus losing control of our beachfront for 30 years to PB County and another $6+ million for a new building when all along all they had to do was their job--their responsibility to the taxpayers of this City.

Some just want to cry about market rents and merchants taking advantage of the City when all along it is the City's neglect and in-action that are the problems. The City wrote long-term leases that did not expire until 1.5 years ago. They were subjected to a building in total disrepair and renting in a space that they were continually told might/would fall down around them.

We are equally culpable for not demanding action in the past and insisting that the City look out for our interests whether it be at our beach or in the neighborhoods. Tough code enforcement is the key and maintaining what we have. The City's management and policies over the past decade are the leading contributors as to why our City's property values have fallen.

We want tougher Code. Should we speak louder? No one hears us yet.


P.S. The shoes, since April, are still hanging over the cable across from the Casino...a gang statement I was told.