Bryant Park's Political Forum

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Bryant Park Political Forum 2010 - District 4 Candidates

Lisa Maxwell saying that she has a different philosophy than the present commission and that neighborhoods need "to be treasured," outrageously accused Suzanne Mulvehill for "nearly stopping the Publix" deal because of plastic bags--a total fabrication; said the city was close to bankruptcy (another total distortion of the facts); she would cut the Office of Management and Budget (Read earlier Blog) even though Finance Director Steven Carr was in the audience and highly recommended this department by saying at a city commission, "we can not do without it." Now who knows better--our professional Finance Director or Lisa?

She further went on to utter a defamatory remark that she doesn't trust the architect at the beach casino project and hopes that we can salvage the plan and go forward. REG architects was voted the Firm of the Year by Palm Beach Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and is highly respected in the business. She does not believe that the Casino will come in on budget of $6 million and we agree; REG says that the cost will be $5.9 million dollars.

That wasn't all the doom and gloom as she mentioned the word "bankruptcy" again saying "listen to the Mayor." When we have $66 MILLION DOLLARS in Enterprise funds with one-half of that unencumbered, I don't believe that any reasonable person would believe that this City is close to bankruptcy. The fact of the matter is, 98.7% of our assets are NOT mortgaged and we could borrow a lot of money if needed. Even Commissioner Scott Maxwell made a statement at a city commission meeting that we had $44 million in the budget that is accessible. We do, however, need to keep our expenses under control.

On tonight's Commission meeting Agenda are the 2nd readings regarding amending the Union Pension Plans. This will be a tremendous step in controlling future union retirement expenses that have been on a run-away-train. These recommendations were also made by the Finance Advisory Board. Maxwell seems to have a problem with retirement funds being fair and equitable to all the taxpayers in this City who pay for these ridiculous benefits as she mentioned she received two Union endorsements thus far in her campaign. We have over $50 million in unfunded pension benefits that taxpayers must pay by law.

Lisa Maxwell brought up the number of Group Homes in the City. The State of Florida has argued that these people have a right to be integrated into communities. What steps did Lisa take to promote LESS group homes when she was on the Planning & Zoning Board and voted on the zoning that allowed them into our city? We have to tolerate these homes, not provide for them and they should not be located next to single family homes. On one hand, Maxwell complains about this aspect of our Code but on the other hand wants to protect "developers' rights." She clearly does not understand the Sunset issue. With a background in development, we recognize her mindset.

Maxwell mentioned our old generators at Lake Worth Utilities. Yes, they are old, but they are completely paid for and well maintained. We have budgeted funds to maintain our valuable equipment. We just rebuilt a boiler. We recently re-bladed the Westinghouse 251 generator and rebuilt the turbine. What was Maxwell's point by even saying this? The inference is because they are old that they are unreliable. This is NOT the case.

Overall, Candidate Lisa Maxwell articulately sounds off with her doom and gloom sound bites and wants to change the direction of the City and we ask "Why?" It is thanks to this Commission, as well as our City Manager, that we have turned around many of the bad decisions of the past and have a lot of great accomplishments that will be achieved and completed within the next few years.

Commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill, upbeat and on point throughout the Forum, said that she was excited about the future of Lake Worth and believes in our City.