I appreciate our city commission--everyone on it. I believe that they are doing their best to make the right decisions for Lake Worth. However, some are much more negative than others even to the point of questioning their own ability to get things done.
In today's PB Post, Scott Maxwell is quoted as saying, "The Commission has plenty to do balancing the budget and overseeing Lake Worth Utilities without having the CRA's responsibilities." I will challenge any commissioner if one even thinks he has a clue on the Budget and especially an understanding of Lake Worth Utilities, the dark hole. They haven't even authorized a forensic audit of our Utility to even find out what is going on there.
When it comes to being responsible for tax payer money, our elected officials are the only ones who should be in charge. When you have a Director who does not return phone calls or will not return e-mails and board members who have publicly said that "they can do it better than any elected official," it is time to take back the CRA a voluntary Board appointed by the Commission. It is all about responsibility of millions of taxpayer dollars not to mention the NSP2 grant.
Allow Andy Amoroso, Vice Chair of the CRA, to understand that you are not just trying to "grab the money" and that it is all about poor and improper decisions of taxpayer dollars. He can then publicly apologize to all of you and to all of us. That comment alone, shows that those responsible for CRA decisions are not.
16 comments:
I have said many times before, the ultimate goal of the CRA is to abolish itself eventually once things get improved, but they do not want that, that is why they never really address a lot of the major issues in the CRA area. The blight, crime, lack of codes, and problems all still exist and will continue to as the CRA does not want to really fix the problems because then they will not get the money anymore or have the power. There is so much waste in the city, all the money given to the Lucerne many years ago that could have been used for the real problems in the west and south. The city only needs to blend in better the western downtown, put nice paving tile in Little Guatemala on Lake and Lucerne, encourage more improvements for the west to tie things together and unite the city and its people. Let's see if this 23 million NSP2 grant will really show any major improvements to the area, there are so many politics being played an no real action being taken to show "real" progress in the CRA area. It is very sad and a disappointment to see the city and the CRA not doing more about the blight and deplorable conditions, they continue and no one really does anything.
I don't blame the CRA for the condition of the western neighborhoods. When I first moved here those neighborhoods were starting to improve. When Cara was elected and than Golden the major flow of illegals started to come in aided by the fact that Cara and her friends were going to their country and actively encouraging settlement here. You could read all about their travels on their blogs and they even had a princess at a commission meeting. The western neighborhoods were taken over by single men living 15 to a house and that's when Cara & Golden had code enforcement destroyed. Crime skyrocketed and blight followed. Than came the recession and the rest is history. I would not live in our western neighborhoods if they gave the property away. The CRA could not stop this mess but it now has a chance to help these neighborhoods. It's up to the city to bring back code and balance our budget. Without an internal audit nothing much can improve as we have no real idea where the money is actually going.
Sorry Joe, but the CRA covers *some* of the western neighborhoods, but not all. Drive through and you will see lots of the CRA/NSP II signs where they have purchased lots and homes to rehabilitate. Phase I is over and Phase II is about to begin!
The CITY has done NOTHING to address the blight and living conditions West of Dixie. They gutted code enforcement and refuse to enforce their own rental license requirements. They ignored our pleas for more street lighting, paved roads, repaired sidewalks, traffic calming, etc. It is the CRA who stepped up to fix sidewalks, the CRA who offered to pay for the traffic study, the CRA who purchased garbage cans, lawn mowers, signs and equipment for the Associations.
What happened to the City turning over 7 properties to be used in the NSP II program? The CRA has yet to take possession of them. Why is that? Why is the City hoarding properties? To what end? They refuse to spend the CDBG funds on what the residents wanted - eliminating blight - and are using it to expand on their ill conceived Affordable Housing Program! The program no one wants. The program their own Finance Advisory Board recommended they abolish. The City is the one that doesn't listen to its residents.
The CRA budget has declined significantly with the City experiencing the largest drop in property values in the County. They cannot act without *some* assistance from the City. A City whose Commission members (Jennings & Golden) have vocally opposed "gentrification" and see code enforcement and infrastructure improvements as ways to increase property values. Go ahead and argue that Jennings is no longer on the Commission, she is still meeting with City officials and department heads and nothing has changed since she left.
Joe, the current Commission does not want to be blamed for the decisions made by previous Commissions. Similarly, you cannot hold the current CRA accountable for decisions you don't agree with that were made years before the current Board members' Commission appointments.
Yeah, I remember that lawn mower they bought for you. Pathetic. What about the a/c for your friends there. More pathetic. The fact of the matter is the CRA has spend $15 mil on the Gateways, money that went to "friends," (that's what it is if bidding is waived) instead of doing what they should have been doing, eliminating slum and blight. The CRA is addressing sidewalks. The citizens have every right to hold the CRA accountable for past mistakes. They were gigantic. The mind-set has not changed and you can see it by just all of those who are in support of an independent Board. They are the ones grabbing the cash or wanting to hold on to it. Power corrupts. Why is the CRA so angry that some members of the Commission want to be responsible here? What is their pony in the race? Power? Triple pathetic.
I love the cat Lynn! What a great expression!
Part of a Commission member's duty ,is strict Control of our Public money spent,(Charter mandated) by non-elected elements,like over the vote of a newspaper Vendor, who uses primitive street language to describe what he does not grasp, for lack of knowledge of the history of the what the CRA is and has done detrimentally to our City economically wrong, and what its' mission is!
Each one of the present Commission members promised Fiscal Resposibility and Accountability implementation!
Those who can not practice that like Maxwell(Utility bills have increased!) ,can resign. Nobody is forced to sit in OUR Commission seats with conditions mandated in our Lake Worth City Charter. The present Commission with exclusion of member Jo-Ann Golden has rejected that resposibility.
They can resign, as they wasted their time with 78 City Hall(OMG) meetings(inefficiency proving),
while ignoring the LAKE WORTH CRA
profligate spending with personally chosen parties only,no Public Bidding!!!!Records?Cost analysis?Why not?
The Commission appointed newspaper vendor's, CRA member without any knowledge of Urban development matters, primitive comment, proves the need for a Commission incorporated and Controlled CRA , which saves $500,000,- a year in payroll needed for our daily service providing employees.Our Charter mandates, Public Bidding for all City projects,with at least 3 responses,prior to using Public money.
What is happening with OUR public money?
Inefficient Commission members will reject reposibility for incorporation of our out of control CRA,to create fiscal responsibility and accountability,and save our City money in these hard economic times.
Dee McNamara,Citizens' interests'Advocate
Today's decisons are made by today's administrations.Totally ignoring the spending of our Public millions by non-elected elements, with no knowledge of LAKE WORTH CRA CREATED LOSSES OF MILLIONS. ThE COMMISSION'S duty includes strict control over all Public projects and public money spent by non-elected Board members. They do not pay the taxes for all Citizens, from whose taxes public money originates.
A TOTALLY fiscally irresponsible Commission has allowed this spending to get out of Control,without their oversight,(their duty) not interested in accountability.A flake claims to be too busy! Go home!You are not needed!It is not their money,right?
Those unable to handle duties of our Commission seats ,get out, resign!
OUTRAGED TAXPAYER!
Lynn, whatever happened with that lawn mower and lawn equipment that the CRA gave Tropical Ridge? Is it still being used? Where is it housed? Can anyone use it? We all know the city has tons of overgrown lots that could use some care. What are all these so called effective people in high places doing with our money? Everyone wants to support the CRA, but where are we seeing results in the needed places? Can the CRA start mowing these lots and cleaning this city up? Maybe if they did, so many people wouldn't complain about them, actions speak louder than words.
Hey Anon, if you have a question about Tropical Ridge, why not ask a Tropical Ridge member, not Lynn.
Of course we still have the lawn mower. It is housed in a donated garage within the neighborhood. Only two people have access to the garage. The mower is used during alley & lot clean-ups, not for residents' personal use. If someone was interested in using it for a community clean-up, they would need to contact one of the Board members.
If you have an issue with a City-owned lot being overgrown, you should contact code enforcement who will contact Public Works. Except for the inappropriately named "community garden" all of the unmaintained lots in our neighborhood are privately or bank-owned.
The CRA can't buy properties from the city with NSP money. That could motivate the city to foreclose on or seize properties for the CRA. The properties being held are for the affordable housing program and the cultural renaissance program.
Get your facts straight.
Anon - The City passed either a resolution or an ordinance a year ago GIVING 7 properties to the CRA. The CRA has yet to take possession of them. I have heard it is because there is no one in the Community Development Department who has any experience with creating/processing the necessary paperwork.
With NSP II, a 23.5 million dollar program that builds and creates AFFORDABLE housing, WHY does the City need its own program? Home prices in the Western neighborhoods are under $50k. The City's program is WASTE! That money should go towards combating blight - building sidewalks, paving roads, cleaning alleyways, etc. If you knew any FACTS about the Housing Initiative as it currently stands, you would know it does none of that.
Based on my experience of being one of two private members of the CRA while the City Commission sat as the remainder of the CRA Board,it didn't work. All that the CRA meetings became was a continuation of City Commission meetings.
I say leave it a private appointed board and insist that the City Commissioners be INVOLVED with the CRA. Something that has yet to ever happen in the history of our CRA. Elected officials take a hands off approach and then complain when the CRA does something they do not approve of. Commissioners should utilize the significant tool that the CRA is to any City and stay informed demand updates, appoint board members that can contribute and use this powerful tool to help turn this City around instead of complaining about it or even more laughable think that they can do a better job.
Chris Fleming
Chris--everything was relatively fine until your last sentence. That is one of the main reasons why I want the Commission to take it back.
Also, your point of the commission getting more directly involved is good but I have been at meetings where commissioners have spoken and the CRA has not listened nor have they done what the Commissioner suggested. Also, when you have a Director running the show and not paying heed to the Board, only chummy with the Chair, it is a problem. When you have a Director who essentially has told the CM and the Commission to screw off, it is even a bigger problem. I blame this on the Board. The Board's attitude as being more intelligent than the Commission is what's "laughable" as well as highly insulting.
Sorry Lynn but I have no confidence that this commission can act in any effective manner running the CRA. If that is what ends up happening then they would be wise to get out of the CRA business as soon as possible, by appointing a new board. But we both know that once the control of purse strings are handed over, it is unlikely that they will be relinquished. And then we have what will become a very political and ineffective CRA.
Chris Fleming
Do you think that the CRA has been effective? How?
I do! How? By collectively identifying projects and goals, setting up a plan, and executing those plans. Its been done over and over by the CRA. You may or may not agree with the projects and that's a matter of opinion. But projects and goals are accomplished.
The City Commissions (for years) not so much.
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