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Week ending May 16 for 33460
Yeah, tell me about it. Without the Sheriff the crime would be double, right?
Property Crime 11
Theft 16
Drugs 17
Disorder 8
Family Offense 9
Liquor 11
Robbery 4
Alarm 14
Other 28
Missing Person 3
Pedestrian Stop 10
Traffic 24
Assault 12
No Lynn it would be triple
ReplyDeleteJohn, I thought for sure I would have tons of people with that sort of comment. :) Tell me, how do we afford the PBSO any longer? The City will now do more studies to see if they can throw costs onto the non-advalorem part of our bill and no-one wants to reduce anything. It is not sustainable.
ReplyDeleteI personally am for keeping the quality, professionalism and amount of resources the Sheriff brings to Lake Worth. I sincerely hope the leaders are only using this study to show where the contract with the Sheriff can be reduced.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the numbers and graphs used to come up with a scenario for us to reconstitute a PD are, at best, suspect.
Our internal auditor would be able to point out if and where this occurs in the report, but because we don't have this Charter required position filled, we must only base our opinions on what the city manager has given us and Willdan.
While I'm sure you think these figures are accurate, Lynn, there many amongst us who don't have the same rose colored glasses you view anything this person does through.
We all like the PBSO--that has never been the argument. It has all been about costs for me and has been from inception, three years ago. I don't look at the CM through any colored glasses. The Internal Auditor would have nothing to do with this Policing Study. I want to wait and hear the presentation tonight. Anyone on the other side of an argument will look for flaws and conspiracy theories and reject the report for this, that or the next thing. There is no doubt that PBSO will cost millions more than we can afford. Lets go into this with an opened mind. I like the PBSO and truly hope that it can be proved that we can afford them. Afterall, 80% of them are our former Lake Wroth cops.
ReplyDeleteLynn we cannot afford to lose PBSO because to do so will have a dramatic effect on the value of property in this city. No one will invest here if there is a perception that crime is out of control. If the gangs move back with the drug dealers and we lose control over the situation the remaining properties in this city with any value will fall even more. Each drop in values costs us millions. The study does not address this. We have turned the corner on crime. We now need to bring back our neighborhoods and businesses. To do that we need PBSO. This city can't keep a bathroom clean at the beach and it will not keep us safe. Now is the time to invest in what works and move us out of this mess creating a perception that Lake Worth has it's act together and this is the up and coming place to move and invest. Ending the PBSO deal will take us backwards and we can't afford that.
ReplyDeleteAs a lawyer, you must have the facts to support your case. What do the thousands of cities do without the PBSO? They hire GOOD and GREAT management. That is what makes the difference. We still have the PBSO resources at our disposal. We pay for them already. Your argument seems to be an emotional one. You actually go into the bathroom at the beach? The bathrooms are being maintained.
ReplyDeleteyou been in the men's?
ReplyDeleteHere's a fact:
ReplyDelete407 S. J St sold for 190,000 in 2005. It sold again in 2006 after it was fixed up and made to look real cute for 225,000. It sold recently for 49,900. Can you believe that a house with land and everything sells for 49,900. What did the drop in value cost this city in tax dollars. A great deal since we have a 50,000 homestead exemption law. Why does no one want to live on south J. How about the lack of code enforcement and the fact that things may not be safe. How do we turn that around. First you need to keep PBSO and next you need to bring back code. Stanton with the commissions approval destroyed code. We cannot allow her to take control of our safety. As to the bathrooms: Joe Kroll told me they are cleaned once a day. Can you imagine what they look like in a few hours. These are real facts that we cannot ignore. Do you know how many convicted felons and sex offenders live on J street? We need all the help we can get and I hope that you will reconsider and look at what we have to lose in dollars if the crime rate goes back to what it was.
John--PBSO has been here for nearly 3 years. They or you can't use the excuse that they are the new kids on the block and our city continues to go down the tubes. Property values will come back eventually bit it is not the City's fault. Much of the Code fines were uncollectable and magistrates allowed code violators to get off the hook. You can fine people to death but you can't make them pay. Code should be stronger and enforced.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Men's room, are you telling me that you guys miss the urinal?
It has nothing to do about fines but everything to do about enforcement of city code laws. Why can I buy a $40,000 dollar dump and rent it to 15 illegals at $125 a month each? Because the city lets me get away with it. Do you know that within 1 mile of South J there are 15 sexual offenders living. Within two miles there are 41 ofthese guys and within 3 miles there are 80 men registered as sex offenders. This is no country club that can run on a half ass police dept. I hear the ladies room is much worse than the mens. Seems like you are unmovable no matter what facts I present.
ReplyDeleteSexual offenders have rights, unfortunately. The City can't stop them from living here only if they reside and break the law. They all are not moving to LW. because I am sure that they have heard about us having strong policing. They can't live within 1,000 feet of a school or bus stop, etc. If they are continuing these acts, why isn't the Sheriff arresting them? Look, in three years we still have lots of crime and lots of problems.
ReplyDelete