I believe in repeating myself when it comes to opinions in which I feel passionately. Getting to the point, if it takes reciting the facts over and over again, is okay with me. I use this tactic all of the time. However, gang banging is not cool.
The Finance Advisory Board has discussed the idea of a Survey in order to get the ideas of the citizenry and what is important to them and what, if anything, they would want to cut in the Lake Worth Budget in order to help solve our shortfall of $4.5 million. Lofty. We already heard some of the ideas that came from the Compass meeting as well as City Hall just recently which clearly show that most of these people shouldn't even be working on their own personal budget, if they even have one, much less our multi-million City Budget.
The FAB Board said "no," not only once but twice to developing a survey and for all the obvious reasons some of which are--questions on the survey must be immediately clear, and they must be phrased in such a way not to lead and get a personal desired result. Surveys can be stacked and the results pre-determined. This idea of a survey, once again, is political and will be just as ineffective as the Jennings survey done by Michael Singer on the beach redevelopment...stacked deck.
The last time a member of the FAB brought the idea of developing a survey to the Board, the vote was 5 to 1 to reject. Instead of accepting this vote and moving on to the Boards' mission and the reason it was founded in the first place, the survey idea was obviously appealed to a higher authority--Commissioner Maxwell who gets turned on by screaming about everything these days.
Maxwell is up for re-election this November so surveys tickle his fancy. He has placed it on an agenda for discussion at a joint meeting that he has requested with the city commission and the FAB this Wednesday at 5:30pm at Compass with the idea that a survey will help balance the city budget to assure that the Palm Beach County Sheriff Office remains as our law enforcement arm. He has dragged the Vice Mayor, two commissioners and six members of the Finance Advisory Board to a workshop on a subject, developing a survey, that has nothing to do with the Budget. Just more political mumbo jumbo.
When is the word "no" really "no?"
Keep hitting us between the eyes.
20 comments:
No more "volunteer"boards! They are political appointments for friends.They always deteriorate into what the FAB board has become-a vehicle for one political view or the other. The girl has no shame. neither does the Commissioner who is using this board.
I feel personally hurt that Commissioner Scott Maxwell never surveyed me to see if I wanted this survey.
I am going to have to defend Commissioner Maxwell, possibly not so much on this subject, but on the subject of the welfare of Lake Worth in general.
Did you know that Commissioner Maxwell was (is) the only commissioner to reach out to the public for insight into how and why the 26.4 kV voltage conversion went bad. He spent hours with both Mary Lindsey and Bill Coakley reviewing what went wrong in the past, and more importantly, what would, and could, go wrong with the present plan. He admittedly is no expert on the subject of electrical power, but he was in there willing to learn. He now has a basis for questions that the utility must answer for it to move ahead with their plans. He also phoned out-of-state experts who were uniquely familiar with LW and its present, and former, conversion plans to receive their opinion as to the cost effectiveness of the present plan, and whether it had any hope of succeeding (it has no hope of succeeding in its present form as it will bankrupt the city).
Say what you will about Commissioner Maxwell, but he is the only person on the dais who actually attempts to dig out the facts.
Reached out to the public on the 26.4kv conversion and why it went bad? Please now. It was bad TO BEGIN WITH and years ago no one wanted to listen...it was crappy politics once again. The present plan is the 13.2kv, the only sensible plan as stated years ago by the Electric Utility Task Force Chair, Bill Coakley.
You're big on public input, letting the public speak, letting the people vote etc. Now you're totally against it, why? Because you know what the people want is to keep PBSO and the survey will prove that. Then the commission will be voting against the will of the people. I say let them get rid of PBSO, so we'll all be rid of Stanton and the anarchist allaince for good. If the city couldn't keep it's citizens safe for $14.1 million 5 years ago, how will they do it for $10 million today? And PLEASE don't say because we have a strong city manager, because you are the only person that believes that bull.
Lynn,
You are over reading and over reacting to what the poster said. Commissioner Maxwell asked to be brought up to date with both the former and the present conversion plans.
Yes, the 13.2 kV is the correct voltage, but the proposal in its present state will bankrupt the city much quicker than the 26.4 kV conversion plan did. How? By installing a smart grid and by converting the residences East of Federal to underground, the plan will spend the entire $22 million on those two upgrades along........and not convert a single residence to the 13.2 kV.
The present plan is a failure before it gets off of the drawing board. That is what Commissioner Maxwell is attempting to accomplish for the welfare of LW.......he went to the bottom of the plan, found out its deficiencies, and will work with the utility to bring the costs back under control. Name me another commissioner who has accomplished anything even remotely similar?
Wow . We're supposed to kiss the ground because a commissioner is actually doing some homework on a subject ? Too bad Commissioner Maxwell was not this diligent when he voted to get us into this HORRIBLE FMPA contract in the first place!Yes, he was on the past Commission that wrecked us.Thankfully for all of our wallets ,we will soon be out from under the contract!Commissioner Maxwell does not represent his district.Had he done a survey in his OWN DISTRICT!!! He would have supported the purchase of the Sunset property. He also would have supported the Beach/casino remodel. I walked door to door in this whole district. too bad Commissioner Maxwell didn't. Next election I hope that someone will step forward who is interested in helping our district,and not their own personal agenda.
No one has been asked to either kiss the ground, or kiss the behind of Commissioner Maxwell. But realize this; if the conversion plan, in its present form, is passed by the commission, then LW will take one giant step toward insolvency. Rather than bad mouth a commissioner who is attempting to obtain the facts, it might be worth asking why the remaining commissioners are not doing the same.
The only BULL, is having a policing service that we can NOT afford...I don't care if it is 5 years ago or NOW. And I don't give a rat about what it cost then under a corrupt commission. What I do care about is what it is costing NOW.
As far as commissioner Maxwell doing anything on a plan that was recently introduced by Clay Lindstrom, I haven't heard a peep from him. Glad to know he's "doing something about it." Perhaps he will soon let all of us know what it is he is doing. There were several people who gave him tips on the under-grounding aspect of the plan. Your complaint seems to be with the underground utility lines east of Federal which has nothing to do with proceeding with the 13.2kv conversion throughout the city.
Lynn,
I am sorry to say, but you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Listen closely: The underground east of Federal and the Smart Grid are a portion of the overall conversion. You were there the day Clay presented this, so why would you make such an uninformed statement? If, as Clay and the utility wish, the smart grid and the underground are undertaken, you will have spent the entire $22 million on something that will not convert one home to the 13.2 kV. I understand that you do not possess an electrical background, but PLEASE do not attempt to correct those who do possess such knowledge as you simply make yourself look bad.
You're right. I don't know much about electric utility upgrades but I can wager to say that Maxwell knows less.
Let's get back to the topic of the blog.
Anonymous at 8:52--I thought I made myself clear as to why I don't support it. As you know, I said at the FAB meeting when it was first suggested that I thought it a great idea for city hall, not the FAB, but not now. It takes a lot of time to develop a survey that is fair. You just won't take "no" for an answer. Reason is what IS necessary right now, and $3 mil is definitely NOT.
Anonymous poster above at 12:31 PM
I delayed posting the suggestion below on LWM, because Scott showed interest and was willing to meet.
The solution is simple. PUBLICLY ask for the cost estimates including labor, materials, and engineering on completing the upgrading and undergrounding of one feeder from the 15th avenue substation. Then let us review those estimates. That's it.
For some reason, Scott hasn't followed up since March and hasn't done anything I know of. He hasn't returned my calls but it doesn't matter... the plans are still intact so somebody needs to carry the ball.
Remember, the utility director misinformed the commission and wanted a million dollars for a booster station to get WPB water. Perhaps she was hoping that no one would see the booster station was already there in plain sight.
So this is no different, its just more waste on the way which is the legacy of this utility director. So rather than argue about it, you can stop her right in her tracks by making her produce the figures to justify the claims and watch what happens.
And I'm sure Lynn would agree that if the underground figures are not scrutinized ...it could jeopardize the upgrade. Right??
William Coakley
All figures should be scrutinized. All I am saying is eliminate the underground work and the 13.2kv can continue.
Both William and Lynn are one-half correct. The Smart Grid alone will easily cost the city the entire $22 million allocated. The underground will cost an additional $10 to $15 million......and that is before a single substation or distribution transformer is purchased. Clay's plan, as put forth, is unworkable and may be an even larger misappropriation of funds than what Adair and Srednecki had proposed. Yes, the 13.2 kV is correct, but little else makes financial sense.
While Maxwell may have voted for the all requirements project, it was the bad acting Mulvay who was one of the staff members who supported that crazy plan. Oh that is right, he is still in control and in charge of a power plant that has lost money every year it’s been with FMPA. Isn’t it the same Dave Mulvay who was one of the biggest proponents of the 26kV who provided all the bad data and financial information to persuade the commission to move on the 26kv rather than the 13.2. Two huge blunders so what does LW in its infinite wisdom do, hand him 22 million dollars to squander away on a project he was adamantly against, makes perfect sense to me. What about the other staff members who supported the 26kV, oh that’s correct they are going to assist Mr. Mulvay again insuring the conversion is a failure, great plan. Start placing the blame where it belongs, at least Maxwell is working to be on the correct side of the issue by being informed, what a novel concept. They wonder why they are going bankrupt.
happen to like Mary Lindsay's bony fingers. They point to facts and back up her opinion of events and decisions made and that are being made now.
I disagree vehemently that if Maxwell said the PBSO cost too much, and it does, and suggested changing back to our own LWPD, that we'd all rally around him.
At the citizen meeting that residents gave up their Saturday to attend, only one commissioner thought it important to attend. The others were welcome if they really cared about what we thought.
There were even Sheriff deputies there so Suzanne could feel safe from her constituents.
PBSO is more professional and CHEAPER than if we had stayed with our own department. We were unhappy with the costs of the old department, the lack of resources, the lack of their ability to combat our gang problem and too few cops on the street.
Cara diverted money that could have been used for better security for our residents and renovated the Illegal Hiring Hall. What a success that was!
The premise for the study was a farce but there was some little bits of good information that can be useful in the upcoming negotiations, if they truly want any negotiations.
We need to find a way to keep the PBSO through cuts in level of service and raising of revenue. Let's start at the top at city hall. How many people have been laid off at the TOP?!?!
Well to let you know why three commissioners did not attend, it was A POLitical RALLY. Got it? That is why 36,000 people did not attend.
Why would anyone want to fire anyone at the top? Management now has a handle on it. We have some excellent staff. Let's come up with some better ideas.
You can't get any better than Steve Carr in Finance. Are these people telling us that they don't trust Steve Carr? They have trust issues and need to take it up with their shrink. I am finally trusting the city after years of mickey mouse decisions.
Betty
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