New City Board Appointments in Lake Worth

Comment Up
Knowing that City Board appointments are usually political (there are some exceptions such as Wes Blackman's appointment to the Historic Preservation Board and Chip Guthrie's appointment to the CRA), last night's board interviews were interesting in three respects:

1) When it came to the CRA, the Commission used its political clout once again. On a vote of 3 commissioners voting "for" (Waterman, Mulvehill and McVoy), it appointed Ozzie Ona to the Community Redevelopment Board. Ozzie has supported the majority commission to get elected and in so doing, the Commission appointed him to one of the most important and influential Boards in Lake Worth--the one with all the money and the one that has made some very bad decisions in the past and a Board that some feel needs closer oversight. Of course, supporters of the CRA would disagree with that. It was a good political move to help ensure that the CRA stays focused on slum and blight and spending tax dollars wisely. I just felt he was much more suited to the Community Relations Board. That would have been a perfect spot for him. My personal choice was Jessica Plotkin. I agreed with everything she had to say.

2) The Community Relations Board had an applicant who was on the defensive right from the getgo. When asked by Commissioner Maxwell, she became defiant and said that she did not have to fill out a Financial Disclosure form saying that she was not an elected official. However, the Palm Beach County Ethics Law says that all county, municipal and city advisory board members are subject to the ethics ordinances if they are selected by the Board of County Commissioners, municipal governing body, mayor or other chief executive officer of a municipality. This is a gift financial disclosure form. Perhaps that part of our form needs more explanation and/or research for accuracy.

Next, she referred to our PBSO as "dirty" police and wants to end police corruption and police crimes. She has been actively involved for ten years in cracking down on police enforcement and its policies. Her goal on the CRB is to "improve conditions of our over-run dirty police, solving crimes, re-organization of a broken system, and improving the current conditions of a dysfunctional government." She sounded like she came right out of the Pangioti playbook. She did not get chosen.

3) Former employee, Valerie Hurley, applied to two retirement pension boards: Employees and Firefighter's. It was concluded that since she is a recipient of a city retirement pension having been a former employee, that there could be the potential of a conflict of interest in serving on the Employee Retirement Board as a private citizen who would represent the taxpayer's interest. Scott Maxwell was the only Commissioner who voted for her. Also her daughter, an employee, serves on that Board.

The Firefighter's Pension Board is in a legal suit with the City and a few commissioners did not believe that they should appoint any citizen to that Board at this time. Mrs. Hurley was turned down on a 3/2 vote with Waterman and McVoy voting for Mrs. Hurley.

Results:
Community Redevlopment Board: Oswaldo Ona
Historic Resources Preservation Board: Juan Contin (great choice), Suvi Morales
Planning & Zoning: Kate Sheffield (great choice)
Community Relations Board: Henry Ponciano (great choice), Judith Just