Associations Valuable if Civility can be EnforcedBy: Rachel Waterman, Mayor of Lake Worth followed by two Letters to the Editor of the Palm Beach Post dissing Waterman
Regarding the article, "Mayor decries 'personal attacks,' will skip neighborhood forums," the important work that neighborhood associations can do is undermined when they become vehicles for the politics of division.
My life's work has been strengthening neighborhoods and resident leaders. I created Palm Beach County's Residents Education to Action Program and the Neighborhood Partnership Grant Program, and instituted a matching grant program in this year's budget to support Lake Worth's neighborhood associations. It even provides scholarship money for empowerment of leaders. I am a founding member of the Tropical Ridge Neighborhood Association; I am the only candidate who is a member of the association and who lives in the neighborhood.
I do not shy away from tough questions, but nothing can be accomplished during a screamfest. The environment at the Tropical Ridge association's forum was not one in which issues could be productively debated. The environment of any event is the responsibility of the sponsoring organization.
I meet with residents in their homes, businesses, churches, organizations and during my open office hours at city hall. I am standing up for all those who are tired of the political factions destroying our city's progress. I welcome everyone to join me in the middle.
RACHEL WATERMAN
Lake Worth
Editor's note: Rachel Waterman is the mayor of Lake Worth.
Mayoral leadership lacking
So Lake Worth Mayor Rachel Waterman feels that she was subjected to "vicious personal attacks" at a recent candidate forum. She obviously doesn't know what a "vicious personal attack" is. What former Lake Worth City Commissioner Cara Jennings did to Commissioner Scott Maxwell was a "vicious personal attack."
The mayor is supposed to lead, not duck and run from criticism. Mayor Waterman should take a ride down North Dixie Highway and look at all the closed businesses that couldn't make it because of Lake Worth's failed social reform policies. If you can't handle the hard questions at a community forum, you will never be able to handle the job of mayor.
DAVID FECHTMEYER
Lake Worth
Waterman should get over it
With reference to your article, "Mayor decries 'personal attacks,' will skip neighborhood forums," our novice Mayor Rachel Waterman needs to pull up her big-girl panties, answer the questions and get over it. She chose to run for political office. Anyone doing so in today's somewhat politically divisive society needs to temper whatever minutia comes her way. If this mayor does not "like" the tone or climate of meetings from the residents she is serving, she needs to go back to writing grants behind a desk.
HELENE JARVIS
Lake Worth
12 comments:
To David above, Waterman was subjected to vicious personal attacks. The Moderator should have interceded. It was shameful. Bryant Park and South Palm Park's forum was 100% superior. It all depends on whose running the show.
J.
They were not vicious. Nothing more than pointing out her own personal failures, of which there are many, to show that she does not have the ability to lead our City into a positive future. Rachel is a fraud and more and more of our residents see through her fraudulent rhetoric. Rachel in the middle... HA, ya right.
I absolutely agree that the TRNA forum was less than it could have been. However, in this letter of explanation, the easy explanation for all the problems in Lake Worth are the "political factions that are destroying our city's progress."
It's easy to blame the other guy. It's easy to put the blame on those of us who try and be involved whether it is through our neighborhood association, serving on a city board, speaking out at city commission meetings or what have you. This is, once again, putting the blame where it does not belong. We were not the ones who created the spending, the one-sided Union contracts, the waste, the taxes, the grabbing of the cash, etc. The Commission, including the Mayor, has not listened to us and through all of their lack of leadership, we have one person leading this city, Susan Stanton.
All of those on the dais now have to ask themselves why are their friends even turning away? Is it possibly something they might have done to deserve it all? Or do they know better than all of the rest of us as the CM believes.
We will find out on November 8.
Shes a member of that neighborhood ans she was treated like scum
Wrong! She should have been able to handle it, hands down. This isn't kindergarden, though Waterman has behaved like a child.
Shame on her.
Yes she is a member of Tropical Ridge Assoc.now. However she did not become a member till maybe a month before her first election. I am not sure of the exact dates. I have been a member of Tropical Ridge for almost three years and I attend almost all meetings. I have seen the mayor there maybe four times which include the forums. All one would have to do is look at the sign-in sheets.
Rachel is wasting City resources by having a PBSO deputy act as her own personal bodyguard who is posted outside her office during her open door office hours to speak to the residents schedule. Our local government squandering away resources! I am not surprised one bit. I am sure she will justify it with allegations of threats that she won't be able to prove. Enough is Enough already!
Mark A. Parrilla
Let's face it.... Rachel is a pitiful excuse for a Mayor. It wasn't a "screamfest" and she is tired of hearing from residents, in and out of meetings. You can feel and see her annoyance at public comment as she arrogantly won't let people even finish their sentence when her 2 minute egg timer goes off.
It is nice at any given election to be able to vote FOR someone as opposed to the lesser of two bad choices. I think this may be the case November 8th. We have a good candidate and one we hoped would be, but turned out to be a thin skinned childish brat who just stomps off if she doesn't like what someone is saying.
Great leadership!
It was very rough at that forum so don't think it wasn't. On the other hand, I think she is getting bad advice. She did a good job answering Dustin's BS.
If she can bungy jump in the nude she should be able to respond to the citizens of LW.
So let's assume this forum was rough, why would Waterman choose to skip the rest, they are all run differently by different groups.
She's not showing up at my neighborhood association forum so most likely I won't be voting for her.
Waterman has had her 15 minutes of fame, NOW she should just fade away
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