and then kicks it anyway
This beach redevelopment has been going on for at least 12 years and we continue to kick the can down the road. Politicians have an ethical responsibility to put political ideology aside, drop all pretenses of being on the right side of the issue and stop calling each other names so we can start to deal with the tough choices we need to make if we are to avoid the downward path of recent years in Lake Worth. Everyone on our dais has a right to free speech. They were all elected, not just the "visionaries" and therefore they should not be condemned by Mayor Triolo for expressing an opinion.
When it comes to our Casino leases, the Commission members also need to disclose if they have any financial interest in the project or issue before them. Our Casino Leases are what will be the lifeblood of this project. For them, as well as our prospective tenants to be treated in the manner recently displayed at the last city commission meeting, is unacceptable, unprofessional and out of line.
With so many things out of whack in Lake Worth such as our crumbling and pot holed roads, out of control union benefits that are breaking the bank and the growing dependence on special assessments to keep our city afloat, this Commission needs to stay focused by reading and understanding the back-up documents, discuss thoroughly the topic before them and render an intelligent decision. Refer to the city attorney for some legal advice. Not all commissioners are doing this and not all are listening.
To spend 5 to 6 hours on beach leases and then pass the gavel at the end of the night to rescind all votes, is abuse of the Mayoral position and power totally out of control. The Mayor could potentially do this at every meeting as she is on the majority side. Therefore, I question the ethics of such a move and its legality. She ended up kicking the can down the road.
The only times that the gavel is used is to call a meeting to order, or when an assembly has become disorderly, to recess and to adjourn. It should not be used when a motion is or has been adopted.
On page 375 of Robert's Rules it states: ...if the Chair gave ample opportunity for members to claim the floor (speak to the issue) before the Chair puts the question, and no one rises, the right to debate cannot be claimed after the voting has commenced. In the case of the leases, debate was over for hours, the public got to speak as well as the commission body. A vote was taken on some of the leases and NY Pizza as well as Fox Surf were approved. At the end of the night, the Mayor rescinded those votes.
Tonight the can will no longer be kicked down the road. Staff, as well as our real estate broker Snitkin will now make double commission for kicking some old tenants to the curb. Staff and Snitkin did a remarkable job to ensure that our long-time previous tenants, NY Pizza and Lake Worth T-Shop, will no longer feel the pain as they leave our beach bruised and bloodied. They can also be proud that through a bidding war caused by their unorthodox "management" of the project as well as paranoia and belief that they would not have anyone wanting to lease at our building (thanks to a real estate broker who planted that seed), prospects were pitted against one another to an absurdity.
It appears that the new beach merchants will be:
Mama Mias, Units 1 & 2, 1,332 s.f. @ $35 per s.f.
Kilwin's, Units 3,4, 1,332 s.f @ $25 per s.f.
Fox Surf, Units 5,6, 1,348 s.f @ $30 per s.f.
Mulligans, Units 7,8, 5,002 s.f. @ $30 per s.f.
9 comments:
Looks like a great lineup of tenants.
At least the new visionaries had the sense to KICK STANTON'S CAN DOWN THE ROAD!
4 tenants int he entire building when we used to have twice that? Not such a great line-up--not such a great choice.
Whose decision was it to take units 1-6 and make them into only 3 vendors? It wasn't this commission. These were decisions made by Stanton, Margoles and the previous commissions. You could probably throw Snitkin in that group too.
You can definitely put Snitkin in that group. We are paying him a LOT of money to advise us correctly. He is responsible, along with the commission, for allowing the number of tenants to be reduced because some prospects demanded double space. This commission has gone along with that.
How many tenants were there before? How many now?
And Stanton, Margoles and the BCE are not responsible for any of this huh?
How would the Best Commission Ever be responsible for this? It was Staff and the real estate broker. In fact, the Visionaries could have said "no," we want tenants to have smaller spaces and more variety.
If you want variety, go to the flea market. We want quality.
Really profound stuff, anonymous above. Way to go!!!
Personally, to have many shops with a variety is much more interesting for shoppers. Prior to the prospects offering us the deal, we have 11 parcels at our beach that took up 8 stores including John G's.
I am finally happy to see our commission work and do something and think for themselves, instead of when Stanton was here and they all were like aliens following her. We are making great strides, the city is so much better, they are listening, they care, and the overall attitude of the city and its people is getting so much better. We all need to get beyond Stanton and the past and focus on our city and it getting better and better everyday. We might not all agree on all they do, but they are doing a lot more now and more is getting done. I think at least all of them do care a lot. We all need to be more positive and supportive, we need to all support this vision of a better city for all of us.
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