Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Lake Worth Votes in New City Manager

Comment Up
Michael Bornstein
Showing solidarity, the vote was unanimous from the
Lake Worth Commission

It was an interesting night. Both candidates who remained (Lipscomb bowed out for personal reasons) where in the Chamber with their wives to witness the results and listen to the commentary.

It started off with the Mayor wanting to call the vote until Commissioner McVoy thought it prudent that the commission discuss it. He was right. We all wanted to hear what our elected officials had to say and the reasons for their eventual choice as they all admitted that both candidates were top notch with different virtues and values.

Suzanne Mulvehill nominated James Titcomb, seconded by McVoy. The motion failed on a 2/3 vote. Andy Amoroso then nominated Michael Bornstein. That motion passed with all 5 commissioners voting in tandem.

It took exactly 103 days from the firing of Susan Stanton to hire a new city manager who, as it turns out, has worked next door in the city of Lantana for the past 12 years. The mayor of Lantana, Dave Stewart, along with a Lantana commissioner were there giving him all sorts of accolades. Stewart said that Bornstein was a great asset, had grown with them and was a people person. He can take an unhappy resident and show them the"goodness" in the decision. Bornstein has not raised taxes in 11 years in Lantana. That fact was definitely appealing to our Commission.

Suzanne Mulvehill nominated Scott Maxwell to begin salary and benefits negotiations with Mr. Bornstein and our city attorney, Elaine Humphreys. It was seconded by Commissioner McVoy and all agreed. The salary range is between $129,365 up to $187,553. Mr. Bornstein's appointment is contingent on successful negotiations. If for some reason the negotiations don't work out, James Titcomb is in the wings.



9 comments:

Anonymous said...

How glorious it will be to finally see Lake Worth move forward. Cannot wait for November, when we can get rid of the rest of the Dead Wood on the Dias.

Lynn Anderson said...

Lake Worth HAS been moving forward. Where have you been? Listening to Maxwell too much?

Anonymous said...

Bornstein is actually the weakest candidate of the three who were remaining, in my opinion. Why would anyone think that he can move LW forward? What has he done? Besides let Sun Recycling get away with treating our residents like they don't matter??
It was a mediocre bunch, at best. Just goes to show you how unfit those people are to select an executive, that they thought this guy was "a superstar". He'd be riding the pine on my team. Funny that someone would describe as "dead wood" the only commission that was able to fix the beach! Maxwell tried to stop it the whole time. Is that the kind of "progress" people are looking for? Guess they're going to get it now.
This commission will ride the back of the wave that was created by Jennings/Golden/Mulvehill and then it will be back to the days of the good ol boys and let's develop develop develop with no sense of place. Oh well. Politics are cyclical in nature, so this too will run its course. But I have no confidence that Bornstein will do anything creative, or even meaningful. Too bad for us, we settled for this.

Anonymous said...

Wish Mr. Bornstein well. Certainly, he should be familiar with City of LW and the challenges of small city politics. I wish him every success.

Anonymous said...

He will do ok as long as he does not allow himself to be jerked around by Maxwell and all his short fused friends.

Anonymous said...

Why would Maxwell want him? It is because he believes he CAN jerk him around. Don't let it happen Michael.

Anonymous said...

Commissioner Maxwell,certainly did not get along with the former C.M.
Nor did she with him.I think the lack of respect was evident from both parties.I really don't know how I would react to an employee that I asked for information over and over to no avail.Maybe I would be called a bully.

Lynn Anderson said...

Ya know, it's all in how you ask for something. Even to this day, maxwell has complained on occasion that he doesn't get the backup that he requested. He doesn't jump all over Steve Carr now does he? He doesn't treat him disrespectfully. Respect and civility go both ways.

Anonymous said...

Not if you are just an employee.