Comment Up
This week, the local newspaper ran an editorial entitled Do You Really Believe that? condemning a citizen(s) for public commentary on the pool and the algae growing in it--told we "negatives" to find out/ask what the problems are with the pool before spewing "inaccuracies and fueling fire" or ridiculing the commission and staff.
No one is searching for conspiracies in Lake Worth. All of us are way too active and busy for that. The biggest problem that fuels doubt with the city government is the lack of transparency coming out of city hall. No one is giving this commission "flack" for the pool closure. What we are doing is just trying to find out why it is closed and when it will re-open and under what conditions. This is not too much to ask after three years of closure and this administrative staff, as well as the past, wanting to get rid of our pool. What would have been appropriate was telling the public that the pool pump was broken and the algae would be cleaned up soon. This had to be dragged out of staff because of one photo showing green water and a caption reading "Is this just another excuse to keep it closed?"
Now the Herald did exactly what he accused others of doing--fueling the fire. The Lake Worth Herald editorial states that the city has contracted with an outside pool company for the pool operations--now this is the exact sort of thing that keeps the embers burning because the statement is flat WRONG. An "inaccuracy." Who would have thought an error could be made by a newspaper for not checking out the facts. One phone call would have determined the truth.
According to the Recreation Manager, Juan Ruiz, "We have not contracted with any company. We will have our plans finalized and made public next week once we finalize a few details."
But this is another thing that bothers me. Why don't we, the public, even know that the city is looking to contract out for pool operations, if they are, that is? Is that, too, something that has been in the wind for 7 months and we just flat missed it or just another policy decided behind the scenes? After checking the city's web site, I could not find an RFP for a
private company to operate our pool. Perhaps one exists, I just could
not find it. The Herald's suggestion of "working in a positive direction" is sometimes trickier than one could ever imagine when the public and some members of the commission are kept in the dark. This is done willfully and obviously with commission approval. All of these things should be given in the city manager's report, a report that we NEVER see.
Pool equipment needs to be constantly checked and maintained whether the pool is closed or not. Sometimes things just wear out. When a city continues to ignore the public, it is human nature to believe the worst. Our trust just gets thinner and thinner and soon, just like that pool pump, the trust wears out.
That is all so true. It seems that the commission just wants to get out of there and go home early or get to Dave's Last Resort before last call.
ReplyDeleteLOL
ReplyDeleteI believe that last call is near 2am when they have to close but your point is well taken. Keeping the public in the dark is deliberate, IMO.
PEOPLE GET A CLUE --THEY DONT WANT THE POOL OPENED BECAUSE THEY PUT MILLIONS INTO THE CASINO--THEY DONT NEED ALL THOSE KIDS AND TRASHY PEOPLE HANGING AROUND THERE---PUT THE POOL IN THE CULTURAL PLAZA --THE TRASH IS STILL THERE SO IT WONT MAKE A DIFFERENCE--WHERE IS THE CLASS IN LAKE WORTH---ARE THEY ALL USE TO A BELOW STANDARD OF LIVING--SINCE THE AVERAGE WAGE IS 20,000 OR SO A YEAR-WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THAT----RIGHT-- A CITY LIKE LAKE WORTH
ReplyDeleteThanks for getting the FACTS to us again, Lynn. A certain local editor might be able to do the same if he would remove his head out of the a$$es at City Hall once in a while.
ReplyDeletecome on helen time for your pool report. lynn, as the city manager reported, we cannot afford the pool. also, you say the pool has been closed 3 years. could it be open during the casino project? i say no. why would you think the city needs to notify us regarding a pool operations contract. ridiculous, let them do their job. katie, please stop speaking on behalf of residents, your biting approach is never fact based.
ReplyDeleteWhy shouldn't we know when the city is outsourcing contracts? Why don't you believe that we have the right to know this? What if they decided to de-annex...would you then believe you had a right to know?
ReplyDeleteAs an anonymous poster, please do not use another citizen's name unless you want to sign in with your complete name. Thanks and please refrain from smart comments towards people who do have the guts to speak their minds.
its a huge leap from pool contract to de-annex. sort of like notifying us when a cell phone contract is changed. you do post names of residents you dont like in posts by the 2 people i mentioned. you know, whats good for the goose.
ReplyDeleteHi -Ho,all. Katie here. I was cut to the absolute QUICK by the comments of the poster at 12:40. My comments are never biting. I have told people to go bite themselves(and believe me,honey,nobody else would want to bite those people)but that is not the same thing. Of COURSE we can afford to operate our pool! We ran it wonderfully for DECADES. We ran it well with Commissioners even more stupid than we have today!(I know, it's hard to believe ,but you probably were not around to witness the antics of Bo, Tom, or Mac).I'm sure that our city manager was misquoted as saying that we could not afford the pool. Either that or his bow-tie was too tight, resulting in not enough oxygen getting to his brain. Why, our own Mayor Pam stated in a public meeting that Profit is not a motive in judging our assets! Anything done in this city is done with my money . And your money, poster at 12:40. Maybe you don't want to know what is being done with your money, poster, but I do. Actually ,poster , I have to say that you sound a bit lazy. Or gullible. Or perhaps both.In ANY case, once our pool is opened, I plan to find out your identity 12:40, and have you PERMANENTLY BANNED! THERE! Now go off in the corner and cry. And none of else will feel ONE BIT sorry for you ! Katie
ReplyDeleteWe have the right to know everything going on this city.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 1:16--the people to whom you refer use their names--they are known to me. You, on the other hand, post anonymously.
ReplyDeletegads zooks, the only people who read that are Loretta Sharpe, Greg Rice, Scott Maxwell, Mary Lindsey and Wes Blackman. I don't even read it.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the Commission can approve delivery service from Dave's to the chambers on meeting nights to enhance the patience of our Commission members.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone factored the daily parking revenue into the budget for reopening the pool? $100 a day seems easily attainable with our new hourly charge- that equals over $36,000 a year and would go a long way to making it at least affordable, perhaps even profitable, to reopen this olympic size ocean front facility.
1:18 you seem to love to edit. the mayor said the pool should be sustainable,you know , pay for itself. the city manager called the pool an amenity we could not afford. like i said, your facts are suspect. we are drowning in debt partly because of a bad business plan at the beach. curiously you failed to name the commissioners responsible. how about their "antics". anyway,meet you in the line when pool passes go on sale.
ReplyDeletehahah. I still don't understand why you refer to that little thing as a "newspaper". It's just a blog on paper.
ReplyDeleteAnd someone at the blog on paper should do us all a favor and take an English Composition course.
L.D. WHY DISS BLOGS SOMETIMES A BLOG CAN BE BETTER THAN A NEWSPAPER
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard the meeting on line I thought the city manager mentioned they were looking into someone possibly managing the pool.
ReplyDeleteThe Lake Worth City Commission and City manager are incapable of making our swimming pool personnel do their jobs. They show of incompetence is again shown by their stop gap answer: We don't have the money. Not capable of creating revenue generating projects, even the simplest thought For instance: Years ago, a prominent citizen explained:
ReplyDeleteOpen the pool and people who will be using this magnificent Olympic size pool will pay hundreds of thousands in parking fees enough to pay for employees salaries and profits, if professionally managed. Young children (thousands ) will be taught swimming in order to prevent drownings, seniors will be doing aqua aerobics, athletes training for the Olympics, visitors attracted by the 10 year efforts that re-created the 1921 Mediterranean style Lake Worth Casino…All paying for parking, revenue to the City!!!!
Open the Citizens owned pool now and start gaining revenue for the General Fund. If the City manager hates a Citizen he can boycott this plainly visible solution for the opening of Citizen's owned, not City Manager's public Lake Worth pool! Thank you to all the people who worked on the beach redevelopment, especially our casino and pool..
10:57 what in the world are you smoking? we donot have swimming pool personnel, which is why we are trying to contract it out. we donot have the money,which is why a casino payment was not made. hundreds of thousands in parking revenue, please get a grip. were you for or against revenue generators like a 6 story hotel, rental apartment village and maybe well taxed vacation rentals. i am guessing but might your prominent citizen be a former portly mayor who started us on financial ruin before bailing out of town.
ReplyDeleteYou believe that development is the answer to everything...how misinformed can you be? That "portly" mayor wasn't portly then just like you weren't old and grey and mean. His daughter and son in law still live here. He has done a lot for LW High School, this city and beyond. Don't come over here and insult my extended family.
ReplyDeleteStop throwing stones at people.
no that development is not the answer to everything. it just happens to be all we have. my comments were meek compared to the way you attack residents. you also allow vicious comments by your friends.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason that this city manager is shown to be lacking the direction or wherewithall to run the city. And if people don't continue to complain nothing will be done.
ReplyDeleteThis situation of neglect, I believe, is on purpose... ANY one of the "solutions" would work. There is a problem with motives here.
It reminds me of the time Rodney Romano took a wrecking ball to the Casino saying it was an unsound building (even though the elevators were certified regularly as being safe, among other proof the building was sound).
If you dig a little deeper you could find motives floating around.
And, swimming lessons, so important for kids, is self-funding. Get a grip people, grow up and do your jobs.
MB
Well, I disagree with you that "is ALL WE HAVE."
ReplyDeleteWe don't need AFFORDABLE HOUSING like we need another hole in our heads. This commission that you support is selling out Lake Worth for a lot of bad development--we can't get enough of it--Pugh property rentals on the railroad tracks and now 216 units across from where I live. This will all be, in five years or so, subsidized housing for the poor. We will be lucky to get one darn dime from it.
As far as allowing personal attacks from commenters lately, how does it feel to get back some of your own medicine? Comments are allowed on public figures and it is my call whether they get published or not. You should see some that I don't allow. I do not allow personal comments on what people look like, their weight, their age, etc. I put yours up to show how miserable some people are. Give me one example where I personally attacked a resident. because some disagree with your narrowly focused values of life does not mean they are personally attacking you. If the 'attack' is true, it stays. I go after Obama every day. SO????????????????????
This is an opinion blog and as such, I get crackpots, liberals, socialists, people with their hands out as well as those who want to sell off our city for the first miserable buck. I deal with it daily. They all can post here and let off steam as long as they stick to the subject.
The mean and nasty comments are over on Blackman's blog. He encourages personal attacks especially against Lynn, Suzanne, katie, Deee or whatever the flavor of the day is. Sad group of miserables and Loretta really needs to shut up.
ReplyDeleteAssess each dwelling 50 bucks a year for pool and trolley. Charge a nominal fee like a buck for the trolley and 2 bucks for the pool. Day fees. If a profit is shown lower the assessment the next year or leave the profit in the fund with full accountability.
ReplyDeleteFine idea!!
ReplyDelete