Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Commission Compensation for elected Lake Worth officials

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A cloudy day over Lake Osborne

There was a day when I advocated for higher salaries for our Mayor and Commissioners. That's when they had meetings where we actually learned something--facts were brought forth and decisions were made in the sunshine. Citizens spoke on every item. We had commissions that actually listened. But since this commission has been in power, we learn less and less about what's going on within the city.  Their main objective is to end meetings as early as possible and bully the public to remain silent and try and grab the cash whenever possible and ignore elections. Arrrr!

 Lake Worth Mayor Pam Triolo makes $15,400; commissioners: $14,400. they get a city cellphone or $1,200 allowance. This has been consistent for over a decade on an operating budget of around $30 million. They also have a travel and conference budget that is used to get more informed in the decisions that they make for you, or so they tell us.

Council members typically receive modest compensation for their work, usually because they serve on a part-time basis, so says the League of Cities.  Here in Lake Worth, we have not had a regular meeting since December 2. Prior to that, the last regular meeting was November 4. I would characterize that as part-time.

Until this commission returns phone calls and answers e-mails and disallows a deputy sheriff standing behind a citizen while he is speaking his 2 minutes at the lectern and gives respect to the people they serve, I think their compensation is more than adequate for all these cloudy days.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you Lynn, they cut meetings short, don't let the public speak on issues, do not return calls and emails. They vote on issues like giving our beach parking to Northerners. They do not deserve any more money. I am not voting for any incumbents come March.

Weetha Peebull said...

Keep D#2 McVoy - he listens and asks questions. The Mayor cuts him off (Illegally according to the city rules of procedure) when he isn't done debating! I probably disagree w/him on more than I agree and I'll vote for his ear 1st before chancing it on an unknown!

Lynn Anderson said...

Weetha-McVoy has voted the majority of the time with this commission. The only thing he is adamant about is global warming. Most all Democrats are. McVoy is honest and ethical and that is a combination that is rare these days. He's not trying to grab your cash or pull sneaky ones on the voters.

Anonymous said...

Keep drinking the McVoy koolaid gals. You've all basically lost all bring as is, so why stop drinking his punch now. He isn't proactive, does nothing to help the city, volunteers ZERO time into this city other than spread bad press about us. He's just as bad as Maxwell.

Lynn Anderson said...

McVoy is honest and he's ethical--two important qualities for an elected official.