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Don't you hate someone trying to beat you out of something...when city officials ignore your vote?
In November 2010, voters by 72% voted to support the Inspector General's office and that office has been grossly short-changed. Years back, Sheryl Steckler, our first IG, said, "the most profound issue is my unsuccessful bid
to parry the cities’ suit -- it threatens my ability to sue local governments
and officials who refuse to cooperate with our investigations and turn
over records." In other words, those cities that refused to pay, blocked her ability to do her job and the will of the voters.
Just a few days ago, on June 29th, we wrote about those cities that have not paid their obligations to the Inspector General's office. Now the Palm Beach Post's editorial says it's a small price to pay ($1.80 per county resident per year) and the cities should drop its law suit.
While the lawyers file more papers, the county’s biggest cities have
become deadbeats. West Palm Beach (which owes $809,860 for its share of
IG operations since 2011), Boca Raton ($576,394), Delray Beach
($498,668) and Riviera Beach ($244,937) have paid exactly nothing.
Boynton Beach (which owes $264,797 since 2011) has paid $50,971. Lake Worth ($221,501) has paid $34,159.
Read the Palm Beach Post article
12 comments:
It's about time someone called this city out.All they care about is stupid stuff like raft races and flocking or some stupid thing like that.We have serious problems and no one is looking after the store.Andy just wants to attract more business.Everything is focused around the downtown businesses. Sick.
Hey doucebag at 9:07am
Did it ever occur to you that having thriving and growing businesses on Dixie, Federal and in the Lake Worth downtown quarter employs Lake Worth residents, is a gathering spot for residents to acquire their morning Starbucks, get their hair cut, jewelry repaired, be entertained at the Bamboo Room, buy horse supplies and pet suoplies, music lessons, headstones and glass art, and for heavens sake eat at a bunch of great restaurants and shop local at interesting art and gift stores. It also prevents us from being a grocery store oasis… say like Riviera Beach, while providing Lake Worth with tax revenues from SalesTax, ad valorem tax....
Want to reduce crime, then create an environment that invites businesses and fill vacant commercial buildings and you get the added bonus of not having druggies and homeless from crashing on the floor in dilapidated an unkept vacant buildings that don't pay their real estate taxes.
I've read this blog for a long time and there's a lot of people here who just moan and complain about "development" and those who are trying to clean up the blight and bring businesses in the area. That is how you lift less fortunate communities, put our people to work and build thriving neighborhood - it's about job creation.
Would you rather have a downtown it looks like the abandoned auto factories in Detroit? Have you seen their housing market? Have you seen their jobless rate? Talk about living in a flipping.ghetto!!! And there's no way out for those how have chosen to remain there or simply can't escape.
You know what I don't see you here? I don't see any of the people on this blog bringing tenants forward that are viable and suitable for places like the upstairs space at the casino, or the already built vacant commercial buildings on Federal, or Dixie, or Lake, or Lucerne. Nope, they're just the first to bitch and moan and complain.
Don't you get tired of yourselves? We have the potential of being a great little city by the sea, and I'm one of thousands who wants to help make that happen.
Wow--we just got an ambassador for the city. If this is an elected official, you all have had plenty of time to do something here. If this is the CM, well there are no words.
It is not a citizen's job to find a tenant for the ballroom. We elect you bozos to do the job--listen to the voters, hire the right people to get it done. If stores are vacant, then we have irresponsible landlords charging too much rent and writing it off as a business loss. Look to the owners of these shops and ask them why they are empty. Don't be asking me. How stupid is that?
We are already have a great little city by the sea. Just get rid of the slum, blight and crime and you might find someone who wants to invest here. Good luck as ya'all haven't done much in that regard.
What we get tired of are people like you.
"I've read this blog for a long time and there's a lot of people here who just moan and complain about "development" and those who are trying to clean up the blight and bring businesses in the area. That is how you lift less fortunate communities, put our people to work and build thriving neighborhood - it's about job creation."
Hey anon at 3:35-Seriously? You obviously NEVER read Lynn's blog. Lynn's readers LOVE lake Worth. We don't love (and neither should you) elected officials and staff who operate out of the sunshine and ignore the will of the people. Example of not listening-Mayor Pam Triolo pledging 3.2 million for the POC. Anon at 3:35, a majority of people said the POC is not a priority. And 3:35 do you realize that we don't own any property in the POC?And what staff member is making the Mayor look like a bigger fool than she normally does by feeding her numbers like 4,800 jobs were lost because we didn't get the handout from the state? And BTW, we would have gotten the grant if it had gone through the correct committee process and staff paperwork. WHAT HAPPENED TO FIXING OUR DAMNED POT HOLES, 3:35?????
And Lynn is right-it's not my job to come up with staff solutions for our city. I don't know just what in hell Lake Worth staff does for eight hours a day ,but something ain't Kosher, that's for damn sure. So anon at 3:35, loosen your bow tie so some oxygen gets to your brain and stop holding secret meetings out of the Sunshine. Maybe we should move city hall over to where Triolo, Maxwell and ex commish Szerdi all already have their offices together.
I'm not an elected official, or city staff and certainly not the CM. I am a citizen who actually pays taxes. The city is better run today than it was 5-6 years ago and things are improving despite all the negative bullshit that the likes of the red sign people fabricate.
And yes, well it's not your job to find a tenant for the vacant space in the upstairs casino… It's every citizen's responsibility to promote their city andencourage people to come to their town including businesses.
Surely there's some business that you would would like to see come to town! Say like a comic book store for your lame photo shopped, hateful and race baiting pics.
Hey… Just saw the news flash...
Even South Carolina lawmakers have had an incredibly honest debate about race relations and the Confederate flag's place in their state. I'm proud to be a Republican and give a shout out to Republican South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley for doing the right thing and call for the confederate flag to be removed from state house grounds. The vote 37-3 to remove the flag and the pole it flew on! And tomorrow is likely to pass a two thirds vote required to become law.
Guess you can teach an old dog new trick y'all, it ain't too late for the rest of ya!
Wow, Mr. Brilliance came back on my blog calling people racists, etc. Is that the best you can do? Even brought the Confederate Flag into it. Way to go. You're special.
What about just admitting the truth rather than telling everyone you pay taxes. Big whoopee. The Red signs--you don't like them? Why would anyone who wants to give our city casino complex away to a developer like any citizen outcry?
Where does Bornstein vote? It isn't Lake Worth.
Fools you are, sucked into your own blindness; you can't see the forest for the tree in front of your face.
Again, I pronounce, for those who are rather thick, this is not the CM, or staff, or elected official. It's just plain old me, a native one, born and bred, certainly before most you ever heard of Lake Worth, let alone immigrated here from some northern clime.
And since you brought up the.Casino, as I recall it was the previous 'Administration' splashed across the Post all smiling and grinning that came up with the failed business model, that screwed the original Green building as planned and elected to cut out features in the project, like omitting the pool in 'the plan' to trim money being spent.
And lest we not forget, it was the previous administration that did such s lousy job figuring the actual costs and then negotiated piss poor 10 leases at below market rates, which all leads us to where we are today... operating losses at the Casino.
I recall the old days when people of different opinions still loved their city and would never dream of purposefully maligning the city, its citizens, its elected officials and city staff or it's Wikipedia page with blatantly false accusations, innuendos, and public defamation.
You all are like a Gatling gun, spewing a lot of lead but often missing the target. And yet, like the Gatling gun, you indiscriminately mow down everything in your path.
Read your Charter, no one can 'sell' the beach. It's all a bunch of crap and dis-information being manufactured by the few and meant to distract the many, along with triggering the psychopaths and megalomaniacs.
And just FYI, my real estate taxes last year were $
$2,368... What was yours?
12:20--there are so many things in your rant that are just plain WRONG and LIES that I can't even address them as they have been talked about many times before.
You mention Wikipedia and made some stupid conspiracy out of that. Lake Worth zip codes and addresses are way west of here. Anyone could have written that page. Why not find out who did and tell us about it and then you can apologize for making another mountain out of a molehill. You look for trouble when non exists.
You really should listen when William Waters said during the ITN process that it was not a FAILED business plan at the beach. The plan came forward from Johnny Pickett head of the FAB at the time and the former finance director Steve Carr. They were under the hypotheses that the upstairs 3,000 feet would be rented. Also, the pool was not configured in the plan but YOU have put all pool costs into the beach fund plus some other costs into the pool that shouldn't even be there. You and Bornstein wanted it to fail...a white elephant he called it.
The Casino leases (10 you say?) were presented to the tenants, Mulligans, T-shirt company, Kilwin's and Mamma Mias at market rate. Previous leases at the old casino were also presented to the old tenants by the city. It was the city's lease to them to accept or reject.
I remember the old days when politics did not run amok and we had elected officials who were nice to people, allowed them to speak, returned phone calls and e-mails and did not allow public assassinations in the city chamber--as Bornstein would call it, the People's Temple. Now it is all dirty politics by your side and the bullies. I remember when we did not have political IDIOTS scrutinizing every T-Report for some little error and reporting people to the State. People were kinder. Politics got dirtier. And now we have a dais that is afraid of criticism--they would rather tear your head off of encourage someone else to do it for them.
NO one can sell the beach, we agree. We never have said that they could. But leasing a portion of it out for 20 years minus a day and then lease renewals, you can literally "sell" it for 99 years. So sink that one in your noggin.
Happy to know that you pay real estate taxes. Does that make you special? Who gives a hot damn? Your opinion is just that, taxes or not and by the way, flat wrong in many respects. We love this city and do not want to see it raped by developers or you. Poor, wealthy, gay or straight, we all have an interest in our city and don't want to see it continue to slide down from all the slum, blight and crime. In your extra time, find a solution for that if you are the CM or a commissioner. If you're not either, then speak out about it. Stop drinking the Koolaid that we have less crime. Stop worrying so much about the non important things in the city and concentrate on what could make it improve. It sure ain't flofing or whatever that is. Scott Maxwell dropped the ball in the slum and blight department. He NEVER talks about it.
At least someone in interested in putting people to work in PB county - but it involves the dreaded 'development' word! Oh no!!!!
Gov Scott with a stroke of his pen insures the MLB Nationals and Astros new spring training facility will be built at 45th Stret and Haverhill.
Some may say there's a conspiracy as the republican led Fl Senate passed a House land-use bill in April that essentially gave the green light for construction. The land-use change freed up 27 acres for a buffer zone back in April that essentially gave the green light for construction for the 160 acre facility proposed to sit on a former land fill which the City of WPB owns.
And which WPB had to negotiate a land swap deal (uh oh what's going on here?) with Palm Beach county in which the county would trade 1.8 acres of downtown land to the city for the 143.3 acre area where the baseball complex will be built. Wow imagine that, I wonder if any eminent domain was used for this public good!
Not many people bitching about the $108 million from PB county taxpayers contributions publically funding the facility - nope! People are actually glad will now have four MLB teams in Palm Beach County… And boosting economic development with an additional 100k to 220k visitors per year to the new stadium... and WPB, hopefully our city will see some of these people. State Economic Agency predicts Florida's economic impact estimated at $92 million - $228 million PER YEAR with a big chunk going directly to the local economy. And that will create thousands of jobs! Whew, I'm thinking Lynn's grateful this didn't end up at John Prince park.
Your comments about Steve Carr and I are 100 percent accurate and good for you for wading through the bullshit and saying the truth. The Casino building, had it been left as a separate entity, would be exceeding all of the financial projections we prut forth at th time. This in spite of th fact that the upstairs restaurant space (a significant percentage of the overall gross rentable space) was never leased and remains vacant to this day. I never expected the City to put it he building into a fund and then dump a bunch of financial losers in with it and then say "see, we told you it wouldn't work." That sentiment or statement is irresponsibly misleading to the public and flat out wrong on its face. What is worse is that those who are saying it know it is wrong, and are saying it for cynical and political reasons. Quite frankly, I resent the hell out of it and am glad you could set the record straight with your comments.
John Pickett
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