Lake Worth Election - Goliath won

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"Lake Worth politics is known for being testy and sometimes down-right nasty, with candidates hurling insults and spreading misinformation instead of debating issues.  This year was no different due to Hartman's presence. Hartman is a self-described anarchist and there was a palpable fear among many residents that if he prevailed, much of the progress the city has made would grind to a halt."

~ Kevin D. Thompson
Palm Beach Post Reporter

I don't know where Mr. Thompson gets his information but issues were debated in the three forums that we had in Lake Worth and in a few separate neighborhood associations where they invited those running just in their district. They answered everything thrown at them. And they answered, truthfully I might add, at the door. The challengers ran independently, unlike the Trio, but the incumbents mislead the public and told you differently.

I ask to what progress does Mr. Thompson refer?  The incumbents who were determined not to lose power and that free lunch, had $127,000 between them and ran as a Trio.They put out the despicable attack mailers, some using a PAC to do it.  Ryan Hartman was the perfect target and they instilled fear in the electorate.  Hartman explained his activism and being an environmentalist.  Just the word "anarchist" and people believe that ISIS is on their doorstep.

Even Andy Amoroso made an untrue comment when he said the city had just a few people who are so negative and who don't want to see the city grow. "Negative" to these incumbents is when you challenge them on anything. There were 2,257 voters who voted against Andy Amoroso so that is more than "a few."

 He also made a crack against his opponent, Frank McAlonan, that he didn't do a good job in stating his case. McAlonan went door to door stating his case but with the strong Republican Party presence and money that Maxwell brought to the table as well as PAC money in this election, the odds of anyone defeating any incumbent was close to impossible. The incumbents could afford professional campaign managers and campaign strategists and they used every trick in the book. At my precinct, you would have thought it was a national election with the Maxwell operatives and the Trio's poll workers.

So, this election came down to money, lies and power and the Trio's love of all three. This city will be more divided than ever now. I worry about my city.  I worry about Amoroso's statement to the press that we [challengers] don't want to see the city grow. We know what they have in mind.

 It was a David and Goliath Lake Worth election but this time, Goliath won.