Election Endorsements 2008

A Blast from the Past--2008

My endorsements on September 30, 2008

When scrolling back to 2008, there was a lot of coverage on Greater Bay and the near "theft" of our casino, pool and park in general. What a year. It took a lot of citizens to stop this but history has a way of repeating itself. Now we are going through beach "issues" again.

And September 30, 2008 was the start of this blog. What has changed the most for me is my politics. It took the election of Barack Obama and his tenure in office to permanently change my viewpoint and general attitude. In the beginning I was into his "hope and change" and gave him the benefit of any doubt. Now, I will never go back. The Democrat party is unrecognizable today.

As far as local politics, I will always speak up for our small town charm. And even in 2008, we were fighting off 99 year leases (to no avail--(they were overwhelmingly voted in and go against our Charter Amendment), something that will probably be on our March 2019 ballot on the Steinhardt property. After the city's survey, the ballot initiatives will be worded so carefully that everyone will fall for them in a positive vote.

The pendulum swings, always coming back to the same old things of the past...the same old fights and the people believing what the city tells them is the best for them.

Blast From the Past - Atlanta Braves

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"Nobody wants to leave. We love it down here.  But Next Year we go to Orlando.  Its like a Divorce.  It's Gone.  You Don't Look Back."

~ Bobby Cox - Braves Manager

And just like a stale marriage, the Braves took off for a more exciting city and something brand spanking new.

The West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium was built in 1962 and opened March 9, 1963. It closed in 1997 when the Atlanta Braves went on to greener pastures.  And using the word "divorce" is fitting. Our investment went right down the tubes. They threw us away like an old shoe, an old wife, for a younger and brand new model. The WPB stadium was finally demolished in 2002.

Construction cost was $1 million in 1962. That would be equivalent to $7,851,357.62 today or a 685.1% increase. The Braves now are looking back but they want something bigger and more expensive than that. They are looking at $10 million on up...flirting with a new prize that they can, in 20 to 30 years, abandon again--taxpayers be damned and the economic boom that they promised?  It will never materialize; it never does. 

Blast from the Past - Scott Maxwell

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The only time he speaks to citizens is when he is calling them liars or worse. Return a phone call?  Forget about that. Answer an e-mail?  No way. This happens with frequency. Lately he has his personality in check concealing a less pleasant or creditable reality. After all he has to show some sort of  normalcy towards the electorate.  Scott Maxwell is running again in District 1. His challenger is Ryan Hartman.

Below is an article republished with permission from the editor of the Lake Worth Tribune--

April 24, 2015
The Lake Worth Tribune

OPINION: Anyone Better Out There?

Something has to change. For the fourth or fifth City Commission meeting in a row, Commissioner Scott Maxwell reamed the private citizens who were in the audience, with so much venom spewing from his mouth that if anybody had lit a match, the room would have blown.

One word spoken from the audience in meager defense, and the mayor barked: “Quiet in the Chambers!”

Three members of law enforcement – Capt. Rolando Silva and two deputies – sat on the back bench. They should have taken Maxwell out and charged him with domestic abuse. It’s our house, after all, City Hall.

On Tuesday night, Maxwell railed against those opposed to plans for a Hudson Holdings-built convention center at our beach, accusing them of lies. They said they’d listened to the tapes of the ITN Committee meetings. He said from the dais he hadn’t. But he still accused them of lying about what was on them.

You really can’t take him seriously anymore. The name-calling, the screaming. But it doesn’t make it any more acceptable.

I’m not sure why he holds elected office here, or why anyone would vote for him. You wouldn’t if you saw him in action.

Lake Worth needs better representation. Let’s set politics aside. At a minimum, we need representatives who understand that they are public servants. We need people who will listen to us, and respect our wishes — on the beach, on the bond, on heights.

You don’t have to be the perfect candidate. You don’t have to be connected. You just have to be willing to listen.

— Margaret Menge, Editor

Blast from the Past - Lake Worth Newsletters

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Back when we got Newsletters from the City of Lake Worth that actually had some NEWS!

Click here

Quote of the Day - Wes Blackman

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"My logic is, if it's good for the Post, then it's good for me."

~ Wes Blackman

Although Mr. Blackman (a real estate sales associate with PALM BEACH EAST REAL ESTATE OFFICE LLC in West Palm Beach and an employee of Hudson Holdings, the guys who wanted to grab our beach), is talking about the real estate market in South Florida, we take him at his word with his quote on his blog and remind him of the Palm Beach Post endorsement in 2007 when he was running against Jo-Ann Golden, one of his favorite targets for hit pieces and character assassinations.

Obviously from his statement above, he agrees that the Post made the better choice. Golden won that election with 52.56% of the vote.

Steven Michael - Blast from the Past

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Fifteen months ago, Steven Michael made this announcement

and John Szerdi was still a city commissioner:

A Wes Blackman public video

Unfortunately, NOTHING has been done on this property other than to accumulate a few homeless, an occasional code complaint and a lien. Fast forward to today--John Szerdi got defeated; Wes Blackman resigned from the Historic Board and works for Hudson Holdings and nothing has been revitalized nor has new life been given to this historic property.

In yesterday's PBPost propaganda piece for the city Kevin D. Thompson continues to get it wrong. He, once again, omits the fact that the $6 million is money that we borrowed from ourselves to rebuild the casino and it has nothing to do with the city's propaganda that implies that we are having a hard time paying it back. The City has made this decision to spend the money on other things. They want it to look as if it is failing. We are paying back the loan, just at a reduced rate and at our discretion.

Blast from a Politicians' Past - Pam Triolo

I truly believe that most politicians want to do the right thing when they give all those campaign promises as well as having some legitimate complaints with their opponents. But somehow, those promises always seem to get lost in the translation.

Here it is, 3.5 years later and the mayor never talks about slum, blight and crime. The reserves are being depleted and the $5.7 emergency fund that was protected is now gone. The billboard settlement money was in a special fund to be used for a new government center but has been raided over the past several years for other issues. Our beach fund was raided years ago. And, Triolo has no problem with taxing the property owners for 30 years to repair infrastructure and potholes.

Back in November 2011, Pam Triolo says that her only agendas are "cleaning up the many blighted areas of her beloved city, returning city reserves to a healthy state and ensuring that both current and future businesses thrive.  All while preserving the artsy charm of this multi-cultural city by the sea."

Also she said, “I was fed up. The city had blown through its reserves, the roads were pot-holed, and neighborhoods were run down and without sidewalks. They were going to raise taxes to the highest level allowable by law, and the council said they were also going to assess [residents] for street lights and fire. And the straw that broke the camel’s back was that because the city was financially strapped, they were going to eliminate the Sheriff’s Office contract and go back to being a local police force.”

Read the blast from the past

Blast from the Past - Lake Worth's City Manager

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Former City Manager Susan Stanton, who had acknowledged faults as a communicator, had deep experience in municipal government and was not afraid to tackle difficult issues. Her bargaining skills allowed the city to save millions by negotiating lower contracts with the county sheriff's office and county fire-rescue agency. She brought expenses in line with falling tax revenues while pushing through the city utility's first electric rate reduction. Under her watch, the city finally broke ground on renovations to Lake Worth's public beach.

Read about it...

The "Pimpernickles"

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A total Blast from the Past.

Click here... and read all about what one blogger described as one of the "pimps" who is still hanging around Lake Worth. This article will remind you of who is doing the "dirty" and who holds himself out there as some sort of an authority.

Some people actually have nothing better to do with their lives than to just hang on to their noodle.

Typical Politics - Lake Worth - The Bullies

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Back in December 2011, a motion was made by Scott Maxwell and seconded by Andy Amoroso to fire our city manager.  We all knew that Maxwell hated Stanton because she didn't let him get away with his bullying. Amoroso didn't have a reason. When asked he said, "My motion is enough reason." Back then, Amoroso went along with the flow but seems lately to be coming into his own--better late than never.

Mayor Triolo voted to fire City Manager Susan Stanton because of Triolo's vision of prosperity and respect of all people. No kidding--that's what she said. Just three weeks after being elected, she determined that Susan Stanton did not have "her" vision and she gave no respect to Ms. Stanton. Actually, the mayor's own words get in her way as she has proved that her shoulders are not big enough to tactfully handle anyone who disagrees with her.

Often times with a lack of awe-inspiring decisions, many on the dais forget what they said and when they said it.  As Scott Maxwell would say, "I'm tired of the game playing" but this is typical politics from someone who knows how to play the game better than most.

Blast from the Past - A David and Goliath moment in time

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Election of March 2005
Remember this mayoral election that occurred on 3-22-05? Mr. Romano had raised ten times the amount of his opponent and lost the election:

Romano: $54,555
and newcomer,
Marc Drautz with little money, $5,250.

The moral of the story? Well you get it. It isn't always the amount of money you collect although many believe that it takes three things to win: "The first is money, and the second is money and the third is money," a line from the book the Dark side of Camelot and attributed to Joseph L. Kane, a campaign operative of JFK's. In the case of the City of Lake Worth, it is $50,000 of taxpayer money to be used for campaigning for the general obligation 30 year bond to ensure its passage. The taxpayers' only voice will be at the ballot box, not an even playing field.

It is the amount of public disgust that motivates the voters to change the tide. It is the simple fact that some elected officials (too many) just don't listen to the people they serve and consider anything they might say in opposition as "uninformed," "emotional," or "just plain not in their best interests." In other words, they consider you stupid. They are only there to please their "friends."  They have lost touch with the people and have no clue what the people are thinking because they are surrounded only by their inner sanctum that isolates them and leads them to believe that they are right. They call out the other side and say that they are "disingenuous," a nicer sounding way of saying "you are a liar" and all of the other things mentioned above. Arrogance usually will bring defeat or at least it should.

So, David slayed Goliath in 2005 for whatever reasons. It can be done again on August 26, 2014.

Marc Drautz

55.63%

Rodney Romano

44.37%

Blast from the past - A general obligation bond in Lake Worth that was defeated by wide margin

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Blast from the past or Quote of the day--take your pick.  Travel back in time to year 1989 when a bond with proceeds going towards multiple issues was on the table in Lake Worth.  The city government was not transparent and was not candid with the voters. Voters rejected the bonds by a margin of 64 to 36 percent and Lake Worth was only asking for $11 million.

"Lake Worth listened only to those within or tied closely to city government. There were three projects within the bond and one was a new police station that was not urgent but desired by city hall. The city bowed to pressure from police interests and presented all three projects to voters together on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. They left it."

~ Bill McGoun
Palm Beach Post
A Tale of Two Bond Programs

It sort of rings a bell, doesn't it?  Three bonds...three issuances? They are only listening to their core group--not the people.  They don't even want to hear from you. No plan B...They tell you to "take it or leave it", as they take your money to shove all this "educational" (the biggest crock and deception of all)  material down your throat.

And that's what you need to do tomorrow at the polls--leave it.

Blast from the Past - Wayne Bergman, former city of Lake Worth code enforcement director

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Nothing drives me more crazy than the "gutting the code department" myth that is attributed to Susan Stanton who was hired by Lake Worth in April 2009.  Following is a speech by our former Code Enforcement Manager, Wayne Bergman, (he was also our acting building official at one time) given in September 2010 at the Tropical Ridge Neighborhood Association on the code enforcement process and outstanding cases. At that meeting, he said that the department was only reduced by one.
..........................
I was asked to speak tonight about the Code Enforcement Process.  I supervise the Code Compliance Division of the Community Development Department and our primary purpose is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents and their property through the administration and enforcement of the City’s zoning and property maintenance codes.  Code Compliance inspectors investigate complaints and perform COU inspections, re-inspections and inspections ordered by the City’s Special Magistrate.  Inspectors and support staff maintain the record files on each case.  The inspectors do their best to establish communication with the offending party prior to issuing a Notice of Violation.  Once violations have been corrected and complied, an Affidavit of Compliance is issued.  If there is no cooperation, a Notice of Violation/Notice of Hearing is issued.

Violations can take several different avenues to achieve final resolution.  Some are resolved prior to Special Magistrate hearings and the case is closed by City staff.  Violations that are not brought into compliance are presented before the Special Magistrate.  Special Magistrate orders are submitted to the County Courthouse for the recording of code enforcement liens.  Upon full compliance and payment, a release of fines is prepared.  This is all in accordance with FS 162, Municipal Code Enforcement law.   Through this process the City has received 767 complaints of violations and 481 violation cases were started during the last fiscal year.  Of these, 561of the cases have been brought into compliance. 

Over the past year the City has adopted changes to Chapter 2 of the LWCOO which allows the issuance of civil citations as an alternative enforcement method under FS 162.  The ordinance changes also simplified the process to board-up and secure unsafe structures and changed the way in which the City releases code liens.

Last week the City Commission approved an ordinance that requires the registry of foreclosed buildings, which for the first time will give the City, PBSO and PBC Fire Rescue the lender’s name and contact information and also provide the City and County agencies with the property management company that maintains the property.  We are also proposing doing away with the annual COU inspection in favor of an inspection whenever there is a change in occupancy.  The annual inspection process was not workable and inspections that take place before tenants or owners occupy a building, or portion thereof, is more meaningful and is a better way to address the deterioration of the City’s building stock.  This specific ordinance was approved at first reading and could be adopted later this month.

Some of our New Initiatives:  The Code Compliance Division will improve its community relations efforts by shifting the division’s focus from an enforcement-based approach to a more customer-focused compliance process.  New division policies, training, and an emphasis on providing assistance to tenants and victims affected by absentee landlords is being implemented, and inspectors are now targeting more serious blight and safety conditions.  Code Compliance will utilize a progressive hierarchy of code enforcement with property owners, business operators and tenants by making immediate contact with the resident or tenants and giving verbal warnings for the infraction, when appropriate, with progressive follow-up. 

Some of our current and planned Goals are to:

*Provide assistance and alternatives for families displaced by unsafe buildings.

*Regularly provide code compliance information to neighborhood associations.

*Create and implement a progressive approach to code enforcement.

*Continue improvement in the collection and reduction of outstanding code enforcement fines.  As we discussed with the City Commission this past April, there was the appearance of about $70 million in uncollected code fines.  In truth most of the fines will never be collected.  To demonstrate this, we researched the top 20 largest code fine cases of the then-current 750 open cases and presented our finding to the Commission.

SUMMARY:

$13,932,275 – Top 20 Code Cases
$2,156,050 – Supplemental Cases
$6,981 – Administrative Costs
$16,095,306 - Subtotal
$756,700 – Computer Error
$2,611,700 – Remove Improper Fines
$12,726,906 – Remaining Fines, most of that wiped out by lender-initiated foreclosure actions.

Many of the code cases were simply the result of poor case management by the City in the past and revealed many properties with active, accruing fines, in excess of $1 million, for things such as dead shrubs and tall grass.>  Today we have processed about 100 of the 750 total cases and the phantom fine amount has been reduced from the $70 million in April down to $49 million, with another 650 cases left to review and adjust downward the fine amount that may be actually due the City.

Our Code Compliance staff is comprised of 9 employees and includes an Interim Code Supervisor, 2 secretaries, 5 zone inspectors, and a permit / licensing technician. We are hiring two additional inspectors to be paid by the recently awarded JAG grant.  These two new inspectors will assist the PBSO in targeting properties involved in criminal activities.  We are currently understaffed in the field, with 1 open Code inspector position and another soon to be open inspector position, although we are actively interviewing applicants.  Our Division is open Mon – Fri, 8 am to 4:30 pm, with some inspector time after hours to follow up on complaints.  The Code Compliance Division has a proposed FY 2011 budget of $912,000, which includes the 2 new JAG inspectors, board-ups, property cleaning and some limited demolitions of unsafe abandoned buildings.

Complaints can be sent to us by phone 586-1652, by email or in written form.  You can also provide the Code Compliance division the complaint through the City’s automated on-line complaint system accessible through the website. 

Blast from the Past - Bikes and skateboards banned on sidewalks in Lake Worth

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Seeing Ron Exline the other night at the LW 2020 meeting at the Glass House brought back some memories.

Even this article shows that we have had disgruntled people for decades here in Lake Worth--some like the decisions of a commission; others don't. I would bet, however, that people were a whole lot nicer back then and opinions could be heard without one side getting ticked off or being outspokenly rude towards another resident at a town hall district or commission meeting. It was a more cordial era. We didn't have the personal attacks from Internet users who feel they now can say any nasty thing in the book, anonymously of course.

Lw Bans Skates, Bikes On Sidewalks
July 4, 1989
By FRED LOWERY, Staff Writer

LAKE WORTH -- Bicycles, skateboards and roller skates are officially unwelcome on the sidewalks of the downtown area, city commissioners decided on Monday, even if the vehicles are propelled by someone too small to be in traffic.

Commissioners unanimously passed an ordinance, to be effective on July 13, banning bikes, skateboards, roller skates ``or other types of coaster vehicle`` from the downtown area, despite protests from bicyclists and merchants alike.

Read more... at the Sun Sentinel.

Blast From the Past - The Rest of the Story

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Back in the Fall of 2010, Scott Maxwell was giving a series of city town hall meetings in order to "educate" the voters on the high cost of our electricity, or so he said.  Not only was he "educating" the people, he was also promoting his favored candidates for city office by distributing a brochure to all attendees. It said, "You can exercise your power by helping me gain the two supporting votes from the commission that are necessary to lower the amount of your utility bills."

Not only did he take advantage of Calvary United Methodist Church but also those who attended the forum where he used city staff for supposed "education" on our electric utility. But the real reason wasn't coming from power from a utility pole.  It was to knock McVoy and Mulvehill out of power.  As such, Susan Stanton, former city manager,  said "no staff will attend Maxwell's future community meetings including two planned right before the election."

This put the icing on the political Maxwell grudge and like an elephant that never forgets, when he got the opportunity he fired reformer Susan Stanton as city manager.

And that's the rest of the story.

An oldie but goodie - Ronald Reagan

Lake Worth Pier 1959

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The good ole days of summer--Photo sent to me by Paul Darst, riding shotgun in a 1958 Chevy impala while the Pier was under construction. Note--you could park facing the water. There were parking meters back in those days but I am not sure we had any at our beach.

Immortal Words Written by a Madman

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From the not too distant past:


"The Respectful Planning PAC campaign is destined to become a classic in the Lake Worth anarchist archives. "It is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying NOTHING."

And yet, in its nothingness lies the very real possibility that it may prevail. For what is easier to achieve than NOTHING

NOTHING to protect the Gulfstream Hotel.

NOTHING to create jobs in Lake Worth.

NOTHING to build on the success that has been achieved by finally having the beach and casino property ready to welcome visitors.

NOTHING but build momentum for candidates who care so little for Lake Worth that they tried to get rid of PBSO!

Vote NO on 2 because Lake Worth deserves more than-- NOTHING but lies and fear and sound and fury!"
.................................

For the entire YES team and to the 55.86%, be assured that you achieved a lot. The opposition's lies and money and insults as well as their constant twisted message did not prevail. One thing that the negative NO's are right about, this will be remembered for a long time--how a group immediately took action after a bad commission decision and saved our downtown from growing vertically and saved the city from manipulative special interests. Honesty won one.

Spring Break - Blast from the Past 1962

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Clip on Daytona Beach is throughout the video.
History of Spring Break

Blast from the Past - The Electric Utility Task force

Back on April 18, 2006, the Electric Utility Review Task Force recommended the following:

Retain a qualified consultant with qualifications equal to Ms. Hersey's to evaluate 4 options:

•  5-year withdrawal from the All requirements Project to a Contract Rate of Delivery agreement, followed by a 3-year complete withdrawal from the CRD contract and the outright sale of our generation and distribution assets.

• 5-year withdrawal from the ARP to a CRD, followed by the sale or lease or our generation- assets while maintaining our distribution system, the city would purchase 100% of its power either from the new owner of our power plant or through other purchase power contracts.

• 5-year withdrawal from the ARP to a CRD, the City maintains its generation and upgrades it, while continuing to buy some power through purchased power contracts--basically the City lives on its own, stays a member of FMPA, not a member of ARP, and the city would continue to operate the way it used to operate before it joined ARP.

• Any other option Ms. Hersey wanted to submit

On April 4, April 18, May 2 and June 6, 2006, the City Commission accepted a total of 14 recommendations from the Electric Utility Review Task force.