Lake Worth 2020 - Lake Worth releases its platform

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Lake Worth is now attempting to be transparent (it appears to be the same information) on the Lake Worth 2020 general obligation bond issue  and what they believe needs to be done and why they need your cash--Please note that their public meeting on this will be held AFTER the election in March. They don't want sticky issues such as taxes to take away from this election. It would be politically disadvantageous for any candidate to run on more taxes.

The release:

The community’s interest in learning more about the City’s Lake Worth 2020 Improvement Plan continues to grow.   You are receiving this email and attached documents because of your active role in contacting us in 2014 about this Plan or you attended the recently held public meeting at the Compass Center on January 26, 2015, to hear or submit ideas on financing the Plan.  Below is a response we recently sent regarding a request about the 2014 bond issue.

Attached are documents that were contained in last year’s failed bond referendum.  The City completed its first Plan (“Plan”) in early 2013 which categorized every street in the City based on its condition.  From this Plan, the City was able to create a maintenance and capital improvement program for our roadway network (excluding State and County roads in the City ie: Federal Highway, Dixie Highway, Lake and Lucerne).  It was determined that 27miles of roads are in such bad shape that they need to be completely rebuilt or had never actually been constructed the first time.  The Plan was then combined with the pre-existing Water and Sewer Master Plan and Drainage Plan to create projects where the City would do all the work on a street at the same time-both utilities and road construction- instead of doing it piecemeal.  The result was a program that addressed worn out roads, drainage, water, sewer, fire hydrants, sidewalks and curbing.

Since this program did not adequately address the miles of roadway that just needed repair without any pre-existing utility plan as part of the work, the City Commission added an additional 46 miles of roadway work by itself.  That brought the total to 73 miles of City streets that would have been replaced, repaired, built and improved.  It is important to understand that most of the utility work has funding available within the Electric, Water and Sewer and Drainage budgets; however, funding for the roadway construction does not exist, which is the reason the LW2020 ballot for bond money was considered.

The Park of Commerce project was included in the LW2020 program since it is a public roadway important to the City as part of the roadway network.   Additionally, this is the one project that has a major economic impact which could potentially help create 4,800 new jobs and a significant tax base that would help subsidize what residential property owners’ pay for government services.

The documents attached are:

• Lake Worth 2020 Roadway improvement map showing what roads would be affected

• Road repave list for milling and resurfacing

• Proposed fund usage showing combined and each year’s funding chart (including consultant’s costs)

• Proposed Source of Funds including multiple bonds, with the millage and dollar totals

Should you have any further questions after reviewing this information, please email me at LW2020@lakeworth.org and/or join us at our next workshop scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 21, 2015 at 1:00 P.M. in the Commission Chamber at City Hall.

Shining the Light on Lake Worth2020 - The cash grab continues

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Siemens says that LED Street lighting will reduce
 energy consumption 60 - 65%

Hector Samario of Siemens Infrastructure and Cities division gave the presentation last night to the city commission. The entire commission is enthralled that it will be taking Lake Worth into the 21st Century at least as long as the capital improvements last--15 or 20 years? Whenever the commission hears the word "sustainability" they all have orgasms.

Any company that is in this sustainability business and makes its money off of improving energy performance will emphasize that infrastructure is the backbone of our economy. Mr. Samario didn't have to do that last night.  This commission already understood that as Siemens has been around our city for the past eight or nine months delving into our needs. "It moves people and goods, it powers our lives, it fuels growth," says Siemens, whose head company was founded in 1847.  Lake Worth certainly is no exception with its struggle of aging infrastructure. We are a poor city with no money and the city manager along with the commission has been planning on how to take your money for well over a year in order to rebuild our city in various ways.

Last night's presentation was not too long and only touched on what Siemens said that we needed.  The mayor asked about Smart Meters and she was assured that the smart metering is outside the home. She also said that she wants to see "lights everywhere." There was supposed to be a high level discussion of the entire project but street lighting seemed to be the commission's major concern.

The public was not allowed to comment nor did the mayor ask anyone if they wanted to comment.  And not once did the commission ask anything about the $20 to $25  million dollar cost.  This is a decision that the commission can do all on its own.  They don't need a vote of the people unless they were to go with a general obligation bond. They are all in total agreement that smart building technologies drive energy efficiency and reduce costs.  Not only do they want to rebuild all of our infrastructure, they want this city "green" and in the red.

Perhaps a lot was not explained. We need to see the contract proposal and understand the financing and why it won't cost the City money. Someone(s) is going to make a lot of money off of Lake Worth.

City of Lake Worth Campaign Spending

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Final accounting of the LW 2020 general obligation election campaign and educational outreach effort  that was paid through a Commission approved $50k budget. Lake Worth continually told the public that they were not campaigning, only "educating" the public.  Then why buy a voter's list?

Click graphic to enlarge

Lake Worth should seek smaller bonds

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Letters to the Editor
Palm Beach Post
OP Ed Piece
September 15, 2014

After voters turned down the $63.5 million bond issue on Aug. 26, I have some suggestions to upgrade the city’s infrastructure that can work. It may take a little longer, but it can get done. And if the taxable values of our properties keep going up, as they are this year, the city will have more revenue in the general fund to work with and not need as much bond money.

Think smaller and more affordable. Propose a $5 million or $10 million bond. If that goes well, ask for another bond in a few years. Have the bond mature in fewer years – 10 at the most. We shouldn’t still be paying for repairs that have since become obsolete. Don’t discourage new businesses and residents — keep the additional tax burden low.

Don’t combine residential streets with the Park of Commerce. These should be separate bond issues. Let the people decide exactly what parts of the city they are willing to improve. The less there is to object to, the more likely residents will vote for the bond.

The bond should be precise and for work in a specific area. The costs of the repairs should be itemized and add up to the amount of the bond. Show where every dollar will be spent.

Spread the work around the city. Don’t re-pave four blocks then skip one, then do the next two. Consistency looks better.

Reconsider whether all low traffic roads should be paved. Unpaved roads absorb rain better and control runoff.

Think long-term. Many of us do believe global warming is real. Engineer the roads and infrastructure for the future.

Start by asking us what improvements we would like and where we would like them. Voters are more likely to approve a bond that does what we want it to, not just what the mayor and city commission want.
Explain the cost to us in clear, not fuzzy numbers. We need to know specifically how much will be added to our tax bills for each year the bond is outstanding. The amount should be fixed for each property at the time the bond is issued, not fluctuate with future taxable values.

There needs to be an accountability plan in place for overseeing the money that we can trust in. Start by hiring a permanent city finance director. Set up safeguards. Have auditors and a citizens’ watch committee to monitor how the money is being dispersed.

Don’t waste $50,000 of the city’s money to convince us of something we don’t want. If you have a good, fair and transparent bond plan, it will sell itself.


LAURIE WITKIN
LAKE WORTH

A "slush fund" for law enforcement?

We keep reading about slush funds. Some believe that the $3.2 million right out of the Lake Worth 2020 plan was one biggie. But here's one that really takes the cake--

Click here...

The Bullies and the Budget

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The Exalted One

All is fair in love and war it has been said.  Ever since the AGAINST voters won on August 26th, there has been a war of sorts.  Actually it started before the election when some people on social media commented incessantly promoting the city's side of the argument and why we should vote in a humongous debt.  You had to wonder if they had a day job. They often times resorted to personal insults, something they do quite well. The mayor was offended about a graphic I did with her picture burning, an idiom illustrating the crash and burn of the Lake Worth 2020 initiative. After all, she is the policy leader in Lake Worth who was pushing for the bond.  She was offended as she often is at any thing she believes to be critical of her or her regime. She rallied her political troops to insult me in every way imaginable and she condoned it again last night during public commentary. It made her feel good.

As a tidbit, Mayor Triolo did mention the memorial service for John Tsakon and it being that night at E. Earl Smith Memory Gardens leaving off the first part of the name, DORSEY.

We are all public figures and have the right of free expression. However, twisting the intent just to denigrate is a form of bullying.  This dais consists of a few bullies.  As a blogger on the other side of this issue and many others, I put myself out there with my beliefs and therefore I am subject to the insults from those on the other side of politics where I am insulted every day especially where another blogger relishes in the personal attack.  It is all a form of insecurity and bullying. Even Commissioner Szerdi had to weigh in on what's "good taste and what's not."  Good is when you agree with them. We all need to have bigger shoulders and stop crying in our beer. You lost.

Last night's meeting was interesting in the fact that the commission passed a budget sprinkled with Lake Worth 2020, 4 to 1 with Amoroso dissenting.  He did not give a reason from the dais but I asked him why.  He said it was certain policies that bothered him--we were getting a new Human Resource manager in a few weeks and he wanted to confer with him/her and also the fact that the 2020 bond program was mentioned in the budget.

As an example and similar to the Water System where an additional $6,151,000 transfer from reserves is planned for the LW 2020 project in FY 2015 and where rates will be going up at 5%, the Local Sewer System is faced with the challenges of funding a larger CIP resulting from the Lake Worth 2020 program. As such, the FY 2015 RSA identifies an annual rate increase of 8.00% per year through FY 2019 in order to fund the capital needs of the system without the issuance of additional debt. Last night they passed the 5% and the 8% respectively.

Also, Design and construction of water distribution and sewer collection improvements are included in the Park of Commerce, Lake Worth 2020 and 2” steel water line capital projects.  As Steve Carr told us, the budget did not include any Lake Worth 2020 projects in the Capital Improvement Plan, but nevertheless, water and sewer rates are going up.

The millage remains the same as last year.  The city chose not to roll it back.  They do need all the money they can get but still voted to reduce our electric rate another 4.25% which is basically all politics--they reduced the electric but went up on the water and sewer.

The City Attorney is still compiling his case against the Supervisor of Elections and the "disenfranchisement" of voters.  He mentioned a violation of Sunshine Law again.  I just wonder what the Canvassing Board thinks of that charge when it consisted of two court judges.

Dorsey-E. Earl Smith Memory Gardens Funeral Home

City officials at the Supervisor of Elections in Riviera Beach

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Scrutinizing the provisional ballots--

Lake Worth had 33 provisional ballots. Of those, 7 were from people who had come back and voted at the polls and 26 were from precincts in LW, most from N K St. 21 of the 26 were rejected. 5 were accepted. So the vote total could change by 5 at most either way. It is likely the margin will stay the same.

Laurence McNamara and David Brodie were in attendance representing the interests of CAUT.  David reported  that the city attorney, Glen Torcivia, asserted objections to the board’s rejection of the ballots. The ballots were in sealed envelopes so we could not determine how the voter cast his or her vote on the bond referendum. Regardless, even if all 5 voted “For” the bond, it would still be insufficient to overcome the 26 vote deficit or narrow the margin below .5% to authorize a recount.

It is expected that the vote will soon be certified.

photos by David Brodie

The Cash Grab

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OBSESSION

The domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
(oh, what can I say--go to the bully blog.)

MONEY-GRAB
An undignified or unprincipled acquisition of a large sum of money with little effort.
(The effort was the $50,000 money-grab to ensure the humongous money-grab. No one had to walk the streets in 100^ temperatures--they got to hire people.) 

STACKING THE DECK
Looking at only one side of the picture...to arrange something in a way that is not fair in order to achieve what you want.
(This is what the city has done by its "education" methods. This is what the NAPC did by not allowing a debate on the issue.--no debate is as bad as stacking the deck.)

DEMOCRACY

The common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power. An organization or situation in which everyone is treated equally and has equal rights. and the right to vote.

(The city took $50,000 of the people's money to essentially promote its political agenda.  A PAC was formed that raised nearly $20,000. The opposition ((AGAINST)) did not have an equal PLAYING FIELD to promote the other side of the argument. The city cancelled regular public meetings 6 weeks  before the election so that no one could utter an objection.)

TYRANNY

Oppressive power exerted by government. 

(The City of Lake Worth and the Commission is doing this for all the reasons mentioned above.)

If there is no trust, why would anyone give them $63.5 million bucks unless there is more to the story.

Lake Worth Herald

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Maybe Mark Easton, third generation publisher of the Lake Worth Herald, must have read the Palm Beach Post wherein it stated:

"Under the plan, (Lake Worth 2020) property taxes rates could rise by 35 percent, making Lake Worth's rate by far the county's highest. The resulting jolt to the city's economy will likely drive up rents for businesses and renters, which could lead to some businesses closing or looking elsewhere to open up." Palm Beach Post, August 12, 2014

"...Underneath that surface, the flaws aren’t hard to find: high taxes, high crime, high poverty, low education, low city employee morale...just to start the list." Palm Beach Post, June 26, 2013

It is too bad that a newspaper, so biased as the Lake Worth Herald, can with a straight face, accuse those against the general obligation bond of lying and "scaring the hell out of unsuspecting voters" never giving one example to support the outrageous allegations.

Easton came down unfairly hard with his snide Pelican Pete statement (without mentioning his name mind you but everyone involved in the bond issue knows who he was speaking about) on successful businessman Dennis Dorsey, a Lake Worth High School graduate, who has done so much for this city and who is Treasurer of Citizens Against Unfair Taxation PAC.  Easton has even gone so far as to tell those who are opposing this huge money-grab to either "love it (Lake Worth)  or leave it."  I have been in Lake Worth since 7th grade...I do love it and do not want to see debt that is so exhorbitant that could very possibly put us in a precarious and dangerous situation, not only for our city but residents and businesses alike. A smaller amount of money was asked for (about 1/3rd the existing bond amount) but the city wouldn't hear of it.

The Lake Worth Herald building For Sale

Lake Worth's oldest business. First publication was May 23, 1912
one year before the city incorporated

Lake Worth Bond Referendum

Lake Worth YES Pac wants this badly

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Money isn't everything but the Lake Worth YES Pac thinks it is. $50,000 wasn't enough for this group.  They raised $19,950,00.  It has to make everyone sit up and take notice--spending $70,000 to win an election is not about potholes. It's too bad that every voter will not know about this obscene amount of money to put this city in debt for 34 years.

It got some large contributions from the following:

• $5,000:  Marty Welfeld, Parrot Cove resident

• $1,000:  Friends of Mark Foley, former Congressman who sent suggestive emails and sexually explicit instant messages to teenage boys who had formerly served and were at that time serving as Congressional pages

• $2,000:  Southern Waste Systems, the company that dumped all sorts of questionable stuff on our landfill and was involved in suspicious campaign contributions to a resident who was fined by the elections commission for accepting them.

• $1,000:  Weiner, Lynn and Thompson LLC in Delray,  municipal and county land development zoning regulation lawyers.

• $1,500:  Hudson Holdings Lake Worth LLC, a property management company in Delray that recently bought The Gulfstream Hotel

• $1,400:  In-kind contribution from a community affairs manager for printing

• $2,000:  Committee for a Prosperous Florida PAC:

The Committee for a Prosperous Florida is also empowered to make contributions, within limits approved by Florida law, to political committees supporting candidates or issues in the State of Florida. The Committee was established in 2013 by Jeremy Ring of Margate and Jeff Clemens from Lake Worth. All of its contributions and expenditures are accessible by the public via their website.

"We just want the millions--shut up about the facts"

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The devil is in the details and with Lake Worth, it's about what is not said--

I am reprinting these facts because they are important. From the very first presentation, the city has said that the roadway and utility plan involve 71 miles. Although the city has changed, crunched or eliminated numbers, there has been no diversion from the number of miles in its plan.  We don't know if there will be major repairs or just simply cutting and filling in a pothole as it is not described with any detail. No facts are given as to how much money will be spent on any given road.  Here are the facts--the cost and percentages as given to us by the city in their own printed material:

The bulk of the millions will be spent on
 25 miles of roads

The city implies that it is 71 miles that will be reconstructed and hands out a red map with most of the streets outlined to show us what they will be doing.  Is this is the most deceiving map ever devised?

25 miles -55 pci = $71.01 million
11 miles +56-65 pci = $3.31 million
20 miles +66-75 pci = $3.36 million
15 miles +76-83 pci = $1.54  million

The city manager continues to describe Lake Worth as 7 square miles.  At this point, who knows? There are many estimates on the number of overall miles.  Wikipedia says that there are 6.46 miles with 5.64 being land.   Lake Worth Quick Facts says that there are 5.87 land miles.  Don't want to be accused of nit-picking like you know who but the point here is that there is no precise number of miles in this city.  So, let's just round up. Land miles are under 6 and that is what will be affected by their road plan. If you don't know this basic fact of the size of the city in which you govern and then you ask property owners to fund a $63.5 million bond, then how in the heck can you tell us that there are 116 miles of paved roads and alleys. It must be from one of those Mock Roos studies sitting on a shelf that cost $150,000 right along with all those Plan B 's.

The city tells us that they had only allocated $448,528 in the budget for the Streets Division.  Why?  You get the politicos who are always talking about a former commission that "gutted the code department" (it was two people less--we were going through massive budget cuts) but why didn't the city with this commission add more personnel to the streets maintenance department that only has one supervisor and 4 crew members if the roads are so damn bad? This commission has been on the job for nearly three years and all of a sudden they are excited about rebuilding Lake Worth from the ground up...a 100 year old city for gosh sakes. Perhaps it is all about the money that is exciting--they want a money-grab?

The city has no idea what it will spend on each road...NONE...and they would never commit to that because they don't have to do squat on your road. The city can change its mind at will. LW 2020. The ONLY thing that is certain is that the city wants you to approve of an overall debt of  $131,000,000.00 for 34 years (the city does not tell you that) and they are counting on the property owners to actually pay these ad-valorem taxes over the lifetime of this bond. But it won't matter if someone can't or won't  pay.  The rest of the taxpayers will pick up the slack.

No trust; no bond

What will Lake Worth do?

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Letter to the Editor
The Palm Beach Post
August 22, 2014

What will city do to maintain roads?

In 2002, Flagler Drive was completely rebuilt from the roadbed up. It was silky smooth. 12 years later, its surface resembles a mottled and irregular washboard.

Lake Worth wants to put us into debt for more than 30 years, spending $35 million of the $63 million bond on road repair, which we can expect to last a similar period.

What does this commission plan for 12 years from now when the roads will again need replacement and our taxpayers are still saddled with another 20-plus years of paying off this huge debt?

DEE MCNAMARA
LAKE WORTH

Advocation by Mayor Triolo?

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If nothing else, is it buying votes from the parents of these kids?

Mayor Pam Triolo

4 hours ago

If you still have not been a part of a LW 2020 informational session presented by the city, you still have 3 more chances! Friday night at 7pm they'll be a meeting at the LW Playhouse. Saturday at 5pm the City will be presenting at the College Park Neighborhood Association meeting at First Congregational Church. Sunday at Noon they'll be a 2020 presentation at the Wimbley Gym- 1515 Wingfield Street off of 12th Avenue South- no need for a sitter as they'll be hamburgers, hotdogs, soft drinks and activities for the kids!

The vote is this Tuesday folks. No matter what side of the issue you are on, please make sure you get the facts first. There's no need to guess or wonder or speculate. You will be able to ask questions directly to city staff at all of these meetings. And as an aside, please be respectful and kind to one another. Whatever happens, we have a lot of work to do and it always works better when we do it together!

Information Alliance and Lake Worth 2020

Remember that call you received the other night from the marketing research firm, Information Alliance out of Utah,  trying to squeeze you into a box on age, race, own or rent, how you're going to vote? This is what it cost the City for the call. I can't get a copy of the contract/agreement yet...working on it.

No trust; No bond

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Last night's meeting in Lake Worth

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Last night we had a report from Commissioner Chris McVoy on the League of Cities seminar that he recently attended, giving a good presentation on sea level rising and his concerns about Lake Worth 2020 and the fact that we were not taking these legitimate concerns into our infrastructure planning.  He is basically the only one on the present dais who has attended a seminar or traveled who has given any formal report to the public, the people who are picking up the tab.

The mayor briefly mentioned her trip to Washington, D.C. to appeal for grant money for our roads as well as her meeting with FEMA.  The city is still protesting nearly $4 million that FEMA says it owes.

The amounts that have been assessed and appealed are as follows

• $2.8 million from the 2011 State close out dis-allowances

• $1.154 million from the DHS-OIG 2012 dis-allowances

Click on the following links to see what FEMA originally claimed we owed:

HURRICANES FRANCES and JEANNE

HURRICANE WILMA

No News is Bad News to get a full picture of this FEMA fiasco and accounting nightmares with a tinge of fraud. Actually the government claims were more than a "tinge."

Overall, the meeting was a bore as far as meetings go. Lake Worth 2020 was not touched on other than one public speaker and Commissioner McVoy who was eventually shut-down when  mayor Pam Triolo called a point of order. Prior to that the city attorney said it was his freedom of speech when she asked him about McVoy's musing on the bond. We really do need an unbiased Parliamentarian sitting on the dais who could advise the Mayor on the Rules.

There were 19 items on the Consent Agenda with one deletion. This entire commission approved $2,041,204.00 without ANY discussion and not blinking an eye. And we're supposed to be broke?

Katie McGiveron, Chair of CAUT

The Snow Job

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Isn't this about the biggest snow job ever perpetrated on the residents of Lake Worth. One would think that they are building new roads throughout the city.

Q & A's on the Lake Worth 2020 General Obligation Bond

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QUESTION #1
From: Lynn Anderson
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2014 4:08 PM
To: LW 2020
Subject: Question on legality of bond usage

We question the city on the legality of this $63.5 million that will ultimately be $131 million by year 2049 to spend on drainage and “water and sewer facilities."  These uses are enterprise funds.  Is this legal? Enterprise funds would be on a Revenue Bond, not a General Obligation Bond.

ANSWSER #1:

From: LW 2020 [mailto:lw2020@LakeWorth.org]
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2014 5:13 PM
To: 'lynn113@
Subject: RE: Question on legality of bond usage

In response to your question:

The City’s Bond Counsel – Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson PA have opined that the proposed projects are a lawful expenditure of General Obligation bond proceeds.

QUESTION #2

Thank you for your opinion.

Next question, why do we have a bond  counsel when this thing hasn’t passed?

ANSWER #2 

From: LW 2020 [mailto:lw2020@LakeWorth.org]
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2014 3:44 PM
To: 'lynn113@
Subject: RE: Question on legality of bond usage

I heard from the appropriate department regarding your question:

Lake Worth has always had a Bond Counsel, as do almost all governmental entities.  The firm only charges when it does work (ie if a bond is issued). 

QUESTION #3

Thank you.

My next question is, did your bond counsel, when it “opined,” charge you for that advice?

ANSWER #3

From: LW 2020 [mailto:lw2020@LakeWorth.org]
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 9:17 AM
To: 'lynn113@
Subject: RE: Question on legality of bond usage

The appropriate staff has responded back on your question:

The Bond Council did not charge for an opinion.  If a bond is issued, then there is a fee paid to Bond Counsel for all legal work necessary to issue the bonds.  If no bond is issued, then any advice given is without charge.

Lake Worth hires firm to strategize in order to win election

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Talking about being beat-up yesterday with the city's propaganda clogging my mailbox, last evening I got a call from Information Alliance, A COMPANY OUT OF UTAH, that asked me a bunch of questions that was steered toward data collection on the Lake Worth 2020 plan and the General Obligation  Bond.  I did find out that the city hired this firm.

Some of the questions were personal in nature:  age, race, rent or own, and the last request was to give them my initials.  I said "no" to all of these but did tell her I was voting "no."  The operator asked why and I told her...No trust; no bond.

Heavy shooters hired with your tax money.  The city is  very serious about grabbing this cash.

DON'T LET THEM DO IT.  VOTE AGAINST BOND.