Mentoring Center to Go

If there is any candidate running for elected office in the City of Lake Worth who does not agree that The Mentoring Center MUST GO, then chalk your campaign up to defeat. Don't work up any more sweat--stop walking right now. Stop spending campaign contributions and give the money back.

"This isn't about retribution against any organization," Mayor Rene Varela said. "This is about getting effective use of our space and our resources at a time when we should be buckling down."

This is about so much more than that--this Resource Center has always been about encouraging illegal aliens into our city. We say, "enough."

Read about it here.

Public Commentary at City Hall

Comment Up
UPDATE: I was told by a Commissioner that the reason there was NO public commentary for those items pulled in the Consent Agenda, Unfinished or New Business was that the Chamber was literally emptied after Public Commentary. Those advocates for the Mentoring Center stacked the Chamber.

Right now at City Hall there is public commentary regarding The Resource Center, aka, Illegal Hiring Hall. People are actually speaking in SPANISH!!! And when they complete their two minutes, they get applause.

Who stacked this Chamber once again? Which Commissioners? Lisa Wilson? Both? More? Progressives? People who live off of government for their very existence? People who are hell bent on ruining our city? Who?

This lack of government response to the illegal problem has been one of the main reasons many people sympathize with and support Arizona's SB 1070. We have "had it" and have no understanding why elected officials here and elsewhere turn their head and do not enforce the Constitution and the law.

Commission support for illegal immigration as well as support for The Mentoring Center that leases a city building for $1 a year and gets everything provided to them for free, and a facility that caters to the illegal alien, will not be forgotten in November.

CRA Board Interviews tonight

Update: Donna Ross just informed me that she resigned from the CRA on Sunday night as she is relocating to SC. There are now 3 positions opened on the CRA.

Tonight, 24 applicants are trying for 2 positions on the CRA. Why do so many people want to be members of our Community Redevelopment Agency?--to ensure that Lake Worth follows their vision and path in redevelopment.

Right now we have $23 million in NSP2 money. That has to be an enticing reason to want to be a member. Just think what your influence can do to direct all that do re me.

Lisa Wilson has applied to this Board. Ms. Wilson is the Director of The Mentoring Center in a space that was given to her for $1 a year to find jobs for the unemployed as well as the undocumented/illegal immigrant which is against the law. Her business is funded through grants and government money. She lives in West Palm Beach and this business does not pay ad valorem. The way I understand it is, in order to become a member of a city board in Lake Worth, you must either live here or be a manager of a business or an owner of a business in our city that pays taxes. Does she? Who encouraged her to apply?

I was told that when questioned about all the computers at the Resource Center, aka illegal hiring hall and what they were used for, she intimated that the quesitoneer was shhhh, "racccccccist."

Personally, I would rather see anyone appointed to any of our City Boards but Lisa Wilson.

Illegals are also Criminals

Dan Moffett says that illegal immigrants are taxpayers too and that we should not criticize the resource centers for coddling them. I criticize these centers for pulling a scam on citizens of the United States. I denounce those elected officials for allowing them to exist. I condemn the government for allowing them to operate through government grants and providing jobs for illegals, an act against the laws of our country.

Today his article was about The Mentoring Center. He interviewed its director, Lisa Wilson who told him that it was successful in restoring a “large measure of order” in our downtown. Did Dan drive down Lake and Lucerne? She goes on to say that hundreds of workers have completed classes in computers and cake decorating. Cake decorating! Ok, whatever floats your boat. That illegal won’t even be able to get a job at our new Publix’s bakery department.

The truth of the matter is illegal aliens have cost this country a fortune and it continues to cost us millions just to have these centers. It is totally irrelevant that they have worked here and have contributed to payroll taxes that have NOT been reported by the employers. The employer is also breaking the law. Dan bemoans the fact that most of these workers have fraudulent social security cards and therefore can’t collect benefits so the money never leaves the system. Fraudulent social security cards! This is ok by Dan. He also says that the illegal immigrant pays the same amount of sales tax that citizens do. So?

No matter how you try to justify this federal crime, you can’t. There is no justification for breaking the law. The Mentoring Center must go. Is Dan still on the Editorial Board?

People in Jupiter don't like it anymore than those of us in Lake Worth

On the August 4 City Commission Agenda

Repeal of Ordinance 2005-53 to rezone 4.02 acres of land located at 826 Sunset

Repeal of Ordinance 2006-04 concerning a large scale amendment to the FLUM at 826 Sunset

Call for a referendum on Nov 3 to secure public recreation as the primary use of the LW Public Beach

Ballot Title: Securing public recreation as the primary use for Lake Worth Beach

Ballot Summary: The present Charter does not establish public recreation as the primary use for Lake Worth Beach. This referendum will assure that public recreation is the primary use of the City of Lake Worth Public Beach and that the ancillary uses, currently constructed and existing, on the City of Lake Worth Public Beach are protected and maintained.

Call for a referendum on Nov 3 to prohibit dredge and fill projects at the LW Public Beach

Ballot Title: Protection of Lake Worth Beach from dredge and fill type artificial nourishment type projects

Ballot Summary: The present Charter does not protect the Lake Worth Beach from dredge and fill type artificial nourishment projects. This referendum will protect Lake Worth Beach by prohibiting beach dredge and fill type artificial nourishment projects on Lake Worth Beach and by prohibiting the use of Lake Worth Beach as a means of ingress and egress for beach dredge and fill artificial nourishment projects adjacent to the Lake Worth Beach.

Also, Lisa Wilson is back on the agenda to give her presentation of The Lake Worth Resource Center, aka, The Mentoring Center, aka, Illegal Hiring Hall

Mentoring Matters aka....

W-9 Form
I-9 Form

Mentoring matters and so does truth, neither of which are happening here at our local hiring hall. The only truth here is when TruthMatters, aka Wes Blackman, visited the hiring hall on Friday and was given a form for work.

There is not too much difference here in the forms they should be giving to prospective workers. They have to verify. The I-9 form is used for both citizens and non-citizens and proof that they have the right to work in this country. That is the key--PROOF.

"The Form I-9, or more properly called the Employment Eligibility Verification Form, is provided by the federal government for the purpose of verifying an individual’s right to work in the United States. Every employee hired after November 6, 1986 must complete or have completed a Form I-9 at the time of hire." The form is given to them by the prospective employer for them to complete.

The W-9 is also proof that you can work here, taxes are not withheld. You are issued a 1099 for wages and must file them on your income tax return. This is the form given to Wes. Essentially, The Mentoring Center, aka the Illegal Hiring Hall, is saying they are not an employer. By their own admission, we also know that not all workers who walk through their doors fill out a W-9 form.

When you have laws that are not "tight," and a Commission that sanctions this illegal activity, certain things like this can occur that allows our City to inadvertently or knowingly become an accomplice to a group that is ignoring Federal law. At the same time, they are making money from the very same entity to whom they are thumbing their noses. You have to wonder whose fault this REALLY IS.

It was up to The Mentoring Center to inform the City of Lake Worth that it was their responsibility to issue a 1099 and have each worker complete an I-9. Just because a worker has filed their name, address and phone number with them is no proof that he has the right to work in the U.S.

Anyone who has ever dealt with the government knows there is a lot of waste and pork. The government is an easy mark if you know how to play the system…just operate within a government program and you can qualify for funds. This highly questionable enterprise has conned our government that in turn is allowing them to stay opened in spite of them being a hiring hall for illegal aliens. It can’t get more blatantly dishonest or more stupid than this.

On Tuesday, July 21, we will receive a presentation from Lisa Wilson, Director of The Mentoring Center, informing us that all is well and proceeding according to plan and that they have put hundreds of people in jobs, meals twice a day, and that the entire project has turned out better than they ever dreamed.

"Their loss is our Gain"

Comment up

So said Commissioner Golden when speaking about our new City manager, Susan Stanton.

St. Petersburg Times

City Manager Stanton and I had a short meeting after the commission meeting adjourned. We discussed her suggestion regarding cameras being banned to the back of the room. I gave her my idea: Designate a specified front row to the media as well as cameramen on the window side of the chamber with Staff on the front row near the door. In this way, staff can leave easily when finished with their commentary and it will solve news people standing at the door and people coming and going. I did say that we have had national news stations here for various topics and I was rather sure that Channels 5, 10 and 12 did not want to film the back of someone's head or their butt. (Yes, I said "butt") I like that our new city manager is reaching out to the public and cares what they might think, unlike past city managers here. She said that she definitely supported public participation.

Yes, the city commission meetings ARE getting much shorter, thanks to Ms. Stanton and her "organizational" skills. In fact, last night, once again, the Commission approved everything on the Consent Agenda without any discussion. There were only three items on Consent not including approving minutes from previous meetings. The only thing that took way too long was The Mentoring Center's presentation which was all about the City of Lake Worth giving them $50,000 so that they could leverage Federal Stimulus money to train a few people for jobs that do not exist. The Mayor was surprised because he thought they were to make a report on its achievements (we would not hear anything on failures, right?) since it has opened-- not there to ask for money. What can you really expect from a Group that exists from public handouts. Then its director, Lisa Wilson, got to talk later during public commentary. We just didn't get enough of them last night.

The Lake Worth Resource Center stacked the chamber with Guatemalans and illegal aliens. They took up one entire side of the chamber. If Jennings was behind the suggestion of packing the chamber with supporters, she did exactly what I would have done to support a cause of mine. I don't fault her for this but I am rather sure that these people were just being exploited once again. One actually nodded off.

In spite of Jennings' love of the Mentoring Center, she made a compromised motion regarding the Energy Efficient and Conservation Block Grant of $150,200. They will only get $40,000 for some training for applicants rather than the entire grant that they were pushing for. I don't think they should have received a dime. The rest will go towards the City's Utility Director's Plan whose strategy is already developed by the Mayor's Energy Task Force. Money will go toward a Pre-paid Meter pilot program and replacement of some city lights with LED lamps. I really liked this idea when heard the other night. I believe it was Jennings who posed the question, "Well, if people can't pay their bill after they have used the electric, how are they going to pay it before they use it?" That is the whole point--we don't want Lake Worth to be stuck with anymore unpaid power bills that are costing this city a lot of revenue. If you can't afford to pay for electricity, then you don't get it--just like any other commodity. This is not a charitable organization. Perhaps they can go to The Mentoring Center for help.

So, as Commissioner Golden, said, "their loss is our gain." Ms. Stanton is consolidating, organizing and cleaning house. She must have staff around her that she can trust. It does not take that much time to find out who is good and who is great and who just does not fit. And commission meetings are not going on to the wee hours of the morning. That's a good thing.

Socialism in Lake Worth? -- Chickens Next?

On July 1, there will be a new law in Oklahoma. If they can do it, so can Florida! They will deport illegal aliens who have committed non-violent crimes and who are now incarcerated and have served one-third of their sentence. This will save the State of Oklahoma approximately $4 million a year.

Statistics, according to Numbers USA, say that we have spent $1,424,984,004 since 2001 to pay for incarceration of illegals who have committed crimes, many of which have been violent. There are over 712,000 illegal fugitives roaming around our country. This is mind boggling to me. California spends over $10 billion a year.

Now here comes The Mentoring Center, the Group that was given our Shuffleboard Court Building, literally taking it away from our LEGAL senior population and other groups that used it. A CITY BUILDING. They pay $1 a year. If you notice the sign, it is now called The Lake Worth Resource Center. Looks pretty dead down at our Shuffleboard Court Building these days. Jobs are scarce in America and what low paying jobs there are, illegals are grabbing them over American workers. Oh, and I almost forgot, we are not supposed to call them what they are, illegals.

The original goal was to reduce the number of people hanging out and the number of employers picking up on our city streets and outside the building and to find them jobs. The economy is doing this for us. They are not supposed to ask them if they are illegal or not but it is an illegal act. And The Mentoring Center, now known as The Lake Worth Resource Center, (no mentoring going on there I guess) wants to ease INTEGRATION. Why should that be a priority? The majority of their business plan for Lake Worth is ILLEGAL because it was founded on the premise of getting undocumented workers off our city streets and finding them employment.

Just can’t wait to hear Lisa Wilson’s spin on this sham against American taxpayers and informing us of all the various grants she is getting, all the faith based organizations that are helping and places such as Wachovia (no wonder my interest rate is squat) that has given money towards this enterprise, to encourage all of this and all along convincing our Commission that it is all a great success. As far as I know and unless it has changed since it opened, the resource center has no budget or paid staff other than Wilson, who has brought in volunteers and applied for grants and taking money from anywhere she can.

Tonight there are the interviews for the Community Relations Board formed to keep the Sheriff in line and to "ease integration." This is a totally unnecessary Board but since it has to be, let's get appointees that represent the cross-section of this City with different points of view, not just those paranoid about law enforcement or advocates for open borders.

Socialism in Lake Worth. Chickens next.

Source for Oklahoma law: http://www.newsok.com/

Employers soon to get "iced"

Mentoring Center and City sticking out their tongues to Federal Law

It was just announced two days ago that ICE is shifting its policies and now will focus on the employer, the guy who is actually hiring the illegal alien. Employers will now have to put a lot of attention to their hiring process. ICE sees the employer as the problem. Janet Napolitano will target what she calls "the root cause of illegal immigration, the employer."

As employment is the primary force behind the illegal alien problem in our country, it reminded me of last month when I just happened to tune into Public Television Channel 20 and the Lake Worth “Resource” center, a.k.a. Shuffleboard Court, was featured with Lisa Wilson, Director and Monica Delgado of the Global Education Center at PBCC.

Ms. Delgado was appointed in September 2007 to oversee implementation of a variety of services to assist newly arrived immigrants (let’s tell it like it is—ILLEGALS) as well as PBCC students to integrate and eventually assimilate to the U.S. culture. This was brought about by Dr. Kathryn W. Davis who pledged $1 mil to PBCC earlier in 2007 to launch the comprehensive one-stop education and resource information center for immigrants. Ms. Delgado has a very impressive resume. She speaks fluent Spanish as well as English and holds a Master’s Degree in Theology from Life Christian University ion Tampa.

Lisa’s background is super impressive too: She holds a master's in business administration, a bachelor's in physics, and a project management professional certification. She began her career as an engineer testing a part of the B-1B bomber. Good credentials because she brought a BOMB to Lake Worth! Prior to The Mentoring Center, she held senior management positions with 3Com Corp. and U.S. Robotics. She also directed a U.S. Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Center in West Palm Beach and in 2005, the Miami/Dade Chamber of Commerce Network Miami magazine recognized her as one of South Florida's most prominent and successful black business women. She is one smart cookie.

Ms. Wilson and her husband started The Mentoring Center in November 2006. It is a 501 C (3) corporation. According to Ms. Wilson, she and her husband now have 4 locations. She came to the “aid” of Lake Worth when we were experiencing loitering of illegals on our city streets when we were looking for a solution. The idea of the Mentoring Center was supported by Mayor Clemens, Commissioner Golden and Commissioner Jennings. Retha Lowe, if you recall, supported the idea of it but just not at the Shuffleboard Court. Actually, all five commissioners at the time supported the concept—DOING SOMETHING ILLEGAL! We ended up with a day labor center and kicked the Seniors out.

Police are bound to follow all federal civil rights laws which bar agents from using racial profiling. As an example, you can’t make a large amount of traffic stops in a particular community to catch drug offenders even though you know they are hanging out there. Sounds silly but I know some die-hards here who would agree. You can’t go into a neighborhood that you know is occupied mostly by illegals and establish a probable cause for something illegal. You have to prove that a crime is taking place…you can’t assume it. Just the simple fact that the police know that these people are here illegally is not a reason to do anything about it. Our City Commission wants a community relations board to ensure that our police are doing the right thing. Nuts? Well, I happen to think so but Commissioner Jennings would disagree with me. It is not the Sheriff breaking the laws here.

Remember our former Mayor Drautz who was unmercifully chastised for distributing fliers to illegals using a graphic that tried to teach them that urinating in public was a”no no” and not socially acceptable...fit in to our culture, etc? The other political spectrum in our City came down hard on him. Education is the key here and Drautz's attempt was in the right direction..

Ok, Mentoring Center, since you are being allowed to get away with this because of laws that are not enforced, that are ridiculously liberal and somewhat insane, what about your objective of teaching these people to assimilate into our culture. What about teaching them NOT to defecate on our shuffleboard courts and NOT to urinate in front of the front door of the Shuffleboard Court Building. I asked the Mayor to check on a major complaint by seniors using the courts. That was over a month ago and I have yet to hear back as to why The Mentoring Center said it could not do anything about illegals defecating on the courts. Unreal, right? And even better, what about teaching them NOT to loiter on our city streets which was the sole purpose of your getting involved in our City in the first place, or so we have been told. These alone might help ease the pain of your $1 a year lease and all the costs that the taxpayers are picking up for this illegal hiring practice and as education was one of the objectives.

The Mentoring Center operates in full view with the blessing of our City government, acting as a middleman to the employer and those seeking work, primarily illegal aliens looking for day labor jobs. The Mentoring Center and our City are sticking out their tongues to the law because they can. They have been allowed to get away with breaking it. Perhaps soon all that will change and our City, a party to the crime, might have to pay big bucks for breaking Federal laws.

IFCO Systems. Scroll down to number 5 and read about the whopping $21 million fine they recently paid for hiring illegal aliens.

As 66% of Florida favor stricter immigration laws (and this percentage is lower than the rest of the country's average) and are opposed to amnesty, all you local candidates who have remained silent on this issue, let's hear from you. In that same poll taken by Quinnipiac University, 25% of registered voters would not vote for a candidate who did not take a strong approach on illegal immigration no matter WHAT he believed on other issues.

The Government is committing a crime against its citizens

“Our President has told us that it will take a bold, unprecedented approach and requires all of us to turn the economy around. This is our audacious plan! We are appealing to the good people of Palm Beach County to create a temporary job, fill it with a LWRC jobseeker and provide short-term relief to struggling friends and neighbors” said Lisa Wilson.

I know. You have heard this all before and you are probably saying, “Not again.” However, as we all know, the Illegal Hiring Hall was opened at our Shuffleboard Court, displacing the senior citizens there. It is costing the legal residents of this city for the upkeep of the building and illegal immigration is costing society, as a whole, billions of dollars a year. The city recently authorized improvements to the building which included a new roof and new driveway that have now been completed as well as insurance, general maintenance, and the like. In other words, we pay for it all. The Mentoring Center gets our building for $1.00 a year. I just can’t emphasize this enough.

We can’t afford a trolley so that our seniors can get to the grocery store but we can afford a labor center to help illegals find jobs and play on computers. Because of budget problems, we stop the concerts in our Bryant Park that were always attended by Seniors and families but we encourage illegals to come to our city, which, as everyone alive knows, costs the legal residents plenty. We allow kids to tear up our Bryant Park playing soccer and not worry about a $50,000 price tag to replace the grass. We don’t worry about our Park being trampled but we are willing to spend tax dollars on an illegal act.

The Mentoring Center is a “do-gooder” organization funded by tax dollars wherever it can find the money. If there is Federal, State or local funding, these groups pop up. Here in Lake Worth there was a need to drive the illegals off the streets and educate them on our culture. While 53.8% of the mentoring centers were scaling back because of lack of funding, the Stimulus Plan came along…just up their alley. The government, because the situation was allowed to get out of control, is not immune to aiding illegals. Businesses are perpetuating this crime and exploiting the illegal worker and our government is spending and estimated $11 to $22 billion a year on welfare to illegals.

Now the Director at The Mentoring Center had the audacity to quote Barack Obama who said during the campaign that we needed a major immigration policy overhaul. He called the current immigration system “dysfunctional.” He said that our borders should be more secure and the government should get tough with employers who hire the illegals. He called for a system that requires illegals that are in good standing, to pay a fine, learn our language and go to the end of the line to become a citizen here. That to me is more than fair. But no, these illegals scream bloody murder that they have rights, the same as legal citizens of the Untied States. The Open Border people right here in our own city agree. How can a criminal have rights?

Lisa Wilson encourages illegal behavior and without our city management allowing her to do so, the Mentoring Center for illegals would cease to exist here. "It's going to help the community, help the recently arrived refugees and immigrants integrate into the community,” said Lisa Wilson, who runs the center’s mentoring program, “We're going to provide services that will help them become more economically self-sufficient."

What about giving them some instructions on how to come here legally, instructions on ceasing to defecate on our property in and around the Shuffleboard Court. That would be a great help. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that’s two and a half times that of non-illegal aliens. We spend a whopping $338.3 billion a year on illegal immigration across our country. And we think Bernie is bad! Bottom line--The government is committing a crime against the citizens of this country.

I wasn’t even going to write this because it is at the point where we all have just given up and resigned ourselves to the fact that this is the way it will be whether we agree or not. We are so used to seeing them loitering on Lake and Lucerne that we throw our hands up in despair. We continue to deal with them on our streets and some situations are out of hand. Some neighborhoods are totally fed up and have been consumed by illegals and witness crimes daily. However, I wrote on this again because I believe strongly in legal immigration and the proper way to enter our county and assimilate, becoming a productive legal resident and eventual citizen.

A crime is a crime no matter who is committing it. And that goes for The City of Lake Worth.

The American Dream

According to Wikipedia,
The American Dream is the freedom that allows all citizens and most residents of the United States to pursue their goals in life through hard work and free choice (see Immigration to the United States).

That’s exactly what it is. People are allowed to migrate here under the laws of our land and become citizens. Through HARD WORK, they can achieve the “American Dream.” This is a country of LAWS. The government, and our local Commission, have decided not to adhere to our laws, allowing illegals to be here. Look at the problem they have created in Lake Worth.

WPTV has a story (CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE) that states that half the numbers of immigrants are flowing into this country from Mexico than in 2007 because they can’t find jobs.

Lisa Wilson of The Mentoring Center is quoted as saying, “We only hope that it means the dream has been deferred.”

This is what we are dealing with folks. For $1.00 a year and legal citizens paying for the upkeep of our shuffleboard Court so that ILLEGALS can use it and take jobs away from Americans, the Seniors and everyone else who have ever used our public building have been shut out.

This makes as much sense as all the bailout money to losers.

Illegal is illegal, Dan and Lisa

This time Lake Worth Works

Are you kidding me? Really, Dan, you state that 15 to 20 people are finding employment every day. 15 to 20!!!!! There are a hundred standing on the street getting picked up for work and these people are making much more money. They are not interested in paying FIT. They don't want anything withheld. If there is any success there it is the free donuts they give out every morning.

Ms. Wilson, the Director of The Mentoring Center says, "People miss the point." Ms. Wilson, you have missed the point. You make it sound like Utopia when in fact it is an illegal operation.