10 Years later, some things never change

A memory from when the city conspired against the residents

SHOCK III: Committee Conspired to Keep Beach Build Plans from Residents to Get Szerdi Re-elected

The Lake Worth Tribune By Margaret Menge

"In an audio recording of its February 10, 2015 meeting, members of the ITN Committee are heard conspiring to keep plans to build at the beach from the public to make sure John Szerdi would win re-election to the City Commission.

“I would recommend we do not have any kind of public meeting until after the election,” said William Waters, a city employee who oversees the building and code compliance departments. “If we have a public meeting, and it gets out (unintelligible)….you can say goodbye to Szerdi,” he said.

Commissioner Andy Amoroso, the Commission’s liaison to the ITN Committee, quickly agreed, saying, “Absolutely, you cannot do this before…”

News of Hudson Holdings’ proposal to build a convention center and private beach club at the Lake Worth beach did get out before the election – after Steve Michael of Hudson Holdings met with owners of the Gulfstream Condominiums in late February and Commissioner Christopher McVoy happened to be in the room. McVoy took detailed notes of the meeting, and provided them to the Tribune, which published a story just two weeks before the election.

Read the article...

As it turned out, John Szerdi lost his re-election bid on March 10, 2015 to first-time candidate Ryan Maier by a 20-percent margin, winning just 37 percent of the vote to Maier’s 57 percent." And did they ever give Ryan Maier a hard time after that..drove him out of town eventually.

Now the city, with a memory like an elephant and still wanting to screw up our beach and city, is doing that same thing in a ballot initiative.

Vote NO on Amendments 2 & 3 on March 10, 2026. We want to keep our historic beach and small town.

Lake Worth's City Manager wants to change our Charter on Heights

I just was glancing through the Agenda for the October 15 Commission Meeting and under New Business, there will be discussion on "potential ballot language."  There are five different items for discussion that "staff" wants--one of which is for a charter revision for heights.

We are allowed to amend our Charter, as Building Heights are already described in our Charter with an Ordinance that took effect on December 5, 1996. What we really can't do is twist the intent.

Sec. 11. - Building height limitation.

East of Dixie Highway within the city no building or part thereof shall be constructed which exceeds a vertical height of sixty-five (65) feet above grade. West of Dixie Highway within the city no building or part thereof shall be constructed which exceeds a vertical height of one hundred (100) feet above grade.

(Ord. No. 96-32, § 1, 12-5-96)

Back in 2013 we had a referendum on Heights--It took a lot of work gathering signatures and getting it on the ballot. It was an off year (no general election and therefore turn-out was low). We did have 15% of our voters show up at the polls,  better than most municipalities in Palm Beach County. Those who cared about it voted, along with those who were persuaded by the city's campaign against us.

• The city threw every obstacle in the way of getting out the vote--from using taxpayer money to oppose it, to putting it on the ballot at a time of year (March) that was not an advantage to voter turn-out. This was a strategic move by the city in order to try and defeat the Referendum which was won by 56% of the vote by residents who wanted the city to remain low-rise.
• Maxwell, Triolo and Amoroso were all for raising heights in our downtown to accommodate Hudson Holdings who bought the Gulfstream hotel and a company that also wanted to grab our beach park.
•  Hudson Holdings gave $9,000 to a Tallahassee PAC to influence our elections--one mailer was in favor of the Trio (and why wouldn't they be in favor...the incumbents gave them the up-zoning at the Gulfstream property). Hudson wanted to grab our beach complex for a possible 99 year lease after renewals in order to make their investment in Lake Worth even more valuable.
• Only two commissioners respected the people and the vote:  Christopher McVoy and Ryan Maier.   Ryan Maier did not run again, eventually leaving the area due to all the unpleasantness that went on during his term in office, i.e.,a  resident calling Code on him and harassing him at his residence. The complainer didn't even live in this city but was friends with the "development at any cost" crowd.
• And the City got real clever one night as I was sitting in the chamber. Some friend of William Waters put a cog in our wheel by coming up with some Florida decree (HB 537) that went into law three months after our referendum that they insist made our vote moot that had nothing to do with our Amendment. Of course, Torcivia and gang ran with it. The Trio could have voted to honor the will of the people--they didn't.
• As the PBPost said in July 2013, "we really don’t like Tallahassee’s decree that such votes are no longer permitted [that has not been proven in court]. Stifling citizens’ voices on these issues leaves only the voice of elected officials susceptible to special interests..."
• The Trio later voted from the dais, approving a Hotel Overlay District  that granted higher heights.

Now, heights is coming before the same commissioners who did not want to recognize the will of the people six years ago. It's the same crap every 5 to 10 years and the administration counts on the turn-over of voters in our city who are unaware of the past/history or on those who are unconcerned and apathetic who believe that the government has our best interests at heart. They have a crack legal team that will word the ballot language in such a way to their advantage.

I will be interested to see what the city administration has in mind. There is always someone who wants to screw up our city.

Ryan Maier

Today, Ryan Maier deleted me as a "friend" on Facebook.

Anyone remember him?  For a guy who I stood up for in every sense of the word, it's amazing he has little memory or appreciation of that.

Thanks, Ryan, for letting me know that you're still alive. I was worried about you, actually.

Put on your Big Boy Panties Commissioner

The public lynching of Ryan Maier

Two years later, commissioner Amoroso can't forget the above parody--He mentioned it last night at the city commission meeting when they were discussing having a city Facebook page. There was some fear about the comments that might appear on Facebook. Juan Ruiz said that they could disable comments but that's why people go to Facebook.

The blog that started Andy Amoroso's unhappiness.

Now, Amoroso does a lot of good work for the city but going after Ryan Maier was not one of them. This blog will call out the good, the bad and the ugly. Everyone knows that Commissioner Maxwell and Commissioner Amoroso are not members of the KKK. This is a parody. How do you think Trump feels when he has to see Saturday Night Live? 

Put on your big boy panties, boys.  Maxwell and Amoroso did try to publicly "lynch" Commissioner Maier for a fabricated code violation. At the time,William Waters, Director of Sustainability said, "The code citations were not evidence-based, rather based solely on the claim of a woman..."  Not only that, Ryan Maier took their smirks for two years as well as another politically driven code complaint where he has his business. As an elected official, he put up with way too much probably because he beat their friend in a landslide.

If you have a city Facebook page, look for all sorts of attacks. I don't think Amoroso will be able to handle that. You either, mayor, as you seem to be still burning from a parody that was about you.

Ryan Maier withdrawing from Commission race

Due to the recent passing of his father and now his beloved grandmother who passed away over the Christmas holiday, Commissioner Maier has decided to withdraw from the district 4 commissioner race.

On Lake Worth Elected Officials Raises

Including the car allowance,
The mayor will be making $35,500 and each commissioner $30,500 a year for part-time work. We've come a long way, baby.

Under normal circumstances, an employee asks his boss for a raise.  But public servants who make the decision to serve for the greater good (it's not supposed to be about the money), go to their employee to intercede on their behalf. It would just look too crass to vote yourself in a whopping raise but if your city manager is telling all of us how wonderful you all are, then it can be justified.

City Manager Michael Bornstein talked for ten minutes on why the mayor and commissioners deserved a raise---it's for all the things they do. He said, "The job is like being on a board of directors of a major corporation." After having worked for two public corporations, I know what boards of directors do--they go along with anything their executives want as long as it's for the greater good of the company. In our case, we are spending more than we are bringing in during this new budget. Managing the city in a deficit is never a good decision. And these raises aren't even in the budget.

Commissioner McVoy argued that the duties really hadn't changed that much. Andy Amoroso said that the job position does change and it depends on the person holding the position.  Actually, some commissioners have the opportunity if they own their own business and can make arrangements to travel here or there for the League of Cities LGBTLO or whatever and get off from work to attend ribbon cuttings,  etc.

Salary creep is a phenomenon and it's happening more and  more in city governments for elected officials who feel they deserve a better salary or a full time salary for part-time work. They know going in that their salaries are low and do not compensate for the time and effort and energy that is devoted as the job is public service for part-time work. It's a self-justifying dip into the cookie jar but this time their employee, city manager Michael Bornstein did the dirty work for them. He is up for a review in January for his own salary increase.

When you can vote on increases for yourself of 68.9% for commissioners and a 90.32% for the mayor, you have to wonder who this Trio is working for as they just raised taxes on everyone in this city and even spent money sending out mailers on the bond issue. (It took them years to finally give the employees a 4% raise).   On top of their salary increase, they get an additional $6,000 a year for a car allowance. Perhaps relief should go to the taxpayers before any rewards are showered on the mayor and commission, not to mention all the benefits. So, including the $6,000 a year car allowance, the mayor will be making $35,500 and each commissioner $30,500, what it takes their average constituent to make in one year doing full time work..

The quote of the night was from Commissioner Andy Amoroso: "I bust my butt for the people of this city and I'm happy to do it." Obviously he isn't that happy as he voted in the raise for himself.  The vote was 3/2 with McVoy and Maier dissenting.

Ryan Maier to run again District 4

Commissioner Ryan Maier filed today for re-election.

City Commission Agenda Tonight

I'm not sure whether this commission Trio is trying to set a record for the shortest meeting in the history of Lake Worth but tonight's agenda certainly is in the running. I have concluded that bothering to attend would be a waste of time unless you want to hear Pineapple Beach Neighborhood Association's presentation in person.

This is ridiculous! A few items on the Consent Agenda are interesting. Our guys do a lot of work in this city trying to make it look better but have to deal with uncooperative property owners. Now the city will put liens on the property when owners don't comply.

One is Resolution 48-2016 for the levy of special assessment liens for unpaid boarding and securing.

Click to see

The next is Resolution 49-2016 for the levy of special assessment liens for unpaid demolition charges:

There is only one thing to vote on under Public Hearings--reducing the number of members on the Sister City board from seven to five. This is the Board that the Trio assigned to Ryan Maier...probably because no one else wanted to be on it and it hasn't had a quorum in years.

Commissioner Ryan Maier

Commissioner Maier with Uno

We have two commissioners who own their own businesses in the heart of downtown Lake Worth--Andy Amoroso who owns Studio 205 and Ryan Maier, owner of The Other Salon.

You will get to meet Ryan's dog, Uno at
The Other Salon
14 S J St · (561) 313-7222
Opens at 12:00 PM

Memorial Day at Pinecrest Cemetery

Headstones decorated with flags by Boy Scout Troop 204

Commissioner Ryan Maier, Mayor Pam Triolo, 

Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell

The Commander of American Legion Post 47, Herm Apol,
introduced the keynote speaker, Greg Rice

It was a solemn and reverent hour this morning with lots of prayers for our fallen soldiers.

Vacation Rentals - Lake Worth

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Excerpt from Point of View, an Op Ed piece in today's Palm Beach Post--

After reading all the reporting on sober homes (“Sober home invasion,” May 1), another item that is being completely ignored by residents is the growing issue of vacation rental properties. The home next door to me was purchased by a Boca Raton resident, to be used as a daily rental.

I sent emails to the Lake Worth City Commission and mayor, to inquire about the city’s position on such issues, and received only two responses: from Commissioners Christopher McVoy and Ryan Maier. Not surprisingly, the other three did not respond. I do not always agree with the two respondents, but they always respond.

Read the article...

Commissioner Ryan Maier

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Talking about the hostility shown towards him as a commissioner in the minority, not just politically, but on a personal and business level. "If you have an opinion; have it, love it, support it and if you have a different opinion, support different opinions," said Commissioner Maier.  He assured the folks that in spite of the attacks, he's not going anywhere.

Mark Easton wondered if Maier was leaving the dais early? He didn't listen to what Commissioner Maier said and that is a big part of the problem that we experience on a daily basis in this city.  The majority just wants to listen to itself.  Commissioner Maier was being his normal, caring and classy self. Time for that bird and the Trio to take a lesson or two.

A Wes Blackman public video

Lake Worth Commission sets the tone of its public meetings

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Once again, we are getting a story from a reporter that never talked to the subject of the story, Commissioner Ryan Maier. There are always two sides to a story--the truth and the other side who think they know the truth or make it up, twisting it to suit their agenda. Knowing the circumstances of the incident would be too much investigative reporting I guess.

The other subject of the story is the mayor allowing all of this rudeness to happen. When you have threats made by some who speak at the lectern during commission meetings, raise their voices and are just plain obnoxious and the mayor does not bang the gavel, then it is all bad politics and purposely taking retribution against citizens and well as other commissioners.

When you have a person walking by and shooting you the 'bird," you have "rude punk" personified. Jeers and constant chatter in the room is allowed by Pam Triolo. This sort of behavior (not the bird) happens with frequency.  The mayor does have Rules of Decorum that she totally ignores.  Saying "Quiet in the chamber" doesn't cut it.

Some people are chronic trouble makers in this city and we all know who they are...even the PBSO.

Read about it...

14 S. J Street code complaints

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Two complaints were filed against the property at 14 S. J Street by an anonymous person. We don't know if this person even lives in our city but whoever it is obviously is very "concerned." This is where commissioner Maier rents space for his hair salon, The Other Salon.  He is a target of some political folks in our city who just don't like him just "because" and love to put a little dent in his day.

The first complaint was filed on January 8, 2016, citing the area parking behind the building as out of compliance.  It must be paved per our code. Of course, it has been gravel from the beginning of time but someone had a huge problem with Commissioner Maier parking his car there.

On March 31, the magistrate gave a $50 a day fine for 60 days plus an administrative fee saying that the owner has been unresponsive. The property is in the historic district. Code Officer, Yolanda Robinson, is the very same officer who was involved in commissioner Maier's personal residence last year when a complaint was filed by an out-of-town citizen and a friend of John Szerdi.

That complaint wasn't enough.  I guess the anonymous complainant checked to see if a license was in effect. Another complaint was filed on 02/26/2016.

Both these code complaints are against the owner of the property, not any of the tenants or Commissioner Ryan Maier.

Lake Worth - Where the "Heartless" Begin

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The City and this trio commission tried to tell everyone it was about safety and getting the drug addicts and dealers off our public spaces. That was only part of the truth.  What they never mentioned nor did they say was the word "homeless," the true intent of their Resolution 06-2016 that set new hours for opening and closing of public property owned by the City.  The City twisted the truth to avoid a civil rights lawsuit. It's not criminal to be homeless and by essentially criminalizing the Homeless, it might very well be a  violation of the 8th amendment according to the Justice Department.

Commissioner Amoroso has been strongly behind this law as he is a business owner in downtown Lake Worth.  Some of the public spaces that are affected by this Resolution besides the Cultural Plaza, Bryant Park and City Hall, are the Shuffleboard Court building, the City Annex on Lake Avenue and the public service complex on Third Avenue South

Channel 12 was there and in their video they featured Dylan Harrison, a downtown businessman, who spoke out in favor of this Resolution and even gave a promise/threat toward any commissioner sitting on the dais if they voted against it saying that he would pour thousands of dollars into the next election towards their defeat. His threat didn't matter as those two commissioners with heart, McVoy and Maier, voted against establishing hours of closing city spaces from Midnight to 6am.

The irony of featuring Harrison as a speaker in the Channel 12 video was the fact he is a convicted felon for the manufacture and sale of synthetic drugs. Even a warehouse blew up. He only spent a year in federal prison after a plea. Israel Balderas, reporter for Channel 12, was not interested and said he was only concerned with their comments. Perhaps he should have checked with Channel 5.

LAKE WORTH (CBS12) — The Lake Worth City Commission passed a resolution Tuesday night that sets a new curfew for designated public places. Between midnight and 6 a.m., it will be illegal for anyone to be in or on city owned property, like City Hall and the Cultural Plaza. While those who pushed for this new ordinance insist the curfew will make downtown streets safer for families, others argue it's really about targeting the homeless."

Mayor Pam Triolo, voting for the Resolution, said, "Let's do the right thing and lift each other up."  But all it will do is drag the Homeless down even further than they already are.

Click here... to read more and see the video.

And a blast from the past--

I have to wonder where the Homeless all slept last night...maybe it was behind a bush at the homes of Maxwell, Triolo and Amoroso.

Homeless Connect Event in Lake Worth

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A Project Homeless Connect is a chance for individuals in our community to get a "hand up." They were given that chance today with the offer of FREE resources such as clothing, toiletries, haircuts, food and wellness services. While I was there, Commissioner Ryan Maier had already done five haircuts. Our city attorney, Glen Torcivia was there along with his significant other volunteering and helping out with this growing crisis. Ryan and Glen have worked together in the past with the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County.

In addition to the The Homeless Coalition, many other service providers were there to assist with temporary crisis situations. The city of Lake Worth was represented. Providers included housing programs, veterans services, medicaid/medicare, Homeless Outreach Team (H.O.T), and food stamps.

I stopped and chatted at most of the booths. The Veterans Resource Center reaches out to homeless veterans and offers assistance to them where needed. They are located at the VA Medical Center on Blue Heron Blvd and Military Trail in West Palm Beach.

I was told that The Homeless Coalition sponsors Project Homeless Connect four times a year in various areas of the country. It is a national program that brings together community volunteers, government agencies, nonprofits, businesses, service providers, faith organizations, and the private sector to help end homelessness. Services include: free food, clothing, haircuts, health screening, vision checks, eyeglasses, bikes, and comfort kits. In addition, resources, referrals and assistance are provided for housing, food stamps, employment, obtaining identification cards, and other direct services. As I was leaving, there were some people waiting for a free HIV screening.

I was so encouraged to see all of the programs that are provided to the homeless and to those who just are in need of help. When you don't know where to turn, you can dial 211 which is a free and confidential help service 24/7.  I was especially honored to be among so many wonderful volunteers looking out for our most needy.

If you care to donate, Click here. They need all the help that they can get.

Lake Worth attempts to Criminalize the Homeless

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Last night under Public Hearings was the second hearing for Ordinance 2016-06 to provide new regulations for public property. Public property is all property owned by the City of Lake Worth. The Ordinance was to amend regulations regarding City parks to extend those regulations to “public property.”

“Public property” includes, but is not limited, to the Downtown Cultural Plaza, City Hall complex, shuffleboard court complex and water/electric utilities and public service complex. This Resolution prohibits persons from being in or on “public property” after the posted closing hours.

After much discussion which went over one-half hour and should automatically have gone to a workshop per the chamber rules set by this majority a few years back, the vote ended up 3/2 with McVoy and Maier dissenting. Commissioner Maier and McVoy wanted the entire ordinance to go to a workshop.

Months ago commissioner Amoroso had reminded us that the homeless are people too and have rights. He failed to agree with that last night stating that they were urinating and defecating and generally a big problem in our downtown. Commissioner Amoroso is a downtown merchant. The idea of bringing in port-o-lets fell on deaf ears as some believed it would attract more homeless from all over the country to land in Lake Worth.  The trio didn't want to pursue or learn of other options to deal with this serious problem.  They wanted to pass an Ordinance and make life even more miserable and hard for these people.

Scott Maxwell drilled the City Attorney to get it on the record that this Ordinance had nothing to do with getting rid of the Homeless. An ACLU lawyer was sitting in the backrow. Everyone with half a brain knew that it had everything to do with ridding the city of the homeless population that will now just move into the residential neighborhoods and sleep behind Maxwell's bushes. But even Glen Torcivia, city attorney, skirted the question regarding the intent of this Ordinance when he said, "Intent to discriminate against the Homeless is not clear because people on the dais as well as the public commented to both sides." I got the distinct impression that the incumbents all had been coached to not even utter the word "homeless" knowing about a civil rights law suit could occur as they voted to make life more difficult for the Homeless population and certainly discriminating against them.

Later, under New business, there was Resolution 06-2016 to establish opening and closing hours for public property. This Resolution went hand in hand with the above Ordinance because without established hours, the Ordinance "had no teeth" per the city attorney. The Mayor Pam Triolo, not looking to get into this argument, left the room for the discussion. It had been said that she had met with the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County and even Common Ground Church a month or so before on the homeless problem in order to work on a solution. The Coalition was having an event in Lake Worth in just three days. She voted for the Ordinance saying it was for safety reasons but would not vote on the opening/closing public property hours. In this way, she was appeasing both sides of this political debate.

The resolution ended up as 2/2 vote and therefore died. Not sure how it ended up as a Motion because I never heard a "second." So, essentially the Ordinance passed but with no opening or closing hours for public property, we are right back where we started.  The Homeless, for now, can still sleep and hang out on our public property.

As one person who was listening at home said before the resolution failed, "So now it's illegal to walk across the Cultural Plaza after having dinner at TooJays!  These guys are idiots. What a stupid, stupid law. Oh, and you're all breaking the law walking around City Hall after the meeting tonight. Because the sun has set and it is illegal to set foot on that property after the sun has set!"

You can bet that this entire discussion will come back before the commission.

Ryan Maier opens downtown Lake Worth Hair Salon

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14 S J St.
 Lake Worth, Florida
 (561) 313-7222

 Web site

Name not yet on the store but will be soon

Quotes of the Day - Setting the Record straight

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Tuesday night, there was a lengthy discussion on the Beach Fund Budget. As you recall, this majority commission voted to operate our beach in the RED for year 2016. They would not raise revenue and they added hundreds of thousands in additional costs to ensure failure as well as dipping into capital revenue.

"The numbers are accurate as long as the public knows the debt has NOT been paid back...This commission decided, not unanimously, NOT to pay back the debt that they were obligated to pay."

~ Mayor Pam Triolo


Setting the record straight:
"It was to pay it back at a different pace--it was NOT to NOT pay it back."

~ Commissioner Ryan Maier

May I Mayor? What about proper protocol?

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Mayor, I've had my hand up the whole time.

The Mayor must recognize all commissioners who want to speak. It's at the point of absurdity. And after all commissioners have had a chance to speak, a commissioner can reenter the discussion. If a commissioner is going to address another commissioner, he should be cordial and use decorum--something greatly lacking these days by the Vice Mayor and Mayor. Elected officials should conduct themselves in a civil and respectful manner towards one another as well as the public at all times.

If an elected official wants to discuss an item on the agenda it should be his prerogative. Robert Rules will tell you that "the chair (Mayor in this case) should set an example of courtesy, and should never forget that to control others it is necessary to control one's self. A nervous, excited chairman can scarcely fail to cause trouble in a meeting. No rules will take the place of tact and common sense on the part of the chairman."

Mayor, it is all up to you. 

What Commissioner Maier said:

 "I just wanted to address rushing through the agenda and perhaps expecting things that are about to happen.  This is actually, actually it's getting to the 4th or 5th reading of this particular ordinance (2015-12 amending the LDR's) and last time there were definitely some tensions when we were reading this.  We rushed through and actually two of the commissioners did not vote on the ordinance and that's why we're here again voting on it again.

So, I would urge the commission in procedure to please, while we don't have to draw out everything, calling for the vote, seconding the motion, sometimes it's happening a little too quickly and here we've made a pretty big mistake in doing that.  So, I would urge us to be more careful in the future."