Lake Worth Election Stats

Comment Up

Local elections are very important. In some ways, they are more important than national elections or voting for a President of the United States. These elections are enablers. You become responsible for the financial and administrative affairs of your city. The voters rejected those candidates who were for increased heights, more taxes or screwing around with our beach as an example. They rejected all those who did not have their finger on the pulse of our citizens.

It's not always the amount of money you raise that will take you over the top. If the voter doesn't "buy" your message, you lose.

Header 1	Header 2	Header 3	Header 4
Candidate	'# of votes	$ Spent minus office or donation	Cost per voter
JEROME	907	10799.57	11.91
MCVOY	1636	10253.43	6.27
MAIER	1434	10246.98	7.15
SZERDI	935	17926.20	19.17

Maier-- deducted $353.03 for office account REFLECTED in above dollars spent column

Szerdi--deducted $1,113.80 for donation REFLECTED in above dollars spent column.

Oops. No disclaimer?

Comment Up

Serge Jerome Endorsements

Comment Up

Today I got a mailer from Serge Jerome.  At the top of the mailer is the statement:

That is my problem.

He then posts his local endorsements:

No one I know trusts any of these people and that is why we need to re-elect Commissioner Christopher McVoy, a commissioner who has proven to be trustworthy and represents all of the people he serves. He will not be a rubber stamp, says the Palm Beach Post.

All of these people who endorsed Jerome went against the Heights Amendment (not to mention many other issues) that was won by 56% of the voters.  Doesn't Serge Jerome care about what the residents think? Did he EVER ask you? Greg Rice even had a PAC, Friends of the Gulfstream, that launched an illegal banner at the Gulfstream Hotel, pulling every trick in the book to win that election and all of them listed above still lost.

It really IS about who you can trust!

Serge Jerome's first political flyer

Comment Up

Nice mailer suggesting that Lake Worth needs a new face for commissioner with the background of our new fresh faced casino, a building in which Mr. Jerome had no involvement..

Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Jerome, but it was two termed Commissioner Chris McVoy who is running again for re-election who was instrumental in the final development of this beautiful building, built in the footprint of our old casino.  His Political Action Committee helped save the beach from the flim flam artist who was going to commercialize the beach and build a building where the upper level parking is now located.  It was through his hard work and in spite of the City of Lake Worth filing suit against him personally and his PAC, that we have a fabulous beach today.

The Fire and Brimstone of Serge Jerome

Comment Up

And a message to Serge Jerome--Your Fire and Brimstone technique that you started in the first neighborhood association debate at Genesis, is not working--you are getting very BAD advice from your handlers and haters. The son of a preacher man should have learned some truths through these years--you don't lie; it's a sin.  Bring an honest message to the voters. Tell them why you would be the better candidate instead of coming across like a Pitbull in heat. Unfairly criticizing your opponent to gain points will backfire on you. And I'm afraid, it already has.

The Candidates

Comment Up

John Szerdi said, "innovative ideas, not platitudes" but that's exactly what we got and more at last night's Parrot Cove Candidate forum. His vision is to increase the tax base and not depend on the utility so much. He wants to tax you for roads and not honor the vote of the people. Ryan Maier was on top of his "game" and was the best of the bunch.

The Candidates  

The Preacher Man

He brought forth the reasons why I am not crazy about formal religion.

Commissioner McVoy had to sit there and listen to one lie after another hurled at him by Jerome who  rambled on having no clue as to what he was talking about...coached by Blackman, Scott Maxwell and the boys.

Quote of the Day - Serge Jerome

Comment Up
"We have to raise the tax base.  We need to bring more revenue into the city.  Every time the city tries to do something like bring in more revenue, we have some people that are completely against it; they are against anything that will increase any property value...they are always going to find some reason to say is isn't going to happen and they don't want to increase our tax base in any way. But then, when code enforcement comes up or infrastructure comes up, they are going to be the first ones to raise their hands about all the issues we have."

~ Serge Jerome, Candidate for District 2

The question that was posed to the candidates at South Palm Park was, "What is your opinion of our current code enforcement and what would you do differently?" The candidates need to listen to the question and answer it.

Mr. Jerome did say that we needed to raise the tax base but gave no solutions.  His remarks were right out of the Scott Maxwell playbill.  This present commission, that never listens to the people, has been attempting to grab your cash. Mr. Jerome should be talking to the PAC Chair of Citizens Against Unfair Taxation and get the other side of the story if he really wants to represent all of the people as he says he does.

Meeting the Lake Worth candidates

Comment Up

Last night at the Genesis Neighborhood Association meeting, all the candidates showed up other than Serge Jerome. An hour and twenty minutes into the meeting Mark Parrilla gave an announcement that Mr. Jerome had a family emergency and that he sent his apologies.

In order of appearance:

Ryan Maier, running for Commissioner District 4, was the most prepared. He was one of the first arrivals at St. Andrews Church and I spotted him studying his notes. He gave a great introductory five minute speech saying that the primary responsibility of a commissioner is to act on the will of the people--guidance comes from the will of the people. He wants to see an amendment to the city charter to change the heights in our downtown to what the people voted for and an infrastructure plan that will work for the people. "Public development and public information is our business," he said.

John Szerdi, incumbent in district 4, spoke next and started off by saying that he was 62 years old but had a lot of energy. Moving here from Ft. Lauderdale, he put $100,000 into his house renovating and bringing it back to its potential. He loves Lake Worth. He mentioned his higher education, the fact that he was an environmental architect and was involved in the design of the Eco Centre Building on Lake Avenue.  He taught at Indian River College.

Christopher McVoy, incumbent District 2, told us that he has been elected for two terms. He is concerned about our roads as well as the general obligation bond issue and suggested that the city go back to the drawing board as one-half of the voters did not want it.  He also said that the commission needs to do a better job of listening to the people. He also mentioned the Political Action Committee that he formed years ago to save our beach from further commercialization and the City of Lake Worth sued the PAC and him. Now we have a beautiful beach park.

Craig Frost running for Commissioner District 4 spoke last. Not used to public speaking, he had some difficulty at times getting his thoughts across to the audience. He did tell us that he is a 3rd generation living in Lake Worth. His building where his business is located was built in 1952 and he doesn't want to be taxed out of it, concerned about the general obligation bond, an issue that motivated him to run. Through the years, he has not had any responses from commissioners on various issues and even had to go to the news media to get something done. Helping with his neighborhood association, he wants the neighborhoods cleaned up...mentioned the big problem with crime...not enough deputies working the districts.

Even though Serge Jerome did not attend the meeting, Mark Parrilla, the President of Genesis, gave a glowing report on him.

Meet the Candidates at Genesis' Neighborhood Association meeting

Comment Up

Genesis Neighborhood Association Quarterly Meeting Agenda
St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church 928 South E Street Lake Worth, Fl,
33460, JANUARY 26, 2015 - 6:00 PM

1. INVOCATION: Pastor Serge Jerome
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mark Anthony Parrilla
3. PRESENTATIONS:
3a. Jamie Brown, Public Services Director - Update on current and future
projects within the Genesis boundaries.
3b. PBSO Community Policing Crime Stats Report for our entire area,
including our expanded boundaries.
3c. Former Commissioner of District #1 Mrs. Retha Lowe - Announce
Genesis’ Neighborhood Association’s expanded boundaries to now
include the Osborne Community, formerly under Whispering Palms N.A.
and the projects we will be carrying out in 2015.
3d. Introduction of new Genesis business member -Tia Vega, Marketing
Director of Oasis Health & Rehab
3e. Meet the incumbents and candidates running for Commissioner of District
#2 and #4. Commissioner of District #4 John Szerdi and his challengers,
candidates for Commissioner of District #4 Ryan Maier and Craig Frost.
Also Commissioner of District #2 Christopher McVoy and his challenger,
candidate for Commissioner of District #2 Serge Jerome. (Each will have
five (5) minutes to address the community. Q & A after completion of our
agenda.
3g. Genesis update for 2015 - Mark A. Parrilla
4. CANDIDATE QUESTION AND ANSWER FORUM:
4. ADJOURNMENT: