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.

Sister Cities Joint Intergovernmental Meeting

Yesterday a few of us attended the Sisters Cities Joint Intergovernmental Meeting. West Palm Beach was the host for this quarter's get together held at their City Hall. This is a brainstorming session that involves officials from West Palm Beach, Mangonia Park, Riviera Beach, Lake Park, Palm Beach Shores and Lake Worth. It was suggested that they invite Lake Clarke Shores to the next meeting that Lake Worth will host.

The topics of discussion included the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council of which the above are all members. Palm Beach County is considering breaking away from it and becoming a part of the South Florida Regional Planning Council or as Commissioner Ike Robinson would say, "dealing with the big boys." All of the attendees agreed to stay in the Treasure Coast. WPB Commissioner Shanon Materio was in favor of going with the southern council because counties to the north of us are "no growth" but brought up the idea of having our own planning council in Palm Beach County.

Lake Worth Mayor Triolo talked about the recent Lake Worth Panhandling Ordinance that just passed here on a 4/0 vote that involved only "aggressive" panhandling. Thomas Masters, Mayor of Riviera Beach, mentioned that they had an ordinance on the books that involved ALL panhandling--none is allowed there. He's not afraid of the ACLU or the liberal press. I saw Mayor Masters after the meeting and thanked him for his "Droopy Drawers" Ordinance that he initiated and that passed by 70% of the voters in 2008.

WPB Commissioner Ike Robinson, City Manager of Lake Worth Mike Bornstein, Lake Worth Mayor Pam Triolo

Mulvehill in England

Comment Up
On one of our first steps to promote international tourism and The City of Lake Worth, Vice Mayor Suzanne Mulvehill is in England where South-End is having its first street painting festival. She will be a judge.

The Vice Mayor has worked diligently since she was first elected to office to get Lake Worth on the map. By the time our beach is redeveloped, our marketing task force along with this commission, will have our city poised and ready for international tourism as well as our Centennial.

Street Painting Festival in Southend, England

Comment Up
On July 16, Southend, England will have its first Street Painting Festival. International artists will be painting, even from the United States. This event was inspired by our very own Street Painting Festival here in Lake Worth and others around the globe.

Anna Heim is the International Projects Director of Cultural Exchange Group, Three-Way-Split, which sees Lake Worth, Sopot, Poland and Southend, England as a partnership for cultural exchange. After Vice Mayor Suzanne Mulvehill mentioned our festival, she came and visited Lake Worth to witness it first-hand, a painting festival that has been around for 17 years and known as the largest in the country.

Westcliff, a superb of Southend that is situated on the northern bank of the Thames Estuary and about 34 miles east of London, anticipates "hordes of tourists" to visit its first event. All of us in Lake Worth wish you success.

Southend-On-Sea, England

Sometimes you have to wonder what motivates some to stay in the negative. They write about Southend's financial condition from 4-5 years ago but totally ignore the financial condition of St. Marc, Haiti, a sister city located in one of the most corrupt countries in the world but one in their political realm of acceptance. It has to make you wonder. But to give you some highlights of where Commissioner Mulvehill is right now and some positive facts, read on.

South-End has the longest Pier in the world.

Southend-on-Sea is the largest town in Essex, with a population of around 176,000. Located at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, the town is the closest resort to London, being only 40 miles east of the capital.

Southend is a busy tourist destination and shopping center, with a world famous Pier, 7 miles of seashore, with all its associated leisure facilities and attractions, excellent shopping facilities and numerous restaurants, wine bars and pubs.

There are two direct railway lines to London, and the M25 motorway is less than half an hour away. In addition, Southend also has its own airport.

Commissioner Mulvehill working on International Relations

Comment Up

Zakopane is the winter capital of Poland and
famous tourist attraction

With the restoration of the Casino and the redevelopment of our beach property, we will be on our way to being a national as well as an international destination. It is good to plant the seeds now so that when the beach is completed, Lake Worth will be ready to capitalize on a booming tourist business.

Highly competent and a commissioner who really cares about the welfare of our City, Commissioner Mulvehill, is a world traveler and understands the importance of promotion. She doesn't need a map or a flashlight or any other device to know where or who to visit abroad or the importance of marketing and developing relations that will pay off for Lake Worth. Afterall, most all international tourists have heard of Palm Beach but Lake Worth is vastly unknown.

Perhaps, down the road, Lake Worth can be a part of the $122.7 billion dollar tourist industry, thanks to Commissioner Mulvehill as well as this commission with its practical understanding of the importance of developing our most important asset, the beach and the restoration of our casino to a feel of the historical past. Europeans understand the importance of history and so does she.

I just heard from Commissioner Mulvehill regarding her efforts in promoting Lake Worth.

From, Commissioner Mulvehill:

I'll be back on the 31 July! I'm presently in Zakopane, Poland. I posted something about it on my Facebook page.

On Monday, I am meeting with the Mayor of Southend on Sea, England to further discuss our international relations. I am also meeting with two council members of Southend on Monday/Tuesday and have a full itinerary on Tuesday to meet with various groups in Southend again to strengthen our international relations. I am paying for this myself in case anyone asks.

I shared with Joan Oliva with the CRA that I am meeting with Cycle Southend and she asked to inquire as to how they market their cycle trails. I am cc'ing Anna Heim, my colleague in Southend as she is hosting me at her home and has set up all the appointments for us. Councillor Lamb is the councillor I met with last time and am meeting with again this time. Councillor Graham Longley is very eager to learn more about Lake Worth and our twinning. He works very closely with Sopot, Poland another city they are twinned with. I am meeting with him and the Mayor.

Anyway, I don't know if you are aware that the Sister City Board is working to host an International Sister City Green Council on November 11/12 and inviting Mayors and council members from our respective sister cities. I've been working with Jill Paradise on the matter and perhaps she can share with you the tentative schedule and letter that she and the board asked Mayor Varela to send to our sister cities. This is all very exciting and will help leverage us internationally.

See you soon!

Suzanne

City Board Interviews Thursday

Beginning at 6pm this Thursday in ten minute integrals, Board and Committee applicants will be interviewed by the City Commission.

Following is the list of Boards and applicants:

City Recreation Advisory Board – 1 vacant position
Austin Brookley
Jessica Plotkin
Karen Tribendis

Community Relations Board- 2 vacant positions
Austin Brookley
Ford Eloge
Chad Layton
Brian Smith
John Morrissey
Denise Tamayo
Karen Tribendis

Construction Board of Appeals – 1 vacant position
Ibrahim Chalhoub

Finance Advisory Board – New board with 7 open positions
Paul Blockson
Ted Brownstein (out of town)
Laurel Decker
Darrian Dority
Ron Exline
Mary Lindsey
Jennifer Marchal
Dee McNamara
John Pickett
Jessica Plotkin
William Thrasher
Brian Wells

Library Board – 1 vacant position
Brian Smith

Planning & Zoning/Historic Preservation/etal – 2 alternate positions
Ibrahim Chalhoub
Laurence McNamara
Christopher McVoy
Jessica Plotkin
Brian Smith

Sister City Board – 4 vacant positions
Jill Aerts
Elizabeth Flynn
Serge Louis-Jenue
John Morrissey

Note: This is a Draft, subject to possible change

Cara Jennings "jockeying" for Haitian vote?

8.10% of our population is Haitian. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, we have 36,342 residents. Therefore we have a Haitian population of 2,943. Where are the voters? How many come out to the polls? Two? Does anyone ever see any on election day?

There are some, even the editor of the LW Herald, who say that Cara Jennings wants to be the liaison to our sister city, St. Marc, Haiti BECAUSE she is “jockeying” for the Haitian vote. Some people have stretched their imaginations like a rubber band to a ridiculous point of stupid. Just don't accidentally let go of it. Ouch!

In Lake Worth, it's ok to have bad taste as long as you know it's bad

Comment up

Is this really pretty?

The reasons why I like standards within a community--

Betty, Tom, and my good friend and sister PAC member, MaryBeth, whose house is purple and green if I recall and very cool, will disagree but actually, when it comes right down to it, I love Gated Communities. Gated communities are always beautiful and I always say that every time I see one, especially if it has a fountain out front. That will always get to me.

I like them not only for the sense of security you get but the community has set rules and standards that all homeowners must abide. You never have to live next to a slob. You never have to live next to a guy who runs down his house, paint chipping and fascia falling off, has weeds instead of a lawn, raises chickens, lets his dog run free and it undoubtedly finds your front lawn, or keeps his garbage out on the streets.

My personal goal would be to always have the community looking impeccable, beautiful and inviting. Landscaping is maintained, fertilized and all lawns are manicured and shrubs trimmed in well run communities. Trees are pruned when needed. There is a lot of attention to appearance. This is probably why I love living in a condominium community. It is run by people who care what the community looks like and there are rules and regulations by which everyone must live. That is why most people move into a condo. They don't want to live next door to that guy who never cuts his grass, throws wild parties and throws his mattress out on the street not even knowing his trash pick-up day.

A gated community is more peaceful and quiet and the communities tend to have very low crime. People put a top priority on beauty and security. There are color schemes that must be approved. And I say, thank God. You can not have a yellow colored house with red trim, as an example depicted above which is not Lake Worth. Thank God, again. Sometimes you have to have standards as there are some people with no taste (I'll be hearing from you on that one!) and it is always your bad luck that they move next door. Always. Standards ensure property values and enhance the overall appearance of the neighborhood.

Would you prefer this?
Somewhere up on N E Street I believe. Do you want to live next to this guy?

Or this?

To me, the most beautiful neighborhood area in our city is Vernon Heights.

If people would just take care of their properties even the wild colors might not be that offensive to me, but they DON'T! Right now, within the City of Lake Worth, the color standards for painting your house or business no longer exist.

When the paint standards were eliminated, it was all a pretense on individuality -- freedom of expression. It GOT you, didn't it? Sort of like Michael Singer's design at our beach--We want more green so let's design a survey to prove that's what the people want! It just gets at your heart strings.

What really was going on here when the city eliminated the paint standard was setting the plan in motion to cater to all those uninvited "guests" in our country who came from south of the border or just others who say they want to be "free"to do as they darn well please..."No siree, no one should have the right to tell me what color my house should be"...or those who want to call attention to themselves and got caught up in that individuality crapola. We all can fall for it.

Actually, I would kind of go for the multi-colored houses and the pink flamingo on the front lawn if the owners kept impeccable yards and took pride in their homes. Many of them don't.

The small, multi-colored cottages are really attractive-- but as learned at a City Commission meeting from one member of the public, grass is ONLY for the wealthy and she made the word "wealthy" sound like a swear word. It was the inflection in how it was said...wealthy, ugh...the implication being if you live like me you can be a part of my group, the people with inner knowledge, the only ones going to heaven. I am not sure if this citizen was against grass or the wealthy (I think it was both) but she was definitely only for her own preference of xeriscaping.

Xeriscaping? Do you want this?
Code should be called.
If I still lived in the house where I was raised, this is what I would be looking at on a daily basis. What is living under all those weeds?

or this? Directly adjacent to messy yard above.

We will soon be repainting our City Hall Chamber. What about a medium light lavender with light gray or white trim? Tasteful but colorful and it will go with our carpet and seats.

May 29th is the drop dead-deadline!!!!!

The City of Lake Worth is currently seeking volunteers to serve on City Boards with vacancies, as follows:

City Recreation Advisory Board
Community Redevelopment Agency
Community Relations Board
Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals
Firefighters' Pension Trust Fund - Division 1
Library Board
Planning & Zoning/ Historic Resources Preservation/ Nuisance Abatement/ Sign
Appeals Boards
Sister City Board

All applications must be received by the City Clerk's Office no later than Friday, May 29, 2009, at 5:00 PM.

Be a witness in your community

Wide eyed it will be when Lynda takes her new seat as
Alternate #2 on P&Z

The best statement last night was from Mark Parilla, an applicant for the P&Z when he was asked why he wanted to be a Board member. His mother was an activist in New York City and she also taught him early on that you must “be a witness in your community.” I think this statement says it all. If you don’t involve yourself, you have no idea what your government is doing and you deserve what happens.

Commissioner Mulvehill said that while she was out campaigning that many people mentioned the idea of separating the Planning and Zoning board and the Historic Resources Preservation Board. Some people believe that it is a conflict of interest. Mayor Clemens questioned this and gave a comparison saying that no one has ever asked him about going to Palm Beach County for water. Mayor, I want to let you know that most people are not witnesses in their community. Mr. Parilla brought that to our attention last night. Through the past several years I have heard the complaint from one faction in this city that it is always “the same people who show up for meetings.” I say, thank God for them.

Last night’s appointments went as predicted for the most part. Lynda Mahoney, the clear favorite coming into the interview process, was the top choice of Jennings, Golden and Mulvehill. No surprise here. Rene Varela was in the top two of all candidates but not mentioned by Mulvehill to whom he threw all his support in the run-off election. He was Lowe’s top choice for P&Z. Lynda has suggested building the casino down on A1A which would mean demolition of the present building and therefore against Commissioner Mulvehill’s vision of restoration and saving our beach’s present footprint that has been there since 1922 and save our zoning from going commercial. Perhaps this was worked out before Mulvehill endorsed her for the Board, perhaps not, as Lynda was her Campaign Treasurer. Lynda has a keen interest in our City and will do her homework while on P&Z. She advocates for much of the same as the majority Commission.

There were two applicants for the Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals that required the applicant to be an engineer. One was Carmelo Giglio, a highly qualified structural engineer and general contractor and a 7 year resident of Lake Worth. The other applicant was Lynda’s husband, Ryan Paplow, a mechanical engineer with good qualifications, and was not the strongest applicant of the two according to the Mayor. Ryan was appointed. The majority Commission used some weak excuses for not appointing Carmelo Giglio-- not appreciating our Building Official writing a letter of recommendation for Mr. Giglio and since he was a general contractor on top of all his other qualifications, wondered if he would be able to confront our building official if he felt that he had made a wrong decision. This is all politics and that is what Board appointments are.

An astute applicant for the City Recreation Advisory Board was not chosen with Mayor Clemens wondering how, with his busy schedule and a nursing student, he would find the time to be on this Board. He is the Vice President of the College Democrats for the State of Florida, a member of the NAACP and either is or was an aide to Mary Brandenburg...so was the Mayor, if you recall. The other objection was that he was only a resident here for two months. He was highly qualified and would have been an asset on any Board. If you are going to have the length of your residency held against you in order to become a volunteer Board member, then it should be part of the requirement and on the application form. Also, do people really apply for Boards if they are not going to devote the time? The applicant is young and has the vitality and enthusiasm plus the brains. Let’s stop wasting people’s time.

A new Community Relations Board was discussed that would interact with the resident’s concerns on police, code, etc. Commissioner Jennings brought up the fact that we have racial problems within our city. I totally disagree with that statement. What we have is a problem with illegals in this city, crime and blight with some leftist liberals twisting that to mean we have racial problems. They are going to talk further about a Sister City Board, Community Relations and Golf Board.

The only question I had coming away from the meeting was, do you have to place anyone on a Board if you feel none of the applicants are really qualified? The only thought I had was, don't apply to Boards where there are political favors to fulfill. Your chance of getting appointed is slim to none.