Steinhardt outstanding Balance to the City of Lake Worth

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The following is a letter dated January 13, 2011 wherein it shows that the corporations involved in the "Steinhardt property" or in actuality the submerged Lake Worth leased property,  owe the city of Lake Worth $26,238.21 for the two submerged parcels of land under the Lease terms. All amounts owed will be written off by the city.
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Finance Director in Lake Worth to Retire

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Steven Carr

Another one of Susan Stanton's top hires will be leaving our city employ, retiring on January 3rd.

Taken out of retirement when he was hired, Mr. Carr turned our finance department around. Since he has been with us, his department has been recognized by the Government Officers Finance Association consisting of 17,500 professionals for excellence in financial reporting for preparing the CAFR--full disclosure and easy communication of our city's financial position for the fourth year in a row.

He took this department to a whole new level in the few years he was with Lake Worth. After he arrived, gone were the days of a finance director's performance being recommended for criminal action to one of excellence in government reporting.  He will be missed, not only for his expertise in government finance and what he accomplished while here in Lake Worth but for being an asset to our city both personally and professionally.

L Street Parking Lot

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The City, over the last 15 years or so, has been known to do some mighty stupid things.  Some call it corruption.  The lack of free parking on Lucerne Avenue has been to the detriment of those shops. For the City and some Commissions, it's always been about the tax base and/or helping "friends." Considering that this present commission says it is "business-minded," it now wants to rid itself, once again, of valuable and even historic properties to non-profits or to the CRA, but that's another story.

Facts on the L Street Parking Lot
1. The City sold it to Les Evans, their favorite developer, in March 2005 for $575,000 and he quit claimed it to one of his companies, 601 Lucerne Inc. in August 2005.
2. LUCERNE Holdings LLC bought the property for $375,000 in December 2010. Why didn't we buy it back?
3. Market value is $73,531 FOR 1 PARCEL, the same for another and $147,148 for the third parcel.

607 Lucerne Ave--38-43-44-21-15-509-0050 - $73,531
605 Lucerne Ave--38-43-44-21-15-509-0060 - $73,531
601 Lucerne Ave--38-43-44-21-15-509-0070 - $147,148 

If you have been wondering why there is a meter back on the property--

Finance Director Steve Carr says, "The lot owner did not want to renew the lease so the lot is in private hands and the meter is their meter. There is no City involvement with this lot any more."   

 

Hey, if Lake Worth can make money off of my lot, then I can do it too, thought the owner.  I just don't think Lake Worth was making enough to cover the lease and expenses. The lot was empty again yesterday morning. However, the parking charges are more advantageous than what the City was charging.

Lake Worth's Tax Notice

UPDATE BELOW
Today, Lake Worth's Revised Notice of Proposed Tax Increase was published. I still don't understand it. I guess it takes an accountant or a CPA to figure it all out.  One thing that we do know--the city will generate more revenue from ad valorem because property values have risen.

1.  the budget summary says that we will receive $5,788,123 in ad valorem
2.  the proposed tax notice says we will receive $5,739,394 in actual property taxes, a difference of $48,729
3.  using the proposed tax notice, we will have a tax increase of $297,470, a 4.9% increase, not a 4.6% as advertised in the Budget Summary.

Finance Diretor Steve Carr's explanation: 11:13am


Hi Lynn
The way the State requires this be calculated and  published is confusing. I mentioned this in the explanation on Tuesday, as I said then  it does not make logical sense. The $5,788, 123( in the budget) is 95%  of the $6,036,864 (this year’s proposed tax levy) plus a small amount  estimated  for delinquent tax payments.

The $5,739,394 (calculated in the ad) was the 2013 actual property tax amount that last year’s tax levy was supposed to raise after the Adjustments made by the County Value Adjustment Board which were made after we adopted the 2013 budget.

In the end the difference in the adjusted the 2013 levy of $5,739,394 and the 2014 levy of $6,036,864 is $657,470, however the City is required by statute to only budget 95% of the total levy of $6,036,064 which would be the $5,788, 123 plus a small amount  estimated amount for delinquent tax payments mentioned above.

In reality through July 2013 the City received $5,570,486 in actual tax payments which is slightly more that the 2013 budget of $5,529,126 but significantly less that the adjusted levy amount calculated by the State requirements of $5,739,394

If you compare the $5,788,123 (2014 budget) with last year’s (2013) adopted ad-valorem budget of $5,529,126 the difference is $258,997 which for all practical purposes is the actual increase in budgeted proceeds the City expects to receive from 2013 to 2014.

Thanks Steve

Expense Pro-Forma - Lake Worth Casino

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Kenneth Oakes, City of Lake Worth Internal Auditor

Facts are important, are they not?

When speaking of our new Casino building at the Lake Worth beach, Kenneth Oakes, our internal auditor, was quoted in Sunday's Palm Beach Post:  "The common area maintenance fee was set at about $7 a square foot. The fee estimation was made before the casino opened its doors, by someone who is no longer here. (Finance director) Steve Carr has done his own analysis, and I think he estimated more than double that was needed. Now the question is, how can we change it?"

Now, the statement  suggests that someone who is no longer in the city's employ is responsible for the low estimate on casino CAM.   This is not Mr. Oakes' fault as he goes by what his bosses tell him. Who are his bosses?  Why the present city commission, driven by politics, that wants to blame the past City Manager and City Commission for just about everything wrong with this city. So, just who is responsible? 

In March 2009, the city received the report from Fishkind and Associates on its pro-forma analysis on the casino redevelopment that included a finance plan.  Mark Bates was the finance director then and Bob Baldwin was the city manager. This plan was for the purpose of going out on a loan or bond for our casino construction. Fishkind's estimate on expenses was $6.98 per s.f.   Baldwin finally left the city. In April 2009, Susan Stanton was hired as City Manager and she soon hired Steve Carr as finance director. The finance plan was thoroughly discussed on numerous occasions and later moved into many commission presentations and discussions. Even the Finance Advisory board got into the act. Everyone relied on our finance department and the projections it made at the time.  A final meeting of the commission was on August 13, 2010 on the finance plan. Who was the Finance Director during all of this?  Steve Carr.

The plan was to borrow $6 million from the City and then after rents start, repay the City the $6 million plus interest of approximately 2.5% per annum for the 16 months it borrowed the money. The City would then go out on a 20 year bank loan at 7.25% interest. By borrowing $6 million from the City’s Cash Portfolio, which has a balance of $60 million of unrestricted funds, the City would save $400,000. As everyone knows, it has  been recommended by the finance director that we don't pay ourselves back this year as expenses were much higher than estimated.

I would imagine that Mr. Oakes did not know the above when he said the expense projection was made by someone no longer here. The final was presented by our finance department whose director is still with the city of Lake Worth. Steve Carr did the best he could do with the data given to him. There was no possible way under the sun of being accurate in expense estimates as the casino had no history under its belt other than the old casino that was totally neglected by the city. Now it has the information, one year later.  One good thing, rents are at a much higher rate than originally suggested.

Truth can and often is re-written and sometimes facts are camouflaged by politics.

Miami has problems with juggling

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You know we are always wondering where money goes. It is transferred out of this line item and put in another. The commission will make this or that resolution to justify it all. It's all tricky stuff and no one can remember months later where in hell the money went.  Commissions change just like city employees. Records are not detailed, are purged, or just plain inaccurate or go missing and we never know what is going on behind closed doors. Not anymore we don't.

Lake Worth got in the hot seat with FEMA and now Miami is in the hot seat for the second time with the SEC. The investigation in Miami, which began in 2009, stemmed from a Herald report that found city financial managers had transferred $26.4 million from the capital budget that pays for big-ticket construction items into the general fund to reduce gaping holes in the operating budget as the local economy soured. At the time, budget officials justified the transfers by saying the projects were no longer necessary.  This sounds vaguely familiar.

We had a lot of missing money in Lake Worth and our beach fund virtually disappeared years back. At least we can say here in Lake Worth that we now have confidence in our finance department since Steve Carr was hired but there are still some who complain about the Casino Finance Plan or question as to where the billboard money went. Miami can't claim that they have a stable finance department. One up on them. I think.

Read more... about Miami's problems with the SEC.

Lake Worth keeps on taking a beating

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UPDATE See highlight below.

Lake Worth took a beating during Wilma, ranked among the top five costly hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic which began on October 26, 2005. The eye of the storm actually crossed Lake Worth. Our loss was $12 million.  Overall, the hurricane claimed 62 lives and damage was estimated at $29.1 billion. Wilma is ranked among the top five most costly hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic and the fifth costliest storm in United States history but it was Frances in 2004 that destroyed our Lake Worth Pier.

Back then, the City was put on notice by our external auditors that there were accounting errors with the FEMA money that we got from Frances during city manager Paul Boyer's administration. One of the things you must do is back up the receivables from FEMA with receipts. Boyer told us that the city can not produce the receipts and FEMA wants us to reimburse them $1.2 million.

Now Lake Worth is taking another beating-- and according to the Post, FEMA wants us to repay $500,000  because of lack of documentation after Wilma. We can't prove one-half million in expenses. We don't learn lessons well and sometimes we can't even fire those who are incompetent because of Union protection. The report by the Inspector General, Office of Homeland Security, says that we owe FEMA $7.7 million.

We had filed a claim with FEMA and now the agency says, we, once again, have shoddy bookwork. We spent the money on disaster recovery but we just can't prove it...sort of like the sewer fiasco that cost us $10 million for shoddy paperwork.  There was a lot of shoddy stuff going on back in those days. Our savings disappeared too along with the millions in our beach fund. The assistant city manager, Laura Hannah, got a $50,000 raise.

Then after Stanton was hired in 2009, she changed out the Finance Department...got rid of the past problems (staff) that had cost us millions and hired a competent director, Steven Carr.

Now we know why the commission has been asked to delay the $500,000 payment of the loan to ourselves on the casino.

Read the PBPost article.

The Red and Black of it

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Finance Director, Steven Carr, offered his first Power Point presentation last night on the 2014 Budget.

Explaining the hierarchy, he compared it to an organizational chart using General Motors Corporation as his example. There is a Board of Directors (the city Commission), Chairman of the board (our Mayor) and department heads who report up the chain with the commission overseeing all that happens and directing the CEO, (city manager) to implement their policies. The basic difference is that a corporation maximizes profits delivering value to its shareholders whereas a city government generates revenue to pay its bills to operate the city and to come out even in revenue and expenses.

One thing of interest in the organizational chart was, the Residents used to be at the top of the Chart...now it is side by side with the Commission.  We used to be the boss. We have learned over the last year that the residents have less and less of a voice and this commission has shown its contempt for some who have spoken before them.

This commission has given away some of its control as the city manager now can spend $25,000 or under without asking the commissions' permission. The sum used to be $15,000 until just a few months ago.  I have always been against this new policy.

As this budget is a living document" (it changes when necessary), I have to wonder about all the expensive items that are thrown on the Consent Agenda with absolutely NO discussion. Just because they might be budgeted does not necessarily mean that they are still relevant. Years ago we got into a lot of trouble with a few city managers spending like there was no tomorrow. It has taken us since the 2010 Budget in which Susan Stanton was a part, to start turning this city around and be in the Black.

In 2013 and now predicted for 2014, the city has once again spent and will be spending more than it will generate in revenues with ad valorem staying flat. This is in spite of the fact that it was  recommended to delay paying the principal on the casino loan this year in the amount of $500,000 that we borrowed from ourselves. We have a good reserve starting but I thought our goal was not to spend more than we make. A corporation like GE would not survive with that mindset overseen by their Board of Directors.

Lake Worth Budget Workshop tonight

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Tonight at 6pm, is a city commission meeting workshop, Session No. 1, on the 2014 City budget.

Click here for the first draft budget presented by Finance Director, Steve Carr.

The City of Lake Worth's Sub-Regional System Audit

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Last night, Finance Director, Steven Carr was given kudos for doing a wonderful job for Lake Worth.  Even one of the Friends of the Gulfstream, who loves to speak on all subjects great and small, laid compliments upon him.  I like Steve Carr. He was hired by Susan Stanton and it was brought to Stanton's attention that our sub-regional sewer customers owed us over $10 million bucks. We had audit after audit during that period. The City pursued the monies owed. Now there is a complete reversal. What gives?

The City of Lake Worth's Sub-Regional System audit--

What happened?  How did we go from cities owing us millions to us owing them thousands?

Notes to Fiscal Years:
1. City records did not include sufficient information to permit a calculation of over (under)-billings for the 2006-07 fiscal year.

2. Notes A, C, I, J, K, and L under the Types of Deficiencies in City Records, relate to the first half of the 2008-09 fiscal year. Notes A, B, D, F, G, I, J, K, and L relate to the second half of the 2008-09 fiscal year. Over (under)-billing amounts are for the first half of the 2008-09 fiscal year. City records did not include sufficient information to permit a calculation of over (under)-billings for the second half of the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Here is a list of all the "incompetence"--
Notes to Types of Deficiencies in City records:

A. Contracts between the City and System Customers were not sufficiently detailed as to the methodology for determining renewal and replacement costs to be billed to and paid by System Customers.
B. City records did not evidence how Sub-regional System renewal and replacement (R&R) costs were calculated.
C. City records did not evidence why the City used budgeted depreciation as the sole basis for calculating Sub-regional System R&R costs.
D. City records did not evidence what portion of the flow rate billed to System Customers was attributable to the East Central Regional Water Reclamation Facility
(ECRWRF).
E. City records did not evidence whether or not State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan costs were included in ECRWRF flow rate calculations
F. City records did not evidence what portion of the flow rate billed to System Customers was attributable to the Palm Beach County Joint Transmission Facility
(PBCJTF).
G. City records did not evidence how the flow rates stated in a consultant’s rate study were determined.
H. City records did not evidence how the flow rates stated in revenue sufficiency analyses were determined.
I. City records did not evidence the flow rate calculation for the Village of Palm Springs.
J. City records did not always sufficiently demonstrate that Regional Sewer Funds expenditures were recorded in the correct amount and were related to the Sub-regional System.
K. City records did not evidence the basis upon which allocation percentages, used to allocate budgeted salaries of Sub-regional System employees to the City’s local sewer system, were established.
L. City records did not evidence the methodology used to allocate any indirect costs to the Regional Sewer Fund and, as such, did not demonstrate that a systematic and reasonable approach was used to allocate such costs.

Romney's Military Endorsements

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Mitt Romney's Endorsements from the Military:

Admiral James B. Busey, USN, (Ret.)
General James T. Conway, USMC, (Ret.)
General Terrence R. Dake, USMC, (Ret)
Admiral James O. Ellis, USN, (Ret.)
Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, USM, (Ret.)
General Ronald R. Fogleman, USAF, (Ret)
General Tommy Franks, USA, (Ret)
General Alfred Hansen, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Ronald Jackson Hays, USN, (Ret)
Admiral Thomas Bibb Hayward, USN, (Ret)
General Chuck Albert Horner, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Jerome LaMarr Johnson, USN, (Ret)
Admiral Timothy J. Keating, USN, (Ret)
General Paul X. Kelley, USMC, (Ret)
General William Kernan, USA, (Ret)
Admiral George E.R. Kinnear II, USN, (Ret)
General William L. Kirk, USAF, (Ret)
General James J. Lindsay, USA, (Ret)
General William R. Looney III, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Hank Mauz, USN, (Ret)
General Robert Magnus, USMC, (Ret)
Admiral Paul David Miller, USN, (Ret)
General Henry Hugh Shelton, USA, (Ret)
General Lance Smith, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Leighton Smith, Jr., USN, (Ret)
General Ronald W. Yates, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Ronald J. Zlatoper, USN, (Ret)
Lieutenant General James Abrahamson, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Edgar Anderson, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Marcus A. Anderson, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Buck Bedard, USMC, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral A. Bruce Beran, USCG, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Lyle Bien, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Harold Blot, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Mike Bowman III, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Mike Bucchi, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Walter E. Buchanan III, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Richard A. Burpee, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General William Campbell, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General James E. Chambers, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Edward W. Clexton, Jr., USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General John B. Conaway, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Marvin Covault, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Terry M. Cross, USCG, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral William Adam Dougherty, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Brett Dula, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Gordon E. Fornell, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral David Frost, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Henry C. Giffin III, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Peter M. Hekman, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Richard D. Herr, USCG, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Thomas J Hickey, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Walter S. Hogle, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Ronald W. Iverson, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Donald W. Jones, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Douglas J. Katz, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Jay W. Kelley, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Tom Kilcline, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Timothy A. Kinnan, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Harold Koenig, M.D., USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Albert H. Konetzni, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Buford Derald Lary, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Frank Libutti, USMC, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Stephen Loftus, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Michael Malone, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Edward H. Martin, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral John J. Mazach, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Justin D. McCarthy, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral William McCauley, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Fred McCorkle, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Thomas G. McInerney, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Joseph S. Mobley, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Carol Mutter, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Dave R. Palmer, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral John Theodore "Ted" Parker, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Garry L. Parks, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Charles Henry "Chuck" Pitman, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Steven R. Polk, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral William E. Ramsey, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Joseph J. Redden, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Clifford H. "Ted" Rees, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Edward Rowny, USA (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Dutch Schultz, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Charles J. Searock, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General E. G. "Buck" Shuler, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Alexander M. "Rusty" Sloan, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Edward M. Straw, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General David J. Teal, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Billy M. Thomas, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Donald C. "Deese" Thompson, USCG, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Alan S. Thompson, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Herman O. "Tommy" Thomson, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Howard B. Thorsen, USCG, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General William Thurman, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Robert Allen "R.A." Tiebout, USMC, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral John B. Totushek, USNR, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General George J. Trautman, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Garry R. Trexler, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Jerry O. Tuttle, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Claudius "Bud" Watts, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General William "Bill" Welser, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Thad A. Wolfe, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General C. Norman Wood, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Michael W. Wooley, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Richard "Rick" Zilmer, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General Chris Adams, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Henry Amos, USN (Ret.)
Major General Nora Alice Astafan, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Almon Bowen Ballard, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General James F. Barnette, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Robert W. Barrow, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John R. Batlzer, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jon W. Bayless, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John E. Bianchi, USA, (Ret.)
Major General David F. Bice, USMC, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Linda J. Bird, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James H. Black, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Peter A. Bondi, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John L. Borling, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General Tom Braaten, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Robert J. Brandt, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jerry C. Breast, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Bruce B. Bremner, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas F. Brown III, USN, (Ret.)
Major General David P. Burford, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John F. Calvert, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jay A. Campbell, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Henry Canterbury, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James J. Carey, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Nevin Carr, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Stephen K. Chadwick, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral W. Lewis Chatham, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Jeffrey G. Cliver, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Casey Coane, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Isaiah C. Cole, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Stephen Condon, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Richard C. Cosgrave, USANG, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert Cowley, USN, (Ret.)
Major General J.T. Coyne, USMC, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert C. Crates, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Tommy F. Crawford, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James P. Davidson, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Kevin F. Delaney, USN, (Ret.)
Major General James D. Delk, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Robert E. Dempsey, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jay Ronald Denney, USNR, (Ret.)
Major General Robert S. Dickman, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James C. Doebler, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Douglas O. Dollar, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Hunt Downer, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Thomas A. Dyches, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Jay T. Edwards, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General John R. Farrington, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Francis L. Filipiak, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James H. Flatley III, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Charles Fletcher, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Bobby O. Floyd, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Veronica Froman, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Vance H. Fry, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral R. Byron Fuller, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral George M. Furlong, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Frank Gallo, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Ben F. Gaumer, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Harry E. Gerhard Jr., USN, (Ret.)
Major General Daniel J. Gibson, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Andrew A. Giordano, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Richard N. Goddard, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Fred Golove, USCGR, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Harold Eric Grant, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Jeff Grime, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Robert Kent Guest, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Tim Haake, USAR, (Ret.)
Major General Otto K. Habedank, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas F. Hall, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Donald P. Harvey, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Leonard W. Hegland, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John Hekman, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John A. Hemphill, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Larry Hereth, USCG, (Ret.)
Major General Wilfred Hessert, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Don Hickman, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Geoffrey Higginbotham, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General Jerry D. Holmes, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Weldon F. Honeycutt, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Steve Israel, USN, (Ret.)
Major General James T. Jackson, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John S. Jenkins, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Tim Jenkins, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Ron Jesberg, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Pierce J. Johnson, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Steven B. Kantrowitz, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John T. Kavanaugh, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Dennis M. Kenneally, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Michael Kerby, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral David Kunkel, USCG, (Ret.)
Major General Geoffrey C. Lambert, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Arthur Langston, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas G. Lilly, USN, (Ret.)
Major General James E. Livingston, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Al Logan, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General John D. Logeman Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Noah H. Long Jr, USNR, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Don Loren, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Andy Love, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas C. Lynch, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Steven Wells Maas, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert M. Marquette, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Larry Marsh, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Clark W. Martin, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General William M. Matz, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Gerard Mauer, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William J. McDaniel, MD, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral E.S. McGinley II, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Henry C. McKinney, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert Messerli, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Douglas S. Metcalf, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John W. Miller, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Patrick David Moneymaker, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Mario Montero, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Douglas M. Moore, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Walter Bruce Moore, USA, (Ret.)
Major General William Moore, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Burton R. Moore, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James A. Morgart, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Stanton R. Musser, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John T. Natter, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert George Nester, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General George W. Norwood, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert C. Olsen, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Raymund E. O’Mara, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert S. Owens, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John F. Paddock, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert W. Paret, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert O. Passmore, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Earl G. Peck, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Richard E. Perraut Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Gerald F. Perryman, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral W.W. Pickavance, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John J. Prendergast, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Fenton F. Priest, USN, (Ret.)
Major General David C. Ralston, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Bentley B. Rayburn, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Harold Rich, USN , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Roland Rieve, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Tommy F. Rinard, USN , (Ret.)
Major General Richard H. Roellig, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Michael S. Roesner, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William J. Ryan, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Loran C. Schnaidt, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Carl Schneider, USAF , (Ret.)
Major General John P. Schoeppner, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Edison E. Scholes, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert H. Shumaker, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William S. Schwob, USCG, (Ret.)
Major General David J. Scott, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Hugh P. Scott, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Richard Secord, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William H. Shawcross, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Joseph K. Simeone, USAF and ANG , (Ret.)
Major General Darwin Simpson, ANG , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Greg Slavonic, USN , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral David Oliver "D.O." Smart, USNR, (Ret.)
Major General Richard D. Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Donald Bruce Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Paul O. Soderberg, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert H. "Bob" Spiro, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Henry B. Stelling, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Daniel H. Stone, USN, (Ret.)
Major General William A. Studer, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Hamlin Tallent, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Hugh Banks Tant III, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Larry S. Taylor, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General J.B. Taylor, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Thomas R. Tempel, USA , (Ret.)
Major General Richard L. Testa, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jere Thompson, USN (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Byron E. Tobin, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Larry Twitchell, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Russell L. Violett, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General David E.B. "DEB" Ward, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Charles J. Wax, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Donald Weatherson, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John Welde, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Gary Whipple, USA , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James B. Whittaker, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Charles Williams, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral H. Denny Wisely, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Theodore J. Wojnar, USCG, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral George R. Worthington, USN, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Arthur Abercrombie, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General John R. Allen, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Loring R. Astorino, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard Averitt, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Garry S. Bahling, USANG, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Donald E. Barnhart, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Charles L. Bishop, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Clayton Bridges, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jeremiah J. Brophy, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General R. Thomas Browning, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General David A. Brubaker, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Chalmers R. Carr, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Fred F. Caste, USAFR, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert V. Clements, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Christopher T Cline, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General George Peyton Cole, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard A. Coleman, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Mike Cushman, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Peter Dawkins, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Sam. G. DeGeneres, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General George Demers, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Howard G. DeWolf, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Arthur F. Diehl, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General David Bob Edmonds, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Anthony Farrington, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Norm Gaddis, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert H. Harkins, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Thomas W. Honeywill, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Stanley V. Hood, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General James J. Hourin, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jack C. Ihle, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Thomas G. Jeter, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General William Herbert Johnson, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Kenneth F. Keller, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Wayne W. Lambert, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jerry L. Laws, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Thomas J. Lennon, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General John M. Lotz, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert S. Mangum, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Frank Martin, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Joe Mensching, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard L. Meyer, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Lawrence A. Mitchell, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Michael P. Mulqueen, USMC, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Ben Nelson, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jack W. Nicholson, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Maria C. Owens, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Dave Papak, USMC, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Gary A. Pappas, USANG, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert V. Paschon, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Allen K. Rachel, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jon Reynolds, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Edward F. Rodriguez, Jr., USAFR, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Roger Scearce, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Dennis Schulstad, USAFR, (Ret.)
Brigadier General John Serur, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Joseph L. Shaefer, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Graham Shirley, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Raymond Shulstad, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Stan Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Ralph S. Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Donald Smith, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General David M. Snyder, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Michael Joseph Tashjian, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard Louis Ursone, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Earl Van Inwegen, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Terrence P. Woods, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Mitchell Zais, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Allan Ralph Zenowitz, USA, (Ret.)

Power providers narrowed down to three for Lake Worth

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The Lake Worth Selection Committee, consisting of all five commissioners, Chair of the EUAB Lisa Maxwell and Steve Carr, Finance Director, met last night to narrow down the energy supplier bidders to a short list.

There was much political rhetoric from Lisa Maxwell on selling our utility. A few of their friends of like mind were in the chamber. She asked why it wasn't in the RFP originally. The mayor jumped on the bandwagon being accusatory of a former commission for its failure to have a sale included in the original RFP.  The mayor said that we were comparing apples to oranges--using that fruity line again. Sue Hersey, the energy expert said, no, "You are comparing apples to apples.

The only thing Lake Worth was considering was to find a new energy provider, not the sale of the electric utility. This must be accomplished and finalized by the end of 2013. "Selling the utility is a separate and different undertaking," Ms. Hersey said. There is a small and vocal lobby within the city to sell our Utility. As Commission McVoy has said, reducing a very complex issue to the usual campaign rallying cry is not in the best interest of the city.

In spite of all the political  talk about an option to sell our utility and the bogus complaint of it not being included in the RFP,  the Commission narrowed down its choice (based on cost) to the following:

Wartsila and Burns & McDonnell as top choice
Florida Power and Light came in second
Orlando Utilities Commission was in third place,

A motion was made to begin negotiations with the top three.

The Casino

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The Boys on the Beach

They were all there last night to answer questions as to why a brand new casino that has yet to be issued a Certificate of Occupancy is visibly falling apart from hinges, rust, cracks, mold, leaks, and the list goes on. Even Wes Blackman was there with tripod set-up at the perfect angle to film Commissioner McVoy who wasn't there. McVoy was at the ICU at Wellington Regional Hospital visiting a dying friend who was not expected to live past the day and had requested that the city clerk inform the commission. If she did, they were silent.

When Morganti, the contractor, was asked about all the hidden features, it was stated that they used high strength concrete and galvanized ribars..."very stout," he said.  It was also mentioned that the quality of what they used was determined by the budget--"depending upon the budget, there are a lot of different types of stainless steel." Morganti told me that most of the items on the 182 punch list have already been corrected but during the meeting he said that all those items on the warranty list would be corrected in one week, the others a little longer. Do we know what they were corrected with? Who is in charge?

Some of the same old questions were hashed over such as pilings, condemnation of the building by Farinelli, a building inspector used in the beginning to support razing the building and if it was a rehabilitation or considered new. Maxwell wanted to know what significant things were cut from the original plan and was told cisterns and a reduction in Leed certification.

Scott Maxwell, who said that he has been a Doubting Thomas every step of the way, admitted that he has not taken one foot onto the project since construction started but he had the most poignant and probing questions.  City Manager Bornstein assembled a new management team right after he was hired having fired the assistant city manager who was in charge to oversee the beach redevelopment. His team, that he says is spending the majority of its time on the beach, is William Waters, Jamie Brown, Juan Ruiz, and Steve Carr.

On May 15, REG had sent a letter to Morganti with a carbon copy to William Waters that the city was responsible for maintaining the building but it was brought out that the City had nothing in writing regarding Lake Worth's responsibility to maintain the building from that date.  When Bornstein was asked, he replied that there is a "glitch issue." He did not answer the question and no one on the dais forced an explanation. Why not?

Considering the serious and costly circumstances, the Commission took a friendly and facilitative approach with those who worked on the $6 million Casino project, hoping that they will catch more flies with honey than they would with vinegar and that the contractor will correct the problems with the right materials.

The Long and Short of It - Lake Worth's Cash Cow

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Long lists were to be condensed into short lists.

Did I misunderstand something last night regarding the choice of our energy provider--that the commission was supposed to eliminate about half of the providers in order to create a Short List from those who answered the RFP but they had no cost comparisons? We were told that the City has "legal obligations--they can't let bidders know where they are in the bid process." Ok. I get that.

Everyone sitting in the chamber was confused--did the commission know the costs?  Did they not know the costs?  If they knew the costs then what was the problem in eliminating those companies that did not fit our needs? But guess what-- I just verified that the commission along with the Chair of the Electric Utility Advisory Board were given ALL of the costs by our consultant Sue Hersey, president and owner of Energy Advantage Consulting. They just couldn't make it public. SO, as it turns out, the only people really in the dark are Suzie and Joe Public.

ALL the prices from the various companies were removed (redacted) from the documentation as they are "trade secrets."  The Vice Mayor said that questions on costs have not been answered. I suspect that there are missing parts but I just now learned that at least they did have the cost comparisons between the various companies as to selling price to Lake Worth. So what was all of this stuff about apples, oranges, etc? Once the Commission chooses an energy provider, the cost will become public.

There were three pages of a decision matrix that were in the back-up but only one condensed page with 6 categories was given as a final to the commissioners to make their choice.  I would imagine that the one page matrix was explained in their one-on-one meeting with whomever devised it, but it did cause some confusion--this is not the first time that a city matrix had a lack of clarity for some.

On the dais last night:  all the commissioners, Steve Carr Finance Director and Lisa Maxwell, new Chair of the Electric Utility Advisory Board. This Board is supposed to advise the commission and give recommendations. Commissioner McVoy requested that the Utility Board give a written recommendation regarding their choices on an energy provider to the commission. Essentially, Lisa told him to read the minutes and/or listen to the audio. The Commission was supposed to take hours of its time looking up Minutes and listening to audio in order to compile information? Our high priced energy lawyer then said, "It is advisable that the Electric Utility Advisory Board give a written recommendation."

The way I heard it, our Utility generates $55 million and gives back 8% to the general operating fund. Lake Worth is smack in the middle of all cities' percentages that use their utility company for city operating revenue. This was a revelation. Lake Worth is not the odd ball city--every city does it and our city is "average" when it comes to extrapolating money.

Once this Commission chooses an energy provider,  it will take two to four weeks for the final negotiations. This sounds optimistic even if we get to a Short List and at the rate we're going, one has to wonder.

Maxwell, wanting the lowest cost of electricity to fulfill our needs for the short-term, voted against the motion to develop a Short List of energy providers. It failed on a 3/4 vote with Maxwell, Triolo, Amoroso and Lisa Maxwell dissenting and McVoy, Muvehill and the Finance Director, Steve Carr,  voting yes.

We must get this one right and fear is what drove this meeting. We have one of the best energy consultants hired by Lake Worth. We have a top energy lawyer as well.  All reputable companies have presented and have told us what they will do for us.  All we want to know is what the cost will be to the consumer and at what cost is the provider selling it to Lake Worth? If the commission feels it does not have enough information, please get it to them on a silver platter. The fate of our city is in their hands.

Billboard Blight and the "shuffling" of funds

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Read here on Billboard fiasco

At the last Budget meeting, Finance Director, Steve Carr, stated that $700,000 from the billboard "settlement" would be used to balance the Budget. I don't recall the exact use. Through the years, we have had a lot of money that was transferred out, transferred from one account to another and no one has been able to connect the dots. In fact, we burned through $12 million dollars several years ago when we had different finance directors and approximately $3.5 million went "missing" from our beach fund.

The billboard deal was a deal from hell. In one way I blame the paranoia of the city that has been scared and petrified of anyone threatening a law suit and in this case, made a terrible decision to allow billboards into our city for a term of 20 years minus one day that was against our code. Instead of fighting it, the city capitulated. That city attorney is now gone.

The Clemens Commission dedicated the billboard "settlement" money to a specific use. Present commissions need to know this so that any use of funds can be discussed by the commission as well as the public and that transfers of large sums of money must be with the full history and knowledge of the commission. This should never be a staff decision.

On September 14, 2011 the Finance Advisory Board had a discussion on the proceeds from the Billboards and said that it wanted Staff to bring back the history of the Commission decisions on how to use the funds and then they would have more discussion on any use of funds.

We continue to have transparency issues. When it comes to hundreds of thousands and/or millions of dollars, staff needs to present ALL of the facts because commissions change every year as well as staff. It was promised under Stanton that each commissioner would get monthly financials in order to keep up with it all so that they would be able to compare line item discrepancies.

Instead of the reported $424,000 being taken from Reserves along with $100,000 from the Simpkin Trust, we are taking another $700,000 from a dedicated fund. That totals $1,224,000 of our cash to balance a budget in order to give back residents pennies on their electric bill.  What else is going on to balance this budget of which we are unaware?

Rah! Rah! Sis-Boom-Bah! - Lake Worth's budget

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Not staying for any New business, as I was certain all of it would pass, the City Commission adopted the Budget for 2013 on first reading as well as the millage rate, keeping it the same as last year. Raising taxes even when you have a budget shortfall, is not popular with the voters and our elected officials know how to play the game.

Vice Mayor Maxwell who has never approved any budget since he has been in office, made the motion to approve City Manager Bornstein's budget with Commissioner Amoroso, Mr. Second, seconding the motion. The budget passed on a 3/2 with McVoy and Mulvehill  dissenting.

I was really surprised at Maxwell, the one who has always maintained that he is the fiscal conservative. Not last night. No one operates his finances by spending more than he is taking in--unless, of course, you are the government.

Our general fund was down again this year by 2.6% but the Mayor cheered on saying that we were heading in the right direction. I felt as if I were at a pep rally. "Lead by hope, not fear," she said. We know where she got that "hope" thing from.

The "visionaries" thought it perfectly fine to take $424,000 from reserves (savings) and also rob the Simpkin Trust of $100,000 for library operations, a Trust that was NOT set up for operations. The plan is to deplete this entire trust over the next five years and to balance the budget if needed by robbing reserves, the main reasons why McVoy and Mulvehill voted the budget down.

They reduced our cost of electricity by 5% which will be $2.4  million less in revenue to the Utility and ultimately the city. I question the timing of this reduction. The 1.4% conservation fee elimination will be paid from the reserves but off everyone's electric bill. They also suggested that they might have to special assess us in the future for whatever. Not once was the idea of management reducing their salaries by 10% and making up the shortfall by further cuts were suggested. In fact, no ideas were brought forward for any other eliminations in the budget. Amoroso also threw the blame back on the public saying that not one person contacted him with any ideas.

We all learned that only 30% of the revenues we receive goes towards actually operating the City. 70% are fixed costs representing employee salaries, benefits and retirement packages. The Finance Director, Steve Carr, did say that these need to be negotiated. The commission trio did not respond to that at all and neither did the city manager, ALL politicians.

Even though the budgets that were formulated for 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 under city managers Paul Boyer and  Bob Baldwin raided our Reserves big time, we hired a city manager in April 2009 who stopped the bleed and ended the nonsense, Susan Stanton. She was condemned for making the difficult managerial decisions that got us on course and was eventually fired by this trio of "visionaries," Maxwell, Triolo and Amoroso. Now it seems we are right back to where we started with a commission and city manager avoiding the tough but necessary decisions. Although there are not millions being robbed from Reserves, it is still kicking the can down the road--the easy way out from making difficult decisions to maintain the health of our city.

The City manager did not update his department in the Budget but managed to get $15,000 for his monthly propaganda newsletter instead of doing a weekly city manager report on-line that is free where we actually got some information. The city commission had agreed to reduce its travel and education account from $30,000 to $15,000--so that is a wash. Also in the plan going forward is to close the pool. They will be spending over $100,000 for pool expenses every year but refuse to open the pool to make revenues even after stating in the budget that the pool is the number one summer activity.

This is no way to run our city.

Choosing an Energy Provider

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After last night everyone in the room must realize what an awesome job this Selection Committee has in front of them in choosing the correct energy provider for Lake Worth. Heck, this is a Commission that has been complaining about electric rates in Lake Worth and blaming the two sitting minority commissioners on everything but the leaky kitchen sink.

Everyone had better pray as the selection committee consists of our five commissioners, three of whom are "visionaries," one volunteer who is Chair of the newly formed Electric Utility Advisory Board and Steve Carr, Finance Director. They are expected to contract with some company to give us better rates than we are now experiencing--the best deal possible.

This entire matter came about because we want lower rates. We therefore, gave FMPA a five year notice that we were exiting to find another provider. As FPL is one of the companies that submitted a bid and some of the commissioners are getting feedback from some citizens that we should sell our Utility to them, don't be surprised in the end that FPL comes out on top in the rankings.

Don't they know that if we (Lake Worth) sell our utility, that we will have to pay back the sales price in the form of rate increases to whomever buys it...possibly $75 million or more? Don't they know that it is really handing over an asset that in essence benefits the buyer and not the seller? Don't they know that we have to pay back the Bond money? Don't they know that we will lose $10 million in our operating budget and we will have to reduce services?

Watching over the entire discussion

Michael Kennedy
Contract Oversight Specialist
Office of Inspector General Palm Beach County

Lake Worth Library

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It was a somber look last night at the Library Board meeting as we learned that city staff wants to use Trust money in the amount of $220 thousand to keep it alive to maintain present services. This raids the Simpkin Trust cutting that balance in half. A hefty increase are employee benefits rising from $76 thousand this year to $92 thousand. There are six employees of the Library. The City wants to reduce the amount of last year's budget by $137 thousand as it raises fees for water, sewer, waste and equipment technology and employee benefits. IT services were discussed and the Board felt that the city was charging too much.

The Board is down to three members: Sam Goodstein, Drew Martin and Brian Smith. Vicki Joslin, Library Services Manager, was there, along with Steve Carr, Finance Director and Juan Ruiz, Recreation Director and three residents.

The problem, once again, is the funding for our library that has been around since volunteers started it and read their books by candlelight. Later, residents raised money and eventually the present structure opened in 1941, now an historical structure that holds a lot of memories.

People want their own library and we want this one in particular. They want their own park and recreational services. They also want their own police and fire departments but money always gets in the way and that influences bad decisions made by politicians. A few years ago Scott Maxwell suggested that we give our library to the County. Vicki pointed out that idea would be way to costly to consider. Whenever we can't seem to manage anything, the easy way out is to give it to the County or to a developer.

A motion was made to accept Staff's recommendation and passed on a 2/1 vote with Drew Martin dissenting. He did not want to raid the Simpkin Trust by that much money. It will be interesting to find out during the Budget workshops how much they are spending on soccer balls versus library books.

When you consider the votes from the dais that have wasted money, not to mention the "free lunch" they all think they deserve, I am positive that we can find the $220 thousand to fund the library without delving into the Trust Fund money and soon depleting it to zero in a matter of a year or two and then still be in the exact same situation we find ourselves in today. The only difference will be NO money left to raid. Why do they always pick on our library?

Pensive Juan

Solemn Steve

A Heady Group

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Two links to a blog that I provided under my article entitled Propaganda and written on Tuesday, were removed the very next day...not just the blogs but the entire web site.

The blog posts implied that Heady and Heran who were ready to present their slick Power Point on the sale of our electric utility to FPL at Lake Worth City Hall had special interests. The person who wrote the blogs is Bea Gardner who is running for a council seat in Indian River County and against the sale of its utility to FPL. One of her blogs was entitled, Who is the Liar, Cheat and Thief? The other was about Glenn Heran and Brian Heady finding new playing fields in Lake Worth.

I have been unable to reach Ms. Gardner to ascertain the reason for her web site removal. It is still down today. Although her opinions on Heady and Heran have been on the Internet for quite some time, I find it coincidental that these two gentlemen want to promote the sale of our electric utility to FPL and now we can't find out what their biggest critic has to say.

These gentlemen were placed on the Lake Worth Agenda by commissioner Amoroso but the item was removed by Steve Carr. These were the same two who paid for the bus to the FMPA meeting in Orlando just one week ago that was filled with citizens who were either just curious, wanted to socialize with their friends or who had special interests themselves. Mary Lindsey and Greg Rice were on the bus.

Glenn Heran is a staunch advocate of the sale of Vero's electric system to Florida Power & Light Co. decided against accepting an appointment to serve as the city's representative to the Florida Municipal Power Agency. Read more here: Vero Beach electric critic turns down seat on FMPA

A political action group supporting a key referendum for the sale of the electric utility in Vero Beach has raised more than $7,000. Who is behind that PAC? Group founder Glenn Heran, who has been the most vocal critic of the city's current electric utility system along with Steve Faherty. More here: Group favoring Vero Beach electric referendum raises more than $7,000

Brian Heady describes himself as "tenacious" in his advocacy to sell the Vero Beach Utility. Read about him here.

The local newspaper in the Vero area, TCPalm says, "What the city has received is a contract that could bankrupt the city, bring years of debt payments for city taxpayers and easily lead to a doubling of city taxes. The attorney fees alone have kept the city from reducing its electric rates even further."

So, the question remains, why would these guys bother giving their spiel to Lake Worth? What is the motivation? What is in it for them? Why come to Lake Worth? Who contacted them to come here? What is their interest here? Is it all just a noble effort to save us from ourselves? Who wants our Utility? Who wants us to sell? Who has the big bucks?

Propaganda

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Back on April 9, Steve Carr sent out a memo informing the commission that the utility Director would discuss our Utility as there has been mention of selling our electric utility to FP&L. There appears to be renewed discussion about the possibility of selling the Electric Utility. In order for you to have some idea of the complexities surrounding that idea, I asked the Utilities Director to draft the attached memorandum.

I don't recall ANY MENTION of selling our electric utility other than some disgruntled rate payers in the city. Commissioner Amoroso was attempting to have two gentlemen give a presentation that night and it was pulled off the agenda by the acting city manager. The above is the slick Power Point that we all were spared.

The above is what was presented on the Lindsey bus...propaganda from Brian Heady and Glenn Heran, whoever they might be. What is their interest? What do they have to gain? They won't tell but they will try and take advantage of unsuspecting residents and a commissioner.

UPDATE: The links below from beagardner.com are no longer functioning as of 4-25-12 as the web site owner, Ms. Gardner, closed her site. Was it pressure from someone? She says she doesn't have the time any longer to write her blog.

Read about them here.

Read about Who's the liar, cheat and thief?