South Florida man arrested for assassination of Haitian President

Photo: The Sun

Man arrested in Haiti assassination worked at Lantana assisted-living center

James Solages was the former maintenance director for the Carlisle Palm Beach assisted-living facility until he resigned in April.

"A South Florida man arrested this week in connection to the assassination of Haiti's president is a former employee of a Lantana-area assisted living facility, the facility's executive director confirmed Friday.

James J. Solages was the plant operations director for the Carlisle Palm Beach for two years until his resignation in April, said Richard Tournesy, its executive director."

Read about it...

And for a little bit of trivia, former Lake Worth mayor, Tom Ramiccio, worked for The Carlisle Palm Beach and even joined the Greater Lantana Chamber of Commerce back in 2012. I wonder if he ever knew James Solages.

"Over the years, we have seen Haiti struggle horrendously with its economic and political conditions. As reported by recent data from the World Bank, the country, which is the primary home to more than eleven million people, sports a per-capita income of only $1,150, and 'remains the poorest country in the Latin America and Caribbean region and among the poorest countries in the world.'” [steadfastandloyal]

Man jumps into Intracoastal Waterway and is rescued

Read about it...

A little bit of trivia--

Tom Ramiccio and Rodney Romano, as former mayors of Lake Worth, did that all of the time--Plunge Against the Grunge. They wanted to bring awareness to the decades of dirty rainwater runoff and sewage piped into the lagoon. It was quite an event every July 4th.

So much for "Non-Partisan"

Year 2016 is going to be an important year. Not only will we be voting for a new president of the United States to ascertain whether our country will continue on its road of socialism or turn our country's direction back to capitalism and smaller government where we are all paddling our own canoe, Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher wants local municipalities to move their elections back by a week and set their qualifying times by December this year for the primary that is held in March 2016. This will affect Lake Worth, as three incumbents come up for re-election in March:  Triolo, Maxwell and Amoroso. There very well could be another issue that the city wants on the ballot such as another Lake Worth 2020 bond. Local issues usually get lost on a large ballot as voters have to read all the way to the end to usually find local issues and candidates and many don't bother.

If you recall, former Lake Worth commissioner John Szerdi instigated the vote of this majority commission to change the qualifying time for candidates from one month to three months before the election.  So, we're already doing what Bucher has suggested as far as qualifying times. According to political consultant, Rick Asani, moving the qualifying time probably helps incumbents and candidates with more money. Luckily, this self-serving move didn't help Szerdi as his opponent, Ryan Maier, won by a landslide.

Vice Mayor of Lake Worth, Scott Maxwell, was quoted in the Palm Beach Post yesterday saying that more voters means more expense for candidates to reach them and he worries about the effect the partisan primaries will have on the non-partisan municipal races.

"The biggest concern is the partisan piece. We're supposed to be non-partisan," said Maxwell.

He didn't worry about partisan politics a few years ago. Remember the days when Tom Ramiccio was running for mayor again in Lake Worth? The Republican Party's Chair was called in for some heavy duty campaigning. Sid Dinerstein, who was the Chair of the Republican Party Palm Beach County at that time, was always poking his nose into Lake Worth politics thanks to a certain Republican commissioner. Dinerstein gave Tom $250 in a campaign contribution and helped campaign for Rene Varela, a Democrat, against Laurence McNamara by doing a robo call. Guess whose idea that was?

So much for "non-partisan."

Follow-up on the Veterans Day Parade

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As a reminder, to all of those who forget the history behind the sun-setting of the Veterans Day Parade in Lake Worth--

We used to partner with the Chamber of Commerce on events, an organization whose goal was making money.  Back then Tom Ramiccio was president of the Chamber. The Veterans Day Parade did not generate any special revenue--there were no booths set up at Bryant Park or festival fees to be made from Vets events. Nothing but hard costs were attached to the Veterans parade, costs that could not be reduced because the majority were overtime costs. We always have our parades on Saturday (as an example, this year our Holiday parade is on Saturday December 13th to correspond to the merchant's sidewalk sale--$$$ again) regardless of the actual event day and we have to pay PBSO and other city departments for services.

As the Chamber's number one goal was to make money, the 2007 commission instigated by Commissioners Retha Lowe, Dave Vespo and former mayor Jeff Clemens, weighed the costs and the barrage of negative propaganda from the Chamber as neither were making any money on the Veterans parade. They then decided to sunset the parade by the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2007 and add the Hispanic Fest, an event that would generate plenty of revenue.  (There are some Vets to this day who have not forgotten what they did). Clemens has since apologized for that decision for sacrificing a special day for Veteran's, recognized as a national holiday, in order to make money on a different event. It had nothing to do with recognizing the Hispanic population in our city or even ignoring Veterans. It was all about money. The commission did forget, however, that Veterans Day is largely intended to thank LIVING veterans for dedicated and loyal service to their country and how much we appreciate their sacrifices.

We now have broken away from partnering with the Chamber of Commerce who bought the building at 501 Lake Avenue in June, 2005 from Arnold Greene for $525,000. Through the years, taxpayers gave the Chamber plenty of money to run Evening on the Avenues and other events. Now we won't have to worry about ignoring our Veterans or depending on the Chamber of Commerce.  Honor, spirituality and being thankful are far more  important than just making money. Our Vets didn't care about money when they put themselves in harms' way for us.

Cancelling Triathlon in Lake Worth

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Letters to the Editor
Palm Beach Post
September 10, 2014

Canceling triathlon mistake for chamber

I was distressed to read Sunday about the cancellation of the Tropical Triathlon (“Chamber cancels triathlon, cites costs”).

The Tropical Triathlon was a boom to the local Lake Worth economy for nearly 18 years, attracting world-class athletes from all over the world. Local hotels and bed and breakfast were filled during the race weekend, restaurants were bustling each day and shops were filled with shoppers. Dr Alex Keith shared his vision with the city to help with its image at a time when Lake Worth had very few events. He worked hard in building a world-class event.

The Central Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce cites the reason it canceled the event was that businesses did not want to sponsor this event. Rather, they want assistance from the chamber. What assistance has the chamber given since it merged with the Greater Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce? Businesses sponsored this event for 18 years, making it profitable for the chamber.

The real underling issue the triathlon was canceled is the Central palm Beach chamber doesn’t support Lake Worth businesses.

When the merger accrued nearly four years ago, officials promised to keep a presence in downtown Lake Worth, continue hosting the city’s signature events, and support local businesses with networking opportunities. Events are being canceled, and networking events are held out west.

Maybe it’s time either for new leadership at the helm of the chamber or the birth of a new Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce. I prefer the latter.

TOM RAMICCIO
LAKE WORTH

Swing batter, swing! -- You're Out

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Letters to the Editor

Palm Beach Post

March 8, 2014

Baseball idea great for Lake Worth

Swing, batter, swing! I was excited to see the article about the opportunity for Lake Worth to possibly host a major-league baseball team.  The economic impact would be great for our tax base.

Let’s not miss this opportunity of a lifetime.  During the 1980’s, a major baseball team was considering coming to Palm Beach State College. In the 1990's, the Kravis Center was to be on the edge of John Prince Park and Sixth Avenue South.  Lake Worth struck out. Now we are up to bat again.  Will this be the third strike, or will we hit a home run?

As a former mayor and chamber executive, I fully support a professional baseball team in John Prince Park.  John Prince was the first county commissioner from Lake Worth, and he would be proud today.

This proposal would not only increase our tax base but would improve our image as well.

Play ball!

Tom Ramiccio

Lake Worth

Lake Worth's first Chamber of Commerce building

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July 1912, originally called the
Lake Worth Commercial Club changed its name two months later to
the Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce
 according to Lake Worth Jewel of the Goldcoast.
  At that time, we had
38 people residing in Lake Worth.

The building is now called The Trojan House--
soon to be a memory

The purchase of the above building was approved by former mayor Tom Ramiccio's regime. In 2004, It was  donated to Lake Worth High School probably because the City of Lake Worth could not and never has maintained one building it owns. It was an exchange for 4 residential properties that were given to the CDC (We love to give away property) that sold them to the CRA.  Lake Worth High's Shop class was to learn skills and renovate it for a Trojan Building. We all have been looking at this blue tarped building forever. The students worked on it for awhile but it never seemed to get off the ground and work was stopped after the person in charged passed away.


This building, built originally in 1911 and opened in 1912 as the first Chamber of Commerce building in our city, is shown in the book, page 182, Lake Worth, Jewel of the GoldCoast by Jonathan Koontz and how it looked in 1997. The condition of this historic property, situated on land zoned as MF20, is like night and day today. It was listed for sale in 2013. Bo Allen is the real estate broker involved in handling the property. I believe that he was also on the Ramiccio regime as a commissioner of District 3 when the city purchased it from the Chamber of Commerce.

The school is selling it back to the city.  It's been in decay for years and because it's school board property, we have never done anything about the eyesore. Apparently, the city started a code file on it this year and the city  will assume the fines--those code fines probably prompted its sale. It has been appraised by an outside appraiser who charged $1,000 for his report at $35,000 (land value only).  According to PAPA, it's worth, $61,874. The Purchase and Sale Contract, will result in the City acquiring the property.

The Summary in the Agenda's back-up says: The Purchase and Sale Contract, will result in the City acquiring the property at 1702 Lake Worth Road and Trojan House, Inc., receiving approximately $30,000 to be used to establish a construction lab for Lake Worth students. Additionally, up to $10,000 for demolition, document recording and lot improvement.

The wheeling dealing continues in our city. This was a property that was bought to preserve our history but turned out to be just another historical property, mismanaged with bad decisions made by the city, that was allowed to rot. We deeded it to the school and now we are buying it back to demolish it. Watch this property eventually go to the CRA to build more affordable housing.

I would suppose that the secret to maintaining property we own is to either give it away or knock it down but then we would have to mow the vacant land. What a drag.

Veterans Day - The Day the parade went away

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Today I want to remember Dennis Koehler who was elected to the county commission in 1976 and served eight years before making a run at the U.S. Congress. A former military intelligence officer who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, Mr. Koehler fought for veterans' rights in South Florida and started the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter. On many occasions, he was our grand marshal of the Veterans Day parade in Lake Worth, speaking at the bandshell at Bryant Park. He fought his last fight in April 2011 battling cancer.

Blog anonymous comment of the Day: "Are you crazy? Retha Lowe has a husband, and 3 sons who served in the Armed Forces. Stop rewriting history."

Normally I don't give much credence to some anonymous comments here and especially those who take pot shots or personal attacks at this author. But selective memory is as bad as the worst corrupt politician. If you did not attend that meeting when the Veteran's parade was sunsetted, then you have no business calling anyone crazy or telling them that they are liars.

It's nice to have special loyalty to your friends. Because Mrs. Lowe was a long time commissioner and the instigator of the elimination of the Veteran's Day parade back in 2007, does not infer any other meaning to it--it does not diminish the fact, if true, that she has three sons who served in the military. Many mothers have sons and daughters who have served and we thank hers along with the millions who served and to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

We used to partner with the Chamber of Commerce (still do) on events, an organization that was highly interested in making money.  Back then Tom Ramiccio was president of the Chamber. The Veterans Day parade did not generate any special revenue--there were no booths set up at Bryant Park or festival fees to be made from Vets events. Nothing but hard costs were attached to the Veterans parade, costs that could not be reduced because the majority were overtime costs and therein lies the rub.

The commission's desire was to sunset the Veterans parade by the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2007 and add the Hispanic Fest, an event that generated revenue. That is exactly what they did. It was sacrificing a special day for Veteran's, recognized as a national holiday, in order to make money on a different event to override the costs...pure and simple.

Today IS Veteran's Day, a day that is a national holiday for all those who have kept this country free and the greatest, still, on the face of the Earth. It's a good thing that those in the armed forces don't serve for the paycheck. They serve for duty, honor and country. And we finally restored their honor with a Veterans Day parade and celebration that they so deserve.

Garbage is a smelly business

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Garbage is big business and Waste Management, Inc. is back in the news for funny business.

Waste Management, Inc. is a holding company and all operations are conducted by its subsidiaries. Their subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. They are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Their subs are all friends and all in bed together.

One of their "friends" is Southern Waste Systems/Sun Recycling, a company that has been entrenched in one way or another in our Lake Worth political scene. Through the past several years, they have given contributions to:

Retha Lowe (the most infamous of all)
Tom Ramiccio, candidate and former mayor of Lake Worth
Lisa Maxwell, candidate for Commissioner District 4
BacPac, Shanon Materio, Chair and presently West Palm Beach City Commissioner
Jim Stafford, candidate for Commissioner District 2
John Szerdi, present Lake Worth City Commissioner

Quote of the Day - Burt Aaronson

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The experience of the company's management team, not the track record of the company, should count.

~Burt Aaronson, Palm Beach County Commissioner


Southern Waste Systems (Sun Recycling) is back in the news today.

The Palm Beach County Commission agreed to ease its rules on who can compete for its garbage business. It used to be that you had to have experience hauling residential garbage with at least 30,000 curb side customers. Palm Beach Commissioners instructed staff to re-write the restrictions so that Sun Recycling can bid.

Lake Worth has had its experience with Sun. They dumped all sorts of crap on our landfill and left the 66 acres unusable. If you recall, Sun dumped over 6,000 truckloads of construction material on our landfill, some of which is 3.6 or 3.8 inches thick, hauling in material from south Florida construction sites, giving that commission (one of the WCE) a song and dance abiout using it for a disaster staging site. Our reclamation of the land was again, dead. This was in a lawsuit but I don't see it any longer on the list. Perhaps it was settled or dropped and we weren't informed. This is what I  hate about our lawsuits--the public never knows what's happening.

They also gave campaign contributions here in Lake Worth. You remember the Retha Lowe incident that got her in all sorts of trouble with Tallahassee. Retha lived in our landfill district.  Because they wanted to do more business in Lake Worth, Sun companies contributed the same amount in the general election as they did in the primary to Tom Ramiccio...$2,500. A few years back,  Sun companies gave $2,500 to Lisa Maxwell, now Chair of the Electric Utility Advisory Board as well as $1,400 to Shanon Materio's  BacPac that was supporting certain candidates. Materio, as you know, is now commissioner in West Palm Beach.

Our commission voted not to renew any contract with Sun Recycling (the BCE) and we would use our own rolloff containers.  Palm Beach County made a decision on May 18, 2010 to extend Sun's permit.

Burt Aaronson is finally term limited but Southern Waste Systems is moving right along.

Tom Ramiccio writes Letter to the Editor still touting selling our Electric Utility to FPL

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One of the main reasons why Tom Ramiccio lost his election last year was his knee jerk reaction to our high-utility costs and wanting to "sell it" to FPL, a corporation that had not even had discussions on buying it nor has shown any real interest. Without knowing even its value and how a sale would affect our operating budget why do some continue to want to just get rid of an important asset. It was "if you can't fix it, get rid of it" mentality that is so prevalent with some of our city leaders who happen to be in power now. Solutions to lower our electric costs are in the works. By the end of next year, we will be out of FMPA and have a new service provider. FPL is continually going before the Public Service Commission to raise its rates. If we ever decide that it remotely could be in our best interests to sell our paid for utility, then we need to solicit many other companies...not just one.

Letter to the Editor
Palm Beach Post
August 2, 2012

FPL may be answer

In response to the editorial “FPL could be ticket to next era,” I was pleasantly surprised that after one year of researching the issue The Post  finally realized that Lake Worth should consider all options to reduce the high cost of electricity to our residents. That means considering all options, including selling to Florida Power & Light.

What a difference a year makes. Last June, as a candidate for mayor, I proposed that we consider selling to FPL and research all options to lower the cost of our electric utility. During my interview with the Editorial Board, it seemed that my proposal to begin negotiations with FPL was premature. When you consider the obstacles that young families and small businesses have to consider on whether to move here or somewhere else, electricity cost is a factor. I only want the best for Lake Worth.

I’m glad that the Editorial Board has the courage to support a good option for Lake Worth. Keep up the research, and thanks for getting this one right.


THOMAS M. RAMICCIO

Lake Worth Editor’s note: Thomas M. Ramiccio is a former mayor of Lake Worth.

Tom Ramiccio

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UPDATE

Ever wonder what happened to Tom Ramiccio?

Tom is working for The Carlisle Palm Beach, an assisted living facility in Lantana and has just joined the Greater Lantana Chamber of Commerce.

He also is against changing the name of our City. Aren't most of us?

Read more....

FPL one of the bidders to be our Power Supplier in Lake Worth

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Florida Power & Light is one of the companies that has submitted a proposal to be our new energy supplier after we have finally exited All Requirements with FMPA. Our Commission will consider all the proposals this week. FPL has jumped on the hysteria bandwagon and said, "It would be open to a conversation about a potential acquisition of the city’s electric system.”

The sale of our electric Utility was brought up by mayoral candidate Tom Ramiccio last summer, one of the main reasons why he lost his election. A group of residents are still complaining about high power bills and even formulated a citizens Utility Board with the encouragement of the "Visionaries."

Read more...

Lake Worth Chamber gets "deal" to settle debt

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Several prominent and/or political members of the community came to a city commission meeting in support of the Chamber of Commerce that owed the city money: former Commissioner Dave Vespo, Greg Rice and even Betty Resch, former city attorney were a few who were present. Some wanted the City to reduce the amount of money owed, others were just there as members in support of their "club."

The Chamber has always been a contentious subject. In past years, the local Chamber delved into local politics taking sides on candidates and issues. One of its past directors always was asking the city or the CRA for money for this or that event, usually getting it until Susan Stanton came on board. The Chamber got so weak that the Downtown Cultural Alliance was formed to help the merchants. It got weaker still when it settled for a lot of money with former director Tom Ramiccio.

A few weeks ago, the Lake Worth Commission abrogated its power once again because of politics. The Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce owed us $10,662.83 that included a "missing" golf cart. The commission directed the acting city manager to settle with the Chamber at 50 cents on the dollar because it was a debt under $15,000 and the acting city manager had "the right" to do that.

The city commission pushed off the hot political potato and took the easy way out. No one on the dais did the right thing. No one stood up for principle. No one stood up for the taxpayer once again. They settled with a political organization. They were watching out for friends. They were watching out for themselves.

Greater Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce - Tom Ramiccio

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The Chamber Board met last night. The first item on the Agenda was discussion on Tom Ramiccio...to reinstate him as Director. There was a motion made by Tara Pregnolato of the Palm Beach Post to re-order the Agenda regarding item number 1 (Ramiccio) and seconded by Dan Perrin. The vote was unanimous. Essentially a re-ordering is a polite way to say "no." There was no desire from the Board to bring the item back.

Tom Ramiccio back at the Chamber?

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HOT RUMOR

The Board of the Chamber of Commerce is meeting tonight to bring back Tom Ramiccio as director. I was told that he has the votes.

Dan Perrin of Dorsey/E. Earl Smith Memory Gardens is leading the initiative to re-instate Ramiccio. A friend of Tom Ramiccio on the Board of Directors is Roger Manning, Banyan Printing where Ramiccio is employed. Some of the Directors who have been known to support Ramiccio in the past include Greg Rice, Dave Vespo, and Betty Resch. :) I have been unable to reach them for a comment.

Talk about disconnect.

Blast from the Past - from a current Tom Ramiccio sign waver

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As Tom has now commented on this blog that he just might run again this November, he still might have some of his supporters like the citizen below who flipped flopped from when he posted this on LakeWorthMedia back in September 30, 2007.

Guess who said the following when talking about the Chamber and Ramiccio!

"Tom Ramiccio like Rodney Romano and Mark Foley never met a Camera or a photo opt that they don't love.

It is obvious that Mr Ramiccio was given the ten (10) questions well in advance and was well prepared to put the Chamber in the very best light.

There were no follow up questions by the Interviewer either by design or he did not have enough information to challenge Ramiccio's answers.

Having said all that, I have a few comments and would like replies from Mr Ramiccio:

He is A political-He did not give recent candidates an equal opportunity for debate at the Chamber sponsored debate. Three sign boards rented by the Chamber and two members were turned over to the Chamber to promote, "Stop The Power Grab."

Mr. Ramiccio should have been able to convince other Tourist Board Members that people come to Fl for the Beach and LW is a major tourist attraction.

He says that he influenced disgraced Newell to give LW $5 million of County bond to LW. We need evidence of proof. Romano said that it was him.

He says the beach partnership is good for the local businessmen, he needs to expand on this and how it is a good deal for the city.

Ramissio (sic) at the request of Burns had the SWAT team try to remove signature gatherers from their table on Friday on the Avenue. Mr Ramiccio is in reality a bully when it comes to Friday night on the Avenue.

The Chamber is Transparent in financial matters. This really needs to be challenged under the microscope as there is a big cloud here. Where did the money for the building come from? Was it not county money to be earmarked for our roads? Who funds the Ramiccio leased auto and trips abroad. Who pays for Burns salary and how much.

I will comment more later but this will do for now."

Ramiccio will not run in November

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One of his smartest decisions to date.

Political Signs - Lake Worth

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Is Tom going to keep this sign up until November?
The ripping down and removal of opponent's signs
during the election were done with ease.

(1) The placing of political signs anywhere on public property is prohibited. Signs located on public property shall be deemed to be public property and shall be summarily removed by the city.

(3) Signs shall be removed within forty-eighty (48) hours following the day of the election to which they apply.

Out of Touch - Out of Tune

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Candidate Tom Ramiccio was out of the country for his own election thinking that this LED advertisement would suffice. While he was in Switzerland, Waterman was putting in sweat equity.