Comment Up
Casey Anthony Spotted Eating Chicken Wings At South Florida Restaurant in suburban Lake Worth.
Don't they all come to Lake Worth eventually?
Read more about the little lady who got away with it--last year's O.J. in a dress.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Allen West on the Federal Reserve's Decision today
Comment Up
The Federal Reserve decision today to extend the quantitative easing (QE III) program is a further testimony to the failure of President Obama's economic policies.
The President's seeming inability to grasp macroeconomic principles has now resulted in another iteration of printing money to absorb our financial woes. This means our dollar will be further devalued, resulting in higher gas and commodity prices for ALL Americans, with those at lower incomes feeling most of the pain.
And raising taxes to produce $85B/yr in new revenues is nothing more than a liberal political gimmick. I await President Obama's explanation to the American people...(could be a long wait). http://tinyurl.com/ayse8am
The Federal Reserve decision today to extend the quantitative easing (QE III) program is a further testimony to the failure of President Obama's economic policies.
The President's seeming inability to grasp macroeconomic principles has now resulted in another iteration of printing money to absorb our financial woes. This means our dollar will be further devalued, resulting in higher gas and commodity prices for ALL Americans, with those at lower incomes feeling most of the pain.
And raising taxes to produce $85B/yr in new revenues is nothing more than a liberal political gimmick. I await President Obama's explanation to the American people...(could be a long wait). http://tinyurl.com/ayse8am
Casey, Ciklin and its role in the Greater Bay lawsuit
Comment Up
Additional comments - setting it straight
On July 27, 2006, the City Commission approved the Business Terms with the Greater Bay Group LLC for the beach redevelopment project. On October 23, 2006 at the recommendation of legal counsel and in accordance with the approved business terms, City staff and outside counsel from Boose, Casey Ciklin (Boose was dropped from the name of the firm after he went to prison involved in the Masilotti scandal) negotiated the three agreements. Paul Boyer was the City Manager at the time and Anne Costello was our Finance Director. I have previously written about what happened to them. The majority commission of Lowe, Burns and Vespo were the only votes behind Greater Bay.
Retha Lowe initialed the Contract and the Agreements were signed on November 21, 2006. At that point we were under Contract and the city, according to the Contract, was obligated to contribute $1,200,000 to the project, and funds from PB County and the FRDAP. Casey, Ciklin, is the very same firm where Brian Joselyn is a member, the attorney the city hired to get us OUT of the agreements, an obviously curious choice.
Bruce Alexander serves as Chairperson of the Firm's Construction Group.
Mr. Alexander's practice is divided between serving as a Mediator and
Arbitrator on construction related disputes and with the practice of
law, including primarily construction litigation, lien law and document
preparation.
He is Florida Bar Board Certified in Construction Law, and has been certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Circuit mediator. Mr. Alexander attended Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland.
He was present for the Contract negotiations with Greater Bay.
Having practiced law in Palm Beach County for more than 25 years, Bob
Crane is a leading real estate and business practitioner experienced in
all aspects of real estate law. With an emphasis on real estate
acquisition, financing and development, condominiums and master planned
community development, Mr. Crane has represented some of the country's
largest homebuilders and developers.
Mr. Crane holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell. He is an approved title agent for Attorneys' Title.
He was present for the Contract negotiations with Greater Bay.
"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana
Additional comments - setting it straight
On July 27, 2006, the City Commission approved the Business Terms with the Greater Bay Group LLC for the beach redevelopment project. On October 23, 2006 at the recommendation of legal counsel and in accordance with the approved business terms, City staff and outside counsel from Boose, Casey Ciklin (Boose was dropped from the name of the firm after he went to prison involved in the Masilotti scandal) negotiated the three agreements. Paul Boyer was the City Manager at the time and Anne Costello was our Finance Director. I have previously written about what happened to them. The majority commission of Lowe, Burns and Vespo were the only votes behind Greater Bay.
Retha Lowe initialed the Contract and the Agreements were signed on November 21, 2006. At that point we were under Contract and the city, according to the Contract, was obligated to contribute $1,200,000 to the project, and funds from PB County and the FRDAP. Casey, Ciklin, is the very same firm where Brian Joselyn is a member, the attorney the city hired to get us OUT of the agreements, an obviously curious choice.
Both attorneys below were paid by the City to represent
our interests and were present for the negotiations. Scott Maxwell was not there. While talking to Maxwell on the evening of December 10th, he insisted that no outside counsel helped negotiate anything relative to the contracts with Greater Bay Group LLC. In fact, most of his statements were highly charged with direct intimidation based on political innuendo. Maxwell is misrepresenting the facts to support his erroneous statements. Maxwell is grandstanding and making a political demand, insisting that all the facts come out in this case. It is too bad he didn't take a stand BEFORE the settlement and now wants to believe in mock juries where our attorney Joselyn represented Greater Bay, the guys who sued us. Education is a good thing, especially for Commissioners. Peter Timm does know what he's talking about.
He is Florida Bar Board Certified in Construction Law, and has been certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Circuit mediator. Mr. Alexander attended Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland.
He was present for the Contract negotiations with Greater Bay.
Mr. Crane holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell. He is an approved title agent for Attorneys' Title.
He was present for the Contract negotiations with Greater Bay.
"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana
Sierra Club Selling Limited Edition Bicycle
In the market for a cool bike? Go the Sierra Club to see what they are offering. Of course the color of the bike is GREEN.
This is the first-ever official Sierra Club bicycle, and it is designed for those who enjoy human-powered exhilaration.
This is the first-ever official Sierra Club bicycle, and it is designed for those who enjoy human-powered exhilaration.
New Obama Manual on combating Muslim terrorists
Here is a strong indicator that the Obama Administration’s crusade to
appease Islam has gone too far; a new U.S. military handbook for
troops deployed to the Middle East orders soldiers not to make
derogatory comments about the Taliban or criticize pedophilia, among
other outrageous things.
It gets better; the new manual, which is around 75 pages, suggests that Western ignorance of Afghan culture— not Taliban infiltration—is responsible for the increase in deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers against the coalition force
Read more... about Obama's sickening new initiative. Before we "war" against Muslim terrorists, we have to understand their sensitivities and culture.
It gets better; the new manual, which is around 75 pages, suggests that Western ignorance of Afghan culture— not Taliban infiltration—is responsible for the increase in deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers against the coalition force
Read more... about Obama's sickening new initiative. Before we "war" against Muslim terrorists, we have to understand their sensitivities and culture.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Choosing Life is Dead in North Carolina
Judge: North Carolina ‘Choose Life’ License Plates Unconstitutional
According to Newsmax, a federal judge has sided with the ACLU against the state of North Carolina and blocked the state from offering residents “choose life” license plates without providing plates with the opposing view.
In his decision, U.S. District Court Judge James Fox, who last year issued an order temporarily blocking the state from producing the “choose life” plates, found the plates to be unconstitutional in the absence of other license plates that promoted a pro-choice position.
Lake Worth Commission "plays it safe" on Pelletizer Plant
Comment Up
I wrote about the East Central Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility back in October that is situated on 360 acres and is located on Haverhill Road, adjacent to the Florida turnpike in West Palm Beach. There are four cities (Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and Lake Worth) plus Palm Beach County that oversee this plant that takes our wastewater, treats it and then processes it by removing the pollutants and debris. It is all disinfected before it is discharged.
I arrived at the end of the meeting last night at the point where the Lake Worth commission had already made a motion and were waiting to vote. It was a 4 to 1 decision with Commissioner Christopher McVoy dissenting. His argument was why would the commission vote for the more expensive option. Good Question. Why did it?
ECR's board is issuing bonds totaling $115 million to update its water treatment plant that will include a pelletizer plant that converts sludge into pellets that can be sold and used as fertilizer. By building their own pelletizer plant at a cost of $24 million, the ECR says it will save us $200,000 a year every year for twenty years from what the SWA charges and allow us to have control over costs. Not surprising, the SWA disagrees.
#1: Option to stay with Solid Waste Authority
Capital cost: $13,532,00
Net present operating costs: $56,360,000
Total present worth costs: $69,892,000
#2 Option to have onsite drying facility at the ECR
Capital costs: $24,140,000
Net present operating costs: $41,380,000
Total present worth costs: $65,520,000
Our Commission had plenty of time to get the information it needed to make an informed decision but instead complained about the lack of information. Even future sewage costs could have been explored but weren't. Why not? Once again, the Commission took the easy choice--invest in a capital project and save money and contain future costs or stay with what they had. This will be indicative of how they make their decision on our power provider. They did the same thing on the Greater Bay settlement--played it safe.
The difference is $4.3 million DOLLARS more to stay with SWA and that's what the four Lake Worth commissioners just did--voted to spend more of your money. I will have to listen to the audio to try and determine why they voted the way in which they did. Did they get opinions from the municipalities and why they were leaning the way they were? Did they bother to confer with the other partners to get a feel of it all?
I have to wonder if Lake Worth business owner and West Palm Beach Commissioner Shanon Materio had shared her hesitations/concerns with our majority commission. West Palm Beach had postponed its Monday meeting on this decision. Riviera Beach and Palm Beach were the only municipalities out of five (Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Riviera Beach, and Palm Beach) that wanted to build the new plant.
I wrote about the East Central Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility back in October that is situated on 360 acres and is located on Haverhill Road, adjacent to the Florida turnpike in West Palm Beach. There are four cities (Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and Lake Worth) plus Palm Beach County that oversee this plant that takes our wastewater, treats it and then processes it by removing the pollutants and debris. It is all disinfected before it is discharged.
I arrived at the end of the meeting last night at the point where the Lake Worth commission had already made a motion and were waiting to vote. It was a 4 to 1 decision with Commissioner Christopher McVoy dissenting. His argument was why would the commission vote for the more expensive option. Good Question. Why did it?
ECR's board is issuing bonds totaling $115 million to update its water treatment plant that will include a pelletizer plant that converts sludge into pellets that can be sold and used as fertilizer. By building their own pelletizer plant at a cost of $24 million, the ECR says it will save us $200,000 a year every year for twenty years from what the SWA charges and allow us to have control over costs. Not surprising, the SWA disagrees.
#1: Option to stay with Solid Waste Authority
Capital cost: $13,532,00
Net present operating costs: $56,360,000
Total present worth costs: $69,892,000
#2 Option to have onsite drying facility at the ECR
Capital costs: $24,140,000
Net present operating costs: $41,380,000
Total present worth costs: $65,520,000
Our Commission had plenty of time to get the information it needed to make an informed decision but instead complained about the lack of information. Even future sewage costs could have been explored but weren't. Why not? Once again, the Commission took the easy choice--invest in a capital project and save money and contain future costs or stay with what they had. This will be indicative of how they make their decision on our power provider. They did the same thing on the Greater Bay settlement--played it safe.
The difference is $4.3 million DOLLARS more to stay with SWA and that's what the four Lake Worth commissioners just did--voted to spend more of your money. I will have to listen to the audio to try and determine why they voted the way in which they did. Did they get opinions from the municipalities and why they were leaning the way they were? Did they bother to confer with the other partners to get a feel of it all?
I have to wonder if Lake Worth business owner and West Palm Beach Commissioner Shanon Materio had shared her hesitations/concerns with our majority commission. West Palm Beach had postponed its Monday meeting on this decision. Riviera Beach and Palm Beach were the only municipalities out of five (Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Riviera Beach, and Palm Beach) that wanted to build the new plant.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Internal Auditor Appointed in Lake Worth
Comment Up
Kenneth Oakes is our new auditor for the City of Lake Worth. He won't have far to travel as he lives in the unincorporated area of Lake Worth.
He has an MBA in Accounting combined with over 18 years of experience in Financial Controls and Project Management. Proven record of accomplishment working with diverse corporations in Restaurant Chain/Hospitality, Entertainment, Retail, and Financial Services.
EDUCATION:
HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY, Hempstead, New York
Master of Business Administration in Accounting
SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
CERTIFICATIONS:
Certified Public Accountant, CPA (New York State)
Certified Fraud Examiner
Certified Internal Auditor
Kenneth Oakes is our new auditor for the City of Lake Worth. He won't have far to travel as he lives in the unincorporated area of Lake Worth.
He has an MBA in Accounting combined with over 18 years of experience in Financial Controls and Project Management. Proven record of accomplishment working with diverse corporations in Restaurant Chain/Hospitality, Entertainment, Retail, and Financial Services.
EDUCATION:
HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY, Hempstead, New York
Master of Business Administration in Accounting
SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
CERTIFICATIONS:
Certified Public Accountant, CPA (New York State)
Certified Fraud Examiner
Certified Internal Auditor
Internal Auditor for Lake Worth to be Chosen tonight
Steven Wolkomir
29 years as an internal auditor--
School districts, Citizens Property Insurance
and for various cities.
Accounting, CPA, Member of IIA, ALGA
and other professional groups.
He is well experienced in internal auditor start-ups
and describes himself as a generalist.
Gives objective and constructive appraisals
and mentioned auditor accountability and independence.
Used to working with politicians in his career.
Back in April he was ranked in the top 5 by all 5 commissioners
and narrowed down to the last two.
He is well experienced in internal auditor start-ups
and describes himself as a generalist.
Gives objective and constructive appraisals
and mentioned auditor accountability and independence.
Used to working with politicians in his career.
Back in April he was ranked in the top 5 by all 5 commissioners
and narrowed down to the last two.
I will be very surprised if Mr. Wolkomir does not get the nod tonight but the City has a way of running off highly qualified people. To get along you have to go along--the creed of the past. This must change and the Internal Auditor must be totally independent.
Quote of the Day - Lake Worth Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell
Comment Up
We don't want fine money; we want compliance.
~ Scott Maxwell
Speaking about the 10% of Lake Worth properties that are blighting our city and the recent vote by the Commission to tighten up our city codes governing these properties.
We don't want fine money; we want compliance.
~ Scott Maxwell
Speaking about the 10% of Lake Worth properties that are blighting our city and the recent vote by the Commission to tighten up our city codes governing these properties.
Sun just keeps rising to new lows
Comment Up
Patti Hamilton, Exec V.P. and
Charles Gusmano, founder and COO of Southern Waste Systems
We have to know who we are partnering with...we found that out the hard way when we got involved with Greater Bay without doing any due diligence or even reading the Contract. Thanks to insurrection on the dais and Vice Mayor Retha Lowe signing the Greater Bay contract initialing every page of the Development Agreement, Ground Lease and Construction Contract, it caused a series of events that led to a $1.6 million legal settlement. The Commission of Lowe, Burns and Vespo made a grave political and stupid mistake.
But we also found out about Sun Recycling in one of those "deals" even though the city had been warned over and over again by this blogger as well as Lake Worth Media. It was reported to the then Public Works Director who later wanted to become our city manager after Stanton, to the City Manager and to the City Commission. We eventually kicked them out of town too but by that time it was a little late--our landfill was used as a dumping ground when Sun dumped over 6,000 truckloads of questionable construction material on it, some of which was 3.6 or 3.8 feet thick, hauling in material from south Florida construction sites.
For a little background on Sun and Republic: Back in June 2011, Recycling Today stated that "Southern Waste Systems (SWS), Lantana, Fla., was awarded, through a subcontract agreement with Republic Services, a five-year franchise to provide waste removal services in the city of Lauderhill, Fla. It allows Southern Waste to pick up garbage and bulk materials from 20,000 multi-family residential units within the city limits. In addition, SWS will provide the bulk pickup for 12,500 single-family homes and all commercial roll-off activity will be exclusive to SWS. The deal involves collaboration between Southern Waste Systems and Republic Services, who will be handling the residential and commercial portion of the contract. The contract began on July 1, 2011."
In a news release back then, Charles Gusmano, president of SWS and Sun Recycling, said, “We are really excited about the partnership on this contract with Republic Services and to have city staff and commission support on the collaboration.” The contract will be handled by Sun Disposal, a division of Southern Waste Systems. Tony Badala, general manager of Sun Disposal, says, “It’s our intent to provide the same outstanding service to Lauderhill that’s enjoyed by the other customers and municipalities we service in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.”
Back in 2010, in spite of residents' protests as well as Cara Jennings speaking out against Sun, the PB County Commission voted 5 to 1 with Santamaria dissenting to give Sun an extension of its contract. The Solid Waste Authority's Staff recommend only a 6 months permit but the County Commission didn't listen to them. The County gave them one year.
Sun knows how to play the political game and continues to give campaign contributions to some in this city. They say they are a good neighbor. Now Sun Recycling is back in the news because of its partner, Republic, that was hired by the Solid Waste Authority and PB County to remove garbage in the unincorporated areas of the County. After an investigation by the Inspector General's office for diverting waste to a Broward County subsidiary to avoid the dumping fees here and then followed by an audit, they have been charged with over-billing nine commercial customers by $121,169.
After Sun's contract was not renewed in Lake Worth, the city manager, Susan Stanton, insisted in her June 2010 letter to Mr. Gusmano that Sun's "improvements" to the property, including the work platform, access road and ramp constructed from RSM be removed and the landfill property be restored to its original condition per the Contract. This request has fallen silent and the citizens are still wondering why it was all swept under the rug. We suspected at the time that it would have cost multi-millions to remove all the debris that was dumped on our landfill.
As the City had just as many lawsuits back then as it does today, the mindset started to change about law suits when Lake Worth got in more and more of a financial crunch. Everyone knew they could sue us and walk away favorably as we would roll-over to just the threat of any legal action, cowering in fear. Think billboard blight, one of Clemen's claim to fame.
Is this what happened in the Sun Recycling situation? Did we capitulate like we did in the Greater Bay suit and justify it by blaming all of the wrong people? We don't know. It's still under the rug.
Patti Hamilton, Exec V.P. andCharles Gusmano, founder and COO of Southern Waste Systems
We have to know who we are partnering with...we found that out the hard way when we got involved with Greater Bay without doing any due diligence or even reading the Contract. Thanks to insurrection on the dais and Vice Mayor Retha Lowe signing the Greater Bay contract initialing every page of the Development Agreement, Ground Lease and Construction Contract, it caused a series of events that led to a $1.6 million legal settlement. The Commission of Lowe, Burns and Vespo made a grave political and stupid mistake.
But we also found out about Sun Recycling in one of those "deals" even though the city had been warned over and over again by this blogger as well as Lake Worth Media. It was reported to the then Public Works Director who later wanted to become our city manager after Stanton, to the City Manager and to the City Commission. We eventually kicked them out of town too but by that time it was a little late--our landfill was used as a dumping ground when Sun dumped over 6,000 truckloads of questionable construction material on it, some of which was 3.6 or 3.8 feet thick, hauling in material from south Florida construction sites.
For a little background on Sun and Republic: Back in June 2011, Recycling Today stated that "Southern Waste Systems (SWS), Lantana, Fla., was awarded, through a subcontract agreement with Republic Services, a five-year franchise to provide waste removal services in the city of Lauderhill, Fla. It allows Southern Waste to pick up garbage and bulk materials from 20,000 multi-family residential units within the city limits. In addition, SWS will provide the bulk pickup for 12,500 single-family homes and all commercial roll-off activity will be exclusive to SWS. The deal involves collaboration between Southern Waste Systems and Republic Services, who will be handling the residential and commercial portion of the contract. The contract began on July 1, 2011."
In a news release back then, Charles Gusmano, president of SWS and Sun Recycling, said, “We are really excited about the partnership on this contract with Republic Services and to have city staff and commission support on the collaboration.” The contract will be handled by Sun Disposal, a division of Southern Waste Systems. Tony Badala, general manager of Sun Disposal, says, “It’s our intent to provide the same outstanding service to Lauderhill that’s enjoyed by the other customers and municipalities we service in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.”
Back in 2010, in spite of residents' protests as well as Cara Jennings speaking out against Sun, the PB County Commission voted 5 to 1 with Santamaria dissenting to give Sun an extension of its contract. The Solid Waste Authority's Staff recommend only a 6 months permit but the County Commission didn't listen to them. The County gave them one year.
Sun knows how to play the political game and continues to give campaign contributions to some in this city. They say they are a good neighbor. Now Sun Recycling is back in the news because of its partner, Republic, that was hired by the Solid Waste Authority and PB County to remove garbage in the unincorporated areas of the County. After an investigation by the Inspector General's office for diverting waste to a Broward County subsidiary to avoid the dumping fees here and then followed by an audit, they have been charged with over-billing nine commercial customers by $121,169.
After Sun's contract was not renewed in Lake Worth, the city manager, Susan Stanton, insisted in her June 2010 letter to Mr. Gusmano that Sun's "improvements" to the property, including the work platform, access road and ramp constructed from RSM be removed and the landfill property be restored to its original condition per the Contract. This request has fallen silent and the citizens are still wondering why it was all swept under the rug. We suspected at the time that it would have cost multi-millions to remove all the debris that was dumped on our landfill.
Is this what happened in the Sun Recycling situation? Did we capitulate like we did in the Greater Bay suit and justify it by blaming all of the wrong people? We don't know. It's still under the rug.
More Americans on Food Assistance
Comment Up
Increasing participation is also a way to soften the potential blow of budget cuts that the program has recently faced while trying to figure out how not to go bankrupt and fall off the fiscal cliff. The Republican Senate has attempted to pass major cuts to food stamps in 2013 but the Democrats have managed to fend them off. Obama will roll back the program by $4 billion in the $770 billion program.
Increasing participation is also a way to soften the potential blow of budget cuts that the program has recently faced while trying to figure out how not to go bankrupt and fall off the fiscal cliff. The Republican Senate has attempted to pass major cuts to food stamps in 2013 but the Democrats have managed to fend them off. Obama will roll back the program by $4 billion in the $770 billion program.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
ROLOH friends in Holiday Parade
Comment Up
Katie and Shae, walking for the Residents of Lake Osborne Heights neighborhood. Thanks for the candy cane!
Katie and Shae, walking for the Residents of Lake Osborne Heights neighborhood. Thanks for the candy cane!
Lake Worthians win Kingfish Championship
Four Lake Worth anglers on team Penny-Less won the Southern Kingfish Association’s national championships held Nov. 9-10 in Biloxi, Miss., with a two-kingfish weight of more than 103 pounds.
Read Willie's article
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