The PBSO Phenomenon

PBSO supporters were encouraged to come to city hall last night and speak to the PBSO issue during Public Commentary. Everyone who spoke said the same thing--keep the PBSO. One from College Park, while sitting in her pew, said that the city manager was no good. People are very passionate about this "spread the word" philosophy and when that happens, it can lead to all sorts of unpleasantness. Another commenter said that if the "three of you get rid of the PBSO, I will start a recall process." Good luck. These commissioners are taking the common sense approach to our financial crisis.

Why is everyone so passionate about the PBSO when it virtually consists of the same people we had before? Perception is the reality. The PBSO has never given us a comparison on crime stats from when they took over to now. Crime is down across the State so it is impossible to factor in that stat. PBSO, as is every other policing agency, is reactive. They do not prevent crime.

I think Seniors understand expenses much more than any demographic group. Most of us end up downsizing as we are now living on fixed incomes. Some are lucky, like former Commissioner Honey Duncan, who just up-sized, moved from Lake Worth, and now lives in Atlantis. Probably Lake Worth taxes were getting too much. :) During this recession, incomes have gone down and the City of Lake Worth is in the same boat as we are and has been trying to operate our city with less revenue as property values continue to plunge. When our income is reduced, we cut our expenses so that we can pay all of our fixed costs and items to sustain ourselves like rent, mortgage, electric, water, food. We don't have the ability to raise more income unless we take a 2nd or 3rd job.

What has happened to get us into this state of affairs? Yes, past city administrations made some bad mistakes that cost us plenty but the bigger picture dictates that is was the banking industry that brought us all to our knees. We have employed a strong city manager who was hired under impossible conditions to make the decisions that will help us be healthy once again. The Unions have not cooperated. The PBSO says that it might.

If everyone knew the circumstances of our dilemma, I wonder what the other 35,000 people in this city would think when they know that services will be cut, we might have to close the library afterall, close the beach and all recreation, etc. We have already closed our pool. What would they think if they knew that certain services we receive from the PBSO already were received when we had our own police department. What would they think if they knew that PBSO costs are unaffordable and escalating year on year while our City income is going down? Would they tell the City to keep spending tax dollars on something we can not afford?

We know that the City is now looking to shift some costs onto all of us on our tax bill because some of us don't pay taxes (our properties are assessed under $50,000 and then there are the homesteads to deal with. Poor people tend to live in affordable housing as do most Seniors). Their argument is that we all should be paying the same for certain services when in actuality, the City can't afford to pay for the cost of that service because of badly negotiated contracts of the past. In tough times you make tough choices. When you spend 50% of your budget on public safety, it is at the absurd. It would be like comparing it to you spending one-half of your monthly income on housing. You would have the common sense to move to something affordable. The City, on the other hand, must raise fees to pay for your desire to keep the PBSO whose cost is unsustainable.

Commissioner Maxwell was right last night when he said that this was political. I couldn't agree more. When you see three commissioners on the dais who have not been the least bit political on this issue get slammed by one who is, and the constant lobbying from irrational people in the community whose only desire is to fire the city manager, doing the right thing by the people becomes much more challenging.

Crime Stats for Lake Worth

Comment Up
Week ending May 16 for 33460
Yeah, tell me about it. Without the Sheriff the crime would be double, right?

Property Crime 11
Theft 16
Drugs 17
Disorder 8
Family Offense 9
Liquor 11
Robbery 4
Alarm 14
Other 28
Missing Person 3
Pedestrian Stop 10
Traffic 24
Assault 12

Allen West Town Hall Meeting in Riviera Beach

Uploaded to YouTube by CopyRight Photos
Bad lighting (could not see any of his graphs) but excellent audio

Allen West's Quote of the Day: "We have been played by a very bad fiddle by Pakistan."

Rep. West touched on energy independence, small businesses, gas prices, Navy Seals, deficit spending, social security and Medicare, and said that 47% of foreign countries own our $14.3 trillion debt that affects national security .

He was interrupted by the "normal" hecklers near the end of his excellent and informative town hall meeting.

On the News - City of Lake Worth Policing

Mary Lindsey's argument holds no water when she praises the PBSO for crime reduction. Crime is down in every city in the State of Florida and many have their own police department and certainly are not part of the PB County Sheriff's Department for services. It is ALL a matter of money. Our former police officers want to stay with the PBSO because they make MORE money. The City of Lake Worth pays MORE money for its services. Ric Bradshaw does not want to lose $13 million dollars from his budget. Something must be done...$3 million is not hay.

Finance Advisory Board Supports the City Manager

Comment Up
Over three hours later, the Finance Advisory Board made a motion:

The Finance Advisory Board supports and approves Staff efforts to request the reduction in the current PBSO Contract.

The motion passed on a 5/1 vote with Jessica Plotkin dissenting.

Well, that's a start. And if we want to retain the Sheriff, that is what will have to occur--reduce the cost of services. The only problem with this theory is the simple fact that we will always have no control over PBSO costs and it will continue to be a battle going forward.

Whether they implemented their 7% raise or not should not be the question. The Sheriff had the right to go forward with that 7%. Because of our City Manager, Susan Stanton, they negotiated it down last year by reducing the number of men.

The Impact to the City of even having the Sheriff was and continues to be substantial:

• Cost to operate District 14 (The City of Lake Worth pays for all maintenance, water, sewer, electric and janitorial services at our police facility. We also are responsible for all fixtures, furnishings, equipment and costs related to operate the District office).
  

• Excess Sick, Annual, Compensatory or Holiday Leave. (Amount of employee leave is paid by Lake Worth)

• Cancellation costs relating to the existing Leases we had before we merged. (Remember the Motorola contract?)

• Impact on City's I.T. Internal Service Fund

• Impact on City's Health Insurance Quotation (Our carrier raised the premium due to Police merger)

• Impact to the City for continued funding of the existing Police Pension Fund. (Conservative estimates reflected an annual cost of over $1.1 million over a 7 year period to adequately fund the Police Pension Plan). With Karri Casper taking a leading role in demonstrating and speaking out for the PBSO against the City, there seems to be a conflict of interest. She was appointed by the Commission to represent the City's interests on the Police Pension Board.
  

Bill Thrasher was nominated and elected to the position of FAB Secretary. Next month, there are three seats coming up for appointments to this Board. These appointees will begin their term on August 1, 2011 for one year. They better re-write their Ordinance. There will always be a problem with it.

Full Moon tonight

I came home to listen to the rest of the Finance Advisory Board Meeting as I was told it was going to be live-streamed. It wasn't. So, this turned out to be a night for star gazing. This is one big beautiful soft, orange colored full moon.

Allen West Pumping Gas

"In an effort to hear from his constituents about the rising gas prices- now more than $4.00/gallon in some areas- and the impact the rising costs are having on their lives, Congressman Allen West (FL-22) pumped fuel for drivers at the Chevron Station on the corner of Belvedere Road and South Dixie Highway today.

Congressman West is committed to making America energy-independent by encouraging the indomitable spirit of American ingenuity and developing our full spectrum of energy resources; including wind, solar, hydropower, nuclear, conservation and biomass legislation."

Rick Scott's Mom

Yeah, Mom, I need a little help!
Didn't they used to say that Moms were always right?

>

HB 7207 - Jeff Clemens gets one right

Comment Up
On an 87 to 31 vote, HB 7207 was passed by the Florida House. It also passed in the Senate. This is a vote that Rep. Jeff Clemens got right...he voted NO to passage of the Bill.

Evelyn Duplecy, District Secretary on his Staff, called late this morning to confirm his vote. When asked for his reasons, she said it was " because it is a "bad bill" and then reminded me that I can find all the outcomes of the votes on-line. This Bill was voted on Saturday and the final votes are not recorded there as yet. I want to give Rep. Clemens credit when it is due. I agree that it was a "bad" Bill but the Republicans have taken over all common sense when it comes to Florida.

HB 7207 is the "Growth Management" Bill that dissolved the Department of Community Affairs. 1000 Friends of Florida and the Wildlife Federation wrote a letter to Gov. Scott that said, “It would undermine 35 years of thoughtful statewide growth management policies.”

What the Bills says:
Redesignates "Local Government Comprehensive Planning & Land Development Regulation Act" as "Community Planning Act"; revises & provides intent & purpose of act; revises definitions; revises scope of act; revises & provides duties of local governments & municipalities relating to comprehensive plans; deletes retroactive effect; encourages local governments to apply for certain innovative planning tools; authorizes state land planning agency & other appropriate state & regional agencies to use direct & indirect technical assistance, etc.

Effective Date: upon becoming a law

Endeavour on Final Flight

"It is in the DNA of our great country to reach for the stars and explore. We will not stop," said shuttle commander Mark Kelly.

Although a perfect day for a launch, I could not see the shuttle due to clouds. It's a sad day for space exploration. This program will be missed and will cost the State of Florida 8,000 jobs. Gov. Rick Scott is changing his mind on the high speed rail to nowhere and might approve it afterall...jobs you know.

Burt Aaronson

Comment Up

It doesn't matter that voters passed 8 year term limits for Palm Beach County Commissioners by 70.7% because there are always politicians and/or their friends who challenge a vote every few years or so. This recently happened in Lake Worth where an activist suggested that three year terms were better for commissioners than two even though the voters turned that idea down only a few years before by an overwhelming majority. When does the people's vote mean anything? At what point?

Burt Aaronson is speaking out that he wants to run again as his term ends in 2012. He wants to be a Palm Beach County Commissioner for life. He was elected to District #5, Palm Beach County Commission in November 1992 and re-elected in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008.

Helicopter in the Sky

Around 6:20am what appeared to be a Sheriff's helicopter was flying high in the sky. It was perfect timing as most people are getting up and getting ready for work or their day. We all got to hear it and of course we all wondered. This is a photo of a PBSO helicopter but not the one I heard and saw this morning flying near my residence. It was too high to take the shot but it was loud enough to attract everyone's attention, dead or alive. After flying near the condo communities on Lake Osborne Drive and part of Lake Osborne Estates, it headed towards the downtown and northeast of here.

Was the Sheriff hunting for a fugitive or taking it out for a little practice run?

Feasibility Study for Police Services

Important Excerpts from Willdan Police Study are reprinted here to point out that 1) the Sheriff must provide the same level of service regardless of whether we are contracted with them or not and 2) we already pay for sheriff services on our County Tax bill.

Given the State Constitution and the overall statutory duties of the County Sheriff and the provisions of the Palm Beach County Charter, the Sheriff as a constitutional officer, acting on behalf of the County has a duty to fund a comparable level of law enforcement services within the City of Lake Worth irrespective of municipal incorporation. That level of service should be the same level provided in the unincorporated areas of the County and would consist of state and county laws and regulations – but not municipal ordinances. The City of Lake Worth residents are paying the same county tax for law enforcement services as those in the unincorporated areas who do not have an agreement for law enforcement services. More clearly stated; Lake Worth residents are paying for the same level of law enforcement protection as those who reside in the unincorporated county areas even though they also paid for a municipal police department prior to 2008.

Based upon the Sheriff’s constitutional duties, there are a number of county wide services that are funded by and available to all residents in Palm Beach County municipalities by the County General Fund. These include:

• Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)
• Air Support – Helicopter Patrol
• Marine Patrol
• Mounted Patrol
• K-9
• Specialized strategic investigations such as homicides, traffic homicides,
organized crime (vice & narcotics), intelligence, serious sexual crimes
• Full service Crime lab – Hazardous Materials
• Prisoner and jail services
• Evidence Custodian
• Homeland security to include interagency emergency preparedness operations,
disaster coordination and civil defense that compliments local emergency
management support.

Champagne Socialist accused of showing no class toward Working Class

The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was staying in a classy $3,000-a-night hotel suite as well as flying 1st class and has now been accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid thus showing no class. Polls show he was a leading candidate to be the next president of France – representing the Socialist Party.

According to The future of Capitalism, this is how some socialists operate — they stay in fancy hotels and fly first class, and when they encounter actual members of the "working class," they treat them badly.

Read the story here.

Finance Advisory Board Monday

FAB Agenda for May 16.

Insurrection in our City. What else do you call it when a City Board makes up its own rules and defines a calendar year as something it is not. All of a sudden the Georgian Calendar begins and ends in April because the FAB says that is when the Board started. I hate having to come down hard on the FAB as every single member is smart and has something to contribute. But after attending 99% of its meetings, I honestly believe that this Board has been a total waste of time and money.

Under discussion tomorrow will be the Willdan Homeland Solutions Feasibility Study on keeping the PBSO or going with our own police force. This is worthy of the Board's time because it involves the Budget and over $3 million in costs to Lake Worth taxpayers--the difference in keeping PBSO and having our own police department. Notice I said "discussion." This means just that--no vote should be taken until after the workshop on Wednesday and all the facts are laid on the table. There should be public discussion on this before any vote is taken as the public very much fits into the FAB's mission statement.

As no Secretary was elected at the previous meeting, this Board is in violation. According to the City Attorney, proper minutes must be taken or the Board should not meet until such time someone is elected to the secretarial position. There will be an election of a Secretary at tomorrow's meeting. In fact, I believe that the entire election process was in violation as it was not a votable item and no public notice of an election was given at last week's meeting. Robert's Rules was not followed allowing public comment after the second of the Motion during the process. It was all flawed.

If any Board should have been and should have stayed neutral by keeping politics out of the equation, it was the FAB. It hasn't.

Blog Comment Policy

Comment Up
As it is now election season, I want to remind you of the policy on this Blog.

Anonymous posting has been enabled or you must have an ID: Google account, blogger ID, TypePad, WordPress, AIM, etc. Speak to the issue, not its author, or your comment will be rejected. Do not attack other bloggers who post comments unless they post anonymously and you have signed in with your complete name..then you have my full blessing. If I don't know who you are and you attack someone, your comment will be rejected.

This is not a slug fest for the political factions in this city. When something is written here, give an intelligent response, not a personal attack. If this continues, I will eliminate comments all together. This Board will not become another Lake Worth Talk for some who are a part of a very nasty and vocal political faction that destroyed people in its political tsunami.

McNamara speaks to Constitution

Comment Up
Palm Beach Daily News
Letter to the Editor

The headline of Mr. William Guttman’s op-ed piece, “Referendums not a right found in Constitutions” is totally unsupportable. Amendment 1 of the U.S. Constitution, the first of the Bill of Rights, states, “Congress shall make no law ... abridging ... the right of the people ... to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Florida’s Constitution echoes this in its Section 5, “The people shall have the right ... to petition for redress of grievances.” Is Mr. Guttman blissfully unaware of these parts of the supreme law of the land and of the state, or has he chosen to ignore them to divert us from this inalienable right?

To supplement his knowledge of recent Florida Constitutional history, I suggest he spend a few minutes with the Florida Constitution itself. Section 1 reads: “Political power. All power is inherent in the people.” The majority of his response to my letter of April 24 concerns itself with amending the state Constitution, an issue irrelevant to the two municipal referenda Preserve Palm Beach has had certified by the Supervisor of Elections, and which is the subject of the two cases now in the higher courts. The statute enabling the people to use the aforementioned Florida referendum right is Section 166.031(1), Florida Statutes, which sets forth the 10 percent certified signature threshold for a referendum requirement on a municipal government.

The Florida Legislature has, in my opinion, exceeded its authority by limiting the Constitutional referendum right of the voters of Florida, without their approval, to only those development orders affecting more than five parcels. Four Town Council members have twice refused to allow the voters a referendum on each of the certified petitions and on the compromise petition offered to them at the April meeting. They continue to sue their residents. This high-handed action is exactly the reason for the existence of referendum rights in the Constitutions and the Palm Beach Town Charter.

Laurence McNamara

Treasurer, 
Preserve Palm Beach

Chairman, 
Citizens Come First

Waterman mayoral candidate in Lake Worth

Comment Up
Rachel Waterman, a member of our newly created Marketing Task Force, is running for Mayor of Lake Worth. She says that Lake Worth is "the next best Key West."

"She earned a master's degree in community and economic development from Illinois State University after completing her work with the Peace Corps.

Recently, Waterman has been working as a grant writer and researcher for nonprofit groups scattered throughout the country." Source: PBPost

Clemens, a back-bencher

Clemens said he was shocked at how little vetting some legislation gets, and was frustrated when the GOP majority would issue a massive rewrite of the elections code on the eve of an 8 a.m. meeting. "I don't think that serves Floridians very well," Clemens said. "Things end up slipping through that shouldn't."

What surprised Clemens the most, he said, is how little time the Legislature spent on measures to actually create jobs in Florida. "They have the ability to pass any jobs-related package they want — and didn't," he said.

Read the entire article at St. Petersburg Times.

June's Democratic Club meeting will be held at Clemens' office on Lake Avenue where he will be telling the Club all that has happened in the Legislature.

Robo Call out on Compass Meeting Today

Robo call out on the above meeting. Commissioner and activists working hard.