Tuesday, June 7, 2011

At City Commission meeting 6/7/11

Commissioner Golden asks to add an item that would move board appointments to after the date of the November election.  McVoy is not here and they are having trouble re-arranging the agenda so that he can be here for some of the items.  The agenda stays as is, except for the awarding of the plaque - Item G under presentations.  That was heard first.

 The Inspector General was allowed to go over the ten minute time limit.  The Marketing and Branding Task Force is giving presentation.  Role model cities are Austin, Delray Beach, Savanah, Key West and one that I missed.  They also looked at what makes Lake Worth different from other communities.  Their conclusion is that we are one of the most unique cities...period.  "Hip Retirees" were one of the target groups.  Focus on a one mile radius from city hall (see post "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.")  They point out the website as a weakness and points out the West Palm Beach website as a good example - Hollywood, FL was pointed out.  This is one of the short term goal. June 4th is the official city birthday, by the way.

Lynda Mahoney wants P&Z board to have "hand me down" I-Pads.  I do agree with her on involving the Planning Board in decisions that affect city property - in an advisory capacity.  Mulvehill wants to prioritize sign enforcement and getting rid of illegal signs - especially in this one mile area around city hall.  The city is a regular user of A-Frame signs - which is an illegal sign under our Zoning Code.  They are going to set up a joint City Commission/Planning Board meeting.

The "Voice in the Choice" meeting got its time in the sun.  Yeah!

Public comment:  Peter Timm called out the Commission about their back-peddling on the city police department idea - said that you are either for or against and you should pander to the public.  Lynn Anderson laid wreaths at the feet of Susan Stanton for jobs well done.

We had a visit by Betsy Ross tonight:
Panagioti Tsolkas talked about political apartheid  - meaning that people who have lived here a while, he believes, that don't have citizenship - they should be allowed to vote.

Chip Guthrie again brought up the requirement contained in the Charter for an internal auditor - which would report directly to the City Commission.  Golden didn't get what it was all about and both she and Mulvehill tried to hide behind the fact that the Charter also calls for a Police and Fire Chiefs - which technically the city doesn't have.  The City Attorney further diluted the requirement by saying it was o.k. to determine last year that they didn't have the money for one for one year.  But, if time went on and the position wasn't filled, then it should be taken out of the Charter.  Commissioner Maxwell noted that the Charter didn't contain the clause - if you don't have the money, you don't need to fill the position.