On City of Lake Worth agenda tomorrow: City Manager Michael Bornstein's contract

Today marks 1,086 days since City Manager Michael Bornstein was hired on April 16, 2012. There is nothing significant about 1,086 days except as a matter of perspective. Consider this, the previous city manager, Susan Stanton was fired on December 6, 2011 after 953 days on the job. Stanton's tenure was marked by divisiveness and a lack of outreach to the greater community in Lake Worth. To put it bluntly, Lake Worth continued to be a mess under the tenure of Susan Stanton.

Under Stanton, the relationship between the business community and the city was strained, to non-existent. The relationship with the CRA was contentious, at best. Stanton caused such a rift with the neighboring communities that to this day some are still wary of partnering on projects fearing Lake Worth will be too much trouble. Under direction of then-sitting commissioners (Jennings, Golden, Mulvehill) Stanton cut the code department and sent neighborhoods already on the brink on a downward spiral for almost three years. A local blog at the time, referencing the coming Christmas holiday season and the firing of Stanton, wrote:

"In this joyous season, I am celebrating the potential for renewal in Lake Worth which began with a bold move to clean out city management from the top down.
From Paul Boyer, Bob Baldwin to Susan Stanton… inept, corrupt, wasteful and often cruel leadership disregarded the public and common sense honesty and openness.
Yes, I know there are those who are disappointed to see Stanton fired but dwelling on one side of her performance while ignoring the other side of the story… is delusional."

Let's focus on one aspect of City Manager Michael Bornstein's performance in comparison to then City Manager Stanton: outreach to the community. In the months before Stanton's firing she refused any invitations to neighborhood meetings. Except for her supporters she rarely engaged the public. On rare occasions when she did engage the public outside city hall she requested a PBSO escort. Stability is key to the future of Lake Worth and we finally are experiencing the results of that. It is no time to wobble.

Community outreach changed dramatically under the direction of City Manager Bornstein: Bornstein has engaged the public at every level. Under his tenure the city commission, staff, city employees and the NAPC have worked to educate and involve many citizens in our city. It is rare to have a public event in Lake Worth and not have the presence of Bornstein, and if not, he'll have a representative there in his place.

The form of government we have in Lake Worth requires a confident and engaged city manager. We as a city simply cannot solve our problems without such an individual. There is a respect Michael Bornstein has outside Lake Worth, in surrounding communities and the county government. It is significant as the city goes forward.