Population growth in Palm Beach County and another look at the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group candidate questionnnaire—Leadership or pandering?

The Anarchist Ryan Hartman received the 2016 endorsement from the Sierra Club in the last Lake Worth election and it didn't help very much. He lost in a landslide. It's not known if Hartman filled out a questionnaire or not like the ones that were used in the 2015 elections. Maybe the endorsement by the Sierra Club was never in doubt from the start?

A big question in Palm Beach County back in 2015 remains a subject of debate in the present: population growth. Where should people, families, and businesses moving to Florida relocate to? Along the I-95 corridor (and east towards the coast) or directed to other locations west, encroaching on what greenfields are left and then further west into the Everglades? What is better for the environment, more western sprawl or encourage development closer to the coast? If you're looking to groups like the Loxahatchee Sierra Club for answers, good luck with that.

Below is an actual question from the Loxahatchee Sierra Club (by Drew Martin) to Lake Worth then-Commissioner John Szerdi on a candidate questionnaire:

9. Do you think there should be a moratorium on further development within limits of the city [Lake Worth]? 

Here is John Szerdi's answer:

Why? We have excellent land development regulations with a goal of revitalizing the city. We have lots of areas to re-fill and rebuild which should take priority of any new construction on greenfields west of the city. I am a big proponent of re-vitalizing our established downtowns and neighborhoods. That is where you can live closer to many amenities without congesting our roads and interstates.

Of course, the Loxahatchee Sierra Club opposes western urban sprawl in Palm Beach County. However, is the Loxahatchee Sierra Club and Drew Martin also seriously suggesting that a city in Palm Beach County, an established urban core along the coast, have a "moratorium on further development"? Even the suggestion is absurd.

Groups like the Loxahatchee Sierra Club want to have it both ways. They want western sprawl to stop AND they are also against development along the coast as well. This is not leadership and it's not practical either. What they are offering as a solution(s) are false choices. Here is another question from the candidate questionnaire and another 'false choice':

15. How do you feel about city’s disregard for Dark Skies recommendations.

Here is Szerdi's answer:

I object to this question because it is not a real question Drew. I mentioned our direction above in number #1. We have issues balancing enough light for safety in the city between our street corners and are planning on installing better quality light (4000 degree) LED with strict cutoffs and excellent photometrics. Please follow this issue as the City brings it forward in the next month or so.

The City of Lake Worth has NEVER disregarded "Dark Skies" recommendations and you can read what the City has done using this link. There were a total of 15 questions in the questionnaire and most if not all are/were addressed by the City.

For the latest on population growth, western sprawl, a massive development project west of Lake Worth, and the enviros silence about all of this, look in the right-hand column for "Did you know 2 of '19 Best Environmentalists in South Florida' are in Lake Worth?"