I did some quick number crunching today based on the three campaign treasurer reports submitted so far. I looked at two individual campaigns in the District #2 Commissioner race - Commissioner Cara Jennings and Mary Lindsey. Cara Jennings so far has collected a total of $16,002.17 and Mary Lindsey has collected $14,938.11.
What I did is record all contributions by zip code on a spreadsheet. I then added them up and divided by the total value of all contributions. Local contributions reflected those from the 33460 and 33461 zip codes.
The total value of local contributions to the Commissioner Cara Jennings campaign is 48% - more than half come from out-of-town interests. Mary Lindsey's campaign has generated a total of 62% from local interests.
Here are two pie charts showing the differences: You can draw your own conclusions. Cara's long distance contributions come from New Jersey, New York, Paris (the one in France), etc...
The boat ramps at Bryant Park will be closed to outgoing traffic October 18 for Hispanic Fest. The ramps will close at 10:00 PM on Friday, October 17th and will re-open at 6:00 AM on Sunday, October 19th.
By the way, this was found on the City website - apparently posted on 10/14. I am on the Tropic-mail e-mail list, but didn't receive notice. There were also no signs posted around the boat ramp - or on Lake Avenue. Another example of poor notification of the public by the City of Lake Worth.
Lots of peeps out last night - we all had a good time. Like the early start time of 8 p.m. Check it out next Thursday at the BAR, N. Dixie Hwy in Lake Worth.
This comment was left under a previous post regarding the school. I am sharing it here in case anyone might know the name or the teachers:
Hey! I used to go to South Grade Elementary! I'm in 7th grade right now. My name is Brenda and I loved that school so much! I'm in North Carolina right now. My Kindergarten teacher was Ms. or Mrs. Ott.I think my fist grade teacher was Ms. or Mrs. Adler.
Please forward link to others who don't know about the harmful effects of this amendment. The group that put this together does not have enough money to place the ad where it needs to be. They are relying on this kind of distribution.
Club A.J.s has discontinued karaoke where I was host. You can now find it at the BAR, right at Fordham and Worthmore on N. Dixie - west side of the road, formerly Kitty's and formerly Ryans. Alex Cascella is the host - he and I go way back to my fledgling days as a karaoke artist (HA!). It's starts at 8 and goes til midnight on Thursdays from now on.
It's all hands on deck! Polls show that we are very close to defeating Amendment 2 and we have less than 3 weeks to reach millions of Florida voters- and the time has come for everyone to step up!
This Saturday we'll be in your community and we need you to join us.
With less than 3 weeks until Election Day and early voting set to begin next Monday, Saturday is our best opportunity before November 4th to reach Florida voters with our message to vote NO on Amendment 2.
Join the Vote No on 2 Campaign and hundreds of other volunteers as we go door-to-door to inform voters about the dangers of Amendment 2, the so-called "Marriage Protection" Amendment. Water, snacks and campaign materials will be provided.
If you have a Vote No on 2 t-shirt, wear it! If not, please wear a plain white shirt and we will provide you with a sticker and/or pin.
Remember, in these last few precious days before the Election it is only your dedication and hard work that can lead us to victory. More and more Floridians understand that it is wrong to deny people the legal right to take care of their loved ones. They are no longer fooled by cynical political tactics that let bigotry be the means for an even more destructive end. Your conversations will keep the momentum moving in our direction and help us defeat this mean-spirited measure.
Please join us for our first lecture of the 2008-2009 Scripps Howard Environmental Writers Speaker Series on Wednesday, October 22 at 7pm. Dr. Robert Michael Pyle will present Frogs, Forts, and Fritillaries: The Real World as Antidote to the Extinction of Experience.
About the Lecture: Since the publication of Richard Louv's important book, Last Child in the Woods , parents and educators finally have a term for a situation they have been worried about for years: Nature Deficit Disorder. This idea contends that when children lose intimate contact with the out-of-doors and the plants and creatures that dwell there, their lives (and the culture as a whole) suffer for it in many ways. Dr. Pyle's concept of the "extinction of experience" is parallel: when common elements of diversity become extinct within our own easy reach, it says, the people become increasingly alienated from nature, and apathetic to its conservation--thus setting in motion a formidable cycle of loss. Together, Nature Deficit Disorder and the Extinction of Experience deliver a one-two punch that promises dire consequences for both humans and the land. His experience suggests that this downward spiral is reversible, if we can manage to reinstate deep experiences in the real world in the lives of our young--experiences like catching frogs, building forts, and chasing fritillaries, such as many of us took for granted in our own youth. Drawing from his life as a lepidopterist, a writer, and an educator, Dr. Pyle will show how getting our feet back on the ground and our heads in the leafy skies can bring us all back home.
About the Author: Robert Michael Pyle is an award-winning writer, independent biologist and distinguished alumnus of Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He has authored 15 books -- including Wintergreen, The Thunder Tree and Chasing Monarchs – and the Audubon Society’s Field Guide to North American Butterflies. He won the 2007 National Outdoor Book Award for natural history literature. Throughout the year of 2008, Dr. Pyle will be undertaking a historic journey to find, experience, and identify as many of the approximately 800 species of butterflies as possible in the United States and Canada. The literary fruits of this project will be published by the Houghton Mifflin Company as a book entitled Swallowtail Seasons: The First Butterfly Big Year. You can check out his online blog at:http://www.xerces.org/Butterfly_Conservation/butterflyathon.html
We have our own sign infestation - you need only to look around at all the local political signs in yards, swales, poles, public property (including the Casino Building at the beach), rights-of-way - you name it, anywhere seems to be fair game. NEWS FLASH: It's not.
We have to remember that signs do not vote - people do. Let's start talking real campaign reform and eliminate local political signs entirely. They take up a good portion of a campaign's budget - eliminating them will require less money, lowering a potential barrier for those who want to through their hat into a race. Corrugated plastic signs are going to be with us here on earth for a very long time - look how the City of Edmonton handles the recycling of these signs. One of of the supposedly "greenest" candidates has done nothing to use recyclable materials for her multitudinous signs or to set up a recycling program for the signs. Something else that crowns Commissioner Cara Jennings as the Hypocrisy Queen - her third year holding the title.
These really add a blighting influence - do we need another one? Let's ban them all and force candidates to get their name out to the public by walking door-to-door, appearing at candidate forums, other forms of "low environmental impact" media, etc. Doing so would greatly free time to do other things as part of a campaign to get the word out.
Now, as long as we are talking about signs, let's talk a little bit about content. There are two candidates - one that stick-in-the-mud incumbent Commissioner Cara Jennings - that have elected not to display what district seat they are running for. Maybe they think that this "district thing" is old and no one pays attention to it, so why should they? Probably reflects their mindset on other matters as well. What's wrong with this omission you ask? Well, first of all you must live within the district that you want to represent. The basic principle behind this is that you know the people and the physical conditions or your district better than those that do not live in your district. That is just common sense.
Now, yes, everyone in the city votes for every commissioner regardless of where they live. That might be something we have to adjust, but that would be through a change in the charter and a lot of study should go into that before it would ever reach the ballot. But that being the case, it shouldn't give a commissioner the excuse that she/he hasn't paid attention to her/his own backyard while pursuing goals and purposes beyond the borders of Lake Worth. Let's agree that some people have the part of the phrase down: "Think globally..." but need some remedial help on the last and most important part "...act locally."
And, when it comes down to it on Election Day, you have to make a choice between people. By obscuring what seat you're running for makes people unsure about what the other choices are in the race. Overall, not putting your district on your commissioner campaign sign is an arrogant and insensitive act - the voters deserve better and must know who they are voting for and who they are not voting for.
This is a continuation of a previous post of various links that were talked about and distributed at a seminar I attended a couple of weeks ago.
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability - "...is an international association of local governments as well as national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development. Over 977 cities, towns, counties, and their associations worldwide comprise ICLEI's growing membership.ICLEI works with these and hundreds of other local governments through international performance-based, results-oriented campaigns and programs. ICLEI provides technical consulting, training, and information services to build capacity, share knowledge, and support local government in the implementation of sustainable development at the local level. Our basic premise is that locally designed initiatives can provide an effective and cost-efficient way to achieve local, national, and global sustainability objectives. Browse their index - Lake Worth would be nice to see on their list of local government members.
Climate Communities - "...is a national coalition of cities and counties that is educating federal policymakers about the essential role of local governments in addressing climate change and promoting a strong local-federal partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate Communities will ensure that the federal government:
Recognizes and enhances the critical role of local governments on climate change;
Provides the funding and incentives needed to achieve local climate change progress;
Ensures that national carbon control laws and regulations provide opportunities and incentives for local solutions to climate change challenges; and
Helps localities address and pay for any new mandates imposed on communities."
Congress for New Urbanism - This is the climate section of their website. Known for their urbanist principles and being disciples of Andres Duany , this is their take on the urban form's contribution to fighting climate change. It embodies many of the principles that we are working on here in Lake Worth and how we are really the envy of many communities.
Florida Green Building Coalition - The Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) is a nonprofit Florida corporation dedicated to improving the built environment. Their mission is "to provide a statewide green building program with environmental and economic benefits."
Governor's Action Team on Energy and Climate Change - "Governor Crist established the Action Team on Energy and Climate Change by signing Executive Order 07-128, “Florida Governor’s Action Team on Energy and Climate Change,” on July 13, 2007. Since that time the Governor appointed 27 team members and one ex officio member, who serve at the pleasure of the Governor. Team members are tasked with creating a Florida Climate Change Action Plan that will include strategies beyond the Governor's Executive Orders to reduce emissions, including recommendations for proposed legislation for consideration by the Florida Legislature."
I've been getting about three or four calls a week from the Palm Beach Post for about the past month. They got a hold of me in August and asked if I would like re-subscribe for another year. I said no this year and I told them that a year ago too. But the paper kept coming. And, true to form, the paper kept coming after I told them to stop this year.
Why did I want to stop the Palm Beach Post from being delivered to my home? Primarily the same reason that you are reading this now. I get most of my information from the Internet, including the Palm Beach Post website. Why would I want to subscribe at about $150/year so that they have to deliver a paper to my house in a fossil fuel burning vehicle, leave something that is going to end up in a land fill or recycled into some post consumer content item (a better choice), clutter my house and give me another thing I have to drag to the curb every week, read what amounts to a multi-media conglomerate's view of the world, something that is 80% advertising by volume (have you seen the ads on the front page?) and something that generally has a very skewed editorial view, especially as it relates to goings-on in our little city of Lake Worth? I guess this paragraph qualifies as a run on questions.
Newspapers in print format are dinosaurs from the Industrial Revolution - a nasty habit we should take pride in shedding in the new millennium.
So, they call me today, about the third time this week - many times with the caller ID, I just choose not to answer. This time I answered and told them again why I didn't choose to take the paper anymore. And then they said, "But you owe us money since August" - that's when I reared back and said that I told you not to deliver the paper back then and it kept coming.
Thankfully, today, I didn't receive that litter in my driveway. I encourage you all to save the money, be kind to the environment and do as I did.
"The county commission must draw up and submit its program to HUD by the Dec. 1 application deadline. Palm Beach County's Commission on Affordable Housing will host a workshop to solicit public input and discuss the details at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, at 3323 Belvedere Road, Building 509, in West Palm Beach."
About half way down the page - click the title for link - you'll find a letter to the editor that John Gs should stay where it is. Actually, once you read it, that's exactly what is proposed with the current plan. I consider the "same place" the entire beach property.
I read a report that the building(s) had been broken into at 431 N. L. Street and somehow this reflected a deficiency in the Palm Beach County Sheriff's operation in Lake Worth.
News Flash for the astute observer - crime will continue to happen in Lake Worth - especially where you have attractive nuisances like the out buildings on this city-owned property.
Our correspondent from N. L sent this photo in which shows evidence of a break-in to one of the dilapidated outbuildings.
While the larger building was professionally secured by the city, the outbuildings along the alley were not. The boarding up of the outbuildings was done with miscellaneous lumber that was scattered about the property. The fact of the matter is that the outbuildings need to be demolished. That approval has to come from the Historic Preservation Board (aka P and Z). It's my understanding that should be coming soon, if it hasn't already. I'll check on the status this week.
Then we need to find a way to return this property to private ownership and make sure that it is restored properly - someone can convert it back to the original four unit design, or we need to find an adaptive re-use of the structure that is kind to the neighborhood.
Endorsements are based on a questionnaire and interview with the candidates and reflect the mission and key issues of the National Organization for Women, www.now.org.
President and VP of the United StatesBarack Obama & Joe BidenEndorse
FL State Senate Dist. 25Linda BirdEndorse
FL House of Representatives, Dist. 83Bryan MillerEndorse
FL House of Representatives, Dist. 85Joseph AbruzzoEndorse
FL House of Representatives, Dist 86 Maria Sachs Endorse
FL House of Representatives, Dist 87 Robert Ostrov Endorse
FL House of Representatives, Dist. 89Mary BrandenburgEndorse
PB County Supervisor of ElectionsSusan BucherEndorse
PB County Commission Dist. 3Shelley VanaEndorse
PB County Commission Dist. 7Addie L. GreeneSupport
FL Constitutional Amendment 2 (so-called “Marriage Protection Amendment”)Vote NO
--and congratulations to FL NOW PAC and NPBC NOW endorsed/ recommended candidates who have attained office so far this year:
FL House of Representatives Dist. 88Mark Pafford
PB County Circuit Court Judge Gp. 23William S. Abramson
You can draw your own conclusions. Cara's long distance contributions come from New Jersey, New York, Paris (the one in France), etc...
concept of the "extinction of experience" is parallel: when common elements of diversity become extinct within our own easy reach, it says, the people become increasingly alienated from nature, and apathetic to its conservation--thus setting in motion a formidable cycle of loss. Together, Nature Deficit Disorder and the Extinction of Experience deliver a one-two punch that promises dire consequences for both humans and the land. His experience suggests that this downward spiral is reversible, if we can manage to reinstate deep experiences in the real world in the lives of our young--experiences like catching frogs, building forts, and chasing fritillaries, such as many of us took for granted in our own youth. Drawing from his life as a lepidopterist, a writer, and an educator, Dr. Pyle will show how getting our feet back on the ground and our heads in the leafy skies can bring us all back home.
![Dr. W. H. Cotton’s ode: “Oh, My Lake Worth, Florida!” [circa 1920].](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUL75cv6zJQFjX15ojOIIz9AjnbqH4asHJTYSDhnGnYr7rJZRha1NcNTirj2xPcId158vkz5Hw-wXgOfrlztj8Zr8jLFFCfuEN6PyV44ZlpMRmJ68xbtFL9vzxNiG7xDs_HJvm/s1600/LakeWorthPioneers.JPG)
