Signs

More are ready and will be picked up on Monday. Please e-mail the campaign at wesfor3@gmail.com to request a sign or to report a missing sign. Thanks!

G1 Amended and G2 Campaign Treasurer's Reports

Sorry for the chicken scratchings - I had trouble with the computer program yesterday. After re-doing it twice, hand-written seemed the way to go.

EPA cites West Palm Beach over sewage

Click title for link to PB Post article. The City Commission, Commissioner Golden included, voted to buy water from West Palm Beach. If you live in the northern part of the city, you are drinking and bathing with it now.

Remember this November 3rd.

An excerpt:

The city's sewage treatment plant has pumped untold millions of gallons of poorly treated wastewater onto wetlands adjacent to wells used to supplement the city's drinking water supply.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has cited the city with 117 pollution violations and in July won a court order that assessed the city $144,798 in fines, The Palm Beach Post learned from regulatory data this week.

Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Wes Blackman for City Commissioner District #3

From my BlackBerry:

Please be patient - we have many requests for signs and just today we received notice that a new shipment is in. We'll catch up over the weekend. Volunteers still are needed for walking. Stay tuned for more updates!

I will not be attending the forum this evening...

To Whom It May Concern:

Upon reflection and in consultation with other candidates on the ballot for the Lake Worth municipal election on November 3, 2009, I have decided not to take part in the candidate forum that will take place tonight at the Organic Music Cafe. The forum is sponsored by the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition (PBCEC).

An issue as important as the global/local natural environment and humankind's interaction with it deserves a broad and objective audience. The group sponsoring this event has identified itself with extreme viewpoints and actions related to environmental protection. They are also aligned with candidates in the current municipal race. I am not convinced that this is an objective group willing to listen to the viewpoints of others that may not share their extreme views. I am concerned that my responses would not be portrayed accurately or be purposefully taken out of context. A discussion such as this also needs to be held in a larger physical venue than is currently proposed so that more people can take part in the discussion.

As a candidate, I would like to take part in a special environment-themed debate, hosted by a more neutral organization and have that event take place in a larger venue.

I also welcome anyone from the PBCEC or any other resident of Lake Worth to contact me individually in order to better understand my position on environmental matters.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Wes Blackman

Candidate for District #3 Commissioner

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T-Shirts Ordered...

...with the same logo as the campaign yard sign, front and back. Should be in next Monday. If you volunteer to walk and distribute literature, you will get one courtesy of the campaign. If you make a contribution of over $25, you'll get one that way. Sizes range from M to XL. E-mail wesfor3@gmail.com to volunteer, request a sign, or tell me what size your prefer. PayPal donate button in right-hand column of blog.

Thanks for all your support!
Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Wes Blackman for City Commissioner District #3

From the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau

The HMS Bounty is expected to come to Palm Beach County this winter! The Bounty will be anchored at the old Coast Guard Station on Peanut Island and tour schedules are currently being discussed. This ship sails around the world and is currently in Scotland. These types of ships are referred to as the Tall Ships and frequently come en masse to celebrate historical events in port cities as they did for the 200th Anniversary of the United States…New York Harbor. allshipbounty.org

AMERICA 2050 RELEASES HIGH SPEED RAIL REPORT

Defining the corridors in America that are most appropriate for high-speed rail service is critical to the long-term success of America's high-speed rail program. A new report by America 2050 offers one mechanism for assessing which potential high-speed rail corridors will have the greatest ridership demand based on population size, economic activity, transit connections, existing travel markets and urban spatial form and density. The authors evaluate 27,000 city pairs in the nation to create an index of city pairs with the greatest demand for high-speed rail service. The paper provides a list of the top 50 city pairs, which are primarily concentrated in the Northeast, California, and the Midwest, and provides recommendations for phasing corridor development in the nation's megaregions. A Tampa-Orlando-Miami corridor is identified in the Phase 2 Recommendations. Read the report at http://www.america2050.org/.

Smart Growth for Coastal and Waterfront Communities

In early September, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the International City/County Management Association, and Rhode Island Sea Grant, released "Smart Growth for Coastal and Waterfront Communities." Developed in consultation with the national Smart Growth Network, the interagency guide builds on the network's ten smart growth principles to create coastal and waterfront-specific strategies for redevelopment. The guide includes an overview of the unique development challenges and opportunities along the water and provides specific approaches to development that include a description of the issues, tools and techniques, and case studies. "Smart Growth for Coastal and Waterfront Communities" is intended for planners, local government officials, developers, residents, and other stakeholders. Download the report at http://coastalsmartgrowth.noaa.gov/smartgrowth_fullreport.pdf .

PayPal Account is Activated for Campaign Donations

Look for donate button in column to right. Maximum contributions are $500 per person or per business entity. If you contribute more that $100, we must know your profession - shoot us an e-mail at wesfor3@gmail.com with that information. Any amount is appreciated - Thanks for your support!
Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Wes Blackman for City Commissioner District #3

Just a reminder about the current point of view from City Hall...

NEWS FLASH: The Lucerne is still 65 feet tall!

This is an excerpt from an August 2004 letter transmitting building plans for the Lucerne. One of the chief concerns was height. The 82 feet that Commissioner Jennings claimed was the height of the Lucerne was measured from SEA LEVEL - not from the point by which height is defined in the Lake Worth Zoning Code.

I have other documentation if you are interested. If we used sea level from which to measure a maximum height of 35 feet as proposed by Commissioner Jennings, many areas of the city would be unbuildable or allow only a short single story building.

Now can we concentrate on the future of Lake Worth and the critical issues facing our city? Thank you.
Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Wes Blackman for City Commissioner District #3

Scheduled October City Meetings

Note 10/14 joint meeting with County and City Commissions at PBCC re mediation (water contract)

Bryant Park, the Beach anyone???

Lake Worth Municipal Election 11/03/2009 LAKE WORTH QUESTION Vote For 1

1. LAKE WORTH CHARTER AMENDMENT TO PROHIBIT BEACH DREDGE AND FILL ARTIFICIAL NOURISHMENT PROJECTS.

The present Charter does not protect Lake Worth Beach from beach dredge and fill type artificial nourishment projects. This referendum protects the 19.2+ acres of Lake Worth Beach by prohibiting beach dredge and fill type artificial nourishment projects on Lake Worth Beach and by prohibiting the use of Lake Worth Beach as a means of ingress and egress for beach dredge and fill type artificial nourishment projects on shorelines adjacent to the Lake Worth Beach.

Shall the above described amendment be adopted?

YES

NO

I am in favor of this referendum item on the November 3rd ballot.
Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Wes Blackman for City Commissioner District #3

Tonight: Click here for live interview with Rene Varela, Mayoral candidate on UTalkNews.com

Starting at 7 p.m. this evening (9/27)

Two years and eight months...

That's how long it's been since we have voted for candidates occupying the seats currently up for election - Mayor, District #1 and District #3. The extra eight months given to persons elected two years and eight months ago was made possible by the voters approving the moving of our elections from March to November. The referendum item was added at the last minute by action of the City Commission and narrowly defeated maintaining the status quo by staying with March elections.

Proponents of the referendum thought this would bring more people into the municipal voting process, as the election season would coincide with other races at the state and national level. That turned out to be true in the last election - about half of the Lake Worth electorate came out to vote in the Presidential election. This equated to over 5,000 more coming out to vote for municipal candidates. How many of those will vote in this November's election is still yet to be seen. Many think that this will again have a turnout with mostly super-voters. Super-voters are people that vote in every election, or at least miss very few.

Opponents of the referendum to move the Lake Worth election date to November cited evidence that would favor candidates with the most money - since more would be needed to cut through the clutter and noise of other campaigns. They also saw an inequity between the turnout for Districts 2 and 4 - which would always have state or national elections coincident with their elections. This is not so, as in this year, with the Mayor, District #1 and District #3 races.

I prefer the March elections for many reasons. The weather is cooler, there is more of a focus on local races, people are in town longer before the election so there is opportunity to meet with neighborhood associations (most take off during the summer months), etc.

And, in this case, the current set of elected officials got an extra 8 months added to their term. A good question to ask an incumbent is what they did to effectively use that extra time given to them. An election serves as a way to get the issues out in the open and traditional candidates use this time to reconnect with their constituents.

That's where I am different. They say that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. For the past three years, I have maintained this blog as a way to dispense information about what is happening in the City of Lake Worth in order to keep people informed. If you look at my opponents material, she treats this as a "day of reckoning" where she has to tell you what her accomplishments were over her term. Did you know what they were before? These "accomplishments" are put in the best light in order to lead to her re-election. This is true for most candidates, not just my opponent, of course.

With me sitting as Commissioner, I will make every attempt to keep you informed about what is going on BEFORE it happens. I want to engage you actively in the decision making process however possible - so that you can offer meaningful input and actually have an impact in the final outcome. Likewise, I want to know what is happening in your neighborhood when it's happening - not just when election season rolls around or when there is some sort of "crisis."

So, I am looking forward to the month of October. It will be a time when we can discuss the issues facing the city and the points of view of various candidates. I will let you know when candidate forums are planned and where they will be taking place. I hope you can come out and participate in your local democratic process. It always seems to be like the local government decisions and your votes mean the most in the community where you live since you are many times directly impacts by the actions of local officials - financially, physically or otherwise.

Please take your time getting to know the candidates in all the races and I ask for your vote on November 3rd.
Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Wes Blackman for City Commissioner District #3

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Click title for link - new PBS series begins today - a Ken Burns documentary about the establishment and history of the National Park System. I believe it airs locally here starting at 12:00 p.m. There are six parts totaling 12 hours. Woke up early this morning and caught Ken Burns on C-Span promoting the show at the National Book Fair in D.C. this weekend.