Working on this week's regular City Commission meeting agenda (1/5)

Some power plays going on here. Click title for link to agenda and back-up material. Full post sometime tomorrow.

2010 Trash Pick-up Schedules

Good luck looking for this on the City's website. You can click here for more detail. Working on getting a direct .pdf file link.

New Dimensions in Mass Transit...

Miscellaneous ramblings...

I thought it would be good to catch up on a couple of things. I hope that you have a safe New Year's Eve and a prosperous/healthy 2010.

Thanks for your continued loyal readership and I am delighted to see people using the comment feature more. I do moderate comments and have had a very liberal policy in accepting them for publication. For the immediate future, I will continue allow "anonymous" comments, but may re-evaluate that in the future if it becomes problematic.

I enjoyed walking downtown today and bumping into so many familiar faces. The place was bustling and people seemed to be in a holiday frame of mind. Last night, I was reminded that we do live in a dangerous world and that we take our own personal safety for granted many times. A friend of mine had just dined at Smokey Bones in Wellington and was in the parking lot waiting for a cab. As he was getting in the cab, someone came from behind and grabbed his wallet that was in his hand. Instinct kicked in at that moment and he chased after the guy, tackling him in the parking lot. A scuffle ensued and the mugger got up and kicked my friend in the back of the head, knocking him out. The police and paramedics came and he ended spending the night at Wellington Regional under observation. The good news is that he is okay, but he did lose the contents of his wallet in the process. He's still shaken up over the event. Apparently there have been a couple of similar instances in that area recently.

Now, on a more mundane topic, I had the City come by twice this week to check my water meter. Two days in a row, by two different people that didn't know that the other one was checking it too. I was the only house on the street for such special treatment. I don't use that much water (last month was 2,000 gallons) - I live alone, take one shower a day and do laundry as needed - period. I'm not sure if I'm singled out due to my frugal water use or what - just thought it was unusual.

Thanks again for visiting here. Have fun tonight!

12:45 p.m.

Sheriff helicopter is flying over College Park. Just came back from walking the dogs and, while outside, a cruiser came by. The officer said that they are looking for a black male in a white t-shirt. FYI.

Not particularly encouraging...

Our City Attorney is asking for "advise."

Appropriate for the New Year - Ring out, wild bells - Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Click here for a link to all the mega-cool computer applications the City of San Francisco has developed

SAN FRANCISCO INNOVATIONS SHOWCASE

The DataSF App Showcase celebrates the innovators and innovations who are championing their Mayor’s vision of a more collaborative and open government. The public can browse examples of new ways in which Bay Area constituents are using City data to improve San Francisco.

Another totalitarian regime at work...

Suggested Readings

These come from Mark A. Parrilla, a regular blog reader:

Libs Scold Black Conservatives: “Who the “H” Do You Think You Are?

and

Click image for legibility.
Thank you Mark for your contributions.

Product of bureaucratic bumbling and not living up to our agreements...

This has to do with Lake Worth being the administrator of this regional sewer system, not charging municipal clients for maintenance over time (10 years), billing the entire amount in arrears to each without communication, etc., etc., etc. We also had to take a loan out to pay for the maintenance improvements through SunTrust, which we are currently in violation of certain loan covenants. The action above would provide representation for all the municipal clients. I have heard they are calling for a forensic audit of the sewer fund.

January 2010 City Meetings

Mike Lopresti, sportswriter

"Those with the luxury of second and third and fourth guesses sit in perpetual judgment of those who only get one." in reacting to Florida football coach Urban Meyer's situation.

Click here for link to CRA Winter Newsletter

State advises Volusia to kill massive growth plan

Click title for link to Daytona Beach News Journal article: From it:

"The state planning agency has been flooded with similar requests this year as developers and governments rush to make changes before the Hometown Democracy constitutional amendment goes to voters in the fall. The amendment is widely expected to slow growth if passed."

Thomas Mann

"Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols."

Lake Worth's Challenge:

While surfing around the Internet, I stumbled upon this graphic. In thinking it through, I believe that we could learn something about ourselves as a City by studying it. For those interested, this graphic is part of the public domain - a truth.

It seems to me that there is a war going on in our City against knowledge and the truth. There are those that think acting solely on beliefs will make something so or that a desired end can be achieved. This can be effective in the short term and particularly effective in political campaigns. But, over the long term, one cannot run away from the facts, or the truth. The eventual "day of reckoning" dawns. Many times it presents itself as a bitter pill that we all must swallow.

It is no accident that truth is one of the first causalities of an authoritarian regime. It is also no coincidence that those with "knowledge" are persecuted under such a political system as they might be sources of the "truth" that counter the accepted and prevailing "belief" structure perpetrated by the regime. There is no truth other than the belief structure or world view of that regime - anything else is considered blasphemy.

How far down this dangerous path is Lake Worth city government and its political atmosphere, generated by our elected and appointed leaders? I have my own set of examples which I will share, but am sensitive about not becoming too "preachy" about this topic. So, rather than lay it all out here and now, I encourage you to offer your views on the subject and I will respond with some of my examples along the way. What I hope to get to is at least a realization that knowledge is indeed power and that we need to find ways to preserve that in our deliberative process - hoping that will allow us a better opportunity to address the REALITIES that we face as a city, instead of furthering the "beliefs" of those that represent us.

Discuss.