Remember Aesop's Fables...

Well, in Lake Worth, we have LynnA's Tortured Tales, appropriate for the Halloween season.  This originally appeared on her blog in response to a BAC/PAC flier.  Her response so misrepresents the facts that it is probably the best representation of what is actually said at doorsteps throughout the city by the marauding hordes of door knockers in support of her candidate, Commissioner Mulvehill.  I will attempt to dissect the truth from what amounts to not even half of the truth - what appears in her blog is in bold - my response is in italics.

Mulvehill did not vote to stop the restoration of the Gulfstream Hotel. Mulvehill voted each and every time to uphold the appeal of previous Historic Preservation Board approvals made by Charles Celi.  Mr. Celi was a $500 contributor to all of her campaigns.  Through her vote, she stalled progress on the restoration of the building and the re-opening of it. Schlesinger, the owner, kept coming before the Planning & Zoning Board (Her opponent was a member of this Board and wanted to give the owner his variances even though they were against our Ordinances and City Charter)) constantly asking for variance after variance to build on the west side.  The variances were generally for unique conditions related to the fact that this was an historic property and could not meet all of the current zoning requirements, some of his requests were simply for a time time extension for the original approval.  Each and every time, Mr Celi ($500 contributor to her two campaign efforts - general election and run-off) would make his long-winded nonsensical plea before the Commission - sometimes successfully, sometimes not.  Each time, Commissioner Mulvehill voted in favor of Celi. His first scheme was wanting to erect a 100 foot building in violation of our City Charter. This building would have loomed down on the rest of the neighborhood.  The owner of the Gulfstreram never asked to build a 100 foot tall building.  Adhering to the height allowed by the zoning code at the time, there was a building proposed for the western side of the property.  It was 45 feet high in front (along Lake Avenue) and then 65 feet for about 3/4 of the rest of the block to 1st Avenue South.  This was approved, but the approval was then withdrawn by the owner of the hotel when market conditions changed.  At that point, the focus was the restoration of the hotel - period.  But still he faced the obstacles thrown at him by Mr. Celi. He wanted to take over all the off-street parking and have a Valet service to utilize all city parking on city streets in that area. None of the residents around that surrounding area would have been able to park. At one point when the larger building was still on table as being approved, it included a parking garage that would have utilized a valet system.  This would have kept all parking for the hotel off of the street - which is better than the existing condition if the hotel would open "as is" - it was built at a time before a parking requirement and most of the early guests arrived by train.  Mayor Varela's mother lives across the street from the vacant land at the Gulfstream that the owner wanted to develop. Perhaps we should ask her what she feels about the matter and why her son is supporting Mulvehill's opponent, the very one who wanted the owner to get everything he asked which was not in the best interests of the citizens. This is where the other blogger shows her contempt for a Mayor who is supporting other candidates that he thinks will do a better job representing the people than Commissioner Mulvehill.  I'd like to know what is more in the best interest of the citizens than the opening and functioning of this historic downtown hotel.  It is Schlesinger, the owner of the Gulfstream, who stopped the restoration of this hotel which is now in bankruptcy. He could have restored this hotel when he bought it but he delayed over and over again. The owner owes everyone money.  The obstacles placed in front of the owner of the hotel in the form of appeals levied by Celi and supported by the clan on the dais that benefited from his $500 campaign contributions did a lot to make a bad situation worse for the owner.  Instead of the city trying to help, it added to the owner's difficulties.  Not a good way to treat a landmark historic property that always, since the day it opened in 1925, has been through difficult financial times -  having only a few years of real success in the 40s, 50s and 60s.
And never mind that the citizens passed a charter amendment in 1996 that allowed building heights up to 100 feet east of Dixie Hwy and up to 65 feet west of Dixie Hwy.  Which is a moot point, since the zoning code was never amended to reflect this limits and which is made more moot now due the the draconian height limits enacted by the current Commission.
And with Aesop's fables, there was always a moral.  With LynnA's, well...?