Letter I sent to the Palm Beach Post - we'll see if they print it.

Dear Editor:

In response to Vice Mayor Suzanne Mulvehill's letter to the editor "Lake Worth Strives to be City that Conserves," I'd like to offer these observations as a long term Lake Worth resident.  While the city of Lake Worth does have the most strict watering restrictions, it is due to the imposition of those by the South Florida Water Management District and not through action by the city commission itself.  We are just now experiencing the second year of a five-year series of water rate hikes in order to finance and support our new reverse osmosis plant.  By the way, reverse osmosis plants are known to be large consumers of electricity - something else of which the city may be in short supply when we exit our current electricity contract.

Residents are being forced to conserve, not for the sake of conservation, but for the sake of self-preservation - especially given the precarious state of our economy.  The city's conservation program and audits are not free - they are paid for by line items on every customers' utility bill.  Consider Lake Worth Towers - filled with retirees on fixed incomes - the conservation program is unavailable to any of their residents but as a group pay a large amount to fund this program.

Conservation is a worthy goal, but the city commission continues to gouge Lake Worth residents in an attempt to achieve that goal.  The results are specious at best.