Keeping up with the Joneses...

Everyday, my e-mail in-box is filled with information from other communities in Palm Beach County, using their Public Information Officers or the like to get information on what is going on in their communities. This is just one example I received today from the Town of Palm Beach via Constant Contact.

I know. It is earth-shattering news that "rocks your world." But, imagine if Lake Worth put out 4 or 5 press releases a week on regular things such as this. It would create a constant "drum beat" of information that would make it seem like Lake Worth is on top of what is going on within its domain as a municipality. Then, when we have the unusual news that the city of Lake Worth owes the federal government millions of FEMA dollars - and we know about it when it happens to be noticed publicly, not six months after it is announced - then maybe the public would be a little more understanding about the city's predicament.

I happened to be on Linked-in this morning. Just between you and me, I have never gotten much benefit from being on that site, even though I have almost 500 connections. But I guess some people find it useful and you never know where a connection will lead. So, imagine my surprise as I was looking at my profile there when I see a suggested connection - City of Lake Worth!

I nearly fell off of my chair. Gathering myself, I clicked on the link and, of course, it is too good to be true. It is the "City of Lake Worth" - but the one in Texas with a population of about 5,000 people. Lake Worth, Florida is seven-times the size and can't be heard from. Perhaps I should start looking for messages in a bottle when I am at the beach. Maybe that is our city's preferred method of communication?