Video from last Tuesday's (6/11/13) City Commission Special Meeting

Found a new trick on YouTube where you can create a playlist from multiple videos.  This might be more easily digestible than putting together one hour long video.  You might find it easier to skip around and listen to what interests you. Or, you can watch the whole thing as if it was an entire video.

As far as the content of the meeting, a few things stood out to me.  It was made clear that the improvements that would be undertaken and funded partly by this $150,000 state grant were for the interior only and would not affect the shuffleboard courts at this time.  It was also made clear that the city and the CRA will both be able to use the facility, but the priority will be for arts and cultural activities.  It seemed as though the occasional city meeting could happen there.  One of the improvements listed as part of the project is a public address system for the building. If you have ever been to a meeting there, you know that being able to hear people speak to a group is a problem.

It also sounded to me that much of the city's match, beyond the $37,500 in actual cash, has already been spent on computers, equipment and some building improvements that have already been undertaken.

What was surprising to me is that the Commission and the City Manager seemed to have to justify the focus on the arts as a redevelopment tool and that this focus was somehow a "surprise" to the public. There was the usual talk from Commissioners McVoy and Maxwell about the need for the public to "buy in" to the art's focus. This left me scratching my head since the CRA already has created momentum in this direction with the LULA program, the Artist Lofts that are in the block next to the shuffleboard court building, the Street Painting Festival, etc.  It was also distressing to hear that the City Commission and the CRA haven't had a joint meeting for a while and seem to be two ships passing in the night.  That has to change.

We were also reminded by the city manager, in response to complaints about this being a "last minute" request, that the city as an organization is not at a point where it should be (staffing, skills, etc.) that it can proactively respond to opportunities like this.  And that it is apparently incapable of communicating much of anything to people in the general community, other than those people that regularly attend meetings. Can we include in the next city budget a position of PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER for the City of Lake Worth? And, along with that a special events coordinator - either in the same position or person - or share that responsibility with other departments?  Maybe then the city can start filling in this apparent information "gap" and start employing social media tools that other cities around us are already successfully using.

The good thing is that, after all the discussion, the Commission voted unanimously to approve the lease of the building to the CRA for 10 years, which will allow it to apply for the state grant.  And the lease would be "null and void" if the CRA is not successful in obtaining the grant.