[A look back to August 4th, 2014] From Herman Robinson (Installment One): Why you should vote "Yes" for the LW2020 Bond

 [Note: The LW2020 Bond failed by 25 votes on August 26th, 2014, and you can learn why using this link. Continue reading the blog post below from August 4th, 2014. Now you can understand why so many neighborhoods and communities look the way they do.]

Mr. Herman Robinson, the Chair of the Lake Worth YES PAC, supporting the City's LW2020 Bond Vote this August 26, wrote a letter to me supporting the City's Plan. He titled the letter, "We are WORTH it!" I am going to post Herman's letter in two segments. This is the first segment (for the second segment use this link):

"We are WORTH it!", by Herman Robinson

The City of Lake Worth is finally facing up to the reality of long-deferred maintenance on our hidden assets: water and sewer pipes, drains and road infrastructure, as well as the equally long-deferred maintenance of visible assets as sidewalks, street lighting and streetscapes. To remain a viable community, all of our publicly-owned infrastructure must be repaired and brought up to modern standards, the sooner the better. Estimated cost: $63.5 million for the roads and about $20 million for water utility pipes, which the city already has.

The majority of involved citizens in Lake Worth do not take exception to the necessity of these repairs. However, there are some who disapprove of funding a maintenance plan that is beyond our annual budget limitations. Objections to the plan and funding options are:

1. This maintenance work should have been done before, it doesn't make sense to do it now.
2. There is a connection between other of the City's issues (utilities, rate of home ownership, etc.) and funding strategies for deteriorated infrastructure.
3. Our current City government is incapable of proper spending and completion of any projects.

To each of these objections, I answer:

1. Compare the City's maintenance needs to dental work, for example, "I know I should have had that filling done years ago but I didn't. Now I need bridgework and a plate." Repairs are always more expensive (and painful) the longer you wait.
2. The City does have many issues to address; each is interrelated with the other. Good stewardship and sound planning is to move forward and accomplish what can be done. Success in one area will form the foundation of future endeavors. Old, crumbling infrastructure leads backwards and will make future endeavors impossible.
3. It is easy to point fingers and complain about the flaws of government; mistakes will be made. Unless these mistakes are of the malicious or egregious sort, to deny your government the ability to maintain the public's assets is perverse. Our community cannot become paralyzed because people and results are not always perfect.

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