[A Blast From the Past] Mr. Jack Scarola, the GMC, and making Lake Worth a Great City

[Re-Post: this is getting a lot of attention; originally published on 12/29/2014]

In yesterday's (12/28/2014) Palm Beach Post was a highly interesting article by Jane Musgrave about the brain cancer "cluster" in the Acreage. In a stunning turn of events the attorneys, Jack Scarola and Mara Hatfield, have conceded that Palm Beach Aggregates is "blameless". Wow. Remember this is an effort that Scarola and Hatfield have pursued for many years now, not a small expense for a private law firm. 

For those of you in Lake Worth you might think, hmmm, that name "Jack Scarola" sounds familiar.

You would be correct. Recently Mr. Scarola made the news as the "volunteer legal counsel to the Guatemalan Maya Center [GMC] of Lake Worth" and wrote a letter to United States Attorney General Eric Holder on the GMC's behalf. On October 22nd the GMC staged a protest against the alleged abuses of our PBSO. If you recall, that is the protest where the "PBSO Deputies Are Worthless" sign was a significant part of the protest. 

Mr. Scarola, of course, is performing his civic duty as a volunteer for the GMC. We all thank him for fostering an atmosphere of community between the PBSO, the City of Lake Worth, the GMC, and the fine citizens of our City of Lake Worth. 

In the letter referenced above by Mr. Scarola to former Attorney General Eric Holder, he references the Peelian Principles. From Mr. Scarola:

Local law enforcement has lost sight of the Peelian Principles—if they ever had those essential principles in sight to begin with. They do not know how they are supposed to do their job because they have no clear understanding of what their job is. Instead of working to "secure the willing cooperation of the public", the occupying troops dress for war and their leader publicly defends their compliance with the "rules of engagement".

Is Mr. Scarola alluding to the PBSO and the fine deputies who protect us every day in our City of Lake Worth? When you see a deputy do you see him/her as an 'occupying troop dressed for war'? Do you think our PBSO Captain Silva is complicit is this 'war' and defending his 'troops'? 

The most interesting thing about Mr. Scarola's letter to the U.S. Attorney General is not what it includes but what it leaves out. There are 9 Peelian Principles. Mr. Scarola references Peelian Principles 2 through 9. The one principle Mr. Scarola didn't reference was Peelian Principle #1:

To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment.

Perhaps Mr. Scarola would be interested in volunteering for the Lake Worth Neighborhood Association Presidents' Council? Perhaps Mr. Scarola can research the human rights abuses suffered by the Guatemalan/Maya community prior to PBSO taking over for the Lake Worth Police Department? Or the horrific gang problem Lake Worth had just six years ago and continues to address? That would be enlightening.