Saturday, July 19, 2014
Finance Advisory Board Welcoming New Members - from Chair Robert Guyer
Lake Worth 2020? Keep the lightly used Casino pool despite it losing $260,000 per year? What to do about Lake Worth’s $1.5 million budget deficit- what to cut, what to keep, raise revenue through metered parking, bring in new jobs? Lake Worth FAB Chair, Robert Guyer, is seeking Lake Worth voters willing to make finance-based recommendations to City Government. Previously unutilized and mired in conflict, with new city leadership the FAB is being rebuilt to contribute as Lake Worth faces hard and unclear budgetary choices. 3 immediate openings and more expected. A heart driven by service and a commitment to meet as the FAB one time per month is the primary qualification. If you understand budgeting, then all the better. Call Robert Guyer at 561 582 0501 if you would like to know more. Or apply directly for the FAB at this link. It’s our Lake Worth, we as a city have great potential, and we must act to ensure our better tomorrow. Please join the Finance Advisory Board today.
Tales of Two Palm Beach County Cities
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Citizens Against Unfair Taxation Treasurer, Atlantis Resident, Dennis Dorsey
Sources:
Worth watching again...
This is the District #1 meeting which took place on May 22nd on the Lake Worth 2020 plan. These three videos in the playlist are the question and answer session after the presentation. Make sure to check out the 2:40 mark in the third video. It is pointed out that Mr. Dorsey is not a Lake Worth resident.
Parrot Cove Meeting Monday July 21, 7:00pm - Come See the Plans for the Gulfstream Revitalization
Parrot Cove General Meeting Monday - Presentation by Gulfstream Redevelopment Team on the Plans for the Redevelopment of This Historic Lake Worth Site - Believer's Victory Church - 10th and N Lakeside.
This is an open meeting and we invite all our neighbors outside of Parrot Cove to feel free to join us for this very interesting presentation.
Our guest speaker will be Sarah Martin and the Gulfstream redevelopment team, who will be going over the plans for the revitalization of the Gulfstream and what will be happening with the renovations. They will give a presentation with pictures and designs to let us all know their plans and how they fit into our historic area. We will be hearing about the plans for the restaurant, the pool area, possibilities for the roof top and the lounge, as well as the entire site and what is to come in the next couple of years.
They will have a scanner on hand so if you have any old pictures with the Gulfstream in them, please bring them along to help build the archives of this local icon.
We will also be having a more detailed review from our PBSO liaison as it relates to recent activities of concern to our neighborhood, what we can do as homeowners, what the PBSO responses are, and the recent PBSO initiative. Please feel free to bring your questions.
This is an open meeting and we invite all our neighbors outside of Parrot Cove to feel free to join us for this very interesting presentation.
Our guest speaker will be Sarah Martin and the Gulfstream redevelopment team, who will be going over the plans for the revitalization of the Gulfstream and what will be happening with the renovations. They will give a presentation with pictures and designs to let us all know their plans and how they fit into our historic area. We will be hearing about the plans for the restaurant, the pool area, possibilities for the roof top and the lounge, as well as the entire site and what is to come in the next couple of years.
They will have a scanner on hand so if you have any old pictures with the Gulfstream in them, please bring them along to help build the archives of this local icon.
We will also be having a more detailed review from our PBSO liaison as it relates to recent activities of concern to our neighborhood, what we can do as homeowners, what the PBSO responses are, and the recent PBSO initiative. Please feel free to bring your questions.
Editorial: Concern over All Aboard Florida loan sounds more... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com
Strong editorial about the All Aboard Florida project which calls out politicians who suddenly see ghouls and goblins when it comes to federal loans to private entities. The Post calls out a few previous examples of public/private relationships that were designed to benefit the region and where was the outcry then? Click title for link. From the article:
Because if this is not the case, if Negron and this growing cadre of skeptical politicians truly oppose All Aboard Florida chiefly as a troubling example of crony capitalism, then surely they must also have opposed:
If these politicians also opposed these investments, it’s reasonable to take their complaints about All Aboard Florida’s federal loan at face value. If not, let them explain why this project is different. If they can’t, ask them to offer the real reasons for their opposition.
- The $310 million federal grant to the private Scripps Research Institute to build its campus in Jupiter.
- Jupiter’s Roger Dean Stadium, built with $28 million of county tax dollars to house spring training operations for two private baseball teams.
- Palm Beach County’s $27 million subsidy toward the building of a private Hilton hotel alongside the county’s convention center.
- The $89 million federal proposal to dredge the Port of Palm Beach to encourage greater use by private container ships and cruise line.
CAUghT - Characteristics of the Great Walled City of Atlantis
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| From the Citizens Against Unfair Taxation (CAUghT) PAC filing papers. |
Friday, July 18, 2014
The After-After Raft Race party at South Shores this Sunday 7/20
South Shores Tavern and Patio Bar invites all the 2014 Great American Raft Race Fans to celebrate the victors and the vanquished at an After Rafter Party on Sunday, July 20th from 4 - 10pm. A special slide show presentation with more than 400 photos from the raft parade and races will be playing all evening long. Special Thanks to Leonard Bryant Photography for sharing his professional photography along with our many generous shutterbug friends and neighbors who all took such great pictures. Bring your trophies if you got one and let's start planning strategies for next year!
Endangered Florida Forest Will Be Destroyed To Make Room For Walmart And Chick-Fil-A | ThinkProgress
EF! Look over here. Where is your outrage? Click title for link.
Council approves $17.6 million plan for Midtown, South End... | www.palmbeachdailynews.com
A lot of money being "invested", really spent, by the Town of Palm Beach in beach restoration. This may last 3 to 5 years or so. Decision for work on the south end, around the Lake Worth Beach, is being delayed until August due to concerns over the quality of sand material. Click title for link to the Shiny Sheet article.
The plan calls for 918,500 cubic yards of sand to cover beaches from Casa Bendita in Reach 2 to Banyan Road in Reach 4.
Of that, about 130,000 cubic yards will be hauled by truck into reaches 7 and 8 to help maintain storm protection until a larger project scheduled for the winter of 2015-16. The town awarded a $1.3 million contract to Rio-Bak Corp. for the South End truck haul.
The decision was delayed Tuesday after one of the two prospective contractors raised concerns about the town’s specifications and bidding process.
After rejecting November bids that came in over budget, the town re-solicited bids in April and received two: one from Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. for $13.5 million and the other from Weeks Marine for $17.6 million.
Rail expert lauds All Aboard Florida | www.mypalmbeachpost.com
Interesting...a rail expert with Libertarian leanings endorses the concept. He doesn't consider the federal loan they are requesting as a handout, as it has to be paid back. The debate continues. Click title for link.
In a July newsletter for the Libertarian-leaning foundation, Poole [Robert Poole, the South Florida-based director of transportation for the Reason Foundation] calls All Aboard Florida a “worthwhile effort” and denounces accusations of ulterior motives as “silly” conspiracy theories. He notes that Amtrak trains making the same trip top out at 79 mph, while All Aboard Florida will hit 125 mph in some areas.
“This project represents an excellent case of ‘value capture’ by the parent company, since it expects to make a lot of money via its real estate investments in and around the new stations it will build,” Poole wrote. “That is the key to the success of Hong Kong’s profitable Mass Transit Railway Corporation.”
[later...]
“The conspiracy buffs expect the passenger project to tank, with the (Federal Railroad Administration) loans turning into de-facto grants to Florida East Coast Railway’s freight operation. That’s silly,” Poole wrote. “Most FRA loans already go to freight railroads. So there was no need to create a passenger rail service in order to get the loans.”
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Where I spent July 17th...
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Film at Eleven...
The latest report from our Citizens Against Unfair Taxation (CAUT) friends.
A cellphone. Really? Can we call it a lie dispensing device (LDD)?
Comcast issues apology after viral service call | TheHill
Comcast customer service is its own special kind of hell. Click title for link to the apology from the ubiquitous cable company in response to this phone call that has gone viral. The customer wants to disconnect his service and the representative is obstructionist and gives him the "hard sell" on keeping Comcast.
SENATOR CLEMENS PLANS OFFICE HOURS FOR CITIZENS POLICYHOLDERS
Citizens staff will be available to meet with policyholders residing in District 27 that have specific questions or issues regarding their Citizens policy. The office hours will be held on:
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
1:00pm - 4:00pm
at
The Office of Senator Jeff Clemens
508C Lake Avenue
Lake Worth, FL 33460
Policyholders interested in setting up a meeting to discuss any policy questions directly with Citizens staff should contact the district office at (561) 540-1140 and provide the following information: name, address, and policy number.
All appointments will be scheduled in 15 minute increments and subject to availability. Policyholders should bring with them any pertinent documents and information that may assist Citizens staff in addressing their issues.
The Tea Party Isn’t a Political Movement, It’s a Religious One… | UKIAH BLOG
Perhaps dinosaurs and humans romped on the 6,000 year old Earth's Sunset property. Note that one of the tell-tale signs of the Tea Party is the lack of compromise. My way or the highway. Where have we heard that before? Click title for link. From the article:
America has long been the incubator of many spiritual creeds going back to the Great Awakening and even earlier. Only one of them, Mormonism, has taken root and flourished as a true religion sprung from our own native ground. Today, however, we have a new faith growing from this nation’s soil: the Tea Party. Despite its secular trappings and “taxed enough already” motto, it is a religious movement, one grounded in the traditions of American spiritual revival. This religiosity explains the Tea Party’s political zealotry.
[later in article]
Having created a picture of Hell, the Tea Party priesthood must furnish the faithful with an image of Paradise. This Eden is not located in space but in time: the Republic in the decades after the Civil War when the plantocracy ruled in the South and plutocrats reigned in the North. Blacks knew their place in Dixie through the beneficence of states’ rights, and the robber barons of the North had a cozy relationship with the government prior to the advent of labor laws, unions, and the income tax. Immigrants were not yet at high tide. It was still a white, male, Christian country and proudly so. When Tea Party stalwarts cry “Take back America!” we must ask from whom, and to what? They seek to take it back to the Gilded Age, and retrieve it from the lower orders: immigrants, minorities the “takers” of the “47 percent,” and their liberal enablers.
Delray Beach’s historic Sundy House hotel, restaurant and... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com
One of the new owners of the historic Sundy House in Delray Beach is also the new owner of Lake Worth's Gulfstream Hotel. It is mentioned at the end of this article. Click title for link.
How Low-Income Commuters View Cycling - CityLab
Interesting conclusions on bike use for commuting from a recent study. Your interest and ability to commute on a bike may hinge on your race and income more than thought before. Part of the reason is geography; part of it is more aspiration for a car in lower income groups. Click title for link.
This suggests that, for low-income people, cars may have merits beyond simple cost-benefit use calculations. Automobility remains a paradoxical cultural and status symbol, such that while wealthier people increasingly reduce their car dependency, poor people still aspire to car ownership.
Cycling just isn't popular among the urban poor (yet). In 2012, respondents ranked cycling seventh out of nine transport modes, ahead of only taxis and bike sharing. Cycling barriers included poor road safety, poor or lacking infrastructure (e.g. bike lanes, racks, or storage), distance, and physical exertion. In 2013, respondents reported more than 30 barriers to cycling or walking. Physical safety (32.6 percent), distance (30 percent) and comfort/cold/sweating (25.4 percent) were the most common objections. Other barriers included the difficulty of carrying bulky items, work attire, not knowing how to ride, theft risk, poor health or disability, the slower speed, "laziness," and a lack of desire. One respondent said, simply, "I just want a car."
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Looking for transparency? Do not look here.
No mention of Lake Worth, no mention of the bond issue. The area, scope and jurisdiction is "Palm Beach County."
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They are going to give any residual money to a "local" PAC for "educational purposes?"
"Inappropriate tax burdens to the citizens of Palm beach [sic] County"
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| Atlantis resident Dennis Dorsey is Treasurer. |
Gregg Segal photographs people with a week’s worth of their trash in his series, “7 Days of Garbage.”
Speaking of garbage, check out this artist's work. Click title for link and some riveting images. This is what he does:
Segal used natural materials to transform his yard into artificial environments, like a forest floor or a sandy beach or a body of water, where he photographed all his subjects. "I shot from above to make it very clinical and clean and graphic. It’s kind of a nest, a bed we’re lying in with all this stuff, forcing us to reconcile what we’re producing, which hopefully causes some people to think a little bit more about what they’re consuming,” he said.
Shiraz Kashar, Waste Management Reuter Recycling Facility (Broward County)
These two videos are in sequence and of his introductory presentation before we toured the facility. Highly recommended that you watch both in their entirety. More video on the tour itself will be out later.
One of the members of the tour put together this list of what to put and what not to put in your single stream recycling container:
All I found on the Lake Worth site was, "Items that can be placed together for recycling include clean paper, cardboard, cereal boxes, newspapers, glass bottles and jars, steel, tin and aluminium cans, juice and milk cartons and plastic drink containers." in an article from the Palm Beach Post.On the schedule it says:Recyclable items: plastic, paper, aluminum, steel cans and otheritems which are listed on the top of the container.My sticker is getting pretty hard to read but it covers it pretty well.On the Waste management site it lists:NewspaperMagazinesGlass bottlesGlass jarsAluminum cansSteel cansPlastics #1-7 (Really only #1 and #2 - watch video. Throw bottled water caps in the regular garbage.)PaperboardCardboardJunk MailPaperSo I guess the list on the lid is the best--it's all there--except it doesn't say "No garden hoses or toilet seats".I think an enclosure with every utility bill would be a good way to build awareness.
Delray officials slated to cut ties with suspended city manager - Sun Sentinel
This short relationship is now coming to an end. Interesting that Delray Beach requires a super-majority to fire a city manager "with cause." Click title for link.
Delray City Manager Louie Chapman Jr.'s final paycheck from the city could total nearly $73,000.
At their meeting Tuesday, commissioners will consider signing off on Chapman's resignation effective Tuesday. Parting ways with Chapman, who is currently serving a 90-day paid suspension, comes with his proposed settlement package.
The terms include 20 weeks of pay worth $61,500, paid vacation time totaling $7,690 and reimbursement of his $3,680 contribution to Delray's pension plan.
Negotiations regarding cutting Chapman loose don't completely center on money.
Chapman also asked city officials to drop any ongoing investigations about Chapman's performance or conduct as city manager. In return, he agreed to release the city from any legal claims he may be pursuing.
West Palm Beach officials await All Aboard Florida plan | www.mypalmbeachpost.com
This is an update to the status of the All Aboard Florida train station in downtown West Palm Beach. Plans for the Ft. Lauderdale and Miami stations have already been made public. This one is still being worked on. The most serious impact of its location and design calls for the closing of Datura and Evernia Streets along Quadrille. They would like to go ahead and demolish the former Sasser Glass building, but the city needs to see what is planned first before going forward. Click title for link.
West Palm Beach city officials have yet to see designs for All Aboard Florida’s proposed train station even as the private company adds land to its downtown cache and plans for an architectural debut this month.
The most recent acquisition was an $860,000 purchase in April of a plot of unused land from Florida Power & Light that will be used for an access road needed because the station will close two downtown streets.
All Aboard Florida or related companies already have amassed about two acres of downtown land north of CityPlace with the purchase of a vacant Sewell Hardware building and the 89-year-old Sasser Glass building.
All Aboard Florida says it has been working with the city on the development of its downtown station.
State Senator Jeff Clemens at the June 17, 2014 City Commission - Lake Worth 2020 Plan
Transcript of an exchange between State Senator Jeff Clemens and the Lake Worth City Commission discussing the City of Lake Worth's 2020 bond vote on August 26 of this year. This transcript is from the Lake Worth City Commission on June 17, 2014. The exchange begins at the 20:15 mark and ends at the 21:40 mark on the city's website video of this meeting.
STATE SENATOR JEFF CLEMENS: I will make this pledge to you. If we can get a plan together to do an infrastructure project and then we will get a budget request together [for the legislature] to ask for money. And I will tell you this...
LAKE WORTH MAYOR TRIOLO: We are shovel ready.
STATE SENATOR CLEMENS: I will tell you this. Your commitment and the commitment of the people in the City to be able to do these infrastructure projects will play well when we are able to bring a project before the legislature. Asking the legislature for all the money to do a project almost never works. The City has to have skin in the game too. And so the large commitment you are talking about making, if that moves through, I will then be able to go to the legislature and say 'the citizens of the City have made the commitment to do it,' now it's up to us to try to find a way to help. And I will make it a budget priority of mine to be able to do that next year.
MAYOR TRIOLO: Thank you, we'll need you.
STATE SENATOR CLEMENS: Sure. I am happy to do that. I will tell you this, I voted against my last budget as mayor for two reasons. We cut our code enforcement department in half and we didn't put money towards infrastructure that I wanted to see us do. So I value very much the direction you are taking and I appreciate it immensely.
MAYOR TRIOLO: Thank you, Senator.
CITY ATTORNEY GLEN TORCIVIA: Thank you.
MAYOR TRIOLO: Thank you. Do you have anything?
CITY MANAGER BORNSTEIN: No, he hit it on the head.
Southern Boulevard Bridge Traffic Advisory
Southern Boulevard Bridge, over the Intracoastal Waterway in the City of West Palm Beach, will have alternating traffic, 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., Wednesday, July 16, and Thursday, July 17, for work order repairs.
Monday, July 14, 2014
The latest from Greenfield, garden-spot of California...
Assault with Deadly Weapon
07/13/2014
400 Block 9TH ST
Theft of Vehicle
07/10/2014
200 Block AVA ST & RAVA PKWY
Breaking & Entering
07/09/2014
700 Block DART WAY & 7TH ST
Theft
07/09/2014
1 Block ELMWOOD DR
Assault with Deadly Weapon
07/07/2014
600 Block WALNUT AV & EL CAMINO REAL
07/13/2014
400 Block 9TH ST
Theft of Vehicle
07/10/2014
200 Block AVA ST & RAVA PKWY
Breaking & Entering
07/09/2014
700 Block DART WAY & 7TH ST
Theft
07/09/2014
1 Block ELMWOOD DR
Assault with Deadly Weapon
07/07/2014
600 Block WALNUT AV & EL CAMINO REAL
From one of the major proponents of the NO vote on August 26th
Letter to the Editor from Lake Worth resident on the LW2020 Plan
In a letter to the editor of the Palm Beach Post on 7/14/2014, Joanne Kelly of Lake Worth wrote the following:
"The June 4 article, 'Lake Worth seeks $63.5 million bond,' was clear and well told. Thanks for having Eliot Kleinberg do the reporting, a writer who has history and experience in Palm Beach County. He was able to tell the story clearly.Click here for the Eliot Kleinberg article referred to in the letter.
Hopefully, enough of us Lake Worthians will seize the day and vote for the bond on Aug. 26, in spite of knowing the tax burden will increase. We just have to hold our noses and do it. We all 'love Lake Worth,' but 'loving' care is long overdue. Confidence in our current leadership is high and the interest rate is low, so now is the time."
‘More of an edge’: Cultural Council pushes boundaries with new... | www.palmbeachdailynews.com
I am hearing great things about the new installation at the Palm Beach County Cultural Council in downtown Lake Worth. Click title for link to an article in the Shiny Sheet highlighting the exhibit. Here's a bit of what you can expect.
“This shows another side of Palm Beach County artists,” Hickey [Nichole Hickey, manager of artist services] said. “The shows I’ve installed before have been relatively safe. This show has more of an edge.”
Quality was tops on both of their lists. After that, “I wanted artists who moved me viscerally,” de Beaufort said.
The 60 works include painting, sculpture, mixed media, photography, installation and performance art made within the last three years.
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IF YOU GO
What: “Southern Exposure: New Work Now”
When: Through Aug. 16
Where: Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, 601 Lake Ave., Lake Worth
For information: Call 471-2901 or see palmbeachculture.com
Florida Woman Arrested for Doing Naked Yoga on the Highway | New Times Broward-Palm Beach
A new trend? Might be something like Bikram Yoga. We will have to consult with Commissioner McVoy upon his return from a yoga retreat in Tibet. Click title for link. This woman seems to have a lot in common with Cheri Oteri, one of Saturday Night Live's former cast members, and her character Collette Reardon.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Erica Whitfield, School Board Candidate, District 4, stopped by today...
With her daughter in tow...contact her for a yard sign and remember to vote for her on August 26th!
1926 Miami hurricane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
What Wikipedia says about the 1926 hurricane. It seems likely that this area might have received some impact from such a large storm, but the real "bad guy" for this area was the 1928 hurricane. Click title for link. Apparently, the public didn't know about the "eye" part of the storm and thought it was over which led to further loss of life. Communication and forecasting were a shadow of what they are today.
Flagler Drive after the Hurricane of 1926 - West Palm Beach.
Courtesy Historic Florida IV on FaceBook.
Water Club twin 19-story buildings begin construction in North Palm Beach | Northern Palm Beach County
TALL BUILDINGS. TALL BUILDINGS. TALL BUILDINGS. Click title for link.
Work has started on the Kolter Group’s project to build twin 19-story buildings on the Intracoastal Waterway called Water Club, across from the Benjamin School about a mile south of PGA Boulevard.
Plans for the seven-acre parcel include 74 condos in each building, which will have parking on the bottom floor.
Twenty townhouses are also planned on the east side of the property.
Plans call for Water Club to be a gated community.
Town may award $17.6 million Midtown Beach renourishment contract | www.palmbeachdailynews.com
The Town of Palm Beach readies its plans for beach renourishment and they will be rolling out various sections over the coming years. Eventually, the projects will include the area south of Sloan's Curve to Phipps Ocean Beach and south of the Lake Worth pier. The city of Lake Worth has denied Palm Beach access before for such activities around our beach. Click title for link.
In its 10-year coastal management plan, the town estimated the project would cost $11.6 million.
The Midtown fill was originally scheduled for last winter, but was delayed in November after a first round of construction bids last year proved too high.
Midtown Beach received its last full nourishment in 2006.
About 850,000 cubic yards of sand will go on the beach between Casa Bendita, in Reach 2, and Banyan Road, at the south end of Reach 4. That includes the badly eroded area along the sea wall along the area from Sunrise Avenue to Wells Road.
Another 130,000 cubic yards of sand will be hauled by truck and placed on the beach, above the high-tide line, between Sloan’s Curve and Phipps Ocean Park, and south of the Lake Worth Pier.
Higher taxes won’t cover Lake Worth’s $31 million budget plan | www.mypalmbeachpost.com
The budget is still a work in progress, but the City Commission has set the millage rate the same as last year, but it can be approved at a lower rate depending on additional adjustments. There are some new festivals planned under the Recreation Department, which were a bit surprising. Click title for link. This article is on line and not in the printed edition of today's paper.
Thanks to rising property values, the city expects a $527,000 increase in property taxes next year. The city’s taxable value, as of Jan. 1, increased to $1.2 billion from $1.1 billion.
But the city gets only 22 percent of its money from property taxes. Another big source is money from the city’s utilities.
Commissioners voted Tuesday to set next year’s tax rate at no more than the current rate of $5.49 for every $1,000 of taxable property. They can still lower the rate but it can’t go higher.
Since property values went up for most homeowners, they would pay more even if the tax rate is unchanged. The owner of a $100,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption would pay $8.24 more in taxes, based on a required 1.5 percent property value increase.
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![Dr. W. H. Cotton’s ode: “Oh, My Lake Worth, Florida!” [circa 1920].](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUL75cv6zJQFjX15ojOIIz9AjnbqH4asHJTYSDhnGnYr7rJZRha1NcNTirj2xPcId158vkz5Hw-wXgOfrlztj8Zr8jLFFCfuEN6PyV44ZlpMRmJ68xbtFL9vzxNiG7xDs_HJvm/s1600/LakeWorthPioneers.JPG)
