Shorthand notes from last night's Lake Worth City Commission Meeting. . .

I wasn't able to attend last night's city commission meeting due to a professional commitment; however, was able to watch portions of the meeting over the Internet (watching the meeting live from city video). These are the high and lowlights:

• Commissioner Maier's name (pronounced "My-Er, please that is MY-ER, do not forget that, please") seemed to be the most important finding of fact the entire evening.
• I joined the meeting after the kerfuffle initiated by Commissioner Maier that led to placing an item on the agenda meant to cancel the ITN process (which later failed). This was added to the agenda and ALL of the consent items were taken off consent and placed under new business. 
• Appointments to various Commissioner Liaison positions produced their share of drama. Commissioner Maier (that is pronounced "MY-ER") nominated Commissioner McVoy as, according to Commissioner Maier, he was the commissioner with the longest tenure on the Commission. That failed. It was later pointed out that Commissioner Maxwell did indeed have the longest tenure as a Lake Worth City Commissioner. So the same subtitles to Commissioners ended remaining the same.
• The biggest irony of this part of the meeting was Commissioner Maier ("MY-ER, remember that, puh-leeze!") nominated himself as liaison to the Neighborhood Association Presidents Council (NAPC). During the campaign he revealed that he thought that neighborhood associations are too political, he was never a member of his own neighborhood's association and never has participated in neighborhood clean-ups. Mayor Triolo eventually was appointed to that liaison position which former Commissioner Szerdi held prior. (The Sister City portion of the meeting was hilarious; that part will be separated out for a special video to come soon. Don't want to give too much away here.)
• Race was an underlying theme throughout the meeting. Mention was made during public comment (and Commissioner reactions to public comment) about the well known incident (reported in The Lake Worth Herald) regarding the racial slur uttered in the Commission Chambers by Mrs. McNamara prior to the Special City Commission meeting last Monday (3/16), which ushered the re-elected and newly elected commissioners to the dais. Commissioner Maier made a point to distance himself from one of his most prominent and vocal supporters by simply pointing out that she was seated on the McVoy-Maier side of the Chambers—not the Szerdi side—so it wasn't as if she was saving a seat for him, even though she was. General disgust was expressed by everyone on the commission about the incident.
• Race raised its head again when Vice Mayor Maxwell attempted to point out the long, entrenched history of institutional racism in the city that's led to lack of basic infrastructure in neighborhoods traditionally occupied by black and minority populations. He might have gone too far when he stated that those who voted against the LW2020 bond were racist, although he did state the obvious: most of the city's unpaved streets and shoddy infrastructure are in those areas populated by minorities Vice Mayor Maxwell referred to. Mayor Triolo then reminded everyone that the city was founded by a married couple, freed black slaves, that ran the post office in Jewel which is now the City of Lake Worth. She pointed out that Fannie James was forced to move out of the city she founded due to the creation of a law that forced black people to live outside the city. She pointed out that incident was a terrible legacy in the city's history. It was an impassioned response that deserves a watch when the city's video is available (in a day or two).
• We were treated to flyspecking contracts on fleet maintenance and other items that were on the consent agenda by Commissioner Maier. This is part of the reason that the meeting lasted until almost 11 p.m. which required formal action by the city commission to extend the meeting past the agreed maximum ending time of 10 p.m. Most of this minutia could have been accomplished before the meeting or the following day (the city attorney is going to follow up). I think he was channeling Laurel Decker here, a CPA who is part of his flock (and spoke at the meeting), in an attempt to make him look like the smartest person in the room.
• Then we got to the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN). I would refer you to the 3 hour and 15 minute mark of the meeting when City Manager Michael Bornstein recounts the events leading up to the issuance of the ITN by staff. You also might want to check out the public comment section before his remarks which included comments by former Commissioner Cara Jennings, Steve Ellman and others that submitted their comments to be read into the record. I'm not going to recount all of the goings on here, it was essentially a replay of the disinformation and misinformation that the public was fed prior to the March 10th elections. In the end the motion to scuttle the ITN was defeated by a 3-2 vote. That was done with the agreement the selection committee would make its findings and recommendations known in a work session format where the public could speak. We should have more information on this meeting soon.
• Oh, and in the interest of transparency, all of the records from the selection committee will be made available on April 2nd. So all of the closed door meeting records will be in the Sunshine. City Manager Bornstein felt that nothing will be sensational in those records but it was an important gesture to show that the City really has nothing to hide. Beach conspiracy theorists still want to find out who knew what and when; as if there is something to hide (forcing the City to prove a negative). That's why it is important to listen to what Mr. Bornstein says at the 3 hour and 15 mark of the video, when it is available, I'll let you know.

Again, soon I'll have two videos separated out and up for my readers to watch: Retha Lowe's comments on the 'N-word' used at City Hall and City Manager Bornstein's explanation how the ITN process came to be. Stay tuned, as they say.