Video: Commissioner Ryan Maier's note reading at quasi-judicial hearing for re-zoning of Gulf Stream hotel project

If you've been following Lake Worth's then-candidate and now-Commissioner Ryan Maier you've seen him both unscripted and scripted. They are two very different people. But even when he's scripted, when he isn't reading from his notes, he can say some startling things like what he said at the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council about the Ag Reserve.

Below is a 22:47 long video (a portion) of the quasi-judicial hearing on 12/8 about the re-zoning for the Gulf Stream hotel project. I would encourage everyone to watch the entire video but pay special attention to what Maier says starting at the 12:15 mark. You can see him reading from his scripted notes (prepared by whom?). At the 12:55 mark, in an unscripted moment, he references Court TV which got a chuckle from those in attendance. The lawsuit he refers to was withdrawn by Laurel Decker and he conveniently leaves that fact unmentioned.

Following Maier talking about the "respect for the process" he says this about the "heights vote" in March 2013 (that the state legislature deemed "null and void") at the 13:40 mark:

"[N]early 60% of the people who voted on this matter voted to limit heights, also important to point out that more voters in Lake Worth turned out to vote on height limits than they did the following year to vote for the [Florida] governor."

The image Maier is trying to put in "the peoples" mind is that of lines at the polls stretching around the block and the community rallying to levels never seen before in opposition to a building of 65' in height. That couldn't be further from the truth:

The now-"null and void" vote to limit building heights near the Gulf Stream hotel won by 271 votes out of only 2,311 votes cast. For some perspective, 271 people is what you might see on Wednesday's at World Thrift for Senior Citizen's Day. 

Maier concludes at the 14:55 mark referring to the "overwhelming majority" which didn't exist except in the fantasy, revisionist world of Commissioner Maier. Check back later to this blog for an examination of Commissioner McVoy's remarks that follow Maier's—more fantasy and revisionism.

Enjoy the video!