Saturday, February 27, 2016

Lake Worth and the Office of Inspector General: A candidate spreading blatant lies in the community

This is a letter being hand distributed by Frank McAlonan, a candidate for District #3 who is challenging Lake Worth Commissioner Andy Amoroso:
I am going to focus on claim #4 first. Here McAlonan makes the claim that the City of Lake Worth needs to "restore its reputation with the Inspector General."
Well, let's check out the Palm Beach County's Office of Inspector General's website. Then let's look at the page that identifies "Recent Reports." The first mention of the City of Lake Worth comes in an overall report on procurement and purchasing policies by all local governments in Palm Beach County. Interestingly, Lake Worth turns out to be pretty efficient in terms of General Fund dollars spent per person, compared to other municipalities. Here is just one breakdown from the report:
So, no need to "restore" any reputation here.

The next mention of Lake Worth comes in fiscal year 2012 and it concerns the Community Development Corporation's lease with the City of Lake Worth. While a commissioner, JoAnn Golden was Executive Director of this agency, occupied a city building in that capacity and did not pay rent or utilities during the entire time she was in office. Here is a brief summary of why an investigation was needed:
And there is further discussion of the ramifications of this and the City leasing of space in private buildings elsewhere to accommodate staff. Interesting reading and all during the time when JoAnn Golden and the previous City administration were in office.

The next mention of Lake Worth comes in a review of the Casino building construction, which is still an issue. The contractor and architect for the City are about to face a default declaration. This, of course, also took place during the period of the previous majority and another city administration.

Far from being a recent focus by the Office of Inspector General, it seems that Lake Worth has actually cleaned up its game compared to previous commissions and administrations. Some advice for candidate Frank McAlonan: It's been SOP by the people he has aligned himself with to accuse the opposition of tactics and antics they are involved in. That is a page right out of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, if you didn't know that already.