Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Words to remember. Copy & paste, send to the printer, and worthy of framing.

At the bottom of this blog post are words written to ring in our New Year 2017 in Lake Worth from Rick Christie, the editor at The Palm Beach Post, in an editorial commentary titled, “A few quick takeaways from 2016 election”.

It’s unclear if it was Christie who wrote the words below (see image) in August 2014 leading up to the first bond vote to fix our roads but those words were so strong and so very clear the Post had nothing else to say leading up to the referendum on November 8th, 2016, that passed overwhelmingly. Without further ado:

“. . . this is a testament. . .”. Strong words from the Post in August 2014, days prior to the first referendum to fix our roads and potholes that failed by just 25 votes. Now these observations 27 months later, words worthy of framing:

“Lake Worth is poised for some major upgrades following residents’ approval — by a whopping 69 percent — of a $40 million road repair bond; and a little help from the sales tax hike.
     Finally, the city can get to the business of fixing and repairing its decaying roads that seem to have more potholes than cars.
     The Nov. 8 vote was in stark contrast to 2014, when a more bulky $63 million bond question failed by a slim 25 votes; mostly because antsy voters weren’t really clear where all the money was going.
     But the other reason city residents may soon be dancing in those repaired streets is because of the penny increase in the sales tax. Part of the proceeds — about $540 million — over the next decade will be split among the county’s 39 municipalities.
     That could be another $10 million toward roads, parks and other infrastructure repair in the city. While officials in cities like Palm Beach Gardens and Boca Raton snubbed the sales tax largesse, Lake Worth did no such thing. And residents should reap the benefits.[emphasis added]