Elections, politics, and more quirky and charming City of Lake Worth history.

Do you remember the last Anarchist who ran
for a seat on the City Commission? Let’s
take a stroll back. . . 

The blog post below is from early February 2016 (some links below updated). Candidate Ryan Hartman later went on to get clobbered by Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell in that District 1 race. The theory is when Hartman turned from radical Anarchist to preppy Hipster, “I’m Chuck Bass” he lost his base of support and it all went downhill from there. Without further ado, Enjoy!

Ryan Hartman and two young girls disabled a van at a protest in Palm Beach Gardens. What happened next was hilarious. Instead of drawing attention to a plot of land being proposed for development he made Everglades EarthFirst! (EEF!) a joke throughout south Florida and the country as well.

Here’s what Hartman and his little band of merrymakers did: Instead of reviewing the Anarchist library for ways to disable a vehicle they removed the battery and threw it into a lake! This is not a joke. It really happened. The Palm Beach Gardens PD even took a picture of the battery in the lake and a HazMat team was assembled to remove it. Luckily, no acid was released.

And remember the protest in West Palm Beach that a Lake Worth commissioner and 2 former commissioners were invited to attend?

But the story gets better. Hartman and the girls go on trial and they were all found guilty. The judge even felt sorry for them and didn’t sentence any of  them to jail time. So what does Hartman do next? He cleans himself up, turns into a Hipster, and decides to run for office and challenge Lake Worth Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell. 

Hartman prior to his Hipster makeover.

Knowing full well the people of Lake Worth wouldn’t vote for him looking like an Anarchist, Hartman then changed his appearance to make himself more palatable:

Hartman has a whole new look and beams with delight. Note he shaved, got a haircut, and sports trendy new clothes. [The Obtuse Blogger (TOB) was
a big fan of Hartman and even contributed money
to his campaign.]

And in another later development, the dwindling Anarchist community in Lake Worth put the callout for Anarchists everywhere to descend on the City and help to get Hartman elected by staging a “musical”:

If you see a “musical” about to begin contact PBSO and enjoy the show!

Which makes you wonder why Hartman, an anti-government Anarchist, would run for a political office in the first place. Would there be a bigger objective like obstructing and hampering law enforcement in Lake Worth? Not so funny and entertaining any more is it?

A sign at an EEF! 2014 protest in Lake Worth outside PBSO District 14.