An idea: Let’s table all discussion about the City’s municipal pool at the Beach for two more years.

Below is a video and there are two parts of that video everyone needs to listen to very carefully. And scroll down below for another blog post today (or use this link) to learn about what happened at the Commission Workshop last night. The word “disappointing” comes close to describing it.

If it wasn’t clear before it’s very clear now, the Lake Worth City Commission is incapable of solving the problems at the Beach Complex and pool. Why? It’s impossible if our electeds are in perpetual campaign mode. But that’s going to change in 2 years when the City’s mayor and commissioners begin serving 3-year terms instead of two.

If you didn’t know, that ballot question passed quite easily last March.

City Manager Michael Bornstein said something last night that’s going to shock a lot of people. The Palm Beach Post will not report this because Bornstein describes something that happened in 2011. For the Post, the history of the Casino complex and pool began in 2012 when the new majority on the City Commission took over.

The city manager can’t lead our City Commission. He can provide the best information available and the best possible courses of action, but he can’t vote.

If the only people who show up at Commission meetings are people who want to “Save Our Pool” then they are the ones the electeds hear. Because people packed our Commission meetings back in 2010–2012 yelling “Save Our Beach”, the electeds back then listened, and that’s why we’re in such a terrible position now, having to subsidize a failed business plan, possibly for many years to come if nothing is not done.

Just because people line up and say, “Save Our Pool” doesn’t mean the City Commission should. With a 3-year term our elected officials, whoever they are in two years, will be more in leadership mode than in campaign mode and something like this will be much less likely to happen:

This image will be explained later.

When you finish reading this blog post scroll back up and click on this link. Then ask yourself this, “How many years longer am I willing to wait until the City Commission creates a workable business model for our Beach?”

Here’s what City Manager Bornstein said last night, an excerpt from the video below, about our now-closed municipal pool and decisions made prior to him being hired by the City in 2012:

“The best of my recollection and understanding that [pool facility] was included by the engineering firms and design firms in that calculation so that they could come up with a formula to keep the Casino building where it is and call it a restoration.”

A prior administration in our City — under public pressure to do something — came up with a “formula” to call the former Casino, which was 94% demolished, a “restoration”. Why? Because if they called it new construction, which it was, it would need to be constructed on pilings and follow State law vis-à-vis being located east of the Coastal Construction Line.

Is this all making sense now?

Now you know why a former commissioner, Chris McVoy, PhD, was OK with this Casino ‘renovation’ back in 2010–2012, unconcerned about “rising sea levels”.

What’s not discussed at all is this: the seawall protecting the Casino building and pool was never property inspected when the Casino was ‘renovated’. Is there a recent report on the status of the seawall?

Are you mad? You should be. Now here we are in 2017 and there’s a very real possibility our elected leaders will “kick the can down the road” once again.

In the video pay special attention to what’s said at these minute marks:

• City Manager Bornstein at 10:10–11:50 minute marks.
• Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell at 24:10 to the end, the remarks made by Commissioner Herman Robinson.

Then go back to the image and caption above. Have a good day.