March 10th, 2015: The ugliest day ever at Lake Worth City Hall.

The editor at The Palm Beach Post knows about what happened in the City of Lake Worth that day.

The beat reporter for the Post knows all about what happened too. How is that known? Because former City Commissioner Retha Lowe told the whole world about what happened (see video below) and The Lake Worth Herald wrote a front page story about what happened too. The Herald article is a little later in this blog post.

But after this racist incident happened IN OUR CITY HALL, we all waited a few days for the editor at the Post to deal with this incident in a strong, forceful manner with no ambiguity and say, “There is no place for this kind of behavior in the City of Lake Worth.”

Day two came and went. Then day 3 and still
silence from the Post editor. Day 4 passed
and then we all knew.

Because of politics, the editor of the Post was going to ignore this racist incident because it would make two former commissioners, Ryan Maier and Chris McVoy, PhD, look bad. The person who used the word “n■■■■■” in public, in our City Hall was a supporter of Maier and McVoy and the editor had just recently endorsed them for election to the Commission a few weeks prior. It was a little awkward you see.

So this incident was ignored by the Post. At the very least they could have offered kudos to City Manager Michael Bornstein and all the other City leaders for how they dealt with this incident. But they didn’t even do that.

Below is a newspaper clipping from a former tabloid in 2015 that has since gone defunct.  

Click on image to enlarge:

The Post should have come to the defense of our elected leaders and City management. But instead, they sat on their hands and did nothing.

Below is a video of former Commissioner Retha Lowe on March 24th, 2015, at the City Commission meeting following that incident which occurred 2 weeks previously, on March 10th.

This was a major news event in the City of Lake Worth but the Post news division and editorial board decided to squash the story instead.

Soon afterwards witness intimidation began and The Lake Worth Herald was attacked for publishing the story. This was no longer just about racism any more. Now citizens and government officials were being targeted in order to silence them.

Here is an email from Lake Worth City Manager Michael Bornstein:

From: Michael Bornstein
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2015 12:55 PM
To: 'Dee McNamara'; ryanmaier@lakeworth.org; Christopher McVoy; Lynn Anderson; Dennis Dorsey; Jesse Santamaria; Steven L. Abrams; Joseph Abruzzo; Katie Kkss21; Debra Smith Kimo; June Evans; judyking02@comcast.net; Jennifer Marchal; clemens.jeff@flsenate.gov; 'bobby.powell@myfloridahouse.gov'; 'ptaylor@pbcgov.org'; svana@pbcgov.org; Retha Lowe; Andy Amoroso; Christopher McVoy; John Szerdi; Pam Triolo; Scott Maxwell
Cc: Christy L. Goddeau; Clayton Lindstrom; Dolores Key; Germaine English; Jamie Brown; Joan Oliva; Juan Ruiz; Larry A. Johnson; Pamela Lopez; William Waters

Dee,

Due to the your recent outburst in the City Hall Chambers involving a racial slur, not once but twice, I feel compelled to respond. The honorable thing to do is to issue a publicly stated apology for using the ‘N’ word in the Chambers. Lake Worth is proud of its diversity and openness, and I will not abide this kind of behavior in the people’s temple. Your nonfactual rants such as below about the elected officials and the staff will not be a distraction from this incident.

M

Here is the article published on the front page
of The Lake Worth Herald:

Monday [March 9th, 2015], prior to the start of the swearing in ceremonies, city staff placed signs on some of the pews in the commission chambers reserving seating for family members of Christopher McVoy, Ryan Maier and John Szerdi.
     According to a staff member, Dee McNamara complained and was told she should find another seat. McNamara asked the staff member if she expected her to sit in the back like a ■■■■■■. The staff member was deeply offended and McNamara pointed to the skin on her arm and asked if she looked like a ■■■■■■.
     The staff member demanded an apology and wouldn’t give in until McNamara apologized, which she, according to sources, finally did reluctantly.
     The staff member reported the incident to City Manager Michael Bornstein and City Attorney Christy Goddeau. Bornstein and Goddeau both confirmed they were apprised of the situation by the staff member.
     When asked about the incident, McNamara first said she was reserving a seat for Ryan. She then asked who was telling those lies about her and hung up the phone.


The editor at the Post criticizes the City of Lake Worth now and then for one policy decision or another. And that’s fine. But as the newspaper industry continues its decline and becomes more and more irrelevant all the time it’s important to remember there was a time three years ago when the editor at the Post could have made a big impact on our little City of Lake Worth.

The editor did nothing instead. But not reporting this news doesn’t mean that nothing happened to end up making this City a better place to live. Because of The Lake Worth Herald, City Manager Michael Bornstein, and a whole lot of work by a whole lot of other people, the racists and hate-mongers have kept their mouths shut ever since.