Sunday, December 6, 2020

The public in this City of Lake Worth is screaming, “We can’t hear you!” From May 16, 2018 - Over two years ago.

Below is a post about the importance of reaching out to Neighborhood Associations prior to making big decisions at the City Commission level. This is above and beyond statutory requirements. It would be more than the standard effort required. This is something I've always supported: more communication from the City prior to considering items that will have a profound effect on residents and property owners.

Click on image to enlarge:
William Waters is the Dir. of Community Sustainability. On March 7th he said, “Neighborhood associations could be noticed.” And the board attorney said at this same meeting, “[W]e are meeting the statutory requirements.”

Our residents in this City deserve better than just the minimum effort when it comes to communication.

Below is the video of last night’s City Commission meeting, “First Reading, Amending Chapter 23, Land Development Regulations”. It was hard to watch. The public, however, needs to commended for being so respectful and coming forth with their well-thought and researched observations and complaints.



A Tweet from last night (please pause to load):


The public was calm and reasonable. And so was the City Commission. But to the staff it was like the public was talking to a bunch of people so completely out of touch and disconnected, hoping and praying that they’ll finally get it this time.

The public gets it. The City staff doesn’t. And there are too many people between the staff level and the Commission that don’t get it either.

Did you know this City has a “Neighborhood Planner”? What exactly does that person do?


This City of Lake Worth needs to learn how to communicate with all our neighborhoods. Why it’s taking so long to learn that bypassing the Neighborhood Assoc. Presidents’s Council (NAPC) is a really bad idea is beyond comprehension. Waiting for Commission meetings to hear from the public is way too late as evidenced by a packed house last night.


Having this many people show up at a
Commission meeting is not a good thing. 
This is a sign the City has a communication problem.


Check back to this blog later on today and tomorrow for more about this meeting. Briefly, several items from this agenda item will come back to the City Commission for another First Reading on June 5th. For the rest of everything from “Ordinance 2018-07” it’s back to the drawing board. Again. Is anyone surprised?

The public is saying, “We can’t hear you!” And the reason is there are too many people working for this City who are not listening, or worse yet, don’t care.

This “New Business” item on the agenda took up 2½ hours last night at the City Commission. Would encourage everyone to watch this video in short segments over the next day or two. Commissioners Omari Hardy and Herman Robinson were out of town attending an Urban Land Institute conference in Savannah.


Public Comment begins at
the 1 hour and 10 second mark.