As the Lake Worth Electric Utility moves forward into the future, let’s take a short stroll back to December 2005. . .

Two headlines in the Lake Worth Herald from twelve years ago (see newspaper clipping below):

“Reps Looking At LW Utility”

and. . .

“Utilities Under Gun In PS”

And one of those “Reps” from “PS” (the Village of Palm Springs) was a former planning, building and zoning official from the Village of Palm Springs who later became a State Representative named Susan Bucher. Another elected official “peering over the city commission’s shoulder” was former County Commissioner Shelley Vana and former State Rep. Mary Brandenburg was encouraging a “Blue Ribbon panel” as well.

Remember. In 2006 “The Best Commission Ever!”
(or just BCE! for short) took control of City Hall.
And then things continued downhill from there.

 Click on newspaper clippings from 2005 to enlarge.

News from December 2005 continues. . .

“While Vana plans to meet with Palm Springs residents and leaders . . .

. . . to consider ways to resist Lake Worth’s financial burden and faulty facilities she, as a member of the Florida Public Services Committee (PSC), will also scrutinize FP&L’s performance.

Power Games

     This will be her second stint on the PSC. Political vagaries and committee shuffling re-routed her away from her oversight position during the most recent legislative sessions.      But Rep. Bucher’s elephantine memory, as a former Palm Springs Planning, Building and Zoning inspector and as an aide to the late Rep. Ed Healey – prior to filling his seat – knows where Lake Worth derailed.
     “It’s all about revenue.”

Double-Dip

     Bucher said Lake Worth’s power company was the source of income tapped to fund projects over the years, including surcharges to “outsiders.”
     That’s a common practice,” she said.
     The Village of Palm Springs also charges satellite communities from the Palm Beach County School Board headquarters to residences in unincorporated areas.
     But Bucher believes most Lake Worth residents were unaware of an inadequately funded maintenance and replacement program within the worn and obsolete infrastructure.

Life & Death

     “Now they (citizens) know the results of those problems and need to pursue an inquiry into the health of the system and how to cure it.”
     She spared a dash of empathy with beleaguered commissioners whom, she said, claimed they had “inherited” a faulty system.
     The blue ribbon task force should be charged with careful examination of finances, maintenance records and careful study of the agreement between the city and the Florida Municipal Power Agency, she said.
     It’s unfortunate for them (commission) they have been encumbered by this (agreement) monstrosity. I applaud their action in appointing a blue ribbon panel – as long as it is more than a sound bite.”
     The agreement on one hand allowed the city to get approval for a bond allowing sorely-needed upgrading two years ago. On the other hand it has severe penalties for breach of agreement.
     While state authority and oversight of the practices employed by Lake Worth to operate, maintain and charge customers fees is limited, there are other aspects which could trigger state intervention.
     “As we all found out, again, there are two prime factors to survival and recovery. Water is essential. Power is next. Without power to maintain water pressure a ‘boil-water’ regimen occurs. If that continues, it creates a public health and safety problem calling for (outside) intervention,” Bucher said.
     She and other volunteers hauled water and ice to the upper floors of Lake Worth Towers during the days following Wilma’s destruction.
     “There were no elevators. There were no refrigerators. People were trapped. No water. Running out of food. Some with no way to keep their insulin cool – and nowhere to go.”
     Bucher said she hoped the normally vocal watchdogs of commission activities focus attention on major life-threatening problems for a while longer, until all the facts and figures are displayed.
     “They should be allowed to do a bit of chastising – then get down to finding out how to fix the problem. But unless the task force has some expertise they will need someone who can educate them on what they are examining.”
     However, a “toothless” review with no recommendations would serve no practical purpose, she said.

Alternatives

     “They need to come up with recommendations. This calls for a long-term solution, and maybe the reinstitution of an authority with oversight separate from the commission.”
     And if the city commission files and forgets any Blue Ribbon Report?
     “There’s always the ballot-box in March!”

End of Herald article.

Now we move from December 2005 to the year 2006 and beyond to what happened in 2011. . .

Remember The Best Commission Ever! (BCE!)?

A very revealing graphic is below from April 2014 (see “General Fund Revenues vs. Expenditures”), included in the back-up material at a City Commission Budget Work Session. For some perspective, Cara Jennings was elected in 2006 and JoAnn Golden in 2007, the two original members of The BCE!

In concert with The BCE! the former city manager, Susan Stanton, was hired in 2009.

But very briefly about “Visioning” in this City of Lake Worth is this recent blog post about code enforcement. Whilst our elected leaders were looking forward this year was a previous administration from back in 2009 looking on:

At the all-day Visioning Work Session held on July 24th, 2018 . . . note the framed photograph on the wall.

Click on image to enlarge:

The ‘Best Commission Ever!’ (aka, The BCE!) was the former 3-member band that ran the show, the majority consisting of self-described Anarchist Cara Jennings (District 2; standing next to American flag), JoAnn Golden (District 3, sitting), and then-District 4 Commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill.

By the way for everyone wondering, also in the image above, the framed picture hanging on the wall at City Hall is former Mayor Jeff Clemens who ran and won election to the Florida House of Representatives in 2010. And the rest is history, as they say.

Former District 1 Commissioner Retha Lowe (standing, center) who often challenged the majority of The BCE! opted not to run for re-election in 2010 when a former commissioner (Scott Maxwell, 2001–2003) returned to the scene. The majority on The BCE! and Maxwell did not get along very well.

There remain some — fewer and fewer all the time — that still refer to the former majority of Jennings, Golden and Mulvehill as ‘The Best Commission Ever!’, a reckless reign, that three member band that stopped playing for good in 2011.

What actually occurred is spending went completely out of control. The City had tons of money to spend on ‘shiny objects’ but the Electric Utility continued to languish.

After what happened in 2009 it was left up to future elected officials to pick up all the shattered pieces of this City following the Great Recession.

Click on image to enlarge:

In 2009 there were twenty-eight municipalities in PBC. South Bay and Pahokee suffered the worst following the Great Recession. The third worst hit? The City of Lake Worth.

In 2011 Pam Triolo became the mayor and Andy Amoroso replaced Golden on the City Commission. They both joined Scott Maxwell who had been elected the year prior. One of the first things “The Three” did — the new majority of Triolo, Maxwell, and Amoroso — was fire Stanton. In April 2012 Michael Bornstein was hired to be the city manager.

So where are we now, 12+ years later?

Listen and watch for yourself. From August 7th, 2018: “Let me chime in, for the record, Ed Liberty, director of the utility. . .”

In conclusion. . .

So the next time you hear anyone talk about how great The BCE! was, well, now you know really what happened. And maybe take a few moments and wonder how much further ahead our City would be right now if a former administration hadn’t recklessly squandered so much money away back in 2009, acting like the year was 1999: