Monday, September 3, 2018

FLASHBACK. City of Lake Worth. Prior to and after Labor Day Weekend, 2016. Public debate about proposed ordinance.



Please note. A reminder. The months of August and September are traditionally ones for banning things in Palm Beach County — generally things of interest to the environment community — and typically the very same things a lot of visitors and tourists find quite fun, entertaining, and very practical. Like plastic straws for example.


Let’s delve into this topic. Case Example:
The City of Lake Worth.

In late August/early September 2016 the public, administration and elected officials debated an ordinance to ban something that is used at parties, galas and socials. Things got a little overblown at times but order was quickly restored. This particular debate preceded the Neighborhood Road Bond vote in November of that year. Was the proposed ordinance about the roads in this City? No. Efforts to control flooding? No. The proposed ordinance was to ban something else entirely. Do you remember what it was?


Proposed Ordinance No. 2016-24 would be a violation under City of Lake Worth’s “Code of Ordinances” general penalty section, section 1–6, and subject’s a violator to a fine of up to $500 and up to 60 days in jail.


A fine and/or jail time for what? Using balloons on City property. Not kidding. And who would have to enforce this ordinance? PBSO. Now imagine the message that sends to those who live in areas with too much crime?

To learn more about what happened in September 2016 in this City click on this link.

But the Balloon Platoon failed ingloriously in 2016 and did not come back in 2017 but then in 2018 along comes the Plastic Straw Police and they are making some headway in Broward County; they had no luck in Palm Beach County this year banning plastic straws. First they hit Delray Beach with their scheme, then Jupiter, then Boca Raton and hit the Town of Palm Beach too. But this little City of Lake Worth would be the prize for those who like to ban fun things like balloons and straws.

But imagine if the Straw Ban Police devoted their energy to teaching the public how to recycle properly instead of trying to ban stuff? Whilst on the topic of banning stuff like plastic straws in Broward and Palm Beach counties the Sun Sentinel wants to hear from you:


Should these sorts of regulations be handled at the state level instead? Let us know by emailing dsweeney@SunSentinel.com or tweeting @Daniel_Sweeney. Your response could be used in a future story.

Now back to the Balloon Platoon in 2016.

The Balloon Platoon was actually on to something about banning balloons but it nothing to do with the Atlantic Ocean. It had a lot to do with the electric grid.

Clutch the pearls! Below is a press release
from the City of Lake Worth.


A reader of this blog reminded me about in preparation for Hurricane Irma last year there were a whole lot of balloons entangled in the one and only City’s tie-in line to the electric grid. Can you imagine the City going dark because of balloons!

Post-Hurricane Irma here are City crews and out-of-town linemen posing for a group photo:




Now let’s get back to those pesky balloons. . .

If you recall, back in 2016 the Balloon Platoon showed up in this City trying to ban balloons but they ended up scaring the bejesus out of all the little children with ordinances to fine their parents or even throw a parent in jail for having a balloon at the Lake Worth Beach. That made a whole lot of people upset. Kids too.

So if the Straw Ban Police just happen to march in lockstep to the front of Lake Worth City Hall please remind them about what happened in this City last year and tell them to march back to where they came from and come up with another plan of action.

Forget about plastic straws. Ban balloons from anywhere near the electric grid!

Here is the press release from the City last year:


For more information contact Mr. Ben Kerr, the City’s Public Information Officer, at 561-586-1631; email: BKerr@lakeworth.org

September 5th, 2017.


Lake Worth* — The City of Lake Worth Electric Utilities had to perform a planned outage [ended at 4:00 p.m.] in order to remove mylar balloons that had become entangled in the main electric line.
     Please remember that the releasing of balloons is not allowed as it poses a risk to electrical infrastructure.

 The City apologizes for any inconvenience caused.


For those of you who did not catch on, the blog post above about balloons does include a bit of satire but what happened back in 2016 did happen! For about two weeks everyone was distracted about balloons. But all the time and public funds wasted by municipalities having to deal with this nonsense about plastic straws and balloons should be satire. But it’s not. Public officials and law enforcement have much bigger things to worry about.

And since the press and news media continues to be fascinated and enthralled with this story about plastic straws — because the story is still getting social media clicks and ‘kicks’ and selling more newspapers — there was actually a letter to the editor published in The Palm Beach Post recently that is a worthwhile read and starts off with this line, “I would like to propose a simple, no-cost remedy to the problem of the abundance of plastic straws impacting our environment.”


*“We are LAKE WORTH. A hometown City that is committed to delivering the highest level of customer service through a commitment to integrity, hard work and a friendly attitude. We strive to exceed the expectations of our citizens, our businesses, our elected officials and our fellow employees.”