On trial balloons: The 2019 municipal elections in the City of Lake Worth and medical marijuana treatment centers.

On the topic of a political trial balloons here is a particularly famous one that failed to take flight and failed ingloriously: A former commissioner here in this City actually suggested potholes served a public purpose. You see, if the public approved the Neighborhood Road Bond in November 2016 — which the public did by a “whopping 69%” — repairing potholes according to former Commissioner Chris McVoy, PhD, would encourage drivers to drive faster and put more of the public at risk.

But when the public pondered the corollary, how much damage had been done over the years by vehicles trying to avoid potholes . . . well, you get the idea. But following McVoy’s trial balloon the editor at The Lake Worth Herald had just about enough of this nonsense. Read excerpts from that editorial later in this blog post.

And also on the topic of trial balloons the editor(s) at The Palm Beach Post just cannot let go of medical marijuana treatment centers (MMTCs) here in this City. They are determined to make this a future campaign issue once again even after what happened last year. By the way, today marks one year and forty-nine days since the last editorial published in the Post about this City of Lake Worth. And what was the editorial about? You guessed it. Medical marijuana.

One of the not-so-clever ways that newspaper editors use to stir up trouble is via a Letter to the Editor (LTE). Following the passage of Ordinance No. 2018-12 last September at the City Commission on banning future MMTCs in the City of Lake Worth (more than the two that are already open for business), subsequently this LTE appeared on the Post’s editorial page; two excerpts follow:


Because of strict [State of Florida] regulations, a trip to the MMTC can take hours. I live just a few miles from the Lake Worth centers. After standing in line to have my card checked and verified, I can then go in and take a seat and wait up to an hour — sometimes longer depending on how many other patients have traveled to Lake Worth for medicine. When it’s my turn, after choosing my medication and paying, I then have to wait while they check and re-check the order before you can walk out the door.

and. . .

 
Yes, delivery is an option. [emphasis added] Usually takes days and comes with a delivery charge. The city officials that are against these life-saving centers should be remembered on election day.


Municipal election day in this City of Lake Worth in on March 12th, 2019. The editor(s) at the Post are already trying to make this an election issue? For what purpose? Shouldn’t their concern and ire be directed at the State of Florida instead of on this little 6 square mile City?

And there are other MMTCs in the State of Florida as well. So the reasoning by the letter writer is if the City had more MMTCs the process would go along quicker? That the State’s bureaucratic process would suddenly go into a state of hyperspeed to meet the public demand?

This trial balloon has too many holes in it to stay afloat.

Now to former Commissioner McVoy’s suggestion that fixing potholes will put more of the public at risk. And the corollary: How many people have been injured and how much property damage has occurred from drivers avoiding potholes all these years!

Christopher McVoy’s car in the 2016

St. Patrick’s Day Parade down Lake Ave.:

Click on image to enlarge.

Take note pedestrians: Always keep your eyes out for speeding cars. Even a little red Yugo can send one to the hospital, or worse.

Below are excerpts from a Lake Worth Herald editorial titled, “I’ve Seen This Before!” in response to what McVoy said at the City Commission meeting in January 2016.

Really. This is not a joke. This trial balloon from McVoy will stay in the file, “The Gift That Keeps On Giving”. Anyhow, without further ado, two excerpts from the Herald:


“. . . McVoy is very smart, he has told us so many times.

     McVoy has presented many problems in the city over the years without ever proposing a viable solution. The commission doesn't need scientists or geniuses, it needs concerned citizens, willing to put in the effort to find solutions to the problems facing the citizens of Lake Worth, ALL of the citizens, not a small sect of like minds.

     Deja vu comes a commissioner, running for re-election, with a drastic problem facing the citizens. A problem that apparently wasn't so drastic until just before the election. And, a host of residents now complaining about the issue.


and the editor continues. . .


     “Can we keep the discussions on the dais to solving more pressing problems, please. Listen carefully to what each candidate has to say, their concerns, and make an informed decision when you go to the polls.”


Well put:

“Can we keep the discussions on the dais to solving more pressing problems, please.”