News from Mr. Ben Kerr published in The Lake Worth Herald today.

The news is about the 53rd Annual Christmas and Holiday Parade in Downtown Lake Worth this Saturday, about Santa and a FREE raffle for new children’s bicycles, entertainment and crafts, road closures and much more.

But first, before we get to the news about the Christmas and Holiday events this Saturday, something needs to be cleared up.

There was a confusing Letter to the Editor published in the Herald today that also gets some facts wrong about the City Commission Special Meeting at City Hall tonight vis-à-vis renaming the City of Lake Worth to become the “City of Lake Worth Beach”.

Here is the first paragraph written by Mr. Richard Stowe, the Chair of the City’s Tree Board:


It is with cruel irony that our most senior city representatives, Amoroso, Triolo and Maxwell, who have spent the better part of the last half-dozen years deriding the Casino makeover and its adjacent 47-year-old pool, now appear to be poised to force a vote [emphasis added] on a proposed city name change to “Lake Worth Beach.”


“[P]oised to force a vote”? What does that mean?

And on the ultimate of ironies, our neighbor to the north is West Palm Beach, West Palm Beach does not have a beach. Maybe they should have a referendum to remove the “Beach” and let it be just “West Palm”? And the tree-friendly village of Royal Palm Beach has no beach at all.

Stowe’s letter is four paragraphs long. Let’s just tackle the first paragraph today and will try and keep it brief.

Mayor Pam Triolo, Vice Mayor Andy Amoroso and Vice Mayor Pro Tem Scott Maxwell are not just ‘city representatives’ — they were all elected and re-elected multiple times by the voters — board members are not elected by the voters. However, they also represent this City and are appointed by our elected leaders. By my count there have been at least four public meetings in which this topic was discussed. Tonight will be the fifth, at least. The voters will decide this question on election day, March 12th, 2019. Along with Commissioners Herman C. Robinson and Omari Hardy every vote thus far had been unanimous to move forward with this referendum. And there was never a “Casino makeover”. It was 94% demolished. The “adjacent 47-year-old pool” is condemned. And there are a lot of other things that need to be cleared up. We’ll save that for another day.

Anyhow. To the news by Mr. Ben Kerr
published in the Herald today.

Mr. Kerr is the City’s public information officer. The news is headlined,

City of Lake Worth Annual Holiday Parade

The City of Lake Worth will hold its 53rd Annual Holiday Parade on Saturday, Dec 15, in Downtown Lake Worth. The parade starts at 6 p.m., however holiday themed activities will be ongoing from noon.

Admission is FREE and everyone is welcome. This year’s parade is a “Nutcracker Holiday Parade” and will feature nutcrackers, ballerinas and more.

Prior to the parade the Kiwanis invite all to a Holiday Wonderland in the Lake Worth Cultural Plaza from 12–5 p.m. The Holiday Wonderland will feature live entertainment, photos with Santa, bounce houses and craft vendors.

At 4 p.m. the City of Lake Worth Recreation Division will be hosting a free raffle for new children’s bikes in the Cultural Plaza. This year the raffle is only open to Lake Worth residents residing in zip code areas 33460 and 33461, entrants will need a drivers license, state ID, or Lake Worth Utility Bill to show proof of address. Entrants may register in the Cultural Plaza from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Entrants must be present in the Cultural Plaza at 4:00 to win.

To accommodate the parade route the following roads will be closed from 1:00:

• Federal Hwy. from 10th Ave. North to Lucerne Ave.
• Lake Ave. and Lucerne Ave. from Dixie Hwy. to Federal Hwy.
• 2nd Ave. North from Dixie Hwy. to Federal Hwy.
• Federal Hwy. from Lake Ave. to 1st Ave. South.
• The Lake Worth (Robert Harris) Bridge will remain open during the parade.

The roads will reopen following the parade. The City apologizes for any inconvenience caused and encourages those traveling to plan accordingly.

Contact Ben Kerr, the City of Lake Worth PIO, with any questions or comments at 561-586-1631 or email: bkerr@lakeworth.org


And stay tuned. The City of Lake Worth will begin rolling out information soon to the public about the upcoming “Lake Worth Beach” referendum to be held on March 12th, 2019.

Most if not all of your questions will be answered.

Please hold off writing any more Letters to the Editor until you learn all the facts.

Thank you.

And stay tuned for news about what happens at the City Commission Special meeting at City Hall tonight. The meeting begins at 6:00.