The Cottages of Lake Worth Home Tour 2019 will be on Sunday, January 27th.

UPDATE: Tickets for the tour later this month are selling briskly and am happy to report the merchants in the Downtown that have tickets available are seeing a big uptick in interest. One of those merchants is The Book Cellar bookstore at 801 Lake Ave. (at the southwest corner of ‘J’ and Lake) and tickets are also available online; learn more below.

From the number of tickets sold thus far, it’s looking more and more there will be no tickets available “at the door” on the day of the tour, so would encourage everyone who has an interest to pick up a ticket real soon.

And next week, on Friday, Jan. 11th at 7:00 you can come out and meet Yours Truly, Wes, at the Studio Café & Market at 515 Lake Ave. Was invited to come and talk about how The Cottages of Lake Worth came to be, this volunteer organization, the book, and answering any questions you may have. Look forward to seeing you there!


Without further ado. . .

About the upcoming Cottages of Lake Worth
Home Tour 2019.

This blog post is a tribute to former Palm Beach Post journalist Lona O’Connor who played a major role in The Cottages of Lake Worth story back in November 2013.

O’Connor, since retired, made a true and lasting impact on this City.

And later in this blog post, published in a recent Lake Worth Herald, is a feature article about the upcoming Cottages Home Tour.

It was the initial story by Lona O’Connor in the Post five years ago about a group of resident volunteers that set things in motion for The Cottages. . .

“Among the group’s plans are to set up a cottage website, a Facebook page, cottage driving tours, street signs directing people to cottages, maps and brochures with historical information and anecdotes and, with the permission of the owners, feature a few cottages in home tours.

“The photos could be incorporated into a coffee-table book, [Roger] Hendrix said.”

—Quote source: Lona O’Connor, Palm Beach Post, news datelined November 10th, 2013.

“The photos could be incorporated into a coffee-table book. . .”

Then three years later. . .

The hardcover book in 2016.
Then a second printing in 2017.

The Cottages of Lake Worth Home Tour 2019 is offering a combined tour/book ticket. Read more about that in The Lake Worth Herald below.

The feature story in the Herald:

The Cottages of Lake Worth Tour is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will include 10+ cottages, along with appetizers, refreshments and trolleys. Attendees will visit the interiors and gardens of select Cottages in the Eden Place and Mango Groves areas of the City.*

Tickets are $30 in advance and, if available, $35 at the door. Combined book/tour tickets can be purchased in advance for $55 [emphasis added] and the book will be waiting at check-in on tour day.

Tickets can be purchased at:

• The Book Cellar bookstore, 801 Lake Ave. in downtown Lake Worth.
• Paws on the Avenue, 525 Lake Ave.
• Studio 205, 205 N. Federal Hwy.
• Online at www.cottagesoflakeworth.com and Eventbrite.

[To follow the Cottages of Lake Worth on Facebook use this link. The news in the Herald continues. . .]


In addition, the hardcover book The Cottages of Lake Worth – Living Large in Small Spaces, will be available for purchase at check-in [list price $USD32.95; tour/book combination ticket $55].

The January 2017 Tour sold-out in advance so don’t wait to purchase your tickets.

City of Lake Worth volunteers formed a Cottages of Lake Worth organization in 2013 to promote this unique housing with the goals of encouraging tourism and the improvement of the properties.

Cottages are predominantly smaller houses that may serve as guest, holiday, vacation, or primary residence. They can be of any number of architectural styles, but in Lake Worth styles include Mission Revival, Frame Vernacular, Masonry Vernacular, Bahamian, Craftsman, Art Moderne, Art Deco and Contemporary. They can be of either one or one and half story in a simple form and massing. Many of Lake Worth’s approximately 1,000 cottages are on 25′ lots, under 1,000 square feet and built prior to 1939 and others after World War II.

After Henry Flagler extended his rail line south from West Palm Beach to Miami in 1896, a land development scheme was created for a town between the railroad and the lake. Purchasers of agricultural lots west of town received a 25′ wide lot within the City of Lake Worth, closer to the beach. Development slowed down then started again after World War II with many modest pensioners, especially from Quebec, Finland, and eventually Germany, moving to the city and building cottages.

The mission of the Cottages of Lake Worth is to educate the citizens and visitors of Palm Beach County through a variety of programs by celebrating and promoting the history of these unique structures and its people, assuring that this legacy is passed on to future generations.



Many of the cottages on this upcoming tour are featured in The Cottages of Lake Worth book. This City of Lake Worth is home to over 1,000 historic cottages, the largest concentration of historic cottages in Florida, and located within minutes of the spectacular Lake Worth Beach.

Of note: Sorry to say, but this tour is not apropos for children or pets.

This tour will feature the Eden Place and Mango Groves neighborhoods north of the Downtown.

Once again: Tickets are $30 and limited (if any remain available $35 at the door). The combined tour/book ticket is $55. Trolley transportation, food and refreshments will be provided.

The tour begins from The Beach Club bistro located at the City’s municipal golf course.

For those who wish to learn more about
The Cottages of Lake Worth.

Last September there was a tour of this City’s historic cottages taken by the Florida chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) from their annual conference in West Palm, the municipality to the north without a beach.

The tour taken by APA members included the Lake Worth Historical Museum, historic cottages south of the Downtown, and spending time with City officials including Mayor Pam Triolo and Lauren Bennett from the Dept. of Leisure Services. And of course Helen Greene at the Historical Museum.

Many planners on that tour were surprised to learn that West Palm ‘Beach’ does not have a beach!

In conclusion, debunking one of the biggest myths of all.

Our City of Lake Worth and the City of Delray Beach have had a friendly rivalry for a very long time. But that oft-used line about Lake Worth ‘becoming another Delray’ is a complete myth. It could never happen. And there are several reasons why which include geography, western annexation, population, and most significantly, where the exits off I-95 are located.

To learn more about what those reasons are click on this link and more about “comparing apples to oranges”.

Hope all this information inspires you to become part of The Cottages of Lake Worth Home Tour on January 27th.


And if you are interested in learning more about The Cottages, a video with more information. . .

From back in November 2014 is a YouTube video about The Cottages of Lake Worth. An interview of Your’s Truly with radio host Allan Mason at WBZT:






*The Mango Groves and Eden Place neighborhoods are two of the fourteen-member Neighborhood Assoc. Presidents’ Council (NAPC). To see where these two neighborhoods are located click on this link for interactive GIS map.

“Our Neighborhoods have Boundaries. Our Commitment to Each Other Does Not” is the motto of the NAPC and they encourage everyone to learn more about the volunteer association that serves your neighborhood.

To learn more about the Mango Groves neighborhood, their goals and photos of “Merry Merry from Mango Mango!” click on this link.

For more details about the Eden Place neighborhood use this link.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The Town of Palm Beach will caucus next Tuesday, the 8th day of January, A.D. 2019.*

This Public Notice was published in The Palm Beach Post on p. B5 dated Monday, December 24th, A.D. 2018:

NOTICE TO THE QUALIFIED VOTERS OF THE TOWN OF PALM BEACH

You and each of you are hereby notified that a caucus of the qualified voters of the Town of Palm Beach, Florida, will be held in the Town Council Chambers of the Town Hall at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, the 8th day of January, A.D. 2019 [emphasis added], for the purpose of nominating three council members, to be voted on at the general election to be held in the Town on the second Tuesday in March (March 12, 2019), following the publication of this notice.

All qualified voters of the Town of Palm Beach are entitled to be present and to place in nomination such candidates as they desire. For a nomination to be effective, it must be seconded and all nominations and seconds thereto may be made only by qualified voters of the Town.

Nominees must receive the signatures of 25 registered voters, as well as file additional documentation with the Town Clerk, by the end of the qualifying period, which is 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 9, 2019.


*“2019 (MMXIX) will be a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2019th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 19th year of the 3rd millennium, the 19th year of the 21st century, and the 10th and last year of the 2010s decade.”

Hear Ye. Hear Ye. Public notice published in The Palm Beach Post.

FYI: The blog post below is a lot more that just about elections. If you’ve ever wondered about the walled City of Atlantis near John Prince Park below is lots of information including an upcoming event next Saturday called “A Whole New World” (with or without walls?), a map showing where Atlantis is, and about chocolate too. Yes. Chocolate.

Enjoy!

2019: Municipal elections in
City of Atlantis.

Three seats on the City Council in the City of Atlantis are up for election on March 12th, 2019.

An excerpt from the “Notice of Municipal Election” is below, published on December 15th.

Worth noting before we proceed: Atlantis City Hall and the Atlantis Police Dept. are both located at 260 Orange Tree Drive. However, when you Google that address it comes up as “Lake Worth”. The ‘Lake Worth’ is just the mailing address, not the physical location. Hope that clears things up.

Briefly, just by coincidence, coming up on January 12th from 1:00–4:00 is an event on the theme “A Whole New World”. This fundraiser is being held in the City of Atlantis — a city protected by walls — but inside those walls will be a cash prize, raffles, and wonderful baskets.

This “Great Holiday Gift” only costs $50 and one needs to RSVP by January 5th [TODAY!]. For more details click on this link.

And also interesting and worth noting about ‘Lake Worth’ is two former mayors from the City of Lake Worth reside in the City of Atlantis. And a former Lake Worth City Commissioner once protested in Atlantis chanting “Tear Down These Walls” that surround a large portion of that city and just this year to enhance its public image the City of Lake Worth will have a referendum on March 12th, 2019 to rename and rebrand itself the “City of Lake Worth Beach”.

In a real-life example — confusion over two chocolate stores, but both using ‘Lake Worth’ zip codes — you’ll come to understand why renaming this City by adding the “Beach” makes sense for this 6 sq. mi. municipality.


Moving forward.

To familiarize yourself with the City Council in the City of Atlantis click on this link. Up for re-election this year are:

• Group 1: Councilwoman Keller Lanahan (appointed to Council on July 18th, 2018).
• Group 2: Councilman and Vice Mayor Aaron Rinker.
• Group 4: Councilman Michael LaCoursiere.

To challenge any of the above incumbents the deadline to file is January 10th at 4:00 p.m.

Up for re-election in 2020, if they opt to run again, are Mayor Catherine Higgins (Group 5) and Councilman Allan Kaulbach (Group 3).

Briefly, let’s pause for one moment.

A public service announcement for the Spanish-speaking community in the City of Atlantis.


SU CENTRO ELECTORAL está nombrado en su Tarjeta de Identificación Electoral. Tendrá que informar a la Oficina de Elecciones si se muda de la dirección nombrada en su Tarjeta de Identificación Electoral. Si no está seguro del lugar donde debe votar en su nuevo distrito electoral, llame al 561-656-6200.

SE REQUIERE IDENTIFICACION VALIDA Y VIGENTE CON SU FOTOGRAFIA Y FIRMA cuando usted va a los centros de votación a emitir su voto.


Now back to our regularly scheduled program today.


City Council in the City of Atlantis, “[I]s presided over by five Council Members . . . All are elected at-large. The Mayor is chosen by the Council at its Organizational Meeting each March. Council meetings are open to the public and held on the third Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, unless otherwise noted.”

NOTICE OF
MUNICIPAL ELECTION

Notice is hereby given that the City of Atlantis, Florida, will hold its Municipal Election on Tuesday, March 12, 2019, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. for the purpose of electing three councilmembers, two for a term of (2) years [Councilmen Rinker and LaCoursiere] and one for a term of (1) year [Councilwoman Lanahan]. There will be one councilmember elected representing Group 1 (one year), one councilmember elected representing Group 2 (two years), and one councilmember elected representing Group 4 (two years). Candidates must be a qualified elector of the City of Atlantis.

The first day of qualifying begins January 2, 2019 at 9:00 a.m., and the final day for qualifying is January 10, 2019 by 4:00 p.m. Candidates must file in person with the City Clerk at City Hall, 260 Orange Tree Drive, Atlantis, Florida, Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. until said date and time. Each candidate shall be voted upon by the electors at large.

Registered voters in Precinct 3082 [click on this link] are qualified to vote in this election.

End of excerpt from public notice.

If you have any questions contact:

Kristen Puhalainen, City Clerk
Atlantis City Hall
260 Orange Tree Drive
Atlantis FL 33462
Phone: 561-965-1744
Email: kpuhalainen@atlantisfl.gov

More about Atlantis from their official website:

This 834-acre development was formerly known as Mulberry Farms and owned by former State Senator Philip D. Lewis, who formed the Mission Company to raise Brahman cattle. In 1958, Nathan Hunt and Paul Kintz purchased this 828-acre ranch and the remaining two parcels along Lantana Road. 


For more information about the City of Atlantis, a helpful map is below showing exactly where this municipality is located. And no, the nearby ‘Lantana Airport’ is not in the Town of Lantana. Officially called the Palm Beach County Park Airport it is owned and managed by the County, not by any municipality.

Note the Town of Lantana is also holding municipal elections on March 12th, 2019. To learn more about that, from a public notice published in The Lake Worth Herald, click on this link.

“What’s that about zip codes and chocolate stores?”

Recently another really dumb Letter to the Editor got published in The Palm Beach Post. Rambling nonsense about this City of Lake Worth on renaming this municipality the “City of Lake Worth Beach”. The letter writer opposes adding the “Beach”, even citing the construction of walls. Walls to keep who in? Walls to keep who out? That is never fully explained by the letter writer.

How does this stuff make it past the editor?

The letter writer is a bit unhinged because of a public meeting held on December 13th. The Commission set the ballot for March 12th, 2019 and one of those items was the referendum on renaming this City to become “Lake Worth Beach”.

Just to be clear. The boundaries of this City will not change! To even suggest that is just absurd. And the letter writer — one who has special status apparently due to the frequency of silly letters published — is clueless as to why our elected leaders have chosen, every single time unanimously, to move forward with this referendum.


About those two chocolate stores. . .

Kilwins Chocolate is located in
the City of Lake Worth.

The problem is way too many business owners in this City are losing business to other businesses ‘in Lake Worth’ that are not actually in this City of Lake Worth.

For example, Scheurer’s Chocolate has a ‘Lake Worth’ address but is not located in this City. It has a ‘Lake Worth’ address (5901 S. Congress Ave., zip code 33462) but is located in the City of Atlantis, in a commercial area outside the southeast wall that shelters the residents within.

In other words, the wealthy residents of Atlantis can smell the chocolate. They just can’t see it. They can hit this chocolate store with a rock from the other side of the wall but it’s a five minute drive to get there. However, there is plenty of wealth in Atlantis to support their chocolate store.

People complain our stores in Downtown Lake Worth are not getting enough visitors or business. They complain shops and restaurants on Dixie Hwy. are too empty. They complain the Beach could do better.

If “Shop Local” is important to you and you support this City of Lake Worth then please support businesses actually located in this City. The “Beach” would go a long way towards educating the public and the press and news media as well.

Kilwins is an absolutely spectacular chocolate shop and it’s located at Lake Worth’s Beach next to the City’s Casino and Beach Complex on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Kilwins is a must-visit. For the Kilwins website with hours and more information click on this link.

And follow Kilwins on Twitter too: They will Tweet out the latest creation like, “We’re making a fresh batch of Kilwins amazing nutcracker sweet!”

Hope that clears things up. And also of note: Hoffman’s Chocolates used to have a location in Downtown Lake Worth.

But up against Kilwins they had to close their doors and move out west somewhere.

For reference, the map showing where the Great Walled City of Atlantis is located.

Atlantis is shaded Royal Yellow in the map below, along Congress Ave., west of the County-owned Park Airport.

To the north of Park Airport is John Prince Park, also County-owned. Note that north of Atlantis and west of John Prince Park is the Village of Palm Springs (shaded spring water blue). All areas unshaded are unincorporated PBC.

Click on map to enlarge.

[Orientation: Up is north.
The Great Walled City is to the left (west).]

From Atlantis as a bird flies, heading east of the airport across scenic Lake Osborne, is the unincorporated area called Lake Osborne Heights
(a helicopter-aversive community).

Further east, and not disturbed by helicopters, is the Town of Lantana (shaded Verbenaceae-red) and the City of Lake Worth is north of Lantana (shaded Earth-friendly green).

Lake Worth City Commission Work Session on Thursday, Jan. 10th at 6:00.

But first, before we proceed. . .


Please Note: Exactly one month ago today at the City Commission, on December 4th, 2018, was the kerfuffle over “PEACE” (learn more about ‘PEACE’ below). And sadly, what happened last month now has some bringing up all that nonsense about ‘sanctuary cities’ once again. To learn the facts about ‘sanctuary’ click on this link.

‘Sanctuary’ is a political tactic to get the public all riled up and upset. ‘Sanctuary’ in reality is a myth. It’s a red herring. It’s the boogeyman. Or the wolf at the door. Call it what you wish. 

Don’t let this political nonsense interfere with our LOCAL politics!

Some are claiming that because Commissioner Herman Robinson voted “Yes” on an agenda item last month that therefore he supports ‘sanctuary’. Completely ludicrous. 

Later on in this blog post is more about what happened last month. 


Now back to our regularly scheduled program today.


Below is the agenda summary for next week at the City Commission Work Session: proposed modifications to the LDRs and the long-awaited completely redone landscape regulations as well. With Hurricane Michael and the devastation caused by fallen trees still fresh in everyone’s minds the updates and changes to the City’s landscape regulations will be very welcome news for the public.

Briefly, whilst on the topic of landscape regulations, what a mess! Last October 16th was Second Reading of Ordinance 2018-15. How this proposed ordinance even got this far is a mystery. Bypassing a workshop with the entire City Commission was a huge mistake.

At one point staff asked for direction going forward and all they got back was blank stares from the Commission. Basically the electeds said go back to square one and start all over.

To learn more about that formerly proposed ordinance last year and about increased code enforcement activities within what’s called “the CDBG Target Area” click on this link.

And word is. . .

Soon there will be a Work Session on the Casino and Beach property as well. That will most certainly generate much interest.

And no. Everyone can take a sigh of relief.

Thus far there has been no work session or workshop scheduled about PEACE and $10,000 for those of you who recall agenda items 12C and D at the last regularly scheduled meeting of the City Commission. For those of you unfamiliar with this topic learn more at the end of this blog post.

Ironically, because of a group called PEACE our City could be headed for a nasty political skirmish. How charming! The municipal elections in March are just over two months away.

And of great importance is parliamentary procedure, Robert’s Rules of Order, and how elected officials and the public conduct themselves at public meetings. There needs to be City Commission workshop on this topic very soon.

Hopefully there will never be another presentation from PEACE (People Engaged in Active Community Efforts), at least not until after the upcoming March elections. Ever since what happened on December 4th there appears little headway has been made getting West Palm Beach and/or Jupiter to take the lead on this issue and there appears to be little interest in this City of Lake Worth taking the lead either.

Agenda item 12C (Resolution No. 78-2018) did pass on a 3-1 vote on Dec. 4th but without the funding (Item 12D) the vote on 12C doesn’t matter (see video below). 

Cooler heads have prevailed such as Commissioner Herman Robinson’s suggestion that this City wait for WPB and Jupiter to step up with a major commitment and funding first, to scale, and then maybe the County Commission and PBSO will take another look. A very big leap of faith considering the County Commission overwhelmingly rejected the proposed program by PEACE and so did PBSO. And City Manager Michael Bornstein’s suggestion also makes a lot of sense: hold off doing anything until the next budget cycle.

But more about PEACE at a later time. Or not.

Now to what is happening next week,
information “Worth Noting”:

To download the entire agenda click on this link and scroll down for the January 10th “Agenda & Backup”. What follows are the two executive briefs:

Executive Brief:

Land Development Regulations Section 23.3-6, Use Tables

Summary: Overview and discussion of modifications to Land Development Regulation (LDR) Section 23.3-6, Use Tables.

Executive Brief:

Amendments to Section 23.6-1 Landscape Regulations.

Summary: Review and discuss Amendments to the Section 23.6-1 Landscape Regulations.

Background and Justification: Based on staff’s review of the ordinance, staff is proposing to amend the following sections:

• Article 1- Section 23.1-12: Definitions.
• Article 6- Section 23.6-1: Landscape Regulations staff is proposing to repeal the existing section in its entirety and replace with an amended section once all changes are discussed.

Scrolling through the agenda for next Thursday one can clearly see A LOT of changes have been made to the Landscape Regulations. And that is a very good thing, for example, the entire section on volunteer boards being able to levy fines has been eliminated.

And a lot of over-burdensome regulations have been taken out completely or simplified. It sort of looks like a chainsaw (aka, strikethroughs) were used on the formerly proposed regulations which will please many in the public and of course those who would be left to enforce all those pages of proposed regulations.

Stay tuned, as they say.

Now back to ‘War and PEACE’, politically-speaking of course.

To look over that particular item on the agenda click on this link and scroll down for the December 4th Regular Meeting and look for “Agenda & Backup”. Agenda items 12C and D are on pp. 109–117.

Ironically, the big news of the night on December 4th had nothing at all to do with PEACE. It had to do WPTV reporter Andrew Lofholm showing up for First Reading of Ordinance 12E, “Ballot language to change name of City to Lake Worth Beach by referendum on March 12, 2019”. It passed unanimously. Again. But this time 4-0 with the mayor absent.

But anyhow, the group PEACE presented a project by “FaithAction” headquartered in North Carolina and South Carolina:


FaithAction offers presentations on the history, purpose, logistics and impact of a community ID card program, as well as intensive training and materials for communities interested in joining the FaithAction network.


To learn more about this program, for presentation rates and more information contact:

Exec. Dir. Reverend David Fraccaro.
Call 336-379-0037
Email: dfraccaro@faithhouse.org


If the program presented by PEACE ever makes it back to the Palm Beach County Commission or to PBSO maybe an invitation can be extended to the police chief in Burlington:


“The Burlington Police Department has been involved with the FaithAction ID Card program for several years. Every month we are able to attend an ID drive and engage new residents. We discuss many aspects of public safety and build great relationships with folks who previously were suspicious or fearful of the police. These relationships lead to enhanced safety for immigrants and citizens alike.” [emphasis added]

—Police Chief Jeffrey Smyth, Burlington, North Carolina.


Hard to believe but the City Commission took two hours and twenty minutes for agenda items 12C and 12D. After thirty minutes, by the rules, it should have been sent to a workshop to be scheduled for a later date. At one point during discussion of Item 12C Mayor Pam Triolo had enough and went home.

The vote to approve Item 12C was 3-1 with Vice Mayor Andy Amoroso and commissioners Herman Robinson and Omari Hardy in the majority and Commissioner Scott Maxwell voting in opposition. 

The video below is the last twenty minutes or so of Item 12D that kind of sums things up nicely:




And lastly, as contentious as these two agenda items were nothing ever got reported about this in the press or news media except for a letter to the editor that somehow got published in The Palm Beach Post.

Sobering: Three municipalities in Palm Beach County accounted for forty-five homicides in 2018.

There were ninety-nine homicides last year in Palm Beach County. In 2017 there were one hundred and two homicides in PBC. In 2017 there were twenty-eight murders in West Palm Beach.

“Nervous — make that terrified — residents need to see that the police department can be relied upon to keep their neighborhoods from feeling like war zones.”

—Editor(s), Sunday, Nov. 12th, 2017, “Unacceptable rise in WPB homicides requires quicker action”.

Here is the latest news published in The Palm Beach Post:


West Palm Beach had 26 homicides, the most of any county municipality, and two shy of the city’s total for 2017. There were 27 homicides in the unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County. In Riviera Beach, there were 12 homicides, one shy of the city’s total in 2017.

—Source: Palm Beach Post reporter Julius Whigham, news datelined Dec. 31st, 2018, headlined, “Palm Beach County homicides in 2018: Nearly 100 people were killed”.


For some perspective, in all of unincorporated Palm Beach County and seven municipalities patrolled by PBSO there were forty-three (43) homicides in 2018. In just three municipalities — West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and Delray Beach — there were forty-five (45) homicides.

The number of homicides below is from the Post’s “Homicides tracker” database (highlighted in yellow are areas patrolled by PBSO):


West Palm Beach: 26
Riviera Beach: 12
Delray Beach: 7
Boynton Beach: 4
Pahokee: 4
Lake Worth: 3
Palm Beach Gardens: 3
Belle Glade: 2
Boca Raton: 2
Greenacres: 2
Lake Park: 2
Royal Palm Beach: 2
Highland Beach: 1
South Bay: 1
Unknown municipality: 1
Unincorporated PBC: 27

And an oft-posed questions on this blog.

What happened in WPB that caused the homicide rate to fall so dramatically from ten homicides back in 2016 and then spike up to twenty-eight in 2017? Shouldn’t that be the focus of an enterprising reporter or editor(s) at the Post?

Commissioner Omari Hardy said, “We need to get very serious about this issue” and the editor at the Herald said, “Stop the bleeding!”

FYI: The City of Lake Worth is once again in the annual budget cycle. Budget Work Session #2 was held on June 26th. The next work session is scheduled for July 16th and there is a “Visioning Work Session” scheduled for July 24th.

The quotes below from Commissioner Hardy are from last year, in the 2017 budget cycle. . .

Quote #1 by Hardy:

“When this line [referencing Beach Fund graph] gets to zero in Fiscal Year 2018 that means we’re taking money out of the General Fund. . . . the idea of taking money out of the General Fund to subsidize what’s happening at the Beach is repugnant to me on many levels.”

Both the quote above and the quote below are from a Budget Work Session held in the City of Lake Worth in July 2017, a year ago.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog you know there have been many developments (pardon the pun) vis-à-vis the now condemned municipal pool, Casino complex and Beach property.

Also below are a few excerpts from a newspaper editorial penned last year in The Lake Worth Herald titled, “Stop the bleeding!”

Quote #2 by Hardy:

“As regards the pool [now condemned at the Beach], I’ve been corresponding with staff. Staff has been great getting me information about other pools throughout the County. Basically, I just want to make sure this is very clear. A lot of people assume when we talk about the pool there is a negative correlation between traffic and losses at the pool, ‘If we double our traffic at the pool we’d lose less money’.
     Based on what I’ve seen throughout the County, that’s not true. . . . You can talk about Lake Lytal [Family Aquatic Center] which a lot of people compare us to, you can talk about the North County [Aquatic Complex] pool, you can talk about the Gaines Park pool [Warren Hawkins Aquatic Center], you can talk about the aquatic facility they have out in Wellington, or the Boynton Beach [John H. Denson] pool.
     They all have traffic that’s twice what we have and guess what their losses are? Two or three times what we have. . . . As we get the pool designs back, which I understand we’re in that process, we have to understand that what we’re doing — I’m not even sure that I can call it taking a risk — because what we’re doing is talking about spending more money at the pool to achieve an outcome that is the opposite of what we want, which is the pool to not contribute so terribly to the losses we’re experiencing at the Beach.
     We need to get very serious about this issue because it’s really going to threaten our ability to provide services to people who really need them. And need more than we’re able to provide. I think that’s incredibly important. We cannot be immature. I don’t use that word lightly. But if we’re unable to have priorities about this stuff, what we’re being is immature.”

Excerpts from an editorial in
The Lake Worth Herald:

Lake Worth needs a pool, not necessarily an Olympic pool, but at least one big enough to serve the community and teach children how to swim. There are plenty of opportunities for children to come into contact with water in Lake Worth. It is imperative they learn to swim.

and. . .

     Lake Worth does have some under-utilized parks with enough space to accommodate an aquatic center and should consider investing in a pool somewhere other than the beach. Bryant Park has space, but that would raise the ire of those who walk their dogs in the park. What is more important, dogs or children?
     What about Sunset Ridge Park, there might be enough space there too.
     Go to the north end of the city, there sits numerous baseball and softball fields, some of which are never or seldom used. Take PONY field for example, it is in shambles and occupies a large portion of the park area.

and. . .

     Stop the bleeding!
     Lake Worth needs a pool, but they also need some Staffers with some creativity. How many times do we have to fail at the same thing before we realize it is the taxpayers who suffer in other areas so we can keep failing?

Have thoughts on this issue?

Use this link to contact your
“Mayor and Commissioners.”

News from Sir Eddie Ritz at the Post: “See streets of downtown Lake Worth transformed into work of art”.

This year is the 25th year of the Street Painting Festival in Downtown Lake Worth!

And for twenty-five years this annual festival is still filling the hotels in downtown West Palm (without a beach).

For those of you who like to plan lodging ahead of time, e.g., have family and friends visiting to attend the festival, the Visitors’ Information Center in West Palm is located at 100 N. Clematis St., call 561-881-9757 or one can send an email to: contactus@visitpalmbeach.com

Another useful tool from West Palm is the travel guide, “Plan Your Next Trip”:


Soak up the sun along our nearby beaches. Treat yourself to the most diverse dining, arts and culture, rediscover natural Florida, and shop districts of all sorts. You own your moment in our city!

Planning your West Palm Beach vacation is easy with our visitor information, planning tools, and maps. Download WPB Travel Guide. Save on hotels, tour packages, and services!


Hope you found this information helpful. Now back to the Street Painting Festival in the City of Lake Worth without a hotel in the Downtown:

Calling All Street Artists:

Get your application in for the 2019 Street Painting Festival in the City of Lake Worth.

This year’s festival will be held on Saturday, February 23rd and Sunday the 24th. Would you like information on how to become a sponsor? Then click on this link.


The news below is from Sir Eddie Ritz about the festival last year, this was front page news in The Palm Beach Post. To read the entire article click on this link; two short excerpts:


     This annual affair will be held Saturday and Sunday and will bring in over 600 artists.
     There will be featured artists from all over the country as well as local featured artists with incredible talent from right in our own backyard.

and. . .

     In addition to the beautiful artwork, the festival will also include live music, beer tents, a festival food court as well as Lake Worth’s usual downtown restaurants and shops.

Enjoy the video!

Information “Worth Noting”.

There will be no public meetings in City Hall tonight. Two meetings originally scheduled have been cancelled.

The Planning & Zoning Board meeting has been rescheduled to January 16th and the next regularly scheduled Electric Utility Advisory Board meeting will be on February 6th.

But guess what!

That doesn’t mean there wasn’t something very interesting on the City’s website for “Agendas, Minutes & Action Minutes”.

Specifically, some time over the New Year’s weekend the meeting minutes for the Tree Board from February–September were posted. And interestingly from those minutes learned that Chris McVoy, PhD, seems to be getting involved once again. McVoy, a former three-term commissioner, was defeated by now-District 2 Commissioner Omari Hardy in March 2017.

If you recall, in the endorsement for Hardy the editor at the Post called McVoy a “gadfly”. Not a very nice thing at all to call an elected official.

Actually, calling any elected official a ‘gadfly’ is sort of mean-spirited.

Also interestingly, looking through the recently posted minutes from the Tree Board the Podocarpus (Podocarpus macrophyllus) seems to have become a very big issue at the board or possibly that particular issue has since been resolved. We’ll know more when the minutes from October–December are posted or by other means.

Apparently, the seven-member Tree Board meetings in May, July, August and September had no quorum (not enough voting members in attendance) and were converted to work sessions where no votes were taken.

And as duly noted by the Tree Board Chair Richard Stowe, the board secretary and board advisor David McGrew, although an official voting session did not happen the meeting minutes still have to be recorded: who was present, what was discussed and any future action to be considered.

The next Tree Board meeting will be on January 10th, 5:30, in the City Hall conference room. The board meets the second Thursday of the month and meetings are open to the public.

Here are some interesting minutes taken at the February 2018 meeting following the 13th annual Tree Festival last year:

• Festival of Trees (February 17th, 2018) exhibitors (23–25 tables needed); encourage a few exhibitors to bring tables.
• A few additional vendors including a Vegan food truck.
• Recruitment of volunteers to run Earn-A-Tree event.
• Raffle tickets will be given out after residents attend a presentation; residents sign in for a tree with a volunteer at City Tree Board table.
• Residents will then use raffle ticket to meet with one of eight native tree consultants.
• Festival posters and postcards printed by Mark Easton [The Lake Worth Herald] and designed by Nigel Holmes distributed at meeting.

Whilst on the topic of meeting minutes. . .

There are still no meeting minutes at all in 2018 for the Finance Advisory Board (aka, the “Fabulously FAB”). And there are no minutes posted in 2018 for the Library Board or the Bond Citizen Advisory Board either. Did meetings happen? Who knows.

As noted in the Tree Board meeting minutes above — even if no official meeting occurs and no votes are taken — the meeting still has to have minutes to notify the public about what happened. Or in some cases, what did not happen.

So in the spirit of the New Year,

Let’s make 2019 the Year of
Timely Meeting Minutes!

Calling All Youth Basketball Players and Future All Stars: Season begins January 12th in City of Lake Worth.

Time is running out to get signed up for Co-Ed Youth Basketball in the City of Lake Worth. The deadline is this coming Saturday (Jan. 5th).

Co-Ed basketball for ages 3–16:

• Instruction for bitty ballers ages 3–6.
• Junior players ages 7–9.
• Shooters, 10–12.
• All Stars, 13–16.

Fee for bitty ballers is $50; for all other ages $75.

Click on image to enlarge:

Play and instruction will be held at the Norman
J. Wimbley Gym located at 1515 Wingfield St.
Call 561-540-5133.

To get an athlete registered today click on this link or call the Dept. of Leisure Services at 561-533-7363.

Today is Senior Citizen Day at Lake Worth World Thrift (LWWT): Where the discerning Senior Citizen shops for Hip fashion, style and accessories.

“Is it possible to be a Senior Citizen and a Hipster too?”

In the little vibrant City of
Lake Worth it is!

EVERY Wednesday is Senior Citizen Day at LWWT. The prices will knock your socks off!


And don’t fret about losing your socks. There are plenty of very traditional and trendy Hipster socks available!

LWWT is conveniently located at 2425 N. Dixie Hwy. Questions? Call 561-588-4050. For the really great stuff get in line early! Doors open at 9:00 a.m.

“Shopping at World Thrift is not shopping. It’s an experience.” The #1 attraction in our little City of Lake Worth for over 3 years.

On Senior Citizen Day the lines start forming early so it’s a good idea to get there at least 15–20 minutes ahead of time for a good parking spot and also the really good stuff goes fast. Use this link to see some of the incredible fashion and garments available for everyone!

LWWT is now the #1 shopping destination in the City of Lake Worth according to fashion experts, Snowbirds, Millennials, Hipsters from West Palm Beach who can’t find a home in Lake Worth, and the Apatharchist community as well.

Men’s clothes, women’s clothes and for children too! Casual and formal wear as well, but you have to get there early for the awesome stuff.

They even have a huge selection of men’s pants too. Finding a quality men’s pant is a very serious problem here in the City of Lake Worth.
Some have called it a crisis.

Following your shopping experience pack your stuff in the car and walk across the street for lunch or dinner at Tacos Al Carbon. It’s the new hot spot everybody is raving about in Central Palm Beach County and the latest stop on the Taste History Culinary Tour!

Body discovered east of Palm Springs between Palm Beach State College and John Prince Park.

This case remains unsolved. The body of Jessica Medina was discovered on November 14th last year.

If you have any information that could help solve this homicide please contact Crime Stoppers ASAP. Below is more information and a map.

Stay anonymous and be eligible for a reward.
The smallest tip could solve this terrible crime:

If you have a tip call 800-458-8477. To learn more about Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County
click on this link.

Many news organizations including the Sun Sentinel reported the body of Jessica Medina was found ‘in Lake Worth’ which is absolutely false.


The body of a female was found floating in a canal in Lake Worth [sic] on Wednesday afternoon, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.

“The female appears to be a victim of foul play,” said Teri Barbera, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman. “Detectives are investigating this death as a homicide.”


Find out the actual location of this crime scene below; it was not ‘in Lake Worth’.

Knowing the exact location is critical. There may have been a witness in the area who saw something.

Here is what is known thus far: The body was found on November 14th, a Wednesday afternoon floating in a canal between Palm Beach State College and John Prince Park (see map below). PBSO says it appears to be foul play. The victim was 33 years old and white.

The news published in The Palm Beach Post on November 17th needed to be clarified but never was.

The dateline incorrectly read, ‘LAKE WORTH’. The correct dateline should read “SUBURBAN LAKE WORTH” because the body was discovered outside the City of Lake Worth nearest to the Village of Palm Springs. This unincorporated area (which includes Palm Beach State College) uses a ‘Lake Worth’ zip code but is not to be confused with the actual City of Lake Worth which is further east.

The Post’s homicide tracker database inaccurately cites the “Location of death” as Palm Beach State College (PBSC) located at 4200 S. Congress Ave. The location of death has not been determined as yet by investigators. PBSC is where the body was found. 

PBSC is indicated below bordered by red lines.

Note where red line abuts the L-4 Canal.

Click on image to enlarge:

John Prince Park is to the right (east) in this image. Note the north-south L-4 Canal. Not shown is Lake Osborne or the nearby bridge in the park. Also note the Village of Palm Springs (shaded blue) is located north and west of PBSC. 

Public Safety: “Worth Noting” again about mobile home units and fires.

Make certain there is a fire detector with a charged battery.

And please stress the importance of this to all the returning Snowbirds full of mirth and joy: safety is always priority #1.

Our City of Lake Worth looks forward to each and every Snowbird Season and we all want our annual flock to be safe. And everyone of course also acknowledges, “It’s the ‘Snowbird Effect’ that keeps Florida going.”

About this City many in the public were surprised to learn there are four (4) mobile home communities within the municipal limits of Lake Worth with a total number of units at a whopping six hundred and sixty-five (665).

Learn more about this below, a little later in this blog post, data presented at a Commission Budget Workshop last year.

But what is even more alarming is this year in Central Palm Beach County two people have died in mobile home fires, news from The Palm Beach Post:

• From reporter Jorge Milian: “Suburban Boynton woman killed in fire was ‘social life of Arbor Glen’ ”
• News from reporters Romy Ellenbogen and McKenna Ross: “One child dead, two injured in Palm Springs mobile home fire”

Get the word out to everyone you know who resides in a trailer park. Check to make certain the unit has a working fire detector and that it has a new battery.

By the numbers, about mobile home parks (MHP) in this City of Lake Worth:

• Orange Grove MHP (120 units) on north side of 2600 block on 6th Ave. South and sad to report the location of recent homicide; the third in the City this year.
• Palm Beach MHP (335 units) on east side of Boutwell Rd. in Park of Commerce.
• Holiday MHP (70 units) on 1800 block of Lake Worth Rd. (west of Tri-Rail Station).
• Holz MHP (140 units) on south side of 1700 block on 12th Ave. South.

The data above comes from information provided by the City. For example, below is the MHP Rate Structure for waste and refuse collection.

The previous rate prior to 2018–2019 budget
(click on images to enlarge):

Very important: None of these mobile home parks are managed or maintained by the City. They are all privately owned.

 The current MHP rate:

FYI: The last protest of any significance in City of Lake Worth was nearly three years ago at Palm Beach Mobile Home Park. The press and news media jumped on that story before learning the facts: read about CBS12’s silly ‘forced relocation’ and the retraction published in The Palm Beach Post.

“Hmmm. I heard about something called the Sunset property. Where is it?”

Many long-time residents of the City of Lake Worth will remember the “Sunset property” (see image below). For a stroll down memory lane or to learn more read this blog post from June 2006. This property — still underutilized — is located west of I-95 in the southwestern area of the City very near the County’s John Prince Park (now home of the World’s largest dog park).

Interestingly, just east of I-95 in the northwestern part of the City, another long-time vacant property is presently being developed near Vernon Heights for new single-family houses: Meritage Homes’ Lake Cove Residential Development was unanimously approved by the City Commission.

If you’re interested, use this link and check out the City of Lake Worth’s Zoning Map, Future Land Use maps, and Land Development Regulations. Without further ado. . .

Image from The Lake Worth Herald, October 13th, 2005.
Click on image to enlarge:

Opening paragraph in the Herald about this City Commission meeting back in 2005: “When the tumult and shouting died down Tuesday night, Lake Worth was still without a decision on the number of townhouses the city would allow at 826 Sunset Dr.”

Happy New Year’s Eve!

Note City Hall and City offices will be closed tomorrow to ring in New Year’s Day 2019.

And then on Wednesday the City’s business picks up again in the New Year.

Public meetings and the goings-on next
week at Lake Worth City Hall.

On Wednesday, January 2nd will be two public meetings at 6:00. The Planning & Zoning Board will meet in the City Hall chambers and the Electric Utility Advisory Board will meet in the City Hall conference room.

Then next Friday will be the first Lake Ave. Block Party of 2019; this block party is the first Friday of each month.

The following week, Monday, Jan. 7th–Thursday, Jan. 10th are several public meetings including this one publicly noticed in the Lake Worth Herald:


PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the City of Lake Worth, Florida, Historic Resources Preservation Board, will hold a public hearing in the City Hall Commission Room, 7 N Dixie Hwy, in said City at 6:00 P.M., or as soon thereafter as possible, on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 to consider the following:

HRPB 18-00100307; 18-00100308; 18-00100309; 18-00100310; 18-00100311; 18-00100312: Consideration of a request by the Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency for the relocation and/or demolition of all structures located at 17 South M Street, 23 South M Street, 24 South L Street, 26 South L Street, 30 South L Street, and 32 South L Street for the construction of a new vehicular surface parking lot, pursuant to Sections 23.2-7, 23.3-13, and 23.5-4 of the Land Development Regulations. The subject parcels are located in the Mixed Use East (MU-E) Zoning District and contain seven contributing resources and three non-contributing resources to the Old Town Local Historic District.

and. . .

Written responses can be sent to the Lake Worth Historic Resources Preservation Board at 1900 2nd Avenue N, Lake Worth, FL 33461 and must arrive before the hearing date to be included in the formal record. You also have the opportunity to attend the meeting to provide oral testimony.

For additional information on the above issues, please visit the City of Lake Worth Division of Planning, Zoning and Historic Preservation located at 1900 Second Avenue North, Lake Worth, Florida 33461 or contact City Staff at 561-586-1687.


FYI: According to the City’s official calendar the next regularly scheduled City Commission meeting will be held on January 15th. But stay tuned. That could change at a later date.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! New development at The Palm Beach Post today, Monday, the 31st day of December, A.D. 2018.*

And yesterday, on December 30th, many readers and subscribers were surprised to learn the South Florida Sun Sentinel prints The Palm Beach Post. Did you miss that news? Learn more about that below.

Will tomorrow, the 1st day of January, A.D. 2019 usher in another big change?

Has the weekly Reign of The Six Special Cities finally come to an end at The Palm Beach Post?

The Order of The Six Special Cities began in 2015, that was soon after PBSO began the merge with the Greenacres PD when the Post used to cover the goings-on in the City of Greenacres and the nearby Village of Palm Springs too. But shortly afterwards all the focus turned to the City of Lake Worth when on a brisk Monday morning the first Lake Worth Very Very Special Monday Cursory Print Edition (LWVVSMCPE) first appeared.

At first everyone thought this was temporary. That over time other municipalities would get their chance to be special too. But that never happened. The Order of The Six Special Cities remained The Order. For over three years.

And why wasn’t Delray Beach one in the Order of The Six Special Cities in the Post? Will that ever be explained? And who chose the Six Special Cities to begin with? Learn more about this below.

And were you one of those shocked yesterday to learn The Palm Beach Post does not print their own newspaper?

Well. Be prepared to be astounded again today!

The latest development is this: The City of Lake Worth was not special today in the Post print edition! Could it be the weekly Six Special Cities feature is finally finished, a tiresome spread on p. B3 ‘LOCAL’ which began in 2015? Imagine you are not a resident of one of those Six Special Cities and having to put up with that for over three years?

Central Palm Beach County has certainly had enough of the Six Special Cities. That vast area between the City of Lake Worth and the Village of Wellington is not just ‘Flyover County’ like its been treated for far too long.

Learn more about this lamentable situation later on.

And of course there was
THE BIG NEWS yesterday. . .

For many it was upon learning that the presses of the South Florida Sun Sentinel in Deerfield Beach print both The Palm Beach Post and the Palm Beach Daily News (aka, The Shiny Sheet). But many long-time residents of Palm Beach County knew the Post shut down their printing presses about ten years ago. Already a terrible economy at the time that decision to shut down the newspaper printing presses had a crippling effect on nearby municipalities including this City of Lake Worth.


[T]he Post downsized its newsroom by more than 30 percent in 2008 and 2009. At the same time it closed its printing press. The Post’s print edition is now printed in Broward County by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and shipped north [by big trucks] to Palm Beach County for daily distribution.


Sending all those jobs to Broward County the Post certainly saved some money but in giving up control of printing their own paper it’s always been a mystery how the editor(s) at the Post can get away with slamming local governments when faced with hard budget choices themselves.

Read more below about what happened yesterday, the message “To our readers” issued by the editor(s) published on the front page of the Sunday paper.

Now to the latest development!

The City of Lake Worth WAS NOT a Special City today! For the first time ever the three-year plus Special Cities feature on p. B3 did not get published.

The other five Special Cities — each and every week Tuesday–Saturday — are Jupiter, Wellington, Boynton Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and then West Palm which does not have a beach.

Has the Six Special Cities weekly finally been eliminated by GateHouse Media? Gatehouse took over at the Post on May 1st of this year.

We’ll know for certain tomorrow if Jupiter isn’t Special:

“IN YOUR COMMUNITY”?

Why doesn’t Greenacres get a Special Day? Palm Springs? And Delray Beach is not special? Why not a city in the Glades community, why can’t Belle Glade be special now and then?

Now to what happened yesterday. . .


Published on p. A1 above the banner:



To our readers

A computer virus caused significant disruption to production and delivery of Saturday’s edition of The Palm Beach Post. While some papers were delivered, subscribers who did not get Saturday’s paper will receive it today along with the Sunday edition. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Now to the whole story.

Did you know. . .

The Sun Sentinel prints
The Palm Beach Post newspaper.

This is explained by journalist Rafael Olmeda in an article datelined yesterday (Sat., Dec. 29th) and headlined, “Computer virus freezes South Florida Sun Sentinel”. Here are the first four paragraphs from Olmeda’s report:


We are still here.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel was crippled this weekend by a computer virus that shut down production and hampered phone lines, leading confused subscribers to call the paper’s offices on Saturday morning only to be told, incorrectly, that the numbers were not in service.

SunSentinel.com continued to operate without interruption, and readers could still see their Saturday paper replicated in our e-edition, which was initially affected but restored by mid-afternoon.

The virus affected Tribune Publishing papers across the country. In South Florida, delivery of the New York Times and the Palm Beach Post was also affected because the Sun Sentinel also prints their newspapers here. [emphasis added]


For those of you who did not get the Saturday delivery of the Post print edition you should get that today along with the Sunday print edition.

If you did not get the Saturday print edition or have other questions, call subscriber services at 561-820-4663 or send an email to:

subscriberservices@gatehousemedia.com


*“2019 (MMXIX) will be a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2019th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 19th year of the 3rd millennium, the 19th year of the 21st century, and the 10th and last year of the 2010s decade.”

A very special “Happy New Year!” that never gets old.

Below is a New Year’s message heading into 2016, 2017, and once again into 2018.

A message courtesy of an excerpt from a Letter to the Editor published in The Palm Beach Post that sums things up quite nicely heading into another New Year:


     I support freedom of religion and of speech, and if this were another time of year, with some exceptions, like Easter and Yom Kippur, I wouldn’t care at all about the pentagram. But to place it now is simply unkind.
     The man might think he’s making a statement about others’ tolerance, but he might think a little more about his own. Thumbing your nose at Christians is not a social statement. It’s a personal one, and it’s just ugly. [emphasis added]

MOLLY BERNARD, GREENACRES

The Insulting Atheist never did come back. But he still has a few supporters here in this little City
of Lake Worth. So. In the spirit of this day, a
message to all those malcontents and trouble-
makers and to Mr. Smith as well:

Everyone in L-Dub wishes you a
Happy New Year in 2019!

Great news! Please share: City of Greenacres made prestigious “Safest Cities in Florida” list.

Atlantis, Delray Beach, South Palm Beach and West Palm (sans a beach) DID NOT make the list but three municipalities patrolled by PBSO did.

And stay tuned! The long-awaited update in The Palm Beach Post on the merge of PBSO with the Greenacres Police Dept. will be forthcoming very soon.

With former journalist Chris Persaud back with the team at the Post a lot of data, comparison, and of course the political angle will be explored in depth.

Also of note is reporter Emily Bloch. It was Bloch who penned the breaking news front page Special Report about the eradication of invasive Muscovy ducks from a Village of Palm Springs neighborhood so she is well-versed in the local area and her unique perspective will be one certainly worth noting.

Earlier this year was the ten-year anniversary of PBSO in the City of Lake Worth. Back in 2015 when Greenacres was considering a merge with PBSO the “tipping point” was the residents’ experience here in Lake Worth, many of whom went to Greenacres City Council meetings and spoke highly of PBSO since the merge with the former LWPD. 


And many of you will recall this news
from earlier this year. . .

“SAFEST CITIES IN
FLORIDA 2018”:

Congratulations!
Greenacres made this year’s list.

Learn more below about this recent high
honor for the City of Greenacres.

FYI: Greenacres is patrolled by PBSO.
But did you know. . .

There are thirty-nine (39) municipalities in Palm Beach County (PBC). Thirty (30) have their own police departments and nine municipalities* and unincorporated PBC (areas in white; see map below) are patrolled by PBSO.

On the merge of the Greenacres PD with PBSO in 2015–2016,


“[T]here is no debate about the result. Overall crime is down, and available law-enforcement resources are far better.”

—Quote. Editor at The Palm Beach Post, March 10th, 2018.

Eastern area of Central Palm Beach County (CPBC).

Note that a map of western CPBC is below. 

Click on image to enlarge: 

On this year’s Safest Cities in Florida (SCF) list are Greenacres and villages of Wellington and Royal Palm Beach, all are patrolled by PBSO. City of Lake Worth is also patrolled by PBSO, latest data shows crime is down significantly, but the City didn’t make the SCF 2018 list due to outdated methodology used by the committee (see below).

Seven cities, towns, and villages in PBC made
the list this year. Here is the list:

• #10. North Palm Beach
• #19. Wellington [patrolled by PBSO]
• #33. Jupiter
• #42. Royal Palm Beach [PBSO]
• #49. Palm Beach Gardens
• #50. Greenacres [PBSO]
• #53. Boca Raton

Note the locations of Wellington and Royal Palm Beach in this map. The City of Greenacres is to the east of these two villages on the edge of the Florida Everglades.

Near the Village of Wellington in zip code 33449 is where Barbie the little horse was killed by coyotes recently. Some TV reporters still confuse this area with ‘Lake Worth’ but is actually in unincorporated PBC or “suburban Lake Worth”.

 
The following cities did not make this year’s list and that’s possibly explained by the methodology (see below) used by the National Council.

• Atlantis
• Delray Beach
• Hypoluxo
• Manalapan
• Palm Beach
• Palm Beach Shores
• South Palm Beach
• West Palm Beach

Methodology used by the National Council’s 100 “Safest Cities” list:

To identify the safest cities in Florida, we reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics along with our own population data and internal research. We eliminated any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI and removed cities with populations under 10,000.

The remaining cities were ranked based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) per 1,000 people. These variables were then weighted, with violent crimes accounting for 1.5 of the total (due to their severity) than property crimes.


*Besides Greenacres, Wellington, and Royal Palm Beach the other six cities, towns, and villages patrolled by PBSO are: Belle Glade, Lake Park, Lake Worth, Mangonia Park, Pahokee, South Bay and the unincorporated Loxahatchee areas.