About that ‘contentious’ agenda item at the City Commission meeting this week? If you blinked you missed it.

However!

A very interesting presentation was given by Mr. Richard Pinsky last Tuesday evening and highly recommend everyone watch that. Mr. Pinsky is the City of Lake Worth’s ‘eyes and ears’ in Tallahassee. The video of that presentation is at the end of this blog post.

And the expected ‘protest’ outside Lake Worth City Hall never did materialize. One of the rules for a protest is TV news and press participation. At a minimum at least four news organizations must be on location. Since no one from The Palm Beach Post showed up and only one TV news station (WPBF/ABC25) then this would be classified a gathering. Not a protest.

The last major protest of any significance here in the City was in early 2016 prior to the March municipal elections that year. Which brings forth this query once again, “Where O Where Have all the Protesters Gone?”

Briefly, Item 12C at the Lake Worth City Commission, “Resolution No. 04-2019 — Business license fines for noncompliance, brought forward by Commissioner Hardy” lasted all of thirty-five seconds. That’s right. Not 35 minutes; 35 actual ticks on the clock. Commissioner Scott Maxwell asked to “receive and file” agenda Item 12C meaning this agenda item will probably never see the light of day ever again.

The vote was 4-1 with Commissioner Omari Hardy being the lone “No”. To learn more about this topic click on this link for a news segment from last Monday by Andrew Lofholm at NBC5/WPTV.

By the way, Lake Worth City Manager Michael Bornstein was not deterred the least by the gathering outside City Hall yesterday. Here is what WPBF reporter Anthony Kustura posted:


The Lake Worth city manager said abandoned and inoperable cars have cluttered commercial and residential areas for years.

We’re just now starting to see the results of Operation Red Tag.

“If there’s a way that we can get the message out better, then we’ll definitely take that to heart. But it doesn’t remove the fact that these vehicles are a problem and we’re going to continue to enforce the law as best as we can,” said City Manager Michael Bornstein.


The news segment by Kustura was done very well. And who knows, maybe if WPBF can be consistent about exactly where the City of Lake is located might become a regular viewer some day. 

The messaging by the opposition heading into this Commission meeting this week was muddled and confusing to say the least. On the one hand you had a gathering of people opposed to Operation Red Tag and on the other hand you had a another gathering in support of increased legal aid helping those facing eviction, stuck in substandard housing by slumlords. In short, the City had a coherent and understandable message. But will get into the topic of messaging at a later time.

That’s all for now. And without further ado, highly recommend everyone watch this presentation by Mr. Pinsky about the goings-on in Tallahassee: