Lake Worth: Question #1 on March 12th ballot will most certainly fail.

The only real question is, “By how much?”

Here is that ballot item in English and in Spanish:

NAME CHANGE TO THE
CITY OF LAKE WORTH BEACH.

IN ORDER TO DISTINGUISH ITSELF FROM SURROUNDING UNINCORPORATED AREAS, SHALL ARTICLE I, SECTION 1 OF THE CITY OF LAKE WORTH CHARTER ENTITLED “CITY CREATED” BE AMENDED TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE CITY FROM THE “CITY OF LAKE WORTH” TO THE “CITY OF LAKE WORTH BEACH?”

CAMBIO DE NOMBRE DE LA
CIUDAD DE LAKE WORTH BEACH.

PARA PODER DIFERENCIARSE DE LAS ÁREAS ALEDAÑAS QUE NO ESTÁN INCORPORADAS ¿DEBERÁ ENMENDARSE EL ARTÍCULO I, SECCIÓN 1 DE LA CARTA CONSTITUCIONAL DE LAKE WORTH TITULADA “CIUDAD CREADA” PARA CAMBIAR EL NOMBRE DE LA CIUDAD DE “CIUDAD DE LAKE WORTH” A “CIUDAD DE LAKE WORTH BEACH”?


If you support renaming the City of Lake Worth to become the “City of Lake Worth Beach” don’t get too depressed on the evening of March 12th when the election results come rolling in.

Many of us are used to turning sour cucumbers into sweet apples. And we’re used to being made fun of. But March 12th will not be the end of this story by any means.

Many supporters of renaming this City to become the “City of Lake Worth Beach” will recall well that devastating evening on August 26th, 2014 when the first bond vote to fix our roads and potholes failed by just twenty-five votes. It was a stunning and shocking and for some a humiliating defeat. But no one gave up. Then on November 6th, 2016 the Neighborhood Road Bond passed by a whopping sixty-nine percent.

Despite unanimous and enthusiastic support for renaming this City from every elected on the City Commission on December 13th the situation has now completely changed. City Hall seems tired. Maybe extending terms for elected officials to three years was not such a good idea after all.

Now here we are just thirty-five (35) days from Election Day and the only one standing in strong support of renaming this City is not an elected official, but a candidate in the District 4 race, Mr. Tom Copeland.

But supporters of renaming this City deserve to be commended. 

It’s not easy getting a question on the ballot.

Just one of the pieces of mis- and disinformation out there is renaming this City was put on the ballot once before. That is completely false. But under a torrent of open-ended questions and those portending doom and gloom only so much can be done. Just like after what happened in August 2014 the only thing to do is get back to work and educate the public.

So many former elected officials and the elites who once ran this City are much opposed to renaming this City to become, “Lake Worth Beach”. Why? Because they are fond of the good ole days. But if those good ole days were really so good then why did they pack up all their stuff and move west?

The reason is, of course, is because things are much different now; the tide has turned. But now all those former electeds and those elites who fled west now want to try and become significant once again by frightening the bejesus out of people who will then march to the polls on March 12th and vote “No!” Just like what happened on August 26th, 2014.

The point is this referendum failing on March 12th is not the end of the world but it will be very depressing for a week or so. But this debate will not go away by any means. This is not over.

In the case of renaming this City to become “Lake Worth Beach” it’s taken at least five years. At least.

But suddenly after the question goes to ballot one commissioner up for re-election is now considering a better name for this City and another one supports the idea tepidly.

Supporters of this ballot item knew well ahead of time this would be a very big hill to climb. Being armed with reasons why it is a good idea can only do so much against critics who just have to keep asking more questions like, “What if people’s Social Security checks get lost in the mail?”

Maybe this election this year was just not the right time. It seems this question of renaming this City to become “Lake Worth Beach” is a generational one with older folks opposed and the Millennials and younger people in support. But older people vote and younger people don’t. The demographics are changing and that will bode well in the future when this goes to ballot once again.

Remember, for bonds to fix our roads and potholes the first ballot in August 1014 failed. Then it passed in Nov. 2016.

So as far as “Lake Worth Beach” just vote the way you think is right, “Yes” or “No”.

And then on March 13th, the day after Election Day, we’ll try to figure out another way to solve this problem which will not go away, a problem that has damaged our City, our image, and our reputation for many, many decades.