ATTORNEY/CLIENT SESSION CITY OF LAKE WORTH Part III - NOVEMBER 14, 2012

Re-Posted on 3/10/14 - tomorrow would have been Election Day in Lake Worth.

ATTORNEY/CLIENT SESSION

CITY OF LAKE WORTH

CITY OF LAKE WORTH

CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE

7 NORTH DIXIE HIGHWAY

LAKE WORTH, FLORIDA

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012

4:52 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.

IN ATTENDANCE: 

Pam Triolo, Mayor

Scott Maxwell, Vice Mayor

Christopher McVoy, Commissioner

Andy Amoroso, Commissioner

Michael Bornstein, City Manager

Glen Torciva, Esquire, Interim City Attorney

Brian Joslyn, Esquire, Outside Counsel

[FORWARD TO PAGE 34, LINE 6]

[People mentioned, other than listed "In Attendance", in order of mention: Mr. Karns, Cara Jennings, Mr. McNamara, Mr. McCally (phonetic), Anabeth Carson, Mr. Magnis (phonetic), Mr. Exline (phonetic)]

COMMISSIONER AMOROSO: Okay. My next question would be for clarification. Commissioner McVoy, you opened the door on something I had no clue what we're talking about. There was a lawsuit against Commissioner McVoy before he was Commissioner because he was part of the PAC?

MR. JOSLYN: Yes.

COMMISSIONER AMOROSO: Please, can you enlighten us on that because I know nothing about that.

MR. JOSLYN: There was a referendum. Let me back up. There was a lawsuit involving a group called Save Our Neighborhood over another project here in town.

COMMISSIONER AMOROSO: Which was?

MR. JOSLYN: I don't even remember. It was a multi-family of some sort or another but it was only on two different parcels or three different parcels of property. There's a state law that says you don't get to have a referendum election for zoning or land use decisions that affect five or fewer parcels. So the City took the position that referendum that was being attempted by the Save Our Neighborhood people was no good because it only affected four parcels or fewer than five. We defended that lawsuit at trial. The judge whacked us on it. Said no, you're wrong, this clearly affects more than five parcels because the traffic is going to impact the neighborhood and blah, blah, blah. We took it up to the Appellate Court and won the case at the Appellate Court. They reversed and said no, five or fewer parcels means five or fewer parcels.

     So while that case was on appeal this project comes up, the contract is signed, and the referendum is attempted.

COMMISSIONER AMOROSO: Same group?

MR. JOSLYN: Different group pretty much. I mean the same basic supported public but different group of people involved organizing the thing. And so that when the We Love Lake Worth referendum came out the beaches is one parcel. It's one town owned parcel. So Mr. Karns hired us to challenge the referendum on the same basis we were challenging the Save Our Neighborhood case and a lawsuit was filed and it turns out after the fact that Mr. Karns didn't have City Commission approval to hire or authorize the lawsuit and there was some City, I've seen minutes from this entire period of time where he was taken to task for not seeking Commission approval for this. And there was a huge cry in the City about the City is suing its own residents, you know, over these decisions that should be made part of the public when state law says no. And there's a set of minutes where Cara Jennings says well you shouldn't sue the town, you shouldn't sue the citizens, you should sue to set aside the state statute to Mr. Karns. Okay? So this lawsuit was going on against Mr. McVoy's group and against -- and the reason it was named, the individuals were named is because they didn't incorporate so it was a group, a political action group. These are the people. They weren't being sued for money or anything. They were being sued to stop this referendum.

     There was a second lawsuit by Mr. McNamara joined by somebody else, I'll think of it in a minute, challenging the lease that was part of the Greater Bay deal and we were defending that lawsuit as well while all this stuff was going on. 

MAYOR TRIOLO: Oh, go ahead, Commissioner. McCally (phonetic)? Is it McCally?

MR. JOSLYN: Yes, that's who it was.

VICE MAYOR MAXWELL: This is actually fascinating for me because I'm having trouble putting all these pieces together. It sounds like all the same players were involved in different PACs that were either suing the City or getting sued by the City, tinkering with zoning, tinkering with land use regulations, tinkering with the beach and now we've got this lawsuit. Is that what I'm hearing?

MR. JOSLYN: I got involved with this City -- I'll give you short long answer. I got involved representing the City in connection with the Lucerne project when Mr. McNamara, Ms. Jennings, Anabeth Carson and a number of others filed suit against the City under the wrong statute to stop the project. We pointed out to them that it was the wrong statute, that they didn't have a right, that they had missed their time limits and their case is going to be thrown out. They continued to press it for another year and a half. We finally got the case thrown out and we got a sanction attorney's fee award against Mr. McNamara and his attorney. And we recorded the judgment and within two days I was called by a closing agent, Mr. Magnis (phonetic) on some property he owned and the closing agent said they had a check for me and where did they need to send it? I needed to give them a satisfaction of judgment.

     While that case was on appeal because the attorney didn't want to pay his share of the award, Mr. Exline (phonetic) filed suit against the City over the sale of the First Union site with McNamara in the background, Anabeth Carson and a number of these other people alleging that there were Sunshine Law violations involved in that. That was another two-year deal that we finally got thrown out by summary judgment. Okay? While that case was going on, the Save Our Neighborhood thing came up. And then while this was going on in the process of after the contract was signed and before the contract two years later was terminated, these other two lawsuits popped up. It's all the same -- not the same people but they're all sort of aligned.

MAYOR TRIOLO: Commissioner McVoy?

COMMISSIONER MCVOY: Yeah. I think as somebody who was involved in one of them I think I might have a bit more insight into who the people were and I think your statement that it was all the same people or kind of the same people is a little bit disingenuous. The only thing that's the same people is your office has been making money off of every single lawsuit all along the way.

MR. JOSLYN: Well we've also won every single lawsuit all along the way.

COMMISSIONER MCVOY: Maybe so but there is an issue there that is somewhat of concern.

MAYOR TRIOLO: He didn't file the lawsuits.

COMMISSIONER MCVOY: Whatever.

[ENDED TRANSCRIPTION AT PAGE 39, LINE 12]

Commentary: Another chance for Riviera Beach to overcome... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Rhonda Swan, of the Palm Beach Post, reviews the political landscape in Riviera Beach in a thorough manner. She even mentions Fane Lozman, who has been a High Noon in Lake Worth guest. He had his houseboat confiscated by the city, which led to a successful Supreme Court decision on his behalf. He is still seeking compensation for its loss. But Ms. Swan exposes other aspects of what has gone on and continues to go on in Riviera Beach. She lays most of the blame on residents who either do not come out to vote, or continue to vote for the same people that have caused the city problems before. Click title for link to a lengthy article.

Living the Dream in Lake Worth Mousepad from Zazzle.com

Click title for link to order your own "customizable" mouse pad and start really "Living the Dream in Lake Worth" - more officially and outwardly than before.

50-year South Florida growth plan raises a ruckus | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Hysteria prevails with some people about the Seven50 plan that is making its final round through the local government review process. Michael Busha, Executive Director of Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, had to take to writing an 11 page memo which outlines the myths and facts about the program. It is a comprehensive planning tool that looks at regional issues over the next 50 years. A period of time during which this area might add another 3 million people.

This is what the Palm Beach County attorney's office had to say about it. It looks like another group of malcontents will be at the County Commission meeting tomorrow. Click title for link.

Palm Beach County Attorney Denise Nieman and Bob Banks, the county’s chief land-use attorney, said they’ve read all of the Seven50 documents related to the county’s participation and none of the documents support Frey’s [Phyllis Frey] claims.
“The county has not and cannot delegate away its legislative authority regarding comprehensive planning by participating in the Seven50 planning process,’’ Banks wrote in a memo to commissioners. He also cited passage “III c” in the memorandum of understanding stating that “Nothing … shall obligate the signatories to expend appropriations, obligate funds or enter into any contract or other agreement.”
Frey said two attorneys in the coalition support her contention, but she would not identify the attorneys or make them available to a reporter.
The vast majority of local governments in the seven-county area – more than 120 – have signed on to participate in Seven50.

FSU Backs Bill for Immigrant Tuition | TheLedger.com

This is interesting to note. Do you remember when immigration was one of the central issues in Lake Worth? Click title for link.

Outgoing Florida State University President Eric Barron said Friday that the school supports measures in the Legislature to allow certain undocumented students to be eligible for in-state tuition.
A proposal (HB 851) that would exempt from out-of-state tuition students who attend Florida high schools for three consecutive years, as well as military veterans who reside in the state, has already received support from two House committees.
"The university has taken a position that we should be educating, and the doors open to, any of the students that are graduating," Barron said while giving departing comments to the FSU board of trustees. "Nothing is better for the state of Florida than to see truly bright students have an opportunity and succeed."

March 10, 1962: Yanks play first spring training game in Lauderdale - On this day in Florida history - Florida History Network

Check out the recounting of when the New York Yankees spring training home was Ft. Lauderdale. Click title for link. From the article:

The New York Yankees played their first game at the new Fort Lauderdale Stadium in 1962 after moving their spring training headquarters from St. Petersburg. The team stayed in the city until 1995 before moving to Tampa. The Baltimore Orioles took over the stadium afterward and played until 2009 before moving to Sarasota. Fort Lauderdale Stadium has not hosted a major league baseball game since then. In fact, after more than a century of spring training baseball in Dade and Broward counties, the annual ritual has ceased to exist south of Jupiter, the shared headquarters of the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals, located 61 miles north of Fort Lauderdale and 88 miles north of Miami in northern Palm Beach County. 

And then this colorful recollection of the excitement surrounding the team, stadium and players back-in-the-day:

 Fort Lauderdale Stadium, built to resemble Yankee Stadium, "was a jewel among sludge," Pearlman wrote.  Local dealer Slaton Chevrolet gave each player a free car to drive. Pubs and nightclubs let them drink for free. Bikini-clad groupies combed the city, hoping to meet players.
Later, of course, came George Steinbrenner, Thurman Munson, Lou Piniella, Reggie Jackson. "You know what was great about Fort Lauderdale stadium? It was that we were genuinely beloved," asked early-80s catcher Rick Cerone. 

Benefits of Cycling

Residents of Lake Osborne Heights (ROLOH)

ROLOH Meeting scheduled for March 11th has been moved to March 18th please let our ROLOH neighborhood know. THANKS

Rob Ford Messes Up Daylight Saving Time

Oops! The embattled Mayor of Toronto tweeted to his Twitter followers the opposite instructions for Daylight Saving Time last night. Eventually, the message was taken down and replaced with the correct information, but not soon enough for the Twitterverse to respond to the error. Some are particularly funny. Click title for link.

Low-Income Apartment Complex for LGBT Seniors Opens in Philadelphia | Advocate.com

I am sure there is or will be a strong market in south Florida for this type of housing in the future. Click title for link.

Two Web Finds

One is Zipatlas.com. You can search many statistics by zip code, from percent of poverty to percent of property ownership, even to the concentration of certain nationalities. Here is one map of the general Lake Worth area showing the percentage of French Canadians, of all things.

You can see the dangerous concentration of our French Canadian friends near the home of the other blogger. Perhaps this fuels her disdain for this group.

It also provides rankings in various categories compared to other zip codes. Fun to play around with.

The second one is a fun virtual subway design game on how to create an efficient transit system design. You start by linking three stations with various lines and tunnels - which are limited by the game so you have to use them strategically. As population grows, new stations appear that have to be linked to the existing system. Eventually, you are given the opportunity to add higher capacity trains to serve the ridership. Be careful as the riders get angry if they have to wait a while for a train. You can see them lining up and getting agitated at backlogged station. If too many get angry, the game ends and you can try again. This is what they are calling an alpha version that works in your browser. A fuller-fledged version is being worked on that will have more options and eventually be a stand alone software game. Enjoy!

Lake Worth| VisitFlorida.com

Check out the VisitFlorida website page for Lake Worth. Click title for link. For all the ballyhooed prospect of the Casino building drawing tourists, there is no mention of the new facility or any pictures of the renovated beach. The only beach mentioned in Lake Worth is Kreusler (the Palm Beach County park immediately north of the city's beach property)..

Deerfield Beach and Jupiter are listed as area beaches. Remember, this is the official state of Florida tourism website.

Good news and bad news here and I will give you the bad news first. The pics (the few that there are) are dated and include a rave review and picture of The Cottage, which locals know has been closed since last summer.

The good news is that they do offer you an opportunity to upload pictures yourself of your community.

So, collectively, let's remedy this situation and flood the site with current Lake Worth pictures, from the beach to the Street Painting Festival. Let's see if we can solve this information deficit.

Alligator hunt approved for Loxahatchee wildlife refuge - Sun Sentinel

Surprising. They expect a lot of demand for the initial 11 permits, but that number could be expanded over time. There seems to be different points of view about whether hunting should even be permitted in wildlife "refuges", but this seems to be a trend that is taking hold in other wildlife areas. Click title for link.

The hunt, expected to begin in August, will allow a maximum of 11 hunters to kill a total of 22 alligators, a modest beginning for what supporters and opponents expect will be an expanded hunt in coming years.
Newton Cook, executive director of United Waterfowlers of Florida, which supports the hunt, said he expected competition for the few permits to be fierce.
"There will be hundreds of applications," he said. "There's a lot of really big gators in there that haven't been hunted, and people want to go where the big gators are."

Daylight Savings Time (DST) 2014 in Florida and Elsewhere: A Brief History | FlaglerLive

Click title for link to article about Daylight Saving Time (note there is no "s"). After reading the article, you will likely agree that there has been little savings, but a little more consumer consumption and miles driven. I have heard that the Florida state legislature may be getting ride of the practice statewide this year during their session currently underway. From the article, this brought back some memories:

[…]Richard Nixon infamously mandated year-round daylight saving in 1974 and 1975. This decision did not soften the blow of the OPEC oil embargo, but it did put school children on pitch-black streets every morning until the plan was scaled back. A Department of Transportation study concluded that Nixon’s experiment yielded no definitive fuel saving. It optimistically speculated, however, that daylight saving might one day help us conserve as many as 100,000 barrels of oil a day. Based on that projection and the hope of reducing street crime, in 1986 and again this year Congress extended daylight saving by a month. But there has been no corresponding reduction in oil consumption or crime.”

I was one of those kids in the mid 1970s, during the first oil crisis, that stood at the bus stop in total darkness. The plan was initiated in winter and there were many frigid mornings with which we would have never experienced without the change. The thought was that people would use less energy with it being lighter, later, but they probably used more in the morning in exchange. This was also the era of the 55 mile per hour speed limit.

Surprising Find on the City's Website: Useful Information!

 Click title for actual FDOT News Release