More evidence of the popularity of America's pastime in the state of Florida...

Click here to get yours.

Paranoid much?

This was a comment after the Palm Beach Post editorial on the All Aboard Florida fast-train project. It appeared as a letter to the editor in the print edition, it raises some specious concerns. This is a certifiable "naysayer."

Earth to Mr. Roth, sabotage can happen now with freight trains carrying hazardous chemicals or passengers. Passengers can also carry whatever on Amtrak. I would guess that monsters under the bed were a real threat and still may be. The Post should be more selective about what merits publication.

Every U.S. County's Favorite Baseball Team (According to Facebook) - Robinson Meyer - The Atlantic Cities

I stumbled upon this link to an Atlantic Cities article which maps areas of the country that favor one professional baseball over all others. Since this is opening day and we have been talking about the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals possible spring training facilities in Palm Beach County, I thought this would be of interest. Here is the map which is worth some study. By the way, there are many people in metropolitan Washington, D.C. that would like to come to Florida in March and catch up on their favorite team.

Check out the link to the larger map referenced in the first paragraph.

Video Teaser - One of many that are on their way from yesterday's Pridefest parade

Destruction of Old Trees Inspires First Ever ELF Action in Iran | Earth First! Newswire

Personally, I think ELF should focus on Somalia, Yemen and Uganda. I am sure they could find a target rich environment there. Click title for link.

Sober-condo takeover raises concerns | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

West Palm Beach has its hands full as it relates to sober houses, or living units in this case. The particular property featured in this article is a dog-eared condominium on Georgia Avenue, just south of Belvedere Road. State legislation seems to be on the way so that there can be more local control over such residences, but they are also protected by federal ADA and Equal Housing laws. They are trying to get something done during this session. Meanwhile, local governments are doing the best they can with the tools that they have. This is how West Palm Beach is managing this particular situation. Ms. Vann has been in the planning department in West Palm Beach since I was there, going back some twenty years.

Angella Vann, planning and zoning administrator for West Palm Beach, said city officials have known about Good Decisions Sober Living at the Green Terrace condominium for about a year because it had to apply for rental permits.

Vann said 14 of the two-bedroom units owned by Bailynson have been approved by the city for two people in each of the bedrooms. The other half are currently under review.

“Nothing is stopping (Bailynson) from buying every unit in there,” said Vann, noting that there are code enforcement issues that the city is working with Bailynson on to get resolved. “We know the complaints and are doing the best we can within the parameters of the law.”

Report: Energy industry exerts outsized political influence in Florida

Nonpartisan government watchdog group Integrity Florida released a research report titled  "Power Play: Political influence of Florida's top energy corporations".

Click here to read the report.

Click here to read the press release.

The findings conclude that, increasingly, the Florida Legislature sets its agenda and policy outcomes based on the needs of large political donors rather than the public interest.  In one recent example, the sitting state senate president openly explained his position on a public policy issue as supporting whatever one major campaign donor tells him to support.  A large Budweiser distributor contributed nearly $300,000 to political candidates and committees aligned with Senate President Don Gaetz and had the edge on its smaller craft beer industry competitors.

A similar pattern exists for the energy sector in Florida where the Florida Legislature maintains a traditional, regulated monopoly-utility model.  This report examines the political influence of the state's four largest electric utility companies: Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy (formerly Progress Energy), TECO Energy and Gulf Power.

These four corporations registered, on average, one lobbyist for every two state legislators each legislative session between 2007 and 2013.  For the last five election cycles, these electric utilities were among the largest donors to state-level campaigns in Florida.

In the same period of time, the policy wins for the four electric utilities included rate increases for customers, legislation that allows early cost recovery for nuclear facilities that have not been built, the defeat of a proposal that would have increased electric bill transparency and the removal of consumer-friendly state regulators who opposed two proposed rate hikes.

Summary of Research Findings  

1. Major campaign donations.  Electric utilities contributed more than $18 million to state-level candidates and party organizations between the 2004 and 2012 election cycles.
2. Significant lobbying.  Lobbying spending by Florida's four largest electric utilities was more than $12 million between 2007 and 2013.
3. Revolving door and cronyism.  Electric utilities have made a point of hiring former state regulators and have employed the firms of several sitting state legislators.
4. Higher electric bills for consumers.  Floridians have faced higher electric utility bills from each of the four corporations examined in this study in recent years.
5. Anti-consumer regulations.  The Florida Legislature and the Florida Public Service Commission routinely side with electric utilities rather than consumers. 

Summary of Policy Reform Recommendations  

1. Apply uniform ethics rules for legislators and local officials.  If local officials are banned from legislative lobbying, then apply the same rules to legislators lobbying local officials.
2. Put inspector general reports online.  Inspector general investigative reports and audits should be posted online by the Florida Public Service Commission and all state and local agencies.
3. Put gift and client disclosures made by all state and local officials online.
4. Require additional disclosure for political donations from government vendors and companies regulated by the Public Service Commission.
5. Establish electric bill transparency.  Unbundle bills with detailed disclosure of rate components.

Sincerely,   

Dan Krassner
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Integrity Florida


Ben Wilcox
Research Director
Integrity Florida  

Cities, counties are poised to regain some control over Florida's short-term vacation rentals - Sun Sentinel

A bill is coming down the pike that will allow some regulation of short-term rentals by local governments, but not an out right prohibition. This would address some of the consequences of the 2011 passed to prohibit local governments from regulating the practice more so than what was already in their code of ordinances. It seems to be a step in the right direction, but it still comes down to local enforcement. Click title for link to the Sun-Sentinel article.

 "I'm not trying to put vacation rentals out of business; nobody is. It's too valuable to our economy," Thrasher said. "We just want a balance of regulations between the rights of the people who have them and the rights of the people who live around them.''

For instance, Fort Lauderdale would like to consider requiring registration of vacation-rental homes, limiting the number of vehicles and enforcing noise restrictions, Feldman said.

The Senate bill was co-sponsored by a trio of South Floridians: Sobel, D-Hollywood, Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, and Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach.

Sometimes legislation needs to be undone, Ring said.

"Sometimes we don't know the consequences until it's in our face," he said. "We shouldn't be telling the cities of Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale how to handle their vacation rentals. Let the residents of the cities make that decision, it's their homes, it's their communities."

Another product of Pridefest...a meeting of the minds?

Aside from a little distraction (or two), two former opponents were able to talk tech about photography and drones today. More evidence of the calming political waters here.

Good comeback - a researched response to the Post's article on the economic impact of the Grapefruit League

Click image for easier reading. This was a comment filed on the Post's website in response to the article linked to and commented on earlier today. Someone actually did what is called "research." Perhaps the Post can try that method in the future.

Notables, some with yours truly, from Pridefest...

Lake Worth's Electeds in the Pridefest Parade Today

Mayor Triolo

Commissioner Amoroso

Commissioner Maxwell

Commissioner McVoy

Commissioner Szerdi

Wellington demolishes blighted home | Video | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Wellington has its share of vacant and foreclosed properties too that are creating blighting influences. This house that is featured in the article might be 15 years old? No one city is immune from the effects of the Great Recession - some more than others. Click title for link.

 Friday’s demolition was authorized after an emergency hearing Thursday when a foreclosure judge denied the bank’s request for extra time to make repairs. The bank indicated it would appeal the judge’s decision, but that didn’t preclude the village from moving ahead early Friday with the demolition.

“We did everything we could so they had enough time to resolve the issues,” Village Attorney Laurie Cohen said.

This is the first time the village has had to demolish a condemned house, although other properties have come close, Cohen said.

The cost of the demolition will become a lien on the property, so whoever buys it will bear that cost, she said.

Palm Beach County development surge targets farmland - Sun Sentinel

This Sun Sentinel article points to all the new development that will be taking place west of the already urbanized area of the county. And it also points out about the pressure to develop more of the Ag Reserve, which the Palm Beach County Commission addressed this week and will continue to address in the coming months. The article touts people in economic development positions within Palm Beach County as saying that green field development is the best. WRONG.

What if Lake Worth were to cleave off 5% of the new commercial and residential development expected in the county over the next five years? Since 2007, Lake Worth had a de facto moratorium on development due to land development regulations that were "in flux" for eight years. Banks and investors don't like things "in flux", but it didn't seem to bother the elected and appointed officials we had at the time. We paid a heavy price for that as a city. We lost more property than any other municipality during that period and, as a result, only $5 million of our city's budget comes from property tax. By building a wall around Lake Worth and posting "Go away, we don't want you" signs (Which isn't far from the truth. Then Commissioner Jennings wanted big signs placed at our major entrances proclaiming LAKE WORTH WATER CRISIS - ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.). Far from being environmentally sound, that attitude pushes development to "green fields" far from transit, dependent on the automobile and in need of infrastructure to serve it. Were that development to occur in Lake Worth, it would likely improve upon the infrastructure that is already here and help spread the tax base burden more evenly, not so dependent on residential properties as it is now.

The good news is that we do have a set of land development regulations in place, that will be tweaked over time as issues arise, but they lay a firm regulatory groundwork that we didn't have before. This should make Lake Worth more attractive to the investment and development community. It would also prove to be less adverse to our environment and ecology in the long run. The city has set up an open house at the Casino Building that will explain our new regulations to a group of people made up of land use attorneys and, of all things, urban planners next Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. Invitations have already gone out. If we are to survive and be sustainable, we need to attract new investment and help explode the myth that it is easier and cheaper to develop green fields that to have urban in-fill.

"There certainly is an upswing in activity," said Skeet Jernigan, of the
Community and Economic Development Council, which represents South
Florida builders. "Raw land, green land is the raw material of the
development industry."

And this...

While county guidelines are supposed to encourage redevelopment near existing roads, schools and other infrastructure, developers often prefer to target farmland or other undeveloped property, which can cost less and provide more room to build.

"It is infinitely easier to develop on green fields than it is on previously developed parcels," Jernigan said. "There is pent up demand."

Much of the demand for land is getting directed at citrus groves, pastures and other agricultural property in Loxahatchee.

The County Commission in October approved revived plans to build 2,000 homes on 1,200 acres once planned for rock mining at Palm Beach Aggregates, west of Royal Palm Beach.

How much does baseball’s Spring Training help Florida’s economy? | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

The Palm Beach Post comes out swinging against Spring baseball, but fails to get a base hit in this hit piece. They compare tourism growth rates of metropolitan and smaller areas over the past five years and declare that areas without Spring training stadiums teams do better than areas with teams. They might have identified a statistical correlation, but they fail to prove a cause and effect relationship. The editorial points out that today's Florida has diversified its economy and it tourism offering beyond Spring baseball, which might be the case.

However, as it applies to Lake Worth, we have that "great potential" everyone talks about but we are having trouble putting together the building blocks to become a destination again. Has the beach renovation improved tourist traffic through our city? It may help surrounding hotels that aren't in Lake Worth, but since we have no reputable hotel in the city, other than small bed and breakfasts, it stretches reality that we are really experiencing the economic benefit that was touted for the beach project. I'll have to check with owner of the Ixora and the Silver Lions motels to see if their occupancy rates have improved since the opening of the beach project.

But back to baseball. I grew up in Michigan and was obliged to be a Tiger fan. The Detroit Tigers have always played their Spring ball in Lakeland. It is quite a tradition and there are people that make the trek to Lakeland every year to escape a Michigan winter and enjoy watching the boys of summer play ball. An addition of a two team stadium within our economic watershed would layer another reason, on top of other reasons, to visit the Lake Worth area. It would likely be a catalyst for the development of other hotels that would exponentially grow our tourist economy as the city would be capturing money that is now spent elsewhere in terms of lodging, entertainment and meals. It surely wouldn't hurt.

Now, I am not sold on John Prince Park as being the ideal location, but there are other options, like the A G Holley site, that would bolster the economic offerings of the area. And, for me, it really depends on the design of the stadium area and how it might fit on the PBCC campus, north of 6th Avenue South. There are people here who don't want to talk about any possibility and just listen to themselves talk. That sort of energy keeps Lake Worth at the bottom of the heap in south Florida's economy.

Click title for link. Interesting to read, but not a scientific economic analysis to be sure.