[REDUX] 'Journalist' defends names on bullets and Mayor Pam Triolo's image in effigy in our small, little 6 square mile City of Lake Worth

[A blogger claimed she was disrespected at a City Commission meeting and got up to speak at the podium on 1/19. What short memories some have.] 

On September 9th, 2014, at a Lake Worth City Commission meeting Mr. Bob Lepa and Ms. Peggy Fisher, as members of the general public, exercised their right to Free Speech. You can see that video here. 

The blogger referred to in their remarks, of course, has her right to free speech as does Mr. Lepa and Ms. Fisher. Here is one example of Ms. Anderson's (aka The Other Blogger [TOB]) exercise of free speech:

Here we have another example of that blogger's exercise of  'free speech': 

When posted, this was actually an animated gif image that appeared to be moving flames.

Many people in Lake Worth were outraged by the image above posted by that blogger. At the city commission meeting on 9/9/14 many people showed up to show their displeasure with such a depiction. Two spoke publicly, Mr. Lepa and Ms. Fisher. Note: The blogger's name was never mentioned and she was not confronted directly. She was in the audience however and can be clearly seen during the commentary from the podium. She clearly could have defended herself at the time, but she chose to remain silent. And so did her colleagues and supporters in the chambers. That was her/their choice. 

On 9/23/14, after two weeks of rhetoric from the blogger on her website, along with her small band of followers about how badly she was disrespected on 9/9/14, ONE PERSON spoke publicly in defense of Ms. Anderson's abuse of Free Speech: Margaret Menge. Here is the video from the City's website. Ms. Menge begins speaking during the public comment period at 1:02:02. 

Here is Ms. Menge's defense of that blogger and her other comments made at the 9/23/14 City Commission meeting:

Ms. Menge claims to have watched the video, but if you listen to her, she appears to be accusing those on the dais of letting this "heinous spectacle" happen in the first place. What she is referring to as a "heinous spectacle" is the exercise of freedom of the speech by members of the public. The justified smackdown of the other blogger was not done by our elected representatives. It was an organic reaction to what people thought was clearly out-of-bounds and in poor taste. Ms. Menge who claims to be a journalist of some degree praised the other blogger as "covering [the news] better than everyone else in this town." She hated to see this "journalist intimidated." Journalist?

Read the excerpt below from this article and you decide. Along with free speech doesn't there need to be a certain amount of responsibility? This article refers to Ms. Menge's stint at another local newspaper in New York state. Would you like this person to stand up to defend your journalistic integrity? Ms. Menge, in her first and lengthy "Letter from the Editor" mentions her time at this newspaper. Here is what Mr. Hazirjian had to say about the 'journalist', Ms. Menge:

Hazirjian [Deke Hazirjian, a local businessman in the village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York State] said he came to the board to find a forum for his views on the newspaper because the paper refused to print a letter he had written criticizing what he called the “biased reporting” of the current editor, Margaret Menge. Hazirjian said in his open letter that Menge "writes every important story on the front page, plus re-writes other reporter's work, giving it her own slant...and has made our paper into her own personal forum."

Hazirjian also stated that in her crusade for open government the editor has “intimidated, hounded and impugned the integrity of nearly every board and board member." Hazirjian described himself and other local board members as people who “serve to enhance our community, to give back.”

Is this what you should expect from a 'journalist' in our little City of Lake Worth?

Because of Maier and McVoy your inadequate street lighting and other safety issues weren't discussed at our Lake Worth City Commission meeting

It's anyone's guess what the spin will be in The Palm Beach Post tomorrow about the Lake Worth City Commission meeting last night (1/19). Another wedge issue to divide the City, one of many that come up every election season: it's homelessness this time. We can all hope the editorial board at the Post has some sense to keep things in perspective, but don't count on it.

The City has many issues to deal with and to have another meeting hijacked by a single issue should disturb everyone. The streets need to be fixed, there are still neighborhoods with an inadequate number of fire hydrants, the lighting needs to be addressed but. . .none of those issues was talked about. THE top issue was the homeless. My heart goes out to all those people that have been hoping for relief in communities that need help so desperately. They've been pushed to the back of the line. Again. It was a sickening display and an embarrassment.

Two Lake Worth commissioners, Ryan Maier and Chris McVoy, got their marching orders and they played it out. A whole bunch of people from Sarasota were brought to the meeting I'm told. All of them for one issue: the homeless. On their way to the City Commission chambers and time spent in the City was that all they saw? Just homeless people? Did they not see the potholes and the dark street corners? To them none of that matters from now until election day on March 15th. Now it's all about the homeless people and no one else, nothing else matters.

Cumulatively, this is will damage the City's image and hurt many businesses in town, especially the ones downtown. None of that matters because it's the slash and burn strategy to win one or more seats on the City Commission so Maier and McVoy will have a friendly face on their new majority to chip away at everything the previous majority did that they don't like. And you wonder why the streets are in such bad shape.

Commissioner Maier slipped and said something he shouldn't have: The truth. Below is a video from the City's website. It's grainy and a little out-of-focus but you'll be able to hear clearly what he says at the City Commission meeting that was almost all about the homeless. If you are a resident or a business owner you'll be comforted knowing that Maier doesn't think somebody peeing on your property or business front door is "that big a deal". Commissioner Amoroso objected but, other than on this blog, you'll likely never hear a mention of that. And you'll never see Maier's quote anywhere else either, where he says peeing in public is not "that big a deal".
JoAnn Golden et al appear to have assembled a small army to knock on doors and if she succeeds the City will once again go into a tailspin. And then another election next year and another wedge issue to divide us will pop up a few months prior.

Here is the link to send Maier's quote to everyone you know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hjbpr6ceZA&feature=youtu.be

Will it wake anyone up? Maybe or maybe not. But it's worth a try.

[PINNED POST] The only reason you need to NOT VOTE for Frank McAlonan: a vote for him is another nail in the coffin for the historic Gulf Stream hotel in Lake Worth

[STILL unchallenged. The blog post below was first published on Sunday, 1/17. Last night (1/19) at the Lake Worth City Commission meeting would have been the perfect time to discuss 'better' ways to save the Gulf Stream hotel, or at least raise the question, but Frank McAlonan was absent on this major issue. In fact, I don't think the hotel was mentioned once at the commission meeting last night. It's very late in the game, the fourth quarter with the seconds clicking away, and Frank McAlonan has 'better' ideas to save our historic hotel? Fine. Let's put aside all the missed opportunities to present these ideas in the past. Can the public have at least a few more details please on 'better' ways to proceed forward? Continue reading the blog post originally published on 1/17:]

Lake Worth Commissioner Andy Amoroso's position on the rezoning of the Gulf Stream hotel is unambiguous: He supports the efforts necessary to move the project forward despite the anger and ire from a very small group that disagree. Here is how the Lake Worth City Commission voted:

Remember: The "overwhelming" support to limit the building height surrounding the Gulf Stream hotel property IS A MYTH.

Frank McAlonan's position is more 'nuanced'. He claims to support saving the hotel but doesn't support taking the steps to save the historic structure. So he's for saving the hotel and against it at the same time. The citizens of Lake Worth deserve better politics than this. If you vote for McAlonan you are giving the Gulf Stream hotel a date with the wrecking ball like all those other structures that have been lost over the years and here's why: he's claiming that because a two-story structure (a beach house/tiki bar/'hotel') in Delray Beach is successful so therefore the Gulf Stream hotel, in its current state, can be successful too. Nonsense.

McAlonan was interviewed by a hack claiming to be a journalist. In the rambling PR piece he said that Crane's Beach House Boutique and Luxury Villas in Delray was an example of how the Gulf Stream hotel could be successful. I'm sure Crane's Beach House is a wonderful place and no doubt they are a success in Delray Beach. But comparing a two-story beach house of about 15,000 square feet built circa 1950 to the historic Gulf Stream hotel in Lake Worth is absolute hogwash.

More times than I can remember I've laid out the reasoning and the logic for supporting the Gulf Stream hotel project being rezoned (not "upzoned"!) to 65' in a very small area in downtown Lake Worth:

The white arrow is pointing at a tiny white dot. That white dot is the historic/iconic Gulf Stream hotel property in downtown Lake Worth.

I've also explained the historical context and why the hotel, in it's current configuration, cannot survive in modern-day America. It has to be modernized to be competitive or has to be torn down. It's as simple as that. The Coastal Observer also ran articles on the history of the hotel and the headwinds it faces to compete for tourists and business travelers. Even The Palm Beach Post editorial board, no friend of development, saw the need for the Gulf Stream project to move forward.

But Frank McAlonan disagrees. Does he support demolishing the Gulf Stream hotel and building a two-story beach house/tiki bar in its place? There is a debate coming up on January 25th. If you support saving our City's Gulf Stream hotel then I strongly suggest you show up at the debate.

All this angst over the renovation of the Gulf Steam hotel IS OVER 20 FEET OF BUILDING HEIGHT. That's all. Just 20 feet. Twenty feet is about 6 adult steps by a human being. Twenty feet is about the width of the goal post in football. And just twenty feet is the difference between a big leap forward for our Gulf Stream hotel or a not-yet-set date but still certain fate of the wrecking ball.

If this issue is important to you, please cast your vote wisely. The future of the City depends on it.

Strong Towns Advocates for No New Roads in Online Campaign

From January 25-29, 2016, Strong Towns will publish a week of multimedia content focused on its campaign entitled #NoNewRoads. This radical concept advocates against the creation of new highways and the expansion of existing roads in towns, cities and suburbs across America. The campaign will take place on the Strong Towns website at strongtowns.org/nonewroads and on social media with the hashtag #NoNewRoads. 

America has built more auto-infrastructure than it is willing to pay to maintain, and most of these investments have no positive financial return. Before we spend more on transportation, Strong Towns argues that we must modernize our transportation finance system to get better returns on our investments.

“For nearly seven decades, our national transportation obsession has been about maximizing the amount that you can drive,” writes Charles Marohn, president of Strong Towns. “We now need to focus on minimizing the amount you are forced to drive.”

In addition to a broad conversation about road funding and the federal transportation bill, the week of content on the Strong Towns media site will focus on three critical states—Texas, Minnesota and Washington—where significant changes are underway in transportation spending decisions. #NoNewRoads week will include articles and podcasts by urban planners, nonprofit professionals, professors and other leaders in the field, as well as a new report from Frontier Group.

About Strong Towns:
Strong Towns is a national media organization whose mission is to advocate for a model of development that allows America's cities, towns and neighborhoods to grow financially strong and resilient. Strong Towns reaches an audience of more than 30,000 readers and listeners per month, and has over 1,000 members.

[Just a reminder. . .] The Lake Worth Casino Complex at the BEACH! is still losing money

A previous city commission dropped the ball and left our City with this terrible mess to fix:

Here is a partial list of the problems at the Casino building. And this doesn't include the issues with the municipal pool which were never addressed. One final point, THE BIG LIE: The Palm Beach Post editorial board continued the big lie as recently as last August 27th this way, the "casino building, a nearly century-old landmark that was saved from the wrecking ball and restored in 2013 to a Mediterranean magnificence." The structure was 94% demolished:

Looks like a fine 'restoration' doesn't it?

What doesn't get said enough in Lake Worth: "Thank You for showing up."

Lake Worth Mayor Pam Triolo, Commissioner Andy Amoroso (center), and Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell on a cold night at the Cultural Plaza with children who attended this year's City MLK March.

Yesterday's Martin Luther King Day March was another special day in Lake Worth and a big Thank You! to everyone that showed up. I was unable to attend this year but was at last year's march. I'm told it was just as well-attended, or more so, than last year. I received a lot of pictures/accounts of all the festivities and events and the organizers did a spectacular job.

It's easy to forget when you attend an event all the work that goes into making it happen and the work doesn't stop there. Things have to put away for next year, the clean up, and the final checklist to make sure everything was taken care of. Everyone who showed up to march and others who helped organize this event all deserve a lot of credit and appreciation.

The Lake Worth City Commission meeting is TONIGHT (1/19) at 6:00 and have you heard about CIA tactics used to monkeywrench govenment meetings?

To view the agenda use this link and scroll down for the "Agenda & Staff Report" and the "Full Version" of the agenda. Following the Roll Call is the Invocation OR Moment of Silence. It is Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell's turn to choose and he has Reverend Elie Louissant from the Salem Haitian Evangelical Lutheran Church giving an invocation. The church is located at 1020 S. Dixie Hwy and here is their Facebook page to learn more.

There are some interesting items on the agenda including addressing nuisance properties and at least one item on the Consent Agenda that either Commissioner Maier or McVoy will want to discuss. Expect a long meeting that, in retrospect, didn't need to be. But it is election season in Lake Worth.

I may or may not be there with my camera to upload videos for all of you but it really doesn't matter if I'm there or not. You can watch the City's meetings live or the archived version later. To watch 'Live' use this link and look on the right side of the page and click on "Video/Audio of Public Meetings".

When you watch the meeting, or any meeting for that matter, watch for tactics that can be found in an old CIA manual used by infiltrators who were placed there to halt progress and generally monkeywrench the functions of an enemy government, like "Never permit short-cuts", make many and long "speeches", refer as many matters as possible "to committee", haggle over trivial matters like minutes, and urge "caution" and be "reasonable". Remind you of anyone?

Don't get specific, you see, just "raise the question" and talk about matters already decided: That's how what should be a 2-hour meeting becomes a 4-hour meeting.

Save the Date: The "Art Junction" at the Urban Arts Lofts in Lake Worth this Saturday (1/23)

Art Junction Presented by Urban Arts Lofts | Sat, Jan 23 | Studios Open at Noon | Special Reception 6 - 9pm pic.twitter.com/tSfmAYpjqD

— Lake Worth (@LakeWorthPBC) January 18, 2016

For more information visit LULA (the Lake Worth CRA) and Palm Beach County's Art Synergy.

On your way stop by the latest mural by the CRA located at the new La Joya Villages on 6th Ave. South:

The La Joya Villages offer many exciting amenities for the residents including free art classes for the young children.

Press Release from the Lake Worth NAPC: County Commissioners and other officials are coming to visit our little City!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — The Lake Worth Neighborhood Association Presidents Council (NAPC [also on Facebook]) is thrilled to announce that the Palm Beach County Office of Community Revitalization (OCR) has organized a Trolley Tour for County Commissioners and other County officials to visit Lake Worth and see up close and personal, all the amazing projects the NAPC Neighborhoods have completed with the Resident Education to Action Program (REAP) grants that we have been awarded over the past few years.
      The tour will take place on Friday, February 12th from 9:00 AM til 2:00 PM. They will visit a couple projects completed outside the City of Lake Worth before embarking on their journey through all the Lake Worth Neighborhoods to see the Neighborhood Street Banners, the Neighborhood Crime Watch projects, the Little Free Libraries, the Lake Worth Visitor Center and will end the tour with a lunch provided by the NAPC on the Front Porch in the Cultural Plaza – all projects funded wholly or in large part by REAP grants! Along the way, we will point out some of our lovely cottages in Lake Worth as the Cottages of Lake Worth, Inc. non-profit organization has also been awarded a REAP grant.

[The closer to the date will have more information on this blog. And, as always, Thank You for visiting my blog and Thank You! to all the hard-working people at the NAPC and all the many neighborhoods, Wes.]

From Emily Badger at Wonkblog: Does the availability of parking cause more driving?

If planning and things like Complete Streets is an interest of yours then Wonkblog needs to be on your list of blogs to check out at least once a week. The issue is parking in this article and how much does the availability of parking influence driving behavior and, not mentioned specifically but understood, should policies like minimum parking requirements be reexamined? Here are two excerpts:

     It is a firm principle in my household that we will not, under almost any circumstance, get in the car after sundown on Friday or Saturday night. We won't pick you up at the airport, or drive to dinner at your house. We won't just run out to the grocery store, or partake of social events unreachable by foot or bike, or a short Uber.
     We live off H Street in Washington with its bars and restaurants and performing arts, and if we drive away in the evening, when we get back there will simply be nowhere to park. We would behave, no doubt, a lot differently if parking were not an issue. We would probably take more trips.

[and. . .] 

     Past studies have found that parking availability at home is strongly associated with car ownership and use. And more parking at the office is correlated with more employees driving to work alone. Commuters who work in Manhattan, for instance, are also more likely to drive in when they have parking to return to at night.
     It's a provocative argument, though, that parking causes driving, and if this were true, a lot of city policies would look sort of backwards.

On any issue dealing with parking the work of Donald Shoup is rarely left out on this blog. He's been cited many times and also by our good friends at Walkable West Palm. The interesting thing about Donald Shoup is he researched what cars were doing 95% of the time, parked, while everyone else was researching what cars were doing the other 5% of the time: driving on the roads. Here is a link to his now-famous book, The High Cost of Free Parking.

Should Palm Beach County create a Citizen Review Board to monitor Sheriff Bradshaw and PBSO?

I don't have the answer to that question. However, the PBC County Commission will be discussing it. I wouldn't be presumptuous to tell the commission how to proceed but. . .as someone who has actually seen a 'Citizen' Review Board in action I do have an opinion.

Any review board that is established to monitor PBSO will have zero legitimacy if there is even the possibility an Anarchist/PBSO-hater like someone such as Peter Tsolkas can have a seat at the table. Tsolkas once gained control of a "Community Relations Board" here in Lake Worth and it was not a good experience. That 'Community' board to establish trust in the community had the opposite effect—it divided the City like no other board had ever done before or the City has ever seen since. It was a disaster.

A board, any board to review law enforcement, has to have strict rules on who has a seat and who does not. The number one rule should be impartiality. In the end the only way found to get the Anarchist off the Lake Worth review board was to disband the board entirely. And that's exactly what was done.

Secondly, the City of Lake Worth wouldn't be where it is today without PBSO. There's no need to rehash past history once again except to make this point: The Lake Worth PD lost control and PBSO came into the City and cleaned up the mess. Of that truth there is no doubt. And everyone, except for an Anarchist or two, has to agree with that.

So please: Proceed carefully and take note of what happened in Lake Worth. A 'Citizen' Review Board might sound like a really good idea right now but it can go off the rails and become an embarrassment for everyone. It happened in Lake Worth and it can happen at the county level too if it isn't done correctly and the public lacks the confidence a board will maintain public order and the safety of lives and property.

An Anarchist from Lake Worth at a rally for Corey Jones in Palm Beach Gardens. Is this someone who should have a seat on a board reviewing PBSO?

A Banner Day for The Palm Beach Post! And is the Editorial Board FINALLY giving it up for good? It would help those circulation numbers

In one of the more hopeful signs for Palm Beach County, the editorial board at The Palm Beach Post is now farming out their opinions. Now instead of focusing on manipulating local elections and other trouble-making the newspaper can finally get back to its true mission after 100 years and think many of their readers would be on board with that sentiment. In the Post today the editorial is from the Tampa Tribune which is not to be confused with the Tampa Bay Times, a newspaper which has won 10 Pulitzer prizes.

And Lake Worth makes it on the Front Page! How cool is that!

The little City of Lake Worth makes it on the front page, above the fold.

Another hopeful sign is a Letter to the Editor published today (1/19) by a Lake Worth resident. The letter published makes the case once again for the Gulf Stream hotel project and the City's Park of Commerce. Urban sprawl into western Palm Beach County is a concern for everyone and many people think future development should be concentrated along the I-95 corridor and east towards the coast. It's good to see more support for that position.

Things fall apart in the B (Local) section though. Our local beat reporter for Lake Worth still thinks that Palm Beach State College is in the City. It's not. Eliot Kleinberg, another reporter at the Post is aware of that fact:

Palm Beach State’s Martin Luther King, Jr. event, at its main campus west of Lake Worth, is free and open to the public.

All in all, on Monday's Martin Luther King Day in Lake Worth and throughout Palm Beach County the message was one of unity and peace. Dr. King would be proud of all of us.

Here is a wonderful news segment from NBC5/WPTV:

Traffic Advisory from the Town of Palm Beach re: the Lake Worth Bridge

Glad someone is on top of this:

Lake Worth Bridge
The Lake Avenue (Lake Worth) Bridge will have intermittent lane closures in each direction, 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, January 20, and Thursday, January 21, for joint repairs.

"Hello Lake Worth Twitter feed, come in Lake Worth Twitter feed!"

Peeing in public is "no big deal", said Lake Worth Commissioner Ryan Maier at the City Commission on 1/19/16

I wasn't able to attend the Lake Worth City Commission tonight and take video. I watched from home. However, the City's video will be public soon and I can snip that part of the discussion.

The new meme is "You're Not Any Better". Note that no one is claiming to be "any better" than anyone else but the meme makes people think that some people, like the business community for example, is claiming they are. That is not true. So stay tuned.

Lake Worth Commissioners Ryan Maier and Chris McVoy continue to take the focus off the City's streets and other safety issues to focus on one group and only one group—the homeless.

Election day in Lake Worth is March 15th. Do you think peeing in public like on Lake Ave. in front of your children is "no big deal"? In front of your home? Your business?

Stay tuned for the video to come soon.

Does Palm Beach County need an ombudsman to monitor the news media? Especially the TV news?

Palm Beach County (PBC) hired a "Climate Change" Czar for about $90,000/year and I think the county could get an ombudsman to monitor the TV news for a lot less than that; a lot of people would be glad to do it for a pittance, expenses, and a weekly therapeutic back massage after having to watch all that news.

The problem is that TV news is creating much confusion in the county about what exactly is a city and what is not. This happens all the time in central PBC where Lake Worth is located. Murders and all kinds of other news nowhere near Lake Worth is reported as having occurred in the City. The latest news about the increased reward to solve the murder of Cynthia Moffett by ABC25/WPBF is just the latest example and there are many, many more.

Consider this: Let's say someone saw the report by ABC25 and lived near where it happened at the time. If that person(s) were given the correct information might sit back and think for a while, "Hmmm, did I see something that might help?". But if that same person thought, falsely, that the murder occurred many miles away "in Lake Worth" they probably wouldn't give it a second thought. This false information isn't just a simple mistake that doesn't mean anything. It does mean something. If the news is incorrect that is misinforming the public. What is the purpose of having a media in the first place if not to inform the public with accurate information?

The media is free to put their particular "spin" on the news. But you can't spin these facts: The date, location, and names to name a few.

I had contact with someone in the TV news business who suggested an ombudsman might be a way to go in getting TV news to improve. It could be one paid for by the news outlets themselves or have the county do the job for them. Either way, it has come to the point where something has to be done. A producer complained to me that the misreporting is damaging the reputation of TV news generally in the public's eye. Another person explained that the problem is that PBC is an "in-between" market between the bigger news markets like Miami, Tampa, and Orlando so it gets a lot of reporters/producers/editors forced out from other places that the big markets aren't interested in.

Is all TV news bad? No. For instance NBC5/WPTV works hard at getting the news correct, particularly locations. Generally speaking, TV news shouldn't be your source for all the news about anything but if TV news is what you like then I would suggest you choose NBC5. Why? For the most part they know where Lake Worth is and more importantly, what's NOT Lake Worth.