In case you are reading the post by the other blogger re Soma Center...

I was never Chair of the CRA and the item she refers to was approved, right or wrong, on the consent agenda.

From my beach visit yesterday...

I parked in the upper lot, walked to the parking ticket dispenser - the good news is that it was working, sort of.  It is now $1.25/hour to park at the beach.  I looked at my cellphone for the exact time that I put in my 5 quarters.  It was high noon.  When I got my ticket, the time printed on it after which it expired was 12:52 p.m. - eight minutes short of an hour.  That is almost half a cent a minute more than the published rate.  I happened to take a lot more time at Benny's than I thought and got back to the car around 1:30 p.m. - there was no ticket.  Effectively, this was almost a cent less a minute of the actual rate. Is there any enforcement?  How often is this repeated day after day? How much revenue is lost?  Attended parking would collect 100% of the parking fees and would be self-enforcing.  Why is this consistently discounted as a way to collect parking money from the beach?  Maybe just impose it for the upper lot?

Zero Cost-of-Living Adjustment to Impact Most Vulnerable Older Adults

Click title for link to article on lack of cost of living increase for retired seniors on Social Security.  There is talk of a $250 one time payment, but I'm not sure what help that would provide and it would have to pass through Congress.  This is the first time since the payments have been indexed to inflation (1975) that there have been two years back-to-back without an increase.

Think about what this means locally for those, for example, in Lake Worth Towers.  Each year their rents are increased based on utility costs and other factors that support the building.  What possible benefit would these people receive by paying the "conservation fee" on their utility bill?  No conservation officer can do anything with Lake Worth Towers to conserve energy and water.  Let's not forget water rates that are going to increase for the next three years in order to fund our reverse osmosis plant.  What are these seniors going to give up in order to support a program that they don't benefit from?  How about Murry Hills or another complex with a high concentration of retirees?

Today's trip to Benny's on the Beach

Early voting for the November 2nd Election

To encourage greater participation in elections and to meet the needs of people who want more options than just voting on a single day at a specified location, Florida law permits voters to cast the ballots during the two weeks prior to each election. 

To participate in early voting, all you need to do is show up with your current photo and signature identification between October 18 and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 31, and cast your ballot. Voting hours and locations are listed below: 

Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m. to - 6:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance recommends that you bring our list of endorsed candidates with you, so that you may support those candidates who support our community.

Please keep in mind that once you have voted by early voting, your vote is cast and final.

Any voter registered in Palm Beach County 
may vote at any one of these Early Voting Sites:

Jupiter Library
705 Military Trail
Jupiter

Gardens Library
11303 Campus Drive
Palm Beach Gardens

Okeechobee Library
5689 Okeechobee Boulevard
West Palm Beach

Supervisor of Elections Office
240 S. Military Trail
West Palm Beach

Wellington Library
1951 Royal Fern Drive
Wellington

Belle Glade City Hall
110 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Belle Glade

Lantana Library
4020 Lantana Road
Lake Worth

Hagen Ranch Road Library
14350 Hagen Ranch Road
Delray Beach

Delray Beach City Hall
100 NW 1st Avenue
Delray Beach

West Boca Branch Library
18685 State Road 7
Boca Raton

If you have any questions, please call the office of
the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections

Main Office: (561) 656-6200
Toll Free: (866) 868-3321
www.pbcelections.org

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance
is dedicated to electing public officials 
who will work towards ending discrimination based on 
sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.  

Not all of the candidates listed below will appear on your ballot.  
In addition, in some races, there are no endorsements.

United States Senator
Kendrick Meek (Dem.)
U.S. Representative, District 19Ted Deutch (Dem.)
U.S. Representative, District 22
Ron Klein (Dem.)
U.S. Representative, District 23
Alcee Hastings (Dem.)

Governor
Alex Sink (Dem.)

Attorney General

Dan Gelber (Dem.)
Chief Financial Officer
Jeff Atwater (Rep.)
 
Commissioner of Agriculture
Scott Maddox (Dem.)

State Senator, District 25
Kelly Skidmore (Dem.) 

State Senator, District 27

Kevin Rader (Dem.)

State Representative, District 83
Mark Marciano (Dem.)

State Representative, District 84
Mack Bernard (Dem.)

State Representative, District 85
Joseph Abruzzo (Dem.)

  State Representative, District 87
Hava Holzhauer (Dem.)

   State Representative, District 88 Mark Pafford (Dem.)
State Representative, District 89

Jeff Clemens (Dem.)

 
State Representative, District 90

Irving "Irv" Slosberg(Dem.)
State Representative, District 91
Barbara Ann Stern (Dem.)

County Commission, District 2
Paulette Burdick (Dem.)County Commission, District 6

Jess Santamaria (Dem.)

County Commission, District 7

Priscilla Taylor(Dem.)

Port of Palm Beach, Group 4

Blair Ciklin (Dem.)

School Board, District 3

William G. "Bill" Graham

School Board, District 4

Jennifer Prior Brown

School Board, District 6

Marcia Andrews

County Court Judge, Group 7

Marni A. Bryson

Lake Worth City Commission, District 2
Carla Blockson

Lake Worth City Commission, District 4
CO- ENDORSEMENT
YOU MAY ONLY VOTE FOR ONE
OF THE FOLLOWING CANDIDATES:
Lisa Maxwell
or
Suzanne Mulvehill

            Palm Beach Gardens City Council, Group 5
Ken Menard

Constitutional Amendment 5 - Legislative Redistricting
YES

Constitutional Amendment 6 - Congressional Redistricting 
YES

This paid political advertisement, which is independent of any candidate or committee,
is produced, sponsored and paid for by
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance.  

The endorsements have been approved individually by each of the listed candidates.

 

Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance

Post Office Box 267, West Palm Beach, Florida 33402
(561) 586-0203
www.pbchrc.org                                         pbchrc@gmail.com

Tropical Ridge Neighborhood Association - Update - Raffle Tickets on Sale Now!

Make sure to buy your raffle tickets today!  There's only a few days left.

This beautiful stained glass window was created and donated to the Tropical Ridge Neighborhood Association by McMow Art Glass. The window, measuring 32 1/4" wide by 18 1/4" high features cut stained glass in shades of pink, green and lavender with clear glass bevels. The piece is lead camed and comes ready for hanging. The retail value of the window is $530.

The winning raffle ticket will be drawn at the November 1st Tropical Ridge Neighborhood meeting and the winner need not be present to win. Tickets are $5 each and all proceeds will go to support the Tropical Ridge Neighborhood Association Banner Program.

Purchase tickets and learn more at http://www.tropicalridge.org/raffle.

Announcement from City: Town Hall Meeting

Come join Commissioner Scott Maxwell on October 23, 2010 at 10:00a.m. at the next Town Hall Meeting to Discuss Lake Worth Utilites "Understanding the Costs and Benefits". This meeting will be held at the Calvary United Methodist Church at 301 1st Ave. S Lake Worth.

From the City Manager's Letter re Budget - Just how bad things are in graphic terms RE-POST

WHY AREN'T THE CANDIDATES TALKING ABOUT THESE FACTS AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY?!

The above is very telling about the impact of poverty on the City of Lake Worth.  Notice that of all the zip codes in Palm Beach County 33460 has the highest number of poverty indicators of ANY.  These figures were prepared by the Children Services Council as risk factors.  Here we are talking about the very future of human beings in society.  To this day, from my time on the CRA, I hear Annabeth Karson's voice ringing in my ears how the "people" want to attract the very low and low income groups to the city.  Well, Ms. Karson, here is the result of what happens when you have that sort of concentration of poverty in one city - are you happy now?

The above I will supplement with data from previous years.  I think it is interesting to note that history, as shown in the graph, begins with 2007, which is convenient for a number of reasons.  Note too that this graph just indicates the total number, not the total dollar value represented by the permits themselves.

The above graph is what results when you multiply the city's plunging assessed property value by its millage rate.  I have prepared a spreadsheet that starts in 1997 and goes through the fiscal year ending in 2011 - the budget that is in front of the Commission now.

The above shows where Lake Worth stands with all other utilities in the state as it pertains to commercial users of power.  If you have to ask, we are the red line at the far right hand side of the graph - the highest in all of the state of Florida.  Do you think any commercial enterprise, of any size, would seriously consider locating in Lake Worth over other locations based on this criterion alone?  I frankly do not.

This graph is how the city of Lake Worth stacks up with other municipalities in terms of cost for high-end users of residential power.  It is any wonder we have close to a revolution when some people are getting $1,500 and $2,000 a month utility bills?  To be fair, low users of electrical power end up paying about the same as they would with FPL, but this is usually used as window dressing for political campaigns.

When you have high utility rates to begin with, you add the impact of the economic downturn (putting it mildly) and a significant population of people that use Lake Worth as Palm Beach County's housing of last resort, you are going to have a larger group of people late on their utility bills.  I don't know of anyone, by the way, that has managed to keep their power and water when they are 90 past due on a balance with our utility department.

The graph above shows the number of times the Piggy Bank has been robbed to balance the budget or to come up with money for some unexpected or "favored" items by the City Commission.  Aren't they predicting a busy hurricane season this year?

As foreclosures increase and residential property owners find it difficult to sell due to declining property values, the only alternative left to rent out your house and minimize your loses.  An already out-of-balance statistic in Lake Worth will become even more out of balance - a disproportionate number of renters as compared to owners in the city.  This is no longer limited to certain geographic areas of the city - it is everywhere!

So why the sudden "doom and gloom" from the City Manager that is the darling of Commissioners Jennings, Golden and Mulvehill?  Either she has truly "seen the light" and is sharing her version of reality as she learns what the real Lake Worth is all about after getting her feet wet here or it is something else.  I will be exploring that further.

In the meantime, enjoy what is left of the Lake Worth we know and love, because there isn't much left.

Cheers!

Joel Burns Media Appearances - re: Bullying

The Early Show on CBS at 7:30 a.m. Eastern - Friday

CNN Newsroom with Ali Velshi at 1 p.m. Eastern - Friday

Some results from a Google image search for "Silk Politicians"

Click here for link to Joel Burns' website

From his FaceBook page:

"The outpouring has been overwhelming. I apologize that my personal FB page is now maxed on friend requests, etc. Please check out my Councilmember page below and joelburns.com website to follow along in this conversation."

Lesley Blackner, Aimee Carlson offer differing views on Amendment 4

Click title for link to a Palm Beach Daily News (the Shiny Sheet) article of a presentation by pro and anti forces regarding Amendment 4.

This is very powerful...

I had the opportunity to get to know Joel while participating in a Victory Fund class in Houston back in 2006.  We need more politicians like this.