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| County Commissioner (Dist #3) - Shelley Vana |
Pictures courtesy of James Stafford Photography
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Reflections on Rene Varela...
I was never a real fan and considered the runoff election that put him in office a choice between the lesser of two evils. Having just moved to town a few years ago, I never was certain of Rene's loyalty to Lake Worth and this skepticism turned out to be well-founded . I am always suspicious of people that arrive in a new situation and think they have it all figured out. Rene liked to leave you with the belief that if only he had been here earlier, our problems wouldn't be as bad and some wouldn't exist at all. Somehow he alone had the keys to unlock the mysteries of Lake Worth. He projected a "I know more than you" mentality that I am sure springs from his veterinarian training and degree. Many doctors and engineers seem to suffer this "God Complex." Actually, I am sure they don't personally suffer, but the people that have to deal with them surely do.
While he talked a good game initially, I found him uncomfortable with the role of being a public official. He seemed more comfortable around his "dais-mates" and relied on their opinions more than the great majority of the people he represented. We saw public comment more and more restricted during Rene's tenure as Mayor. He was consistently "out played" by Commissioner Jennings when she was on the dais. In fact, in the few months before she left the dais, Jennings essentially ran much of the meeting and at times seemed to be the de facto Mayor anyway. He also did a lot to make Commissioner Maxwell's positions marginalized and painted him as somehow "not with the program" when that couldn't have been farther from the truth. He never grabbed hold of the importance of social media and saw bloggers as the enemy. He talked about the importance of transparency but the city's actions were more opaque than transparent.
Even with all that as a background, I still thought that he would finish his term. Many people thought that he was going to resign early and many thought that he would wait until after May 15th - leaving the Commission in a position to appoint someone of their choosing. I guess I projected my values of the importance of public service and commitment and thinking that other people in such a position would share the same feeling. Tuesday I was proven wrong - as others were - and really was shocked that someone would leave that position in what I believe was a cowardly way.
Rene thinks he did us a favor by allowing us the ability to choose his successor through an election. I can understand that, but there is an alternative viewpoint that is worth looking at. There are a lot of negatives about the special election including the cost, the unusual group of people that would come out for a June or July election, the difficulty of raising money for two or three or four elections almost back-to-back, etc. Imagine a scenario where the winning Mayor in the special election does so by only a few percentage points. Don't you think that would be a major motivating factor for the losing candidate/side in a November election when the turn out would be larger and more predictable? How effective is this "interim' Mayor going to be in the four months he or she is in office? I don't think this temporary position carries much of the cachet of incumbency. This new Mayor will land smack dab in the middle of budget season too.
Now imagine that Rene waited until next week to resign. The "Best Commission Ever" would be in a position to put who they wanted in the center seat. I can't think of a better rallying cry for over-reaching their authority - over-playing their hand - and the majority is then swamped in the regular November election. A person appointed to the Mayoral position would always suffer from an asterisk behind their name - they had not been elected. I thought it seemed as though some Commissioners were protesting a little too much about the prospect of a special election on Tuesday night. I started smelling a rat.
And, true to his character, Rene consulted with no one - as far as I know - about the implications of either alternative.
Regardless, we are headed for a special election and I don't necessarily think Rene did us much of a favor in making sure that was so. It also broadcast to the world that Lake Worth is politically unstable - news to no one, I know, but this early departure did a lot to reinforce that perception.
While he talked a good game initially, I found him uncomfortable with the role of being a public official. He seemed more comfortable around his "dais-mates" and relied on their opinions more than the great majority of the people he represented. We saw public comment more and more restricted during Rene's tenure as Mayor. He was consistently "out played" by Commissioner Jennings when she was on the dais. In fact, in the few months before she left the dais, Jennings essentially ran much of the meeting and at times seemed to be the de facto Mayor anyway. He also did a lot to make Commissioner Maxwell's positions marginalized and painted him as somehow "not with the program" when that couldn't have been farther from the truth. He never grabbed hold of the importance of social media and saw bloggers as the enemy. He talked about the importance of transparency but the city's actions were more opaque than transparent.
Even with all that as a background, I still thought that he would finish his term. Many people thought that he was going to resign early and many thought that he would wait until after May 15th - leaving the Commission in a position to appoint someone of their choosing. I guess I projected my values of the importance of public service and commitment and thinking that other people in such a position would share the same feeling. Tuesday I was proven wrong - as others were - and really was shocked that someone would leave that position in what I believe was a cowardly way.
Rene thinks he did us a favor by allowing us the ability to choose his successor through an election. I can understand that, but there is an alternative viewpoint that is worth looking at. There are a lot of negatives about the special election including the cost, the unusual group of people that would come out for a June or July election, the difficulty of raising money for two or three or four elections almost back-to-back, etc. Imagine a scenario where the winning Mayor in the special election does so by only a few percentage points. Don't you think that would be a major motivating factor for the losing candidate/side in a November election when the turn out would be larger and more predictable? How effective is this "interim' Mayor going to be in the four months he or she is in office? I don't think this temporary position carries much of the cachet of incumbency. This new Mayor will land smack dab in the middle of budget season too.
Now imagine that Rene waited until next week to resign. The "Best Commission Ever" would be in a position to put who they wanted in the center seat. I can't think of a better rallying cry for over-reaching their authority - over-playing their hand - and the majority is then swamped in the regular November election. A person appointed to the Mayoral position would always suffer from an asterisk behind their name - they had not been elected. I thought it seemed as though some Commissioners were protesting a little too much about the prospect of a special election on Tuesday night. I started smelling a rat.
And, true to his character, Rene consulted with no one - as far as I know - about the implications of either alternative.
Regardless, we are headed for a special election and I don't necessarily think Rene did us much of a favor in making sure that was so. It also broadcast to the world that Lake Worth is politically unstable - news to no one, I know, but this early departure did a lot to reinforce that perception.
Lake Worth to meet Monday to set date for special mayoral election
Rise and shine early Monday morning to catch the action - the election could be June 28th. Click title for link to article.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Fresh from the Joint City Commission, CRA meeting...
The term of "L-Dub" for the Cultural Renaissance Program will be reconsidered by the CRA.
Joint CRA/City Commission Work Session - Tonight - 5/5 - 6 p.m. - Compass Center
Click title for link to back-up and draft of Cultural Renaissance Program - what the City Commission wanted to see during the last takeover attempt on March 1st. The report is worth the read.
Former Lake Worth mayor defends timing of departure; special election could draw crowd
The PBP summarizes the situation and reviews possible candidates. Click title for link.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Discovery of $300,000 in unpaid bills leads to audit of Lake Worth Utilities' accounts
This is what was going on late last night at the Commission, as reported. Click title for link to PBP article.
I went to sleep with the sound of our electeds dancing in my head...
The meeting finally got over at 1:30 a.m. I am not sure how many were still in the audience at that late of an hour, but they tackled some interesting issues in the "wee hours" last night. There were also some revelations.
One of them concerned the forensic audit of commercial utility accounts. You can read the back-up by clicking here. Apparently, in just their initial internal checking, they determined that $300,000 that should have been paid by some commercial customers hasn't been. This means that some people, by whatever means, have found a way to cheat the system and get around the city's high commercial electric rates. If you have this as a widespread condition, then you have to continually raise rates to make up for the shortfall. The people that don't cheat get the highest bills and those that do seem to have no problem doing what they do with a clear conscience. Well, this forensic audit of commercial accounts is a start in the right direction. When we do the same thing to the entire utility department, that will be a good thing.
Also utility related, the City is contracting with a firm which will takeover utilities customer service for a three month period and institute "best practices." I guess that is all that this firm does is run utilities customer service departments. Then there might be the same or another firm that takes over the operation for another nine months. It was SAD to hear Utilities Director Mattey describe the sorry state-of-affairs within the department. She said that attrition is so bad that they are in a position where there is no management now. They have raised the bar higher which means people have been let go for non-performance or left due to early retirement. It really seems to be the case that nobody is left to answer the phones - imagine that. She said to forget about training, they are now at a level where it is a challenge just to get people to come to work. To me, it sounded like she was talking about the behavior of a kindergarten class and not a utility customer service department.
Then there was a presentation by the Morganti Group about adding the entire 19 acre renovation project to the beach in addition to their construction manager at risk assignment related to the Casino building. This was approved, with some concern about an insurance matter, which at the hour this was discussed I had a little difficulty following. If anyone can shed some light on the situation, please do. Interestingly, last Thursday, those of us on FaceBook who "liked" the Morganti page, got a preview of this. I should have gotten a "screen grab" of the post but this is what was on their page last week - it is gone today. "The whole beachfront project is ours! This is awesome for the Casino project coordination, better value for the city and great for all our Lake Worth people to be a part of!" Seems to be they were counting the chickens before they were allowed. I bet they were given all assurances by the City Administration that this was a "done deal."
Then, Commissioner Maxwell commented on his day at the County Commission meeting concerning the Inspector General. The County Commission passed the item without the changes requested by the League of Cities, which would have weakened the program. In fact, the whole thing will go into effect on second reading (two weeks from now) and not in October. The Inspector General will be able to go back as far as they need to - there is no date before which they cannot look into things. Hmmm. Most revealing, in terms of how the County Commission sees Lake Worth, is the number of times Lake Worth was mentioned in the context of not being able to be counted on to carry out and abide by agreements. The city's non-payment of the fire services contract was specifically mentioned and they wondered whether they can trust Lake Worth to live up to its obligation and pay the $17,000 and change cost for the Inspector General. This met with immediate rebuttal from Commissioner Mulvehill and City Manager Stanton, saying that they have had good relations with the Inspector General so far - but they purposefully missed the larger point. The point is word on the street is that Lake Worth cannot be trusted. Commissioner Aaronson suggested that if it becomes a problem, the County can take the money from the $5 million it has given for the beach project. Commissioner Maxwell understood the importance of the matter, but it was lost on the rest of the City Commission and Administration.
And we learned the the Administrative Hearing Office has ruled that the City's Comprehensive Plan has been found "in compliance."
And we learned the the Administrative Hearing Office has ruled that the City's Comprehensive Plan has been found "in compliance."
After that their voices faded off into the distance and I was able to dream about pleasant things and happy places. Feel free to add anything I may have missed under comments.
Channel 5 has it all wrong this morning...
They keep repeating that the Mayor wasn't in office for more than six months. They say that if he had been in longer than six months there wouldn't be a need for an election. This was on during every half hour of the newscast this morning. Sheesh...
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
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![Dr. W. H. Cotton’s ode: “Oh, My Lake Worth, Florida!” [circa 1920].](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUL75cv6zJQFjX15ojOIIz9AjnbqH4asHJTYSDhnGnYr7rJZRha1NcNTirj2xPcId158vkz5Hw-wXgOfrlztj8Zr8jLFFCfuEN6PyV44ZlpMRmJ68xbtFL9vzxNiG7xDs_HJvm/s1600/LakeWorthPioneers.JPG)
