Sunday, October 25, 2015

The Florida Corgi Picnic happening soon—Save the Date: November 14th

Here is the website to find out more and register if you wish. This picnic is to benefit CorgiAid. Palm Bay is located on Florida's east coast south of Cape Canaveral and north of Vero Beach. Here is the address: 220 Chandler Road NW, Palm Bay, FL 32907. 

Isn't this Corgi adorable:

[UPDATE] Lake Worth Commissioner Ryan Maier misrepresents Lake Worth at Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council

[UPDATE: Commissioner Maier, by the looks of it, hasn't been trained well by his handlers and that has now been forever documented by his appearance at the TCRPC last month in the now-approved minutes. In an irresponsible manner he misrepresented the City of Lake Worth on a very crucial matter:
The Planning & Zoning Board and City staff DID NOT recommend "against the changes". They both supported the changes to the City's LDR's.
Continue reading this post (originally published earlier in the month) on how badly misrepresented our City was before such an important board:]

After Maier's debacle vis-à-vis the FEC train horn volume and the "little horns" it was suggested that somebody from Lake Worth should be tasked with attending meetings of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC) to find out what Maier is telling people and to make sure the record is set straight. Now this suggestion is now a necessity. Maier is the City's liaison to the TCRPC and he misrepresented (or lied about, if you wish) the issue of 'planned development' in our City.

He misrepresented both himself as an elected official and the City Commission. The following is from the minutes of the TCRPC on September 18th (page 5):
     Commissioner Ryan Maier indicated he is a new commissioner in Lake Worth and is learning about planned development, because in Lake Worth they have discussed allowing them in the city. He stated according to Muni Code, the intent of a planned development is to relax regulations related to height, density, setback, etc. He indicated Palm Beach County currently allows planned developments at 40 percent in the agricultural reserve, and that anything higher could hardly be called agricultural reserve. He noted the planning and zoning board along with staff have recommended against the changes, and he asked Council to support that position. 
What Lake Worth has done is nothing close to what he is suggesting to the TCRPC. No one is suggesting a large, gated community in the City like those that dot the county out west. Making the suggestion is ludicrous and inflammatory. Lake Worth isn't relaxing any regulations on height or density. What is being changed, for example, is that lots of a half acre or larger can have a little more flexibility where the structure is located. Here is the first page of the City Commission agenda from October 6th:
You can read this material for yourself about the changes from the City Commission agenda: read pages 117–134.

Take special note of the following facts:
  • City staff supports the changes
  • The Planning & Zoning Board voted 7-0 in support (August 5th)
  • The Historic Resources Preservation Board voted 6-0 in support (August 12th)
  • The City Commission voted 3-2 in support on September 1st (with Commissioners Maier & McVoy dissenting; no big surprise)
Being the liaison to the TCRPC is a serious responsibility and shouldn't be taken lightly. And the public in Lake Worth shouldn't have to be concerned about how our elected officials are behaving before such a crucial board such as the TCRPC. They are a very important partner and their help has been and will be crucial for our City's future.

And lastly, from the TCPRC minutes Maier stated "he is a new commissioner in Lake Worth". After 200+ days?

Here is more about Maier and his appearance at the TCRPC: inexplicably, he has no clue where the Ag Reserve is located in Palm Beach County.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

[PINNED POST] Roots Rock Reggae at the Bamboo Room TONIGHT: proceeds to family of Corey Jones

The Bamboo Room is located in downtown Lake Worth. The address is 25 S. 'J' Street off Lake Ave. There is plenty of free parking all over town.
To "Follow" the Bamboo Room click on the Follow icon in the Tweet above. The Bamboo Room recently re-opened and you can learn more about that here.

Status of lawsuits involving the City of Lake Worth as of 10/22/15


This is a fantastic bit of information prepared by the City Attorney. Under previous administrations and commission regimes, this information was very difficult to come by. I remember trying to do this on my own years ago through the Clerk's office and it proved to be an impossible task. These do not include all of the Charlotte Taylor related cases, which apparently there are many. Worth looking through and it is obvious that attempts are being made to resolve these issues as you read the status line.

This one case stood out under recently settled cases. It is the lawsuit by Laurel Decker concerning the vote (that was determined to be null and void by state law) to restrict allowable building heights in the downtown area.

Philanthropists looking for Palm Beach County students to create innovative solutions for community issues

This news appeared in The Lake Worth Herald's last edition dated 10/15. A group of philanthropists formed the Advisors for Philanthropic Impact and are seeking students with creative ideas to solve community issues. Here is an excerpt from the article:
     A new challenge that gives area students the opportunity to create innovative solutions to community issues and social problems in Palm Beach County is now taking applicants. Applications are being accepted from public, private and home-schooled students residing in Palm Beach County. 
     Philanthropy Tank will fund winning programs “pitched” by the student participants to a panel of four area philanthropists that include William Meyer, Julie Fisher Cummings and Danielle H. Moore of Palm Beach, and Eric Becker of Jupiter. Each philanthropist has committed $25,000 to fund ideas that directly achieve unique and creative solutions to community issues. A total of eight to 12 student finalists will have the opportunity to receive up to $10,000 for each idea, and will be mentored by the donating philanthropist for the year that follows the event.
Here is a link to the application form. The deadline for submissions is December 15th and the finalists will be announced on January 30, 2016.

Icon and biggest little man in Lake Worth: Everything you need to know about the problems at City's Casino complex

The Obtuse Blogger (TOB) posted a "Quote of the Day" and a comment from Mr. Greg Rice. So, without further ado or comment from me, read what Mr. Rice posted on another blog in Lake Worth:
Loretta's last name is "Sharpe". An innocent mistake I'm sure.

[UPDATE] Lake Worth's own Bob D'Arinzo on the "Lake Worth Has Talent" fundraiser for Children's Miracle Network

[UPDATE: Mayor Pam Triolo will co-host the Lake Worth Has Talent event with Bob per the Post's Kevin Thompson on November 1st.]

Most of you are familiar with Bob as one of our spectacular realtors in the City. In the short, 45-second video below he explains another of his passions, raising money for the Children's Miracle Network. To learn more use this link from a previous blog post. Now to the video:

Use the following link to learn more and buy tickets to the event on November 1st.

Please Note: If you have more positive, community news in the City of Lake Worth, suburban Lake Worth (including Palm Beach State College) and Greenacres here is how you contact the Post reporter:
Email: kthompson@pbpost.com
561-820-4573
Twitter: @kevindthompson1

From West Palm Beach Magazine: All Aboard Florida is transforming the Miami-Dade/Broward/Palm Beach Metro region

Here is a link to West Palm Beach Magazine and you can also follow them on Twitter. This video accompanies the article:

What is 'clickbait' journalism? Would you know it if you saw it?

Here is the Wikipedia definition of 'clickbait':
Clickbait is a pejorative term describing web content that is aimed at generating online advertising revenue, especially at the expense of quality or accuracy, relying on sensationalist headlines to attract click-throughs and to encourage forwarding of the material over online social networks. Clickbait headlines typically aim to exploit the "curiosity gap", providing just enough information to make the reader curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content.
First to make something very clear: I am not a professional journalist. This is a blog about things that interest me and people visit this blog because they are interested or curious about what is posted here. Recently a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, a very accomplished one at that, Tweeted about clickbait and then I followed the link to an article in the New York Times. Here are two excerpts from the article by Ravi Somaiya:
Since the days when most major cities supported multiple newspapers, the news media has long been subject to groupthink, and prone to search for sensation. But as more readers move toward online social networks, and as publishers desperately seek scale to bring in revenue, many have deplored a race toward repetitive, trivial journalism, so noisy that it drowns out more considered work. [emphasis added]
[and. . .]
[E]very publication now requires a greater number of readers to make ends meet. And perhaps the greatest potential resource are the billions who have turned to social media as a faster portal for information. That means journalists must now compete with entertainment, quizzes, gossip and baby pictures.
     The weapon of choice is often emotion. Specialists optimize and test multiple headlines and pictures. If they land on a successful formula — asking a provocative question, hinting at a profound experience, including a celebrity name — it is quickly echoed by other outlets.
So there you go. Readers of my blog will know what I'm referring to here: while I was at the Lake Worth municipal pool recently overheard a woman telling another woman that Lake Worth was the most dangerous city in the state of Florida. [It's not; not even close.] Goes to show how effective clickbait journalism can be. And then there's this:
You decide, is this Tweet an example of clickbait? CBS12/WPEC in Palm Beach County, FLORIDA Tweeted out this news story which occurred in MAINE. But you need to click the link to find that out.

Lake Worth's Blue Front BBQ and The Upper Crust bakery are Best Of in Palm Beach County

Here is the latest, a press release about the Blue Front BBQ:
Voted Best Of in the county are our Blue Front BBQ and The Upper Crust bakery. Stop by and congratulate both of them. They're both located on North Dixie Hwy a short distance from each other.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Considering or looking for a home in Palm Beach County? You need to pick up The Palm Beach Post today

The Palm Beach Post has a huge section ('D' section) on new homes in Palm Beach County today (10/23). You can also see this online using this link. Below is just one of the locations in Palm Beach Gardens:
The Home Show at the South Florida Expo Center starts today and runs through Sunday.

PBSO reached "Excelsior" status: highest rating for law enforcement in the State of Florida

About the video below: The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO) has earned Excelsior status from the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement. It is the highest possible achievement for a Law Enforcement/Corrections agency, meeting the highest possible standards instituted by the state. It is the sixth accreditation for PBSO representing its service over the last 15 years.

Congratulations Ric Bradshaw.

Some Lake Worth history is in order here. In 2011 then-Commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill and then-City Manager Susan Stanton tried to kick PBSO out of the City—fortunately for our City, they failed. 

 Below is a video of the two in full retreat at a City Hall press conference in which I was in attendance:

At the 6:10 mark in the video I ask Stanton a question she clumsily tries to avoid answering. Enjoy the video!

Please Folks: Watch out for those trains—they can't stop

Scott Sutton at NBC5/WPTV has this latest on another fatality involving a train:
Tri-Rail service is severely impacted from Lake Worth north into West Palm Beach after a train hit and killed a pedestrian early Friday morning.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said the incident occurred at about 4:30 a.m. at 10th Ave North and Barnett Drive in Lake Worth.
Barnett Drive doesn't cross the tracks but it's apparently the closest street to the incident location off 10th Ave. North. Hard to believe but just yesterday (10/22) someone was killed by a train while walking across the tracks talking on the phone.

JP Sasser was right! It's the septic tanks destroying the Indian River Lagoon

[The blog post below was originally posted in May. Now comes this article from TCPalm titled, "Research: Septic systems ‘primary' source of river, reef pollution". The research hasn't been released as yet but hopefully this will get the Treasure Coast to finally install a county-wide sewer system for the sake of the lagoon and the environment. Here is the blog post from last May:]

On the heels of the grief at The Palm Beach Post over the end of the "sheet flow" debate the focus may now shift to our friends north and east of Lake Okeechobee. Here is how I ended my post from yesterday, 5/15, on the end of the Everglades land buy and the grief at the Post:
Now about all those septic tanks . . .
And wouldn't you know it, the VERY NEXT DAY this "Point Of View" appears in the Post editorial page by JP Sasser, the former Mayor of Pahokee:
JP Sasser was right all along.
Here is an excerpt from Mr. Sasser's contribution to the debate (with emphasis in red):
     The final point was that the cities of Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay pumped our raw sewage into the lake. We have had modern centralized sewer systems for over 40 years.
     The Treasure Coast needs to look in the mirror. Some waters in Florida are polluted with human fecal matter — particularly the IRL.
     “Buy the land and send water south” is not the only road to water salvation.
     My question is: When are we going to get serious about our water? Florida’s agriculture-industry pollution is regulated statewide and has to meet specific limits. Our septic tanks are not held to the same requirements.
The following video has nothing to do with this debate but it is an interesting look back at the political career of JP Sasser:

[UPDATE] Commissioner reports from Tuesday night's Lake Worth City Commission meeting (10/20)

[UPDATE: In the link below to the Post article on the length of meetings in Lake Worth is a poll (at the end of the article). Do you recall when City meetings in a previous commission regularly went well into the night with some of the most important decisions being made after the people got tired and went home? Take the poll and will let you know the results.]

Here is Kevin Thompson's article from The Palm Beach Post on Commissioner McVoy's comments about the length of meetings. McVoy says he is willing to allow department heads to continue to buy a box of pencils or a ream of paper without asking the Commission. That's called efficient government! At the end of the piece, Mr. Thompson suggests that "cots" might be a good idea to bring to meetings should they go longer.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)