UPDATE—November 8th referendum to fix our roads: the AD VALOREM TAX CALCULATOR is available on City's website

Use this link for the Ad Valorem Tax Calculator.

Do you live on North 'J' Street? Find out how much it will cost you to fix that pothole in front of your house.

Remember 2 years ago when all these red/white signs lined North 'J' Street, Lakeside Drive, and North Palmway? With only 43 days to go until the Nov. 8th referendum those critics still can't answer that question: "How to fix our roads?"

Vote "Yes" on November 8th.

Spread the word:

Pool party today cancelled due to the weather. Rescheduled to October 8th.

This image is from the file, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em".

Today's (9/24) FREE OPEN SWIM* from 5:00–8:00 is sponsored by the Bryant Park Neighborhood. Bring a cooler, floats, and music. Fun times will be had by all!

Here is more information about this neighborhood association: The Bryant Park Neighborhood extends from Lake Ave. to 5th Ave. South and from Federal Hwy. to the Intracoastal. Meetings are held on the 4th Monday of the month and take place at The Beach Club, One 7th Avenue North at the Lake Worth Golf Course. Meetings start at 7:00 p.m.

Membership is open to all residents of the Bryant Park Neighborhood. Dues are $10 per person or $15 per family. Use this link for their Facebook page.

*Regular parking rates apply. The pool rules are no glass bottles and no alcohol.

News from Post reporter Zach Dennis: Our Stonzek Theatre "celebrates indie theater in Lake Worth"

Spread the word about this news also featured in today's (9/23) print edition. Here is an excerpt from the article:

     Come out and support your local art house movie theater with the first national Art House Day.
     In Palm Beach County, the Lake Worth Playhouse will recognize the day with a handful of independent showings at the Stonzek Theatre on Saturday, Sept. 24. [emphasis added] For families, the theater will be showing “A Town Called Panic,” a 2009 French and Belgian stop-motion animated film, that follows the misadventures of three characters (named Cowboy, Indian, and Horse), who live in a town known as Panic and get stuck in a series of improbable events that keeps Horse from his one true love, Madame Longray (who is also a horse).
     That showing will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday and costs $9 for general admission and $6 for film society members.

The trailer for one of the movies, "A Town Called Panic":

In this week's Lake Worth Herald: NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING (do you know what "curbstoning" is? Click link below.)

Please take notice that the City Commission of the City of Lake Worth will hold a public hearing in the City Commission Chamber, at or after 6:00 pm on October 4, 2016, on the following ordinance:

ORDINANCE NO. 2016-27 OF THE CITY OF LAKE WORTH, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 7, “BEACHES, PARKS AND RECREATION”, ARTICLE VI, “MUNICIPAL BEACH AREA AND MUNICIPAL BEACH”, SECTION 7-69, “COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES; PEDDLING”; AMENDING CHAPTER 21, “TRAFFIC”, ARTICLE I, “IN GENERAL”, SECTION 21-21, “APPLICABLITY OF “PALM BEACH COUNTY CURBSTONING ORDINANCE”

All interested persons may appear and be heard with respect to the proposed ordinance. The proposed ordinance may be inspected by the public Monday–Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at the City Clerk’s Office, 7 North Dixie Highway, Lake Worth, Florida.

Reminder—Lake Worth Library celebrates 75th anniversary: Open House tomorrow (9/24) from 3:00–5:00

The entire story detailing the history of Lake Worth's Library is in last week's Lake Worth Herald. If you don't subscribe to the Herald you can pick up the print edition at the City's newsstand at 600 Lake Ave, across the street from the Cultural Council. Here are two excerpts from the article:

     The building was built at 1 North “M” Street. This building was given by the citizens of Lake Worth. The Lake Worth Free Library opened with its Mediterranean style of architecture costing $61,321 [completed in 1942]. It was a gift to the City and its people.

[and. . .]

     Today, under the direction of Vickie Joslin, Head Librarian, the 2016 Library offers programs for children and adults. Members and visitors can explore the world on computers and digitized material of the classics are available.

For more information contact Vickie Joslin at 561-533-7354 or email vjoslin@lakeworth.org

Coastal Cleanup tomorrow (9/24) and again on October 1st

To register and learn more use this link. ; also on Facebook.

Gulfstream Hotel and another legal delay. Whatever you do, don't get angry or despondent. That's EXACTLY what they want you to do. Stay upbeat!

Decided to move this post back to the top of the blog. JoAnn Golden's paperwrenching does have an upside, it's drawn more and more people to the cause of getting the Gulfstream Hotel redevelopment project moving forward, and quick.

The public spoke. Loudly. Patience and the public mood are wearing very thin.

This blog post was first published Wednesday, 9/14. The public mood to see something happen with the hotel is wearing very thin. Commissioner Andy Amoroso attended a neighborhood meeting on Monday, 9/19, and the crowd was "boisterous" on this issue. 

The Gulfstream Hotel redevelopment will be delayed again. This structure is on the National Register of Historic Places. It's an important part of our history and Palm Beach County's as well. I've toured the hotel. It will take a total renovation; looks from the outside are deceiving. Time empty is not good for its future and we all know that is not good for the City. But JoAnn Golden et al have the money to delay this project and that's exactly what they did.

The redevelopment plan for the property was approved by the Historic Resource Preservation Board (HRPB) earlier this year. That carries the solution and opens the door for the Gulfstream's future. Its completion, along with the additional parking, will allow the use and preservation of the building and bring much needed hotel rooms back to our downtown.

Certain people, the one's that sued the City over the height issue, know that the Gulfstream being open and operating would represent a turning point for the City's redevelopment. It's that important and they know it. They are just miserable and mean people. The City needs to fight back and we all need to have faith the legal team will do anything and everything possible to end this nonsense.

We simply can't let the malcontents continue to hold this City back. They are making matters worse for everyone and flail around the court system as a way of expressing their anger. Sadly, the taxpayers will be the ones footing the bill for all this. Again.

Historic hotels are special and need to be saved while there's still time. There is one in Texas that is facing the same economic forces as the Gulfstream Hotel. Other hotels in Florida faced similar forces and eventually succumbed. I was the "undertaker" for one in Belleview, Florida called the Belleview Biltmore that had fallen into such disrepair nothing could be done to save it.

I was called in to document the Belleview Biltmore's history prior to demolition. It was one of the largest wooden hotels ever built and it rivaled the Royal Poinciana in Palm Beach that went down in the 1930s. It was part of Henry Plant's railroad network on the west coast. Henry Flagler concentrated on the east coast by a sort of gentleman's agreement.

The hotel being empty is a threat. It's not playing the role it should be in our local economy. It is of another time and challenged to survive no matter who owns it. One of the problems is a hotel operating there is an abstraction now. Many people can't remember it open so they just accept the fact it sits there empty and deteriorating.

Most of the public don't sense the urgency. But they should. The ones behind the latest legal maneuvering understand all this but they don't care. A 65′ height limit for the adjacent hotel on the site IS NOT a "tall" building. It is considered "mid-rise" in the planning and zoning world, certainly not a "high-rise".

The new hotel, along with the additional parking which is crucial, will all stand much lower than the Gulfstream. Not accepting this is MADNESS.

We can't let this latest 'paper-wrenching' get the best of us. Stay calm. Stay upbeat. And please attend meetings and let your thoughts be known. This latest legal 'monkeywrenching' will fail in due time. Let's just all hope the Gulfstream Hotel survives all this madness by those wish it a date with the wrecking ball.

Video and more information: Lake Worth PBSO (District 14) update at City Commission on September 20th

First there's this important item: To help fund anti-gang and the Annual Christmas Gift Giveaway in Lake Worth, the golf tournament is coming up on October 9th. Use this link to learn more and there's a bonus too! You'll also read one of the rare positive articles about PBSO in The Palm Beach Post. Not kidding. It actually happened.

Use this link to learn more about PBSO District 14. The video of Cpt. Baer at the City Commission is below.

Arrests are up 5.5%,

PBSO is working with the NAPC on a new community policing program with the assistance of homeowners. To learn more use this link.

The big news is Lake Worth now has its own Assistant State Attorney.

Here is the video. The video quality is poor since it was recorded off a TV screen but the audio is very good. Please share this information with your friends and neighbors:

More rumor control: Why there was no CRA update at the last City Commission meeting

No, Weetha. It's OK. It's not a conspiracy.

On this blog last Tuesday (9/20), reported that item 5B, "Community Redevelopment Agency update" was on the City Commission agenda. CRA Director Joan Oliva was out of town and the item should have been deleted from the agenda.

If for some reason you're still disturbed about this use this link to contact someone at the CRA.

To learn more about the Lake Worth CRA, mission statement, history, and awards use this link.

For everyone who wants to learn more about the 1¢ sales tax on the November ballot:

Literature being passed out to the public. To learn more go to this website: OneCountyOnePenny.org

Random notes and observations about the Lake Worth City Commission meeting last Tuesday (9/20)

By request from a blog reader, "important news everyone has to know":

I wasn't able to attend this City Commission meeting but did watch parts of it from the City's video. Here are random thoughts in no particular order:

• Mayor Pam Triolo got $3 million for Lake Worth from the MPO! Check back for more on that soon. Of course, news like this doesn't quite make the cut at The Palm Beach Post. Here is the video to watch for yourself:
• The City's Fiscal Year 2016/2017 budget passed unanimously. The 5 added PBSO deputies will start this October.
• PBSO Captain Baer's update was very good. He said many of the assaults and robberies have a connection to heroin and former sober home residents.
• It's about time the City replaces the microphone at the podium.
• Big news: Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell had a very productive trip to Washington, D.C. on issue of sober homes. He said there will be a joint statement soon by HUD and DOJ on "group homes" and distance restrictions. 
• Awaiting information to smack down Commissioner Ryan Maier's assertions about the Blueway Trail. Salt water intrusion? Manatees are being ignored? Nonsense. Maier attended the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council where they gave support for the Blueway Trail to proceed.
• From Maier, again, no quorum at the last Sister City board meeting. Sigh.
• Commissioner Andy Amoroso attended Monday's Parrot Cove neighborhood meeting and those in attendance were "boisterous" about JoAnn Golden's latest effort to stop the Gulfstream Hotel redevelopment project. They want the City to recoup all the money spent on legal fees.

This meeting was a short one but think many items on the agenda will have reverberations until the municipal elections next March, especially Maier's support for the homeless and panhandler's over the needs and concerns of residents in his very own district.

This weekend (9/24 & 9/25): Premiere of Opera Fusion's musical drama about murder of Matthew Shepard, "Not In My Town"

“Not In My Town,” is the story of the events surrounding the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, the gay Wyoming college student who was beaten and left tied to a fence.

First Weekend: Saturday, September 24th at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday (9/25) at 3:00 p.m. at the University Theatre, Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton Campus, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton. Tickets $20 via Opera Fusion.

Second Weekend: Friday, September 30th at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, October 1st at 8:00 p.m. at the Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets from $35 (see Opera Fusion link above).

Status of 2 PAC's: Will one or both go active to campaign against fixing potholes and repairing our roads?

What is the status of the two PAC's? See images below. The November 8th bond vote to fix our roads is only 47 days away (from today, September 22nd). How long before those $1,000 checks start rolling in from the Great Walled City of Atlantis? A wonderful city with such fine streets and sidewalks?

Mrs. McGiveron and Commissioner Chris McVoy started early working the press to spin the City's bond in a bad way so can win again like they did in 2014, by just 25 votes:Here is the latest:

The September 7th report, like previous campaign finance reports, snow no activity. Yet. Use this link to keep checking what McGiveron's CAUT PAC is up to.

Here is McGiveron's Save Our Neighborhood Inc PAC. The latest report (August 31st) shows no activity like the previous report on August 2nd. 

Or will another PAC form to try and scuttle the City's plan to fix the streets in Lake Worth? Stay tuned as they say.

Herman Robinson says, "For the Love of Lake Worth"

Curious? Then call Herman at 561-352-4252 for an explanation.

New Community Policing program to help solve property crime in the little, tiny City of Lake Worth

Below is the news from a recent article in the Lake Worth Herald:

     "In an effort to solve property crimes, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office District 14 is seeking assistance from Lake Worth homeowners with video surveillance on their properties. In a request through the Neighborhood Association Presidents Council (NAPC), PBSO is asking those residents to provide their contact information so road patrol deputies would know exactly where to go and who to contact regarding possible video footage of property crime incidents in the neighborhoods.
     The information will be kept confidential in a database and used only as an investigative tool by PBSO deputies."

To register for this PBSO District 14 Community Policing program:

Contact coordinator Benito Gaspar at gasparb@pbso.org or call 561-202-9624

Information requested:

• Name (who to contact retrieving video)
• Address
• Phone number
• NAPC Neighborhood Association. Not sure? Use this email to find out: napcinfo@gmail.com
• Security company (if applicable)

You may also be interested in finding out more about PBSO's Citizen On Patrol (COP) program. And, as always, if you see anything suspicious: