Monday Night Madness. . .

These three nattily attired gentlemen aren’t announcing Monday Night Football, they’re Lake Worth Mayoral candidates.

Arriving late to the  South Palm Park candidates forum at Brogues last night I asked a friend, “How are they doing?” and got the reply “I wish I could vote for all of them!”  And for most of the night that was my feeling as well.  Each candidate played their strongest hand to the audience, often answering  questions about a neighborhood concern in a way that let them address their city wide views.

Jo-Ann Golden appeared to have the most difficulty with some of the questions that had a distinct bias against the current majority.  But all in all, they did well.

Well not all of them. . .

John Jordan displayed ignorance and racial insensitivity with his comments last night.  Yes,  Mr. Jordan is a curmudgeon and full of old time wit and wisdom.  However none of that excuses what he said last night.  He needs to drop out of the race immediately.

The real Monday Night Madness was what John Jordan had to say.

This Just In. . .

For The Publix Good. . .

On Tomorrow night’s CRA agenda the new Publix on Dixie Hwy. will be dicussed and put to a vote to approve the contract. Here are the broad strokes:

12 Million dollar project includes construction of 29,000 square foot building.

Publix will create  90 jobs;  40 full time 50 part time.

100 new jobs during construction.

Estimated operational impact 12 million dollars in economic activity per year.

CRA Targeted incentive;  500k to help defray the costs of infrastructure improvements.

Publix Submits Permits no later than 180 days after site plan approval.

Publix must commence construction within 6 months of permits being issued.

Publix must close on acquisition of property on or before May 25, 2010.

CRA staff estimates within first 5 years of opening the CRA will receive 400K in TIF revenue ;  in ten years 849k and 1.3 million in 15 years.

Here are the renderings of the building and site plan:

Click on images to enlarge.

GGGGGGGG

Bring your thoughts and comments to the CRA meeting tomorrow night at 6 PM.  Let’s hope our new Publix incorporates neighborhood friendly features like they did in Fort Myers, see below.

Enclosed Receiving Area.

Neighborhood friendly streetscape.

Tonight 7 PM

It’s Easy To Forget. . .

For all the gloom and doom,the crime, the rumors,the politicking etc., it’s easy to forget Lake Worth has its good points.

Morning Fishing At Bryant Park

I’m going to walk around this evening once it cools down and enjoy Lake Worth.  I hope to see you out there too.

Making A Federal Case. . .

It’s very interesting to go to the Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce’s website and check out the accommodations they promote to those interested in visiting Lake Worth. (Click here to view the page)

Under the heading “From quaint bed and breakfasts to luxury resorts, we have your perfect home away from home!” the Chamber features twelve places to stay.

Of the twelve, four are bed and breakfast places here in town.  There are two listings for Adam Schlesinger’s resort over the bridge in Palm Beach.  Two more are for  resorts and hotels in Palm Beach.  There is one for a La Quinta Inn in Jupiter (yes Jupiter!).  The Hummingbird downtown and the New Sungate Hotel on South Federal Highway are the only two true hotels listed in the city.  Googling the Hummingbird and New Sungate shows that while they each had some good reviews, both of them had enough bad ones to make a potential visitor think twice about staying in Lake Worth.

We decided to take a walk down South Federal Highway and take a look at the hotels there and the general conditions.

We started at the New Sungate.  The owners of the Sungate get an A for effort. While we did not go in the rooms, the condition of the building and parking lot was neat and clean.  But like the reviews online mention, a traveler arriving at the New Sungate would be upset with the neighborhood, particularly after dark.

The New Sungate Hotel

As we walked north we found a mix of some places that still looked pretty well maintained surrounded by vacant lots, shuttered hotels and motels that rent units out as apartments by the day, week or month.

This property is well taken care of. . .

But right up the road is the abandoned Midnight Sun Hotel.

One of the many for rent signs.

There was an unexpected bright spot.  Someone is redoing the building at 826 South Federal and it looks fantastic.

We went in the ally to check out the back.

There has been a lot of talk recently about attracting business to improve the Dixie Highway corridor.  We cannot forget about Federal Highway as we look to the future.  Federal is a gateway into our City and it deserves the same attention we are trying to focus elsewhere.

We also need to get a good hotel within walking distance to our downtown and beach if we ever hope to be a tourist destination.  While the Gulfstream moulders we should consider other possible locations.  It is ridiculous that a hotel in Jupiter is featured as a place to stay when visiting Lake Worth.  We just got Publix to come here, now let’s set our sights on getting the things we need to make this a city people will want to visit and in which to spend their dollars.

Note: See Nadine Burns’s comment below regarding the Hotel In Jupiter that’s on the Chamber’s Website.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere There’s Signs. . .

Deanna and I took a short walk today and as the song goes, signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs.

I saw this in the window of Marty’s Shoe Repair.  I’m not sure if Marty’s is truly a “mom & pop” business, but if they are, they may need to change the sign to read altercations.

We headed over to Javier Del Sol’s sign factory to visit and see how they were coming along.  As I’ve mentioned before Javier might not be my first choice for mayor, but his campaign’s commitment to recycling is admirable and heck it’s just plan fun too.

The assembly line, green style!

Drying the noonday sun.

The finished product ready to go.

A Little Bit Of Equal Time. . .

I have had the pleasure of meeting Quetel Osterval  a couple of times over the last few days.  Que, as he likes to be called, is the soft spoken Owner and Executive director of the Cyberbusiness  Center at 824 Lake Ave. .  Que started the business 2-1/2 years ago and has been working hard to make it successful.  Que’s pleasant demeanor belies the fact that he is highly educated (in addition to his degree he spent a year at Harvard on a scholarship) and motivated man.

This morning when I read Lynn Anderson’s blog about her visit to his business center (Click Here To Read It) I thought, this does not sound like the man I know.  So I went over to speak with him about what happened.

When I arrived Que and his staff were visibly upset.  The manager of the Business Center said that Lynn Anderson had been in the store a while ago and noticed the materials they were printing for some candidates.  He said that she said it wouldn’t be a good thing to support any candidates and maybe she would write about it in her blog.

Que then gave his version of today’s visit by Ms. Anderson.

He said that he never just came up to her and asked who she was supporting.  Que said he only came out of the back of the store after he heard raised voices and wanted to see if he could help.

Contradicting what Anderson writes on her Blog, Que told me that Anderson informed him and his employees that if her candidate wins they would shut his business down.  Que who came from Haiti 30 years ago said, “You see when a threat like that is made in Haiti, the next night they might fire bomb your business”.  He said the thought some of his employees might want to leave if they thought the company would not stay open.

Now, whose story is true?  I can’t tell you and like all things the truth is likely somewhere in the middle.  I can tell you that Que was upset enough to contact the PBSO after the incident.

Here’s what I can tell you, this should have never happened.  A business can print what they want in order to make a living.  A business can, if it so desires, support a candidate for public office.  It is worth noting that Que’s store does not display any political candidates signs, the only ones visible are the ones they are working on.

We’ll never know what was really said at the shop this morning.  However Ms. Anderson appears to be trying to teach businesses how to conduct themselves.  Oddly she seems only to have problems with those she perceives as having differing political views (Click Here to Read More).

It appears that she might benefit from some training on how to conduct herself as well.

Yet Another Candidates Forum. . .

Mark your calendars, the 2009 Mayoral Candidates Karaoke Sing Off takes place October 14th at 12 AM at the Bryant Park Bandshell.  Come out and listen to the Mayoral hopefuls as they croon their favorite tunes.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid. . .

It appears that Ms. Stanton is determined to have her way with our city.  Will the Commissioners be able to snap out of her spell before it’s too late?