A New Day for the CRA. . .

Five new board members took their seats on the dais for the first time at this evening’s CRA meeting.  After the new board members took their oath, the first order of business was nominating a new Chair. Peter Meyerhoefer  was  unanimously voted as Chair.  Donna Ross was voted unanimously as Vice Chair by the previous board.  Now both nominations go to the City Commissioners for final approval.

I was impressed with the good ideas put forth by the new members tonight.  They all seem ready and excited to continue the momentum generated by their predecessors.

A Different Drummer. . .

Javier Del Sol is hoping there are those in Lake Worth who share his vision.

I took some time tonight to attend his campaign kick off, and celebration of  his 55th birthday at the Mentoring Center.

The room was full, but not packed with supporters and Javier’s signature bicycle was prominently displayed up front.

Before Javier gave his talk, I had a chance to ask him about an outstanding $6000 IRS Tax Lien filed against him I had found on the Palm Beach Clerk and Comptroller’s website. Click here to view the lien. He told me that he became aware of it a couple of years ago and it was an accounting error he was “stuck with”. He said he was working to pay it off and had recently payed $1000 against it.

Echo Steiner, Javier’s campaign manager, said of him, “You can vote your values with no political risk”.  She went on to say that they were not taking donations of more than $250 dollars from any individual (the cap is $500).

In his speech Javier also touched on contributions stating that he would not take money from  PACs, unions, businesses or organizations.

A few of the points he focused on were, creating a sustainable community, establishing  more green space, finding solutions before the police have to become involved, attracting more cooperatives and encouraging family planning.

He hopes to establish a land trust, and said that if slum landlords had multiple violations their properties could be taken, fixed up and put into the trust to provide affordable housing.

Javier also spoke about businesses returning some of their profits to the community, using John G’s as an example of someone who has been profiting at the beach for years and should give something back to Lake Worth.

Touching on immigration he said, “In the grand spiritual scheme we are all immigrants” and that birds and frogs don’t require passports or visas. He also spoke of a world community, slipping in a famous quote from Carl Marx, “Workers of the world unite”.

Another point he raised was that he would not micro manage the city.  He feels that we have a great city manager and that it is Ms. Stanton’s job.

Near the end of the question and answer portion one of the children raised her hand and said, “Enough about politics, I thought this was going to be a party, let’s have the cake”.

Okay, so as a conservative “Recovering Republican” I am not really on board with all of Javier’s points, actually darn few of them.  But if charm and earnestness were deciding factors, then based on what I saw tonight Javier might get a few votes.

Here are a few photos from tonight:

Far from the Madding Crowd. . .

This morning we decided we wanted to take a walk and went to Okeeheelee Park.  As you would expect the main portion of the park was busy on this holiday. There were bikers, skaters, families having picnics and everything else you could imagine.

We drove through the park to the Nature Center where we walked the trails on the eastern side of the preserve. During our entire hike we did not see another person. In fact, we felt so removed from the crowd we found we were whispering to each other.

Okeeheelee Park is a great place and has many things to do and enjoy. But if you really want to get away from it all, do yourself a favor and hike the trails at the Nature Center.

You can click on this map of the trails to enlarge it.

Here are a few photos from our walk:

Lake Worth is an Urban Food Desert?

Supermarkets don’t grow in urban food deserts

I just finished reading an article in the Palm Beach Post titled “Supermarkets don’t grow in urban food deserts“. (click here to view it).

The article includes the following:

In urban food deserts, healthy food is more difficult to obtain because there is no access to chain grocery stores, where fresh meat and vegetables are sold at reasonable, competitive prices. A proliferation of fast food restaurants and corner stores substitutes generally lower-quality stock and higher prices.

In South Florida, variations on the urban food desert theme can be found in poor and predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, Lake Worth, and Miami’s Liberty City section. Poor diets and other socio-economic factors give residents a disproportionate share of premature deaths from obesity and diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

According to the article, the addition of a supermarket to downtown could benefit a broad section of our population.

I’m asking for your comments on this. Do you agree or disagree?

I dare you to write my blog (for a day). . .

Fire. . .

Bret Taylor E-mailed me these photos of a fire at 1204 Lake this morning:

He remembered seeing a couple of posts here about this building, click here and here to view them.

I looked in a window of this building a few weeks ago and saw drug paraphernalia and signs of squatters living there. Let’s hope the building is quickly torn down.

Thanks for sending the pictures Bret!

I encourage the contribution of pictures or other items of interest, please contact me at Tlmcgow@AOL.com.

Let’s Do The Math. . .

There has been a lot of talk about the Palm Beach Cultural Council (click for link to PBCC website) coming to Lake Worth, most of it  positive.  However, there are some who feel that we should be getting a better “deal” from the Cultural Council.  The phrase 50/50 has been thrown about quite a bit. Still others feel that the benefits of the Cultural Council moving here are impossible to quantify and we have more pressing needs to address.

After attending both CRA meetings regarding the Cultural Council and reviewing the backup (click for link), (click here to listen to audio of CRA meeting) it is clear that this is a good move for Lake Worth and in actuality we’ve made a better than 50/50 deal already.

Okay let’s do the math:

Cost to Lake Worth; Forgivable Loan 700,000 over ten years, with provisions to recoup if PBCC fails to satisfy the agreement in full.

Costs to Palm Beach Cultural Council;  Building 900,000; cost of renovations 1,000,000.   Additionally, the Cultural Council has committed to begin a fund raising effort to secure 3,000,000 in donations for a permanent endowment to cover the facility’s operating expenses associated with the exhibition space, Visitor’s Center and other public functions that will be located within the PBCC headquarters.

Considering just the building and renovation will cost approximately 1.9 million dollars, of which Lake Worth is contributing 700,000, it seems like it is already better than a 50 /50 deal for us.

If you factor in the endowment PBCC is going to raise, then it is a substantially better than 50 / 50 deal. There are those in our community who say the value of PBCC coming to Lake Worth is just pie in the sky speculation and the PBCC is coming to town with it’s hand out. To that point let me reiterate, naysayers need to keep in mind that a large portion of the 3 million dollar endowment will be for “… the exhibition space, Visitor’s Center and other public functions that will be located within the PBCC headquarters”. These public functions will be a direct and tangible benefit that will draw people to Lake Worth.

Another very real benefit will be the renovation of one of our Landmark Historic Buildings.

Either the downtown theater,

Or 1000 Lake.

PBCC has contracted with REG Architects to oversee the renovation of the building. Headed up by Rick Gonzalez, REG Architects is a nationally recognized firm specializing in historic renovation. (Click here to visit REG’s website) Locally they are best known for their widely acclaimed work in restoring the West Palm Beach Court House pictured below.

The media attention from this restoration will be as priceless as it was in the case of the Court House and no doubt attract others to consider investing in Lake Worth.

Yes 700,000 dollars is a lot of money and we should spend it wisely. But when you look closely, those  700,000 dollars are bringing an investment of over 4 million dollars into our city. I am not sure how we could have negotiated a better deal.

And yes, there are many pressing problems, including blight, in our City that need to be addressed. However, even if we could wave a magic wand and clean up those problems overnight, we would simply start backsliding again without adding reasons that make people want to invest and live here.

There’s A Lot To Like About Lake Worth, Downtown Green Market

I visited the Downtown Green Market this morning. Located on J Street between Lake & Lucerne, it’s one of the growing number of events attracting people to downtown Lake Worth.

It is a great way to start the weekend, browsing the produce and products while chatting with the vendors. Tables and chairs scattered throughout  the market invite you to sit and sample your purchases while watching the goings on.

Surrounding merchants have stated that their foot traffic has increased since the green market moved from the beach to downtown.  It looks like this could be a permanent move. Thanks to organizer Peter Robinson and the CRA  for continuing to add to the vibrancy of our downtown.

How Many Errors Can You Spot?

The New Times just posted an article about Javier del Sol running for mayor. Click here to read it.

Update:

I posted a comment about the article’s two main errors, that they incorrectly listed who was running for Mayor and that del Sol said he was part of the Planning and Zoning Board.  The author of the piece has corrected both inaccuracies.

Political Cartoons and Parody. . .

Political cartoons and parody have a long and colorful history in the United States. Examples date from before the Revolutionary War  right up to today.  From Abe Lincoln splitting the Democratic Party to Obama’s Muslim roots, they have provided commentary on our American life. (Click images to enlarge).

Just about every newspaper and magazine runs a political cartoon in its editorial section. These cartoons and parodies have transitioned to the Internet and now play the same role today as they did in traditional printed media.

Cartoons and parody are a way of communicating an author’s thoughts on a particular subject, often using an “over the top” approach to get their point across.

Recently I was accused of “hiding behind my cartoons” by a local blogger, who it appears is incapable of realizing that people can have a differing point of view.

I just want to say, I’m not hiding behind anything.  On the contrary, I stand behind my parodies and cartoons. They might make some people angry, some people laugh and hopefully some people think.

Tom