Well, you can't call it a debate as no one got to rebut. Even when Waterman tried, she was stopped by the moderator, John Paxman. This was a typical love fest for the Lindsey neighborhood's favorite candidate. If you came and didn't know the candidates and didn't realize that what some of them said was so bizarre and factually wrong or impossible, then no one in particular "won." Some had a better message than did others.
From Top, Left to Right
Tom Ramiccio
Will begin conversations this Summer with FPL to buy Lake Worth Utilities. Says it is worth between $300 to $500 million. Now where did he come up with this figure? FPL bid on our Electric Utility in 1994 for $60 million. He has no idea of the capacity of the generation. The Commission turned it down. We still had generators that we were paying on then and we still have an outstanding Bond today of over $30 mil just on the electric utility. Says he does not trust the city manager and will bring stability to the City Commission. He just does not know that this is the most stable commission in years that has made all of the right decisions.
I contacted an expert on our Utility who says:
FPL has offered Vero Beach $100 million. But, I would doubt that they will offer anywhere near that much for LW. The reasons for the lower amount would be:
1) They would have to decommission the power plant. (Approx. $5 million)
2) They would have to conduct a system wide conversion (both 26 kV and 4 kV). (Approx. $30 - $40
3) The franchise agreement with Palm Spring expires soon and they will go willingly to FPL without any cost.
End result: I would not offer more than $60 million, knowing that I would have to deal with FMEA, the decommissioning and the system wide upgrade.
You do understand that these are "off the top of my head" numbers and in no way reflect what conclusions I might come to if I had the time and opportunity to study the sale of the utility.
Javier DelSol
Education and Prevention is his platform. Says paying 50% of our budget on police is foolhardy. Spend it on libraries. Get to the root of the cause of our problems...education. "Some that we perceive to be the problem can be part of the solution," said DelSol.
Lisa Maxwell
Full of doom and gloom and making up stuff using words such as "triage," "system broken," "borrowing our own Utility deposits for the Casino probably illegal," Lisa says that we should be taking the advice of the Finance Advisory Board, (that will bring her a couple of votes) a Board that has done nothing in over one year; says that our city's assets are a priority and then in the next breath suggests the sale of our Utility; says our viability as a city is at risk. Fear and doom is her platform. She can't find anything positive about anything.
Maxwell had no clue, again, about our Utility. Like Tom, thinks selling it might be an option. Still does not know that we have generation and was corrected by Waterman. Said that we had no Brownfield Money left in Florida rebutting Waterman who previously spoke to the issue who is a professional Grant writer.
Maxwell ridiculed the approval of a contract for Professional Materials Management for warehouse organization and inventory management for our Utility department. The Utilities Department had identified an opportunity to streamline materials management, optimize inventory and storage space, and increase efficiency through improved management of the Utility Warehouse. An initial investigation of the previous three year’s warehouse data indicated that the material is turning only once every ten years. Items are overstocked, in some cases obsolete, and are not properly secured. It went out for bid and a firm was chosen. The City anticipates that this project will result in the sale of obsolete material from the electric warehouse that will generate a one-year revenue of approximately $500,000. Her favorite commissioner, Scott Maxwell,voted FOR this on May 17th.
Still uninformed about our Budget and the reasoning behind Staff decisions--asks why we are not paying the Fire bill. Says we can't charge more for a utility service than the revenues we take in--says "It's the law." Ms. Maxwell, Lake Worth can charge anything it wants. We own it. She must be confused with a not-for-profit company, not a private company such as Lake Worth Utilities. Maxwell says we don't need it to be a "cash cow" for the city--get it out of control of the city commission, taking a dig at Vice Mayor Mulvehill who beat her last year. Unfortunately, or I should say "fortunately, we need the money from our Utility to operate our city to a tune of $10 million dollars just to help pay for the high cost of policing and retirement benefits. Where does Maxwell think we will make up the money-- from taxes? She gives no solution.
Maxwell, again uninformed about the Bridge Loan the City will be structuring to itself for the Casino reconstruction, (wasn't that proposed by Chair Picket of the Finance Advisory Board?) says that we are borrowing our own Utility deposits for this construction and it is probably "illegal." Wrong again, Lisa, on just about everything.
Rachel Waterman
With a resume as long as your arm, Waterman says that she is a candidate that will do her homework. She speaks three languages fluently and has been involved in the planning of master plans and economic impact analyses. Says that we need to stabilize the Budget and look for more cost cutting measures. Says that we need to re-assess our electric commercial rates and tells us that the City will be giving a rate reduction in the upcoming Budget. Says the idea of selling our Utility is a short sighted solution to a long-term situation.
Waterman talked about being a grant writer and getting Brownfield Grants. Brownfield money can be used on any site within a brownfield designated redevelopment zone - which covers almost all of our city. The land does not need to be proven contaminated - just has to be perceived as possibly contaminated - which is the thresh hold for Brownfield designation. Once designated a Brownfield the money can be used for redevelopment of the site. Maxwell says that we have 300 acres of unused land at the Park of Commerce. Waterman again states the facts that we have 85 vacant acres there.
Brownfield Cleanup and Redevelopment.
Directly in front of her at a table was a group of Ramiccio supporters who tried to get her off balance every time she spoke. It did not distract her from her goal of telling you that she is all for trying new approaches and that she is the leader that Lake Worth needs. Vision, Creativity and Innovation will be her leadership style for Lake Worth.
16 comments:
Lynn, have you really read Rachel's resume?
There are a great many items on there that deserve looking into if anyone had the inclination.
It would be so interesting to hear your opinions on Rachel and her background if you had the same ill will toward her that you carry for Lisa and Tom....this blog makes it seem that Rachel walks on water and was heaven sent.
A grant writer can be hired....I just can't see how that makes her the perfect candidate for mayor....there's so much more involved in the job that she has no experience for.
While Tom and Lisa criticized the city manager for negotiating with the PBSO and saving $1.2 million to the taxpayers of LW, now they are proposing a drive to "save" the Fire contract hampering the City's ability to negotiate a good and fair contract.
The people promoting this are the same people who got us into the bad contracts--Bob Lepa from College Park NA.
Dennis
To anonymous above--Everyone who has ever gotten into politics did so for a "first time." You are holding that against her? Politicians in this city got us to where we are. So much for that argument.
Rachel is so much more than a grant writer. Did YOU read her resume?
Ramiccio--no substance, sull of BS. Maxwell--no substance and no facts.
Mr. Thomas Ramiccio and Ms. Lisa Maxwell are candidates of fear and misrepresentation.
Ms. Maxwell says we will have "no place to go for power" when we exit FMPA,the most expensive source of electricity in the state.
Our present Commission wisely voted to terminate this contract without penalty on Dec. 31,2013 and has authorized preparation of an RFP for a new electric provider beginning January 1, 2014. When Vero Beach did this they began to enjoy 25% lower rates in a new contract with Orlando Utility Company. We can expect to save a similar amount.
If reality doesn't fit in with Ms. Maxwell's platform, she ignores the facts to get on her schoolmarm soapbox.
She is "irked" and finds things "reprehensible", and says we need "triage". Mayoral???
Please remember that she did not attend enough P and Z meetings to be allowed to stay on this board; the few times she was there, she had to be silenced by Chairman Mr.John Paxman on several occasions for using the dais to launch attacks on citizens who disagreed with her pro developer comments.
Mr. Ramiccio talks about 'critical crossroads" saying that he is the man for the job.
In 1997, his first year as mayor,he began the neglect of collecting sewage fees that has now led to one of the lawsuits he bemoans.
In 2000, he was fined $2,000 by the Florida Commission on Ethics for attempting to intimidate a downtown store owner into removing an opposing candidate's sign from her window. The administrative law judge recommended that he be publicly censured and reprimanded.
The Downtown Cultural Alliance was formed because the store owners felt as Chamber of Commerce director he was doing little more than collecting their annual dues.
He used his code enforcement connections to close down Havana when the owner told the commission that she could get great bands for $300-$400 after Mr. Ramiccio told the commission that he needed $800 to $1,000 to get quality entertainment.
Mr Rene Varela quit when he did in order to force a special election and enable one of these two to replace him.
He cost us $25,000 (this may rise to $50,000 if a runoff is required) to continue to control the destiny of our city after his untimely departure.
Ms. Rachel Waterman is head and shoulders above these two, and offers hope, vision, and community experience.
Vote for her and avoid the cost of a runoff.
Click on Grants.gov and you'll find all categories of Free Governments' grants for individuals as well as municipalities,charities,students,
businesses, etc etc.
There is no need to hire a grant writer(melodramatic gesture, to create false impression of importance! ).
It takes a lot of paperwork and patience. Most aspirants for grants are too lazy or too ignorant.Any literate person can do it!
We are not hiring a grant writer. We are electing a Mayor who happens to have special skills.
This is my first blog post but had to comment on anonymous' comment about grants.gov. I sent an e-mail to the commissioners more than three months ago about registering on grants.gov The answer that came via staff was that the County writes grants on our behalf. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.
You are correct in that it is a simple step (actually it takes about three weeks to get registered on grants.gov as it is a lengthy paperwork process), and it is the gateway to ALL sources of federal funding opportunities and subcontracts; but, no one has bothered to take it.
However, once registered on grants.gov, the money doesn't just flow in. We still need to write the grants - and for that we need competent staff and competent leaders.
Just in case I should say..."Political Advertisement paid for and approved by Rachel Waterman for Mayor, City of Lake Worth"
Ms. Waterman how do you explain your comment about the NSP2 grant being used to balance the city's budget? Don't you know the funds can only be used for what they were intended?
While you are explaining that, please explain why Lake Worth voters should vote for a candidate with recent multiple bank foreclosures and a more than sketchy finanical background. This shows a serious lack or responsibility and lack of cencern. Why should anyone trust you to help manage a city that is "profoundly broken"?
To the anony poster above. The fallacy here is that the city is profoundly broken. You give no credit to the city for fixing all that was broken and that continues to do so. Fire contract is next.
As far as foreclosures, it is indeed misfortunate when people have a problem and are unable to stay in their homes due to banks and mortgage companies that manipulated the housing market. Alsdo, the unemployment rate has been staggering and continues very high to this day. When you lose a job through no fault of your own, finances take a beating. Be happy that you were not one of them.
Via the AP: Banks repossess 1 million homes in 2010
One in 45 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last year, or a record high of 2.9 million homes. That’s up 1.67 percent from 2009.
I don't have the time right now to look up 2011 but people are still losing their homes.
I would ask your question directly to Ms. Waterman rather than post her misfortune on this Blog--your real purpose anyway.
Thanks for the national statistics, but how does one explain 3 foreclosures? Of course everyone is going through hard times now, and I can understand getting caught by the system....once.
But three times??
In Rachel's own words, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results.
She let the banks and mortgage companies lead her astray 3 times?
And she may be overseeing the city budget?
She hasn't addressed this anywhere that I've seen....and why not?
Politics is a tough game and it just goes with the territory unfortunately that the candidate's personal histories come to light.
It's not mean, nor cruel to ask these things.
This blog has the documentation of Rachel's finances and foreclosure record....have YOU asked her about this and if so, did you get a satisfactory explanation?
If so, please report it on your blog to enlighten the rest of us.
You are the one so deeply concerned. First of all, I don't know the facts of this matter. What you say may or may not be the truth. I have asked before that anyone who is so concerned to contact Waterman and post her reply. I am sure that she will answer it.
As Rachel has responded on this blog before, I hope she will respond again and hopefully will ease everyone's mind about this issue that she has not addressed, so we can put this to bed and have all the facts to make a confident decision on the 28 TH...
Thanks for answering for Ms. Waterman Lynn but yet again you don't say anything. Why didn't you explain why she doesn't understand the CRA grant? You answered for her about the multiple foreclodures. Nice to see these important issues don't matter to you, but someone being nice to you does. What difference does it make where I ask the question she hasn't adressed it at all. My crack about the city being profoundly broken comes directly from wonder woman herself, the best city manager ever. What has she fixed? And you can't count breaking contracts as fixing
I have asked you all on several occasions to e-mail Waterman directly if you want answers to what she said. Why can't you just do that? And since you are addressing me personally, again, I disagree with you, 100% that "breaking" contracts is not FIXING.
We negotiated the Water Contract, borke it, and ended up saving $3.5 million WITH the penalty. We are in a water crisis in PB County. We will soon have our OWN REVERSE OSMOSIS Plant. This was a brillant negotiation by Susan Stanton.
Next, the PBSO was not a broken contract but the city manager did negotiate it saving us last year, $1.2 mil and this year $1.1 million over the next 2 years.
Breaking the Greater Bay contract was the right thing to do. NO one wanted a private entity in control of our beach for 40 years. Maybe you did but then I have to ask why do you want Lake Worth to lose control and pay millions more than is necessary? WHY??????????????
Important issues very much matter to me and that is why I write about them.
Thanks for responding even if you are anonymous.
Isn't it odd how certain citizens have such strong oppinions yet seem incapable to stand by them, instead they hide behind an "anonymous" name tag. In an attempt to make some sense of your argument sir/madam, I offer a bit of history. As it turns out some of our country's greatest leaders struggled with personal debt and financial woes. These great men were cornerstones to American democracy; they are as follows: Washington, Lincoln, Harry Truman, William McKinley, Ulysses S. Grant and Thomas Jefferson. Now correct me if I am wrong (and I know you will) but isn't this the very reason all forms of governement have a system of checks and balances? Our leaders are meant to work together on the problems of our city and represent the majority of constituents. Voting and volunteering is really the only real voice and power we have so why don't we all just settle our differences on election day and may the best candidate win. Oh and if SHE doesn't, then you can feel quite certain I will be working all the harder to make sure I am represented through the outcome of the November election. It is how it all works - or at least it is supposed to be that way. Sincerely, Dina Clingman-Bell
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