Monday, August 29, 2011

Elected Officials

Comment Up

Revelation #1: It does not matter who sits on the Commission. I used to think it did as we had so many devastating decisions from past commissions. Now that we have this commission in place, it is obviously evident that the City Manager has total control. It's as if she has taken over their minds. None of them are thinking independently and I am not even sure that Maxwell is an exception. He did go along with the stupid assessment which is now even more stupid than when first presented.

If this trend continues, we will get new people sitting up there; we always do--but nothing will change; it never does.

I am so discouraged right about now. No one listens. NO one returns phone calls. I wouldn't be surprised if my e-mail goes straight to spam. Does anyone get a reply to an e-mail? This was a commission that I thought really cared about the residents, all of them, not just a few.

If commissioners don't respond to the public they serve but are only up there to raise taxes and do really stupid things, then what in heck is this all about? All the reasons for which we get involved in politics are a waste of time. Why do any of us bother when everything we considered logical is getting more muddied and confusing every day.

Revelation #2: Special assessments are one of the ways a local government may collect money to pay for local improvements. A special assessment is a charge imposed on real property to help pay for a local improvement that benefits the property. That is the purpose for which it came about. The Legislature declared simply that cities had broad home rule authority to do whatever was necessary to carry out municipal purposes. (§ 166.021, FLA. STAT.) When the question returned to the courts, the Florida Supreme Court bowed to the Legislature's will.

In the case of Lake Worth, we have department heads dreaming up ways to special assess so that they can beef up their department. All of our special assessments do not improve our property unless you use a bogus argument that, yes, without garbage collection, our property values would go down. Without paying for fire pension costs, our property value might go down. Wrong. Fire/Rescue and garbage collection must be provided and they should be charged on our property tax bill and we pay according to what our property is worth less our exemptions provided by Florida law.

Until the Commission can learn what the word "fair" means and become intellectually honest instead of conforming to the city manager's established rule of what is fair and honest, then we are all doomed. Until they realize that all special assessments are about grabbing the cash based on nothing fair nor equal, we will be punished for the bad decisions that they have made that got us to where we are today. The only fair way to tax a property is by its value.

If the City had not pissed away and wasted money, we would not be in this pickle. $1.72 for pensions for every $1.00 we pay in Union payroll is what did it...bad Union contracts as well as the City squandering money. Now we all have to pay a special assessment that the city manager has sold as fair when it isn't. It is only the poor paying a much larger percentage of their income to get what should be a service but in this case it is paying for fire pensions as well as circumventing advalorem taxes.

And the biggest problem with all of this is that this will not be the end. This is only the beginning. The City of Lake Worth has Florida law on its side. The poor will get a whole lot poorer in a city already plagued by falling property values, 11% unemployment, foreclosures on the rise and a whole lot of waste from City Hall. Expect special assessments to continue as it drives out businesses and the working family.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Will the city end these special assessments when property values go up again? Any bets? These fees are there to stay and only get larger every year just like garbage did this year. We know that pension costs are never going to go down. This is one sick joke.

Lynn Anderson said...

That is true. The City can't stop these escalating and out of sight costs. They continue to give raises, however and take the free lunch. So, the easiest thing to do is to stick the costs all on the backs of the property owners. Although the city negotiated LOUSY deals for Lake Worth, we are stuck with the crap. As the City lost millions and millions in horrible upgrades as an example, we pay the price. Out of sight, out of mind is the philosophy and the problem just continues. Maybe bankruptcy is the next option as Unions will not relent and the City wants to spend and spend.

Michael said...

Lynn, it is true, it is so hard to get the city reps. to respond, our elected officials and our city manager, they are not being held accountable and I am not happy about it. I have been working with them for months and years now to get some problems resolved and even Mulvihill who used to be good at responding and working with you to get things done and improve conditions is passing the buck, her and the CM are really disappointing me greatly, where is the quality we deserve from our leaders in this city, why is everything so mediocre or less? I just will not vote for any of them again, they are not accountable and have made many decisions that have hurt the quality of my life now in the city, i.e. all these bike lanes and taking parking away. We need more sidewalks and less bike lanes. I am so frustrated and disappointed with our leaders now, I sense your frustration too, it is just too crazy here, I will be happy the day the CM is relieved of her duties. She is doing what she did in Largo and the day will come when she will be fired.

Jean said...

Lynn, your comment here doesn't give us much hope, is there any hope? Should I put my property up for sale now and cut my losses in this crazy city?

Lynn Anderson said...

All we can do is hope that the US economy turns to the better. Once people have jobs and can support their homes and families, things will turn. They don't expect this for several years. We will just have to bite the bullet or have the City stop spending on all non-essentials. We need to insist on this.

Anonymous said...

I do actually get responses when I email the commission, mostly Mulveill and Golden respond, I've never gotten a response from McVoy or Maxwell and the Mayor is too new to know. I can't say I normally like the answers I get but I do get responses from the two I named.

I think someone should sue over the fire assessment, I hate to add more litigation costs to the city (since I end up paying for them) but I don't think what they are doing is legal. They have stated plainly that this assessment is for pension costs, a pension is not an improvement.

I'm with Michael, the City just keeps doing things backwards, the bike lanes are a prime example, inappropriate treatment for the streets they put them on, devalue the properties that abut this commerical treatment, a poor use of funds, duplicative in that they are striping 5 parallel streets, and I was going to the publix yesterday, that street has been striped and of course there was a bike going the wrong way not in the bike lane, yay for waste!

I love where I live, I love my neighborhood but the City politics is beyond crazy. I'm not voting for any of the ones that are in office now.

Anonymous said...

1st - Fire assessment for pensions
2nd - Street light assessment
3rd - Sidewalks or rain water runoff or fire hydrants???

The CM controls everything in this city and the commission will not say no to her, except Maxwell sometimes. If we are in a state of financial urgency, the city should stop extra spending, raises, new positions, etc and get everything in order. Instead the mantra is spend, spend, and then spend some more.

The CM wants total control of everything and if anyone does not agree, they are gone. She tolerates Maxwell because she had control of the majority of the commission under her thumb. The CM even told the commission today how the Internal Auditor could operate. Unbelieveable.

Anonymous said...

One more time: The commissioners were hand picked by the cabal for a reason.

Lynn Anderson said...

What "cabal?" Is this about the bull chit "anarchist alliance" again? The myth that is circulating that was rejected in the last election? Look to the voters.

Anonymous said...

They are making a big mistake by raising taxes. Most of the people in this city are praying that they don't lose their jobs and then their homes. People are getting beat up by this commission. It is a sad thing to realize that those we elected have turned on us and are buying the city mgrs garbage.