WPB Rents City Owned Property
City Commission Meeting held on 5/28/2024 below the agenda reads in part.
9.1. “Resolution No. 115-24 approving a Lease Agreement with Esperanza Community Center to lease City-owned property located at 723 39th Street.”
Originating Department:
Housing and Community Development
Background Information:
“The City of West Palm Beach received an application from Esperanza Community Center requesting to lease City-owned property located at 723 39th Street.
The Esperanza Community Center provides services and programs to empower families, primarily residing in the Northwood area of the City, to thrive by developing life skills. The agency offers a safe space for the community to receive information and services, including English as a second language, adult literacy and computer classes, health outreach and education, pro-bono legal services, health outreach and education, family programming, cultural events, and a food pantry.”
The Esperanza Community Center serves over 280 individuals, and over 150 children benefit monthly from baby diaper distribution and babysitting programs. The agency estimates that it will serve an estimated 3,103 duplicated beneficiaries per year. In accordance with the City’s Real Property Lease Management Policy adopted by Ordinance No. 4868-19, the property meets the criteria to be considered for leasing, as the property is not required for current municipal use, and the property can be efficiently utilized by a non-profit provider of housing, human, and social services.
Lease of 723 39th Street for a term of five (5) years; Base rent for Year 1 is $15.00 per square foot (2,745 square feet) or $1,200.00 (35% of market rate price) per month/$14,400.00 annually. To allow Esperanza Community Center to relocate and establish operations in the new space, rent payments are set to begin four (4) months after the effective lease date; Three percent (3%) annual increase for Years 2-5 as follows:
Year 2: $1,236.00 monthly / $14,832.00 annually
Year 3: $1,273.00 monthly / $15,276.00 annually
Year 4: $1,312.00 monthly / $15,744.00 annually
Year 5: $1,351.00 monthly /$16,212.00 annually
The funds shall be deposited in the City’s Real Estate Management Fund. 1″
Are you aware the City, that would be you & me, also own property at 401 No. Flagler Dr; since the 80’s and according to the PBC Property Appraiser has a Total Market Value of $17,643,577, and the city has rented the building to the Chamber of Commerce for $1.00/ annually. Why would the city give a great deal to the Chamber of Commerce, and not to Esperanza Community Center, who appear to be doing a great service to the most in need?
Rentals are out of control and many decent, hardworking people, with jobs and children find themselves living in their cars because they can no longer afford to pay their greedy landlords rent demand. In my opinion the city of WPB have joined the greedy landlords lead by James & Johnson with the help of the Cornerstone 5 City Commissioners.
Could the Chamber of Commerce possibly donate money through PACs to politicians. Clink the link below to see how many millions they donate and why government, large and small take such good care of them.
Now I’m assuming the rent from Chamber will be deposited into City’s Real Estate Management Fund. 1.
Esperanza Community Center $14,400.00 annually
Chamber of Commerce $1.00 annually for a total of $14,401.00
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/us-chamber-of-commerce/summary?id=D000019798
Entire agenda for City Commission meeting held 5/28/2024 below
City Commission – May 28 2024 – Agenda – Pdf
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Recap on Mayor & City Commissioners raises
Below is what City Administrator Faye Johnson reported to the City Commissioners to insure their vote for the raises.
“On Monday night, commissioners gave preliminary approval to a recommendation from the city staff that their pay be increased by just under 32% to $46,112 per year from their current pay of $35,000. The mayor’s annual pay would also rise by about 32%, to $197,625 from its current $150,000.”
“City Administrator Faye Johnson made an extensive presentation on the finances of the proposed pay increases. The goal, she said, is to put elected official pay in West Palm Beach back on par with the compensation of counterparts in Orlando, St. Petersburg and Jacksonville.
Below is what she didn’t bother to tell them.
Orlando Population 316,081 (2022)
St. Petersburg Population 261,256 (2022)
Jacksonville Population 971,319 (2022)
West Palm Beach Population 120,932 (2022)
Lets see how City employees did not prosper under Mayor James and City Administrator Faye Johnson.
Contracts for City Employees SEIU (Service Employees International Union) and Managers & Supervisor PMSA (Professional Managers & Supervisors Association)
City negotiates with both employee unions. Contracts covering 3 years. 2021, 2022 and 2023.
2021 Employees received a 3% cost of living raise.
2022 Employees received a 5% cost of living raise.
2023 Employees received a 5% cost of living raise.
Medical and Dental plan. Rates rose by 3%.
2021 thru 2023 The employee and city each pay 1/2 the cost of the plan. For the three years the city absorbed the entire cost.
New contract to run from October 2024 to Sept. 30, 2026.
Employees to receive 7% pay increase.
Medical insurance plan will rise by 6.6%, Dental will rise by 5%. City and employee return to shared expense. That increase will take a bite out of employees 7% raise.
Sept. 2024 The city will negotiate another 3-year contract with the police and fire department. I Attended both negotiations in 2020 when Johnson was in charge of the negotiations after the city’s financial advisor, Mark Parks, who had the responsibility of the negotiations was fired by Johnson. Power struggle where Mr. Parks, first responders and residents lost.
“Where would the money for pay raises come from?”
“Johnson emphasized that money for the pay raises would not be pulled from property tax revenue. Instead, she said, it would come from $719,500 in additional shared state revenue the city learned it would receive near the end of last year’s budget process.”
That explains where the money will come from to cover their massive pay raises in 2024. Where will the money come from in the future to pay these part time elected officials? My guess is burden will be placed on homeowners when elected officials raise our property taxes.
If you read this far you are aware city employees never received raises in double digits numbers.
The City Commission will vote for the raise on Tuesday, 5/28/2024. Your absence and silence mean acceptance.
The End
WPB Elected Officials Want Massive Pay Raise.
City Commission Meeting held 5/13/2024 was attended by Wayne Washington, reporter for the PB Post who wrote an excellent story on an item on the agenda, pay raises for the mayor and 5 City Commissioners. Below are excerpts from the story and below the link. My comments in italic.
“West Palm Beach commissioners, mayor in line for massive pay raises”
“West Palm Beach City Commission members are expected to decide this month whether to sharply increase their pay and that of the mayor.
On Monday night, commissioners gave preliminary approval to a recommendation from the city staff that their pay be increased by just under 32% to $46,112 per year from their current pay of $35,000. The mayor’s annual pay would also rise by about 32%, to $197,625 from its current $150,000.”
“The city’s elected officials now face the prospect of raising their own pay at a time when housing costs and inflation are biting household budgets.”
More families are living on the street due to high cost of rent and it’s not getting better. If fact WPB Mayor James and Fl. Gov DeSantis are passing laws on ways to criminalize and punish the homeless.
“With James term-limited, some commissioners are contemplating a run to succeed him, and that could factor into how they vote when the topic comes up for final consideration May 28. The raises would go into effect on the next pay period after final approval.”
“Obviously, this is not a comfortable conversation for any of us on the dais to talk about increasing the salary of those of us who sit here, though I don’t think it’s inappropriate,” James said. “We have looked after our residents. We have looked out for our employees.”
It is absolutely inappropriate to consider giving yourself pay raises while claiming you look after residents and city employees. Elected officials do neither. You do take excellent care of each other.
“How does West Palm Beach commission pay rank with comparable cities?”
“City Administrator Faye Johnson made an extensive presentation on the finances of the proposed pay increases. The goal, she said, is to put elected official pay in West Palm Beach back on par with the compensation of counterparts in Orlando, St. Petersburg and Jacksonville.
We are significantly lagging in terms of meeting the goal to stay on par with those municipalities,” she said.
Time to Google the three cities for info. Now ask yourself if she lied by omission. I vote yes.
Orlando Population 316,081 (2022)
St. Petersburg Population 261,256 (2022)
Jacksonville Population 971,319 (2022)
WPB Population 120,932 (2022)
Commissioners and Mayor pay raises
$46,112 x 5 = $230,560
Mayor $197,625
——————————-
$428,185/year
President of the US annual salary $400,000.00/year
“Commissioners’ jobs are, technically, part-time. In reality, the jobs are time-consuming and can be mentally draining. Preparation and review for meetings take hours, as do the meetings themselves. And then there are the public gatherings where their attendance is expected.” Are you aware City Commissioners, City Administrator, Faye Johnson each receive $500/month for a gas allowance on top of their salary.
$500/month = $6,000 yr. x 6 people= $36,000. Does anyone believe they use $500 a month for traveling to public gatherings? I don’t!
James does not receive a gas allowance. He chooses a brand-new SUV we paid for along with his auto insurance, not to mention we pay for his driver/bodyguard, a job he created soon after being sworn in. When James travels he brings him along, so taxpayers pick up the mayor’s and bodyguard expenses. Last time I checked he was earning over $100K
“We all up here on this dais work very hard,” James said. “There are people who would say, if we gave ourselves a dollar raise, we don’t deserve it. I believe that we deserve at least to be shielded from the impact of inflation over the last eight years.”
James the public has been living with the impact of inflation also, and still living with it. City employees are also still living with it. You work damn hard for the residents of the Bristol, where millionaires and billionaires reside, you all work extremely hard for the developers, and movers and shakers, you do nothing for the residents. People living in their car with their kids because they couldn’t pay rent to greedy landlords. James has treated the homeless with a feeling of strong dislike or disapproval of someone he think does not deserve respect. His contempt for them is obvious. The silence of the city commissioners on the homeless problem is deafening. It’s obvious to me they are in lockstep with James. The rainy season is about to begin and it brings strong thunderstorms and lightning. James has had “No Trespassing” signs placed in all city garages. No rest for the weary.
Where would the money for pay raises come from?
“Johnson emphasized that money for the pay raises would not be pulled from property tax revenue. Instead, she said, it would come from $719,500 in additional shared state revenue the city learned it would receive near the end of last year’s budget process.”
So, after this year the raises would come from our tax dollars. Guess you’ll have to raise the property taxes to meet your salary increases.
“The Palm Beach Post received a tip during budget discussions last year that the city was contemplating pay increases for elected officials and asked in an Aug. 31 email to Diane Papadakos, the city’s director of communications, if “the proposed budget includes increases are for the commission and the mayor?”
Papadakos’ responded, “I believe that the current budget only includes salary increases for staff, not elected officials.”
Good planning, give the employees a small raise, so next year we can say we took care of them and it’s fair to ask for an astronomical raise for ourselves.
“Johnson said she should have been reviewing the pay of elected officials each year, as the charter directs.”
Ms. Johnson, why don’t you mention the Charter also reads the City Administrator, (you) MUST reside within city limits. You have always resided in unincorporated Palm Beach County where you receive protection from PBC Sheriff and PBC Fire. I don’t believe you had an issue with the city’s contaminated water supply as you use PBC water. Two Commissioners Warren and Fox were quoted by the post.
“Commissioner Christy Fox lamented the prospect of having to vote for a large pay increase instead of having received the far more modest cost-of-living increases given to staff over the last eight years.
Fox said she will look to hear from constituents now that the pay package has gotten preliminary approval.”
Commissioner Fox, thank you for your commonsense response. Commissioner Warren I had high hopes for you. We received pennies in tax cuts, and our employees received a cost-of-living raise. Are you aware the day James was sworn in over 200 employees resigned and the remaining employees were made to pick up the slack without a pay raise. Everyone suffered except Johnson whose paycheck doubled and she earns more than Ms. Baker, the County Administrator who has been employed by the county for more than 30 years.
Obviously, no response from Lambert, Ward or Peduzzi. Read the PB Post story below.
“That drew a response from James, who said he hoped she wouldn’t conduct a poll on the topic.”
“Some decisions just have to be made on data and not on public opinion,” he said”
James, what happened to “We want to hear from you?” You want commissioners to vote on skewed data from your City Administrator? City Commissioners want to run for the mayor’s office, Please God, not again.
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Mr. Pefley, Please Don’t Give Up!
This story calls for a walk down memory lane. I invite you to come along.
Mayor’s Office of Communication reads in part.
“The mission of the City’s Office of Communications & Marketing in the Office of Mayor Keith A. James is to ensure that the media, citizens and city employees have access to accurate, timely information from the City of West Palm Beach.”
Mayor Geri Muoio picks TV reporter Kathleen Walter as a spokeswoman for West Palm Beach in Dec. 2016.
Kathleen Walter continued as WPB spokeswoman under Mayor Keith James and dealt with issues below.
As of last week, though, city spokeswoman Kathleen Walter confirmed that the no-bid contract remains in effect. PSC will continue to handle…
WPB has fired a top information technology manager for smoking marijuana — even though he been authorized by his doctor to use it legally for medical reasons. WPB has 11 marijuana dispensaries. All legal.
WPB Florida is blasting ‘Baby Shark’ overnight to keep homeless people from sleeping in parks.
Graphic photo scandal linked to West Palm contractor of controversial $7.9 million no-bid PSC contract.
Police Chief Admits Tear Gas Was Used on West Palm Beach residents
Residents of West Palm Beach were not notified their drinking water was contaminated for 8 days.
Henrietta farms, a community garden, located in an area of WPB known as a food desert was closed when Mayor Keith James decided not to renew the lease.
The story told to me was Kathleen Walter had enough. She walked into Mayor Keith James office and placed an envelope on his desk. He looked up and smiled at her asking “what’s this Kathleen?” Her reply, “My resignation, effective immediately.”
WPB needed a new spokesperson and James chose Diane Papadakos as the city’s Director of Communications.
Channel 12 Al Pefley is following, asking questions and reporting on the homeless situation and he has written another excellent story on Wed, May 8th, 2024. (link below) Some of the highlights are:
“Mayor James received the Housing Heroes Award from the Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County for supporting the creation of affordable housing in the city.” What is the Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County thinking of? Of all the people they could have honored, they pick James? Seriously, James for “supporting the creation of affordable housing” the man that declared war on the homeless. Meaningless honor.
Diane Papadakos accompanied the mayor and did her best to try and keep Al Pefley away from his majesty going as far as to contact the security staff at the Kravis Center and had Mr. Pefley removed. At one point she pushed his hand holding the microphone away. Could that be considered assault and battery? Shame on Ms. Papadakos and the security office that removed him and shame to the Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County.
Dear Ms. Papadakos,
I read the story and watched channel 12 video, and honestly to me you appeared apprehensive while dealing with Mr. Pefley, almost panicky. fearful and afraid. James can do that to a person when you realize he holds your job in the palm of his hand.
It’s please him or else. Ask people who have done something to anger or upset the man, people like Jason McCarty, Jeff Greene, Jose Tagle, Mark Parks, Phyllis Brooks and many other employees who in my opinion made City Hall a better place.
Take care of yourself and realize you may be one paycheck away from homelessness.
“WATCH: West Palm Beach mayor ignores questions homelessness problem – again”
“CBS12 News was invited to cover the 2nd Annual Housing Heroes Luncheon at the Kravis Center Wednesday, where Mayor James received the Housing Heroes Award from the Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County for supporting the creation of affordable housing in the city.”
Please take the few minutes it takes to watch Mr. Pefley’s interaction with James and Ms. Papadakos.
https://cbs12.com/news/local/mayor-ignores-questions-about-how-hes-addressing-homeless-problemwb#
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