Brightline We told you, You didn’t listen.
Brightline Train Speeds to 125 MPH
Every city along the route held meetings including WPB. Residents appeared before the commission with their opinions both pro and con. Residents were concerned with 2 issues noise and safety. The powers to be were concerned with insuring the train made a stop in WPB. It does.
Let’s talk safety:
If you recall the horrific accident that occurred in Seattle when the train derailed, left the tracks, went down the embankment killing 3 and injuring over 80. The data recorder had the train traveling 80 MPH in a 30 MPH zone while approaching a curve.
This train was not equipped with a safety device called “positive train control” which is technology that can automatically slow or stop a train. Sounds like excellent technology.
For years regulators have requested the device be installed on all trains. What is wrong with these regulators, don’t they know that would be expensive and hurt the bottom line? Here is how I imagine the conversation went.
(Lobbyist for RR.) Good morning Senator Numnuts, how are you this fine day?
Senator Numnuts: I’m good how about yourself, what can I do for you?
Lobbyist: Were having a little problem with the regulators concerning the installation of a positive train control, and were hoping you can assist us by pushing it out for a year. By the way don’t you have an election coming up?
Senator Numnuts: “Well, as a matter of fact I am running for re-election.
Lobbyist: I thought so. Don’t let me go without writing you a check. So can you help us out with the regulators so we can postpone upgrades for a year.
Senator Numnuts: Only for a year, sure I can help you with that, what can go wrong in a year? Don’t forget the check for my campaign. Senator Numnuts was re-elected.
The above conversation continued and the technology has been extended for years at the behest of the industry. The Brightline in Florida will be equipped with automatic train control — a similar technology that monitors the train’s speed and notifies the engineer if the locomotive is going too fast. Why can’t we have the upgrade that slows and stops the train automatically? Was the check bigger than expected?
With the horrific train accident in Seattle I imagine extensions are finished. Unfortunately death and injuries have a tendency to open eyes, and get attention.
Noise Control
On a recent trip to city hall I was stopped at the lights waiting for the Brightline test ride to pass. I can’t possible describe the intensity of the train whistle and my heart goes out to the residents who reside along the track corridor who will listen to 4 trains hourly, from early morning to late evening and as many as 16 round trips daily.
So with all I have written, I have one question. Who allowed the permits to be issued before the safety devices were in place, and there was no train whistle as promised.
No devices, no permits, no permits train stays parked.
Who is Deyshia Hargrave?
Veering away from city politics for this story which absolutely infuriated me.
Deyshia Hargrave who won “Teacher of the Year” award is a language arts teacher in Louisiana, who had the audacity to appear before the School Board and voice her objection to approving a new contract for superintendent Jerome Puyau which included a $38,000 raise.
She is quoted as saying:
“I have a serious issue with a superintendent or any person of leadership getting any type of raise. I feel like it’s a slap in the face to all the teachers, cafeteria workers and any other support staff we have. We work very hard, with very little, to maintain the salaries we have.”
After Ms. Hargrave’s comments, board president Anthony Fontana ruled that she was out of order and warned her that the public comment section was not a question-and-answer session. (These arrogant,elected officials truly believe they don’t answer to the lowly public. I mean really, who the hell are we to question their authority?)
When the board ultimately voted to approve superintendent Jerome Puyau new contract with the $38,000 raise Ms. Hargrave raised her hand, was recognized, stood once again and spoke on the issue of teachers raises. (Teachers in Louisiana have not had a pay increase in a decade, a decade, that’s 10 years without a raise. Thank God bread, milk and tuna prices haven’t increased over the years.)
After Ms. Hargrave began asking more questions about the raise, she was interrupted by Mr. Fontana the school board president, saying that her question was not related to the agenda which was the superintendent’s new contract, and a number of teachers in attendance shouted in unison “with a raise.”
OK Here is where it really get’s interesting.
In my opinion when Ms. Hargrave was interrupted by School Board President Lord Fontana, that was the signal for her removal and a city marshal approached her and warned, “you are going to leave or I am going to remove you. Take your things and go.” while he is trying to remove her Superintendent Puyou is addressing her, but the cop pay’s no attention. In the video it appears Ms. Hargrave picked up her purse and started to leave.
When she and the cop were out of sight in the hallway Ms. Hargrave could be heard shouting “What are you doing, your hurting me.” The video shows her on the ground and the cop placing her hands behind her back while applying handcuffs then she was placed under arrest, and later bonded out of jail.
If you see the video the cop is well over 6′ and she looks like she may reach 4′. The unidentified cop is a prime example of why people distrust cops and paint them with the same brush. He sure showed her, smart enough not to throw her on the floor where folks could see what was happening but in the hallway with no one watching. Oops, is that a camera up there? Hell of a way to treat “Teacher of the year.”
The school board members aren’t making comments but Ike Funderburk, city attorney and prosecutor viewed the video made this statement: “I have reviewed the video and I am not going to approve any charges against the teacher, I talked with the attorney for the school board, and they do not wish to pursue any charges against the teacher.”
Ya think?
OK teachers who spend more time with our children than some parents do are not receiving the respect they deserve from the children they oversee, can’t go a week without hearing of a teacher attacked by a child, parents refusing to back them, my Johnny/Janie wouldn’t do that and the total lack of respect by the Louisiana school board and a city marshal. You have to wonder why they choose teaching as a profession.
I hope she sues and receives enough money her great, great grandchildren will be set for life. When a politician have to pay out–then they get it.
Bless them all
PS
Just read the school board has received death threats.
“What did you expect, what did you reasonably expect?”
“What did you expect, what did you reasonably expect?”
If that line sounds familiar to you it is a quote from a prosecutor starring in Law & Order.
Prayer In Schools:
The ongoing contention started when Steven Engel, a Jewish New Yorker, came together with other parents in 1958 to sue New York State over state-endorsed prayer that was being recited in schools. The Supreme Court inevitably sided with Engel and the decision was issued on June 25, 1962.
The invocation in question was one that had been approved by the New York State Board of Regents. The prayer, which read, “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country,” was relatively benign in nature.
Madalyn Murray O’Hair is best known for the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit, which led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling ending official Bible-reading in American public schools in 1963.
What was the outcome when we banned God from schools? Below are a few example’s.
School Shootings
8/1/1966 Charles Whitman, murdered 17 and wounded 31
12/30/74 Anthony Barbaro, murdered 3 and wounded 11
2/24/84 Tyrone Mitchell, murdered 2 and wounded 12
5/16/86 David & Doris Young, murdered 2 wounded 74
9/26/88 James Wilson, murdered 2 and wounded 9
1/17/89 Patrick Purdy, murdered 6 and wounded 32
5/21/98 Kip Kinkel, murdered 4 and wounded 23
4/20/99 Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold, murdered 15 wounded 21
3/21/05 Jeffrey Weise, murdered 7 and wounded 7
10/2/06 Charles Roberts murdered 5 and wounded 5
4/16/07 Seung-Hui Cho, murdered 33 and wounded 17
2/14/08 Steven Kazmierczak murdered 5 and wounded 21
4/02/12 One L. Goh, murdered 7 and wounded 3
12/14/12 Adam Lanza, murdered 28 and wounded 2
10/24/14 Jaylen Fryberg, murdered 4 and wounded 1
10/1/15 Christopher Harper-Mercer, murdered 9 and wounded 9
Church Shootings
2015 Emanuel AME Baptist Church in South Carolina: 9 murdered–3 injured
2017 1st. Baptist Church in in Texas: 26 murdered–20 injured
Concert
2017 Las Vegas: 59 murdered over 500 injured
Below are examples of the Ten Commandments ordered removed from court houses and public land. There are many cities being sued by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) to remove them from other cities.
July 18, 2011 Federal Senior District Judge Maurice Paul ruled Friday that Dixie County has 30 days to remove a granite monument of the Ten Commandments from atop the steps of the county courthouse in Cross City, where it has sat since 2006.
July 2, 2015 Oklahoma’s high court made a stir of its own in a ruling that had a group of self-proclaimed Satanists and an ordained Baptist minister celebrating.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state must remove a 6-foot tall granite monument of the Ten Commandments from its capitol because it violates the state’s constitutional ban against the use of public funds or property to benefit a religion.
October 16, 2017 WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday sided with a lower court that ordered a New Mexico city to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the lawn outside City Hall.
The Christian Cross
A federal judge reluctantly ordered the removal of the Bayview Cross from a public park in Pensacola, Florida. Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson gave the city 30 days to remove the cross, which has stood in various forms in a corner of Bayview Park for about 75 years.
A federal judge has ordered a Pennsylvania county to remove the cross from its seal, saying it violated the Constitution.
“So help me God”
A few years ago I was called to testify in court and was asked to raise my right hand and the clerk said “Do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” I stood there waiting for her to finish with ‘so help you God, which never happened. It was then I realized I wasn’t asked to place my hand on a bible. My thought was when this change?
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, contains the remains of more than 400,000 servicemen/women who died defending the United States of America. Every grave contains a cross. How soon before the ACLU sues to have them removed? Think it can’t happen—wait.
I was raised a Catholic, and I believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and Christians recognize the Son as Jesus Christ. That’s my belief, and you are certainly entitled to yours.
Christmas is coming and Christians celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and people afraid of appearing to be seen as “politically incorrect” will be greeting friends and family with the greeting “Happy Holidays.
“Politically Correct” has gone over the edge and no matter what you say you will offend someone.
So with that said I don’t care if I am P/C or not. Merry Christ mas to all.
So ending this story here are my thoughts: We threw God out of schools, out of courthouses and out of government. Were removing every symbol that reminds us of Him. So ask yourself:
“What do you expect, what do you reasonably expect?”
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Three stories in the Post
Three stories written by the Palm Beach Post in Sunday’s paper certainly grabbed my attention.
An editorial titled “Troubling rise in West Palm slaying needs quicker action.”
The story continues “About a third of this years killing’s have been on the city’s North End, in the impoverished neighborhoods inhabited mainly by African- Americans. Almost a third of the victims were males younger than 24.
It is naive to believe that police can stop every shooting in the troubled North End. But it’s also unacceptable to concede that this terrible cycle of killings can’t be mitigated – faster.”
Note to the Post: If you know of a way to “mitigate- faster.” please contact Mayor Muoio of Chief Mooney. I guarantee both will listen.
Everyone has opinions but no ideas or solutions.
It is my opinion these streets are run by gang members selling their drug products to our kids, and God help you if you get in their way, or try to sell your product in “their” neighborhood. What happens? The death rate rises.
I have walked these streets for over a year with public officials and police officers in a monthly “Peace Walk” and have seen neighborhoods with mounds of trash in yards and on city sidewalks and in the streets. I understand ” impoverished” but it doesn’t take money to have pride in you neighborhood and keep yards and the surrounding area clean of debris.
By allowing a neighborhood to deteriorate to this degree residents are sending the message I don’t care, I don’t see what’s going on. This type of neighborhood is exactly what people who don’t obey the law are looking for and they move right in and take over, and hold onto a neighborhood with fear and intimidation.
Please take the time and Google the “Broken Window” which will explain the situation better than I am able too.
The Post continues in part “With the death toll rising, it seems a strange time for city leaders to tout progress in long-term efforts to reduce violence, but that’s just what Muoio and Mooney did on Thursday. They held a press conference.”
Note to the Post: Both women have earned and deserve the respect to be addressed by their title Mayor Muoio and Police Chief Mooney, not Muoio & Mooney.
The Post also neglected to mention when gunshots are heard, residents shut their doors and pull the blinds. When questioned most see and hear nothing. Decent people are living in fear of retaliation. Hell of a way to live–if that’s what you call it.
Second story: ” Killings, gunfire spark fear, anger”
This story concerns WPB neighbor Lake Worth where the fifth homicide this year occurred with the last two in the last week and a half. The Post reports “Residents who live and work in the area appear nervous.” See how the evil spreads?
The Post does not report any programs in the city or anything the residents can become involved. No Peace Walks, no initiatives at all.
Third Story: “Trump protesters march through West Palm Beach”
“About 100 protesters taking aim at President Donald Trump stormed the streets of downtown West Palm Beach on Saturday night in a fairly tense display, halting traffic and surprising bystanders.”
“I think we had more visibility than we’ve had in the past” says Star Fae, a Lake Worth
activist who organized the march a year ago. The story also states:
“West Palm Beach police directed traffic away from the marches, who commanded the downtown streets for about an hour. Crowd-control efforts did not come without discord though, as some officers ordered protestors to march on sidewalks.
They refused, and responded with the chant: “Whose streets? Our streets.”
A police SUV at one point hopped a street medium to get around protestors who blocked it’s path.”
Six protestors wore burgundy cloaks and white bonnets partially hiding their faces.
One Jupiter women made a statement, but refused to give her name.
Third story has a lot of irony to it, and leaves me with some questions, such as:
Why doesn’t activist Star Fae organize a march in her hometown of Lake Worth to combat the shootings and killings happening there? Remember–Charity begins at home.
Why did the protestors disrespect our police officers and march on the sidewalks as directed? We have a Lake Worth and Jupiter resident chanting “Whose streets? Our streets.” No, dears, I am a resident and taxpayer in WPB. It is my street and I have a right to drive downtown without being encumbered by your protest.
Why did the police officer hop a street medium to get around the protesters?
Was a call received to 911 with a report of a murder, rape, robbery, assault, and the protesters made it impossible for the officer to get to a victim?
When I awoke this morning I heard a story on President Donald Trump. Guess he is still president of the free world.
What Is It Going To Take? Answer, You
The third Thursday of every month the City of West Palm Beach holds a “Peace in the Street” march led by Pastor Jones and the October march was very encouraging due to the fact the folks marching outnumbered the police officers who escort the walkers through the roughest section of the city.
At the last walk many young children had conversations and questions for the police, and it was a joy to witness the give and take between young people and the officers.
While walking back to the cars and passing a large empty lot some movement caught my attention and I spotted Assistant Chief Spatara passing all the walkers on a full out run, and he kept looking over his shoulder at whatever was behind him.
I’m ashamed to admit fear set in and I’m waiting for someone to yell “gun” it all happened so fast. I stopped walking and froze. Chief Spatara stopped running also, turned and caught a football thrown by a young man. The Chief was playing football with a couple of teenagers. No fear, no intimidation just a couple of guy’s playing ball. ? Breakthrough.
There were many very young children who made signs and carried them the length of the walk. One young boy carried a sign that read “Kill Crime–Not Each Other”
I was encouraged by the attendance of the young and old until it was reported four people injured by gunfire in the Northend of the city. It just wont stop.
On Friday (10/27/17) Chief Mooney organized another march down Sapodilla where the gunfire originated within the last 2 weeks. Residents and seniors showed up and it was a decent crowd considering it was put together rather quickly.
There are so many decent, law abiding residents living in a crime infested area who along with City Hall and the Police Dept. are desperate to find a solution to the problem concerning shootings and drugs.
Someone-somewhere has ideas on how to make it better. Maybe it’s you. Do you think “outside the box”? Do you think you may have an idea that could improve the situation? Are you willing to share your ideas with the police dept. and together find the much needed solution to improve life in this area of the city?
Are you aware there have been 23 people murdered in WPB since January?
True Story:
I was shopping when I looked up and saw a middle aged black woman, and we made eye contact. It was obvious to me she was upset and had been crying. I asked her if she was OK and she said yes, and the tears started flowing again. I asked if there was anything I could do. She said she was having a problem with her son and was very upset with him.
This is her story as to why this mother seemed at her wit’s end.
He’s 23 years old, was raised to be respectful, God fearing, and independent. A year ago he was out with his friends when he was shot and left paralyzed from the waste down. If that weren’t bad enough he admitted to his mother he knew who the shooter was, and she begs him every day to tell the police who did it. He refuses. She told him give her the name and she will go to the police. He refuses. His mom told me he isn’t in a gang. I find it hard to believe.
My opinion:
Here is a woman who raised her son, clothed and fed him, educated and changed his diapers and prepared him for the world he would enter.
Now it should have been her time to relax a little, maybe do a little traveling, enjoy her life. She will always be his mother so she moves her son back home, and the ritual starts over. She once again cooks his meal’s and changes his diaper’s.
I can’t help but wonder if the person who shot him also shot and killed others. More mother’s in pain over the loss of a loved one when a simple phone call may have prevented more heartbreak.
The world has changed and not necessarily for the better. You have heard many times “See something–Say something. Please make that phone call, it could save a life. As the young man’s sign read “Kill Crime–Not Each Other”
The police can’t fix crime without residents help, and the residents can’t fix crime without the police. Work together and make life better for all.
Residents Win/ Developers Lose
On Sept. 25,2017 the residents won a battle with developer Related, and while residents celebrate Related must be in shock due to the fact elected officials historically have done whatever necessary to insure their projects are approved.
City Hall was filled to capacity and the overflow watched the meeting in the Flagler Room which lasted until 11:00 PM. Many young, not old enough to vote residents wore t-shirts endorsing the OBD (Okeechobee Business District) project and sat in chairs in the commission chambers. When a resident came into the room they were asked which side they were on and if they were in favor of OBD a seat magically became available to them in the packed Commission Chambers.
Related sent residents 3 very impressive and expensive in appearance fliers promoting “One Flagler” and asked residents to check the box if you would approve the project. There was no box to check if you would NOT approve the project. Related’s second flier boasted “Endorsed by 2,500 West Palm Beach residents.” Now would be the time to mention WPB has over 107,000 residents.
The city spent over half a million dollars on a Mobility Study, and it’s not been completed or approved by the City Commission for one project namely Related’s “One Flagler” a 25 story tower on the waterfront, a site residents voted on 2 different occasions the buildings were not to exceed 5 stories.
This was spot zoning at it’s worst.
Rick Greene, Director Development Services, gave the presentation telling residents how great the project would be for the city, followed by a longer presentation by the director of the Mobility Study who gave the presentation the city wanted residents to hear. No downside. Mr. Greene should be made aware he draws his paycheck from the city of WPB and not Related.
“Coalition for Reasonable Development” sent 1 flier which showed the other side of the coin and any resident who rides the Okeechobee corridor would be aware this was the more honest opinion. Here were their Key Observations:
25% of all crashes in WPB occur in downtown.
33% of all crashes in downtown occur along Okeechobee Blvd.
28% of all fatal or serious injury crashes in downtown occur along Okeechobee Blvd.
From 2014-2016, 2,714 crashes occurred in the downtown at a rate of 2.5 crashes a day.
The city has paid even more money for studies on how to correct the traffic situation downtown and sponsor bicycling, walking and taking public transportation to alleviate the situation, while approving more construction in the downtown area.
One project under consideration is the “One West Palm” to be built downtown on Quadrille Blvd; by developer Jeff Greene; (not to be confused by City Administrator Jeff Green). This project will include two 30 story buildings consisting of 209,000 square feet of office space, hotel, and retail, along with 328 luxury apartments. Now here I am assuming that 328 luxury apt’s. would be purchased by couple’s both having their own vehicles. Can you picture these couples dressed in formal wear, jumping on their Schwinn or Raleigh bicycles and traveling to the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts to enjoy a show or Opera Night? May very well get bicycle grease on their tuxes or mink coats.
I have an idea I would share with readers. How about instead of handing developers large tax breaks the city require a one million dollar fee for every floor they build over 5 stories. The project mentioned above would bring an additional 50 million dollars to the city coffers. The city put’s 1/2 into the general fund and 1/2 into a police/ firemen fund to purchase much needed equipment. The city has a fire ladder truck being held together by duct tape and a prayer. I just witnessed a police cruiser where the 4 rims were so rusted out I would be afraid to drive it, and the officer’s computer handle was broken which made it hard to carry. In the city’s lean years the police/fire department gave up benefits to help the city with it’s budget. Well times are better so lets give these benefits back, and give them the equipment they need to get the job done.
In closing I would like to thank Commissioner’s Moffett, Neering, and Materio for listening to the residents and the facts and voting against the OBD. Commissioner Moffett will be running for re-election in March, and I ask voters to remember her vote Monday night. I heard a comment from Commissioner Materio and couldn’t believe my ears. She stated she did not believe Mr Green’s comment that this was not a case of “spot zoning” Good for her and us.
Also a Thank you to Coalition for Reasonable Development along with Citizens for Thoughtful Growth and Preserve WPB Citizens Coalition for their over site, keeping residents informed. Last but not least, the many residents who took the time to call, write and appear before the city commission to let their thoughts and feelings be known. This was a true grass roots endeavor, and you are to be commended for your effort.
WPB Non-Ad Valorem Tax
City Commission meeting held on 8/28/2017 item #18 on the agenda was Ordinance No. 4725-17 finding a special benefit and authorizing a non ad-valorem special assessment for Residential Solid Waste & Recycling collection services; and Resolution # 274-17 setting the assessment rate and approving the Assessment Roll”. What does that mean?
The city, with the help of Scott Kelly, Assistant City Administrator, found a way to reach deeper into our pockets and have a portion of residents bills namely “Residential Sanitation” which consist of Garbage & Trash and Recycling placed on the tax bill.
If you examine your bill from the city you will find 4 sections that resident are billed for and I offer my bill as an example.
(1) Residential Water:
Service Charge $21.43
Usage $2.41
Utility Tax $2.39
(2) Residential Wastewater:
Service Charg $12.24
Usage $3.61
(3) Residential Sanitation
Garbage & Trash $16.00
Recycling $2.85
(4) Residential Stormwater
Service Charge $13.17
First question: What is with the “Service Charge”? $46.84 total. Why not call it what it is?
So the city will remove $18.85 from our monthly billing and add $219.96 to our tax bill. I did not plan on this and already am short dollars to pay my tax bill in November, and how dare they bill us a year in advance for services not received. Their explanation “other cities do it” so that makes it alright?
Well the good news it didn’t pass to be placed of the tax rolls this year, but it is a certainty for next year. So this year we will pay the $18.85 monthly, and place the same amount in our monthly budget for 2018. There is some good news the recycling fee will be reduced from $2.85 to $2.33 saving residents a whopping $6.24 a year. I don’t know what people will do with their savings but I intend to have a gourmet meal at McDonalds.
I was one of several residents who spoke out about passing the non ad-valorem tax and placing it on our County tax roll. Mr. Kelly said it would save the city money on the billing by removing #3 from the monthly billing. How is that going to save the city money by removing it? Residents will still receive a monthly billing. I believe once the city places #3 on the tax roll they will find a way to raise one of the other 3 or invent a new one to take it’s place.
The bill I receive from the city is my highest bill including FPL.
I am one of thousands of retired workers living on Social Security and being responsible I pay my bills on time and never spend more money than what I receive. I pay my tax bill in November to save 4% of my total bill.
The last tax bill I receive I start to budget my money for the next tax year. This year I budgeted $123.00/ month, now it has jumped to $141.00 thanks to the city.
I can’t wait to see how the city will add the $18.33 we will be saving from our monthly bill. The last line in the notice received from the city speaks volumes. “”A rate study will be undertaken in 2018 to determine the needed level rates for future years”
So the city is giving you a heads up—–It’s coming, be ready,
Both Commissioner Ryan & Materio spoke up for the residents. Commissioners Neering & Moffett stayed mute, while Commissioner James asked if they could pass it and have it take effect next year. The answer was no.
Back to School
The city asked for volunteers to welcome children back to school, and I received an invitation to participate at the Northmore Elementary School. I accepted the invitation and it was a memorable occasion and I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend a couple of hours.
After parking my car the first thing I noticed were police officers waiting for the buses to arrive with the children.
I asked why they were there and they said to welcome the kids back to school, and when the buses pulled up they spread out and talked to as many of the kids as possible. Is it possible the next generation wont fear the police and know them as friends who can help if they have problems?
I asked where the volunteers were and was shown an area where 11 of us lined up to applaud and welcome the kids back to school. I didn’t realize there were many more volunteers at another entrance to the school. Turnout was wonderful.
You could tell the kids that were coming to school for the first time. The kindergartners looked scared to death, afraid of the unknown. The older children were all smiles and walked down the path and gave a hi-five to all volunteers. The parents also all smiles thanked us for being there.
What was a surprise to me was the number of fathers who accompanied their children to their first day of school. For many years that was always “mom’s job” and seeing dad’s so involved was 
heartwarming.
At one point in time Northmore was on the list for 20 worst schools, until Principle Vonda Daniels and her dedicated staff of teachers turned it around.
On 8/14/2017 at a City Commission meeting Mayor Muoio presented Ms. Daniels, along with Ilene Silber, Education Consultant with a Proclamation for “Attendance Awareness Month” Much deserved.
A special Thank You to Commissioner Neering for extending his “Ties that Bind” program, to include welcoming children back to school, and Matt Chambers for overseeing the volunteers, and it was no surprise to see Commissioner Moffett in attendance, who shared with me Mr. Green, a businessman donated 400 I-Pads to the school.
More Learning Opportunities
Get a Jumpstart on a trade and Career path at North Tech Pre- Apprenticeship program where you can learn Welding, Electrical, Carpentry, Plumbing or HVAC.
Classes are held Monday & Wednesday night from 6-9:30 PM.
Registration will be held Tuesday 8/22, Wednesday 8/23, and Thursday 8/24 from 6-8 PM
For more information please call 561-842-1063
The Vickers House, in partnership with PBC School District, will be offering GED/ABE classes to anyone interested in continuing their education.
Registration: August 14-25.
Tuition cost: $30.00 per semester, which will be waived if homeless or receiving food stamps.
Class schedule begin (Mon.) August 28,2017 ends Dec.15, 2017.
For more information please call 561-804-4970.
Youth & Young Adult Program (Must be ages 17-24) where you will learn Development Leadership skills, Receive money management training, Participate in field trips and community service activities, Explore interest and careers, Earn valuable credentials and engage in mock interviews and resume buildings.
Next class begins Sept.11,2017.
For more information please call: 561-340-1060 ext. 2361
Above are 3 learning opportunities. Just reach out and take a chance to improve your life.
The future of our waterfront is at stake!
Many of you have been following the major issues with Okeechobee Blvd and the proposal to change the land use and zoning to allow Related to build high rise at the Christian Science Church property, which currently has a 5 story height limitation. If you haven’t seen the article by Tony Doris in the Palm Beach Post, we have included the article at the end of this email.
So what is new?
A Mayor-Commission work session is scheduled for Monday July 24th at 10:00 AM at City Hall. While the public may not speak at this session, it is important to have people in attendance to hear the comments and be sure the Mayor and Commissioners know that the public is concerned about this issue.
The future of our waterfront is at stake!
Below is a brief piece that explains why the Commissioners requested the session. It should be noted that not only were the Commissioners not informed, the public wasn’t either. The only information that has been made available is from Related and their representatives. As you might expect, their focus has been on everything but the huge changes that must be made to accommodate their project. Interesting. Read the following articles below and see you on Monday July 24 at 10:00 am!
From the Palm Beach Post:
Word that the Mayor Jeri Muoio’s staff was moving ahead with a plan that could put an office tower near the waterfront sent city commissioners’ phones ringing this week.
Commissioner Paula Ryan said she’d fielded 700 emails on the hot-button issue. The mayor said she also had a folder filled with inquiries.
Problem was, the commission hadn’t been filled in so there wasn’t much they could say on the matter — the mayor’s Development Services staff had been treating it as an administrative matter at this stage and planned to bring it to the commission in the months ahead, after going through the Planning Board and Downtown Action Committee.
That’s going to change.
At Commissioner Shanon Materio’s request, Muoio this week agreed to schedule a mayor-commission work session on the plan, which would allow developer Related Cos. of New York to build a 25-story office tower on a site near the waterfront currently limited to 5-stories.
It was Related that came up with the idea but the city took the ball and ran with it, citing a shortage of first-class office towers with which to attract employers. Since spot-zoning — changing the zoning to favor a specific parcel, even if at odds with current zoning — isn’t Kosher, Related proposed that the city create a whole Okeechobee Boulevard business district that would include its site near the First Church of Christ, Scientist.
Materio said the point of her request was to slow the approval process down a bit, so that commissioners, the city’s policy-making body, can have a better sense of where the administration is headed before the plan goes to the other boards.
“We have no idea right now of what is being put together,” she said.
Plans for waterfront tower advance despite public’s ‘no’
Voter referendums can’t dictate a city’s ability to set its zoning.
By Tony Doris Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
The 25-story office tower project known as One Flagler would rise next to the First Church of Christ, Scientist, about 300 feet west of Flagler Drive. CONTRIBUTED
WEST PALM BEACH — Despite a voter-approved ban on building skyscrapers on West Palm’s downtown waterfront, the city is pressing forward with a plan that would allow one developer — Related Cos. of New York — to do just that.
Related in April submitted an application to create an Okeechobee Business District that would allow the CityPlace developer to build a 25-story office tower 300 feet from the waterfront.
The city, pressed by a citizens’ group this past week about how a developer could create a district that governs other people’s property, said it planned to return the application and initiate the change itself.
The move puts the city in the position of reworking its state-mandated long-term growth plan, known as a comprehensive plan, to suit a developer, using the developer’s application as a guideline, to advance a city goal of adding much-needed office space.
What about the 5-story limit? A court precedent from a few years ago, stemming from city efforts to redevelop the old City Hall site, said voter referendums can’t dictate the city’s ability to set its zoning, according to Development Services Director Rick Greene.
The city commissioners would have to approve the plan for it to be enacted. Greene and his staff are working on its wording and expect to place it before the five-member board by the end of the year.
Related officials, along with land-use attorney Harvey Oyer III, have spent months trying to sway opponents to support their project, known as One Flagler. It would rise next to the First Church of Christ, Scientist, about 300 feet west of Flagler Drive.
They’ve boasted about hiring the One World Trade Center architect to design it, about their plan to preserve the historic church designed by a vaunted African-American architect and to help the city with solutions to downtown congestion.
The new business district that would include Related’s site is meant to serve as a center for high-paying jobs and to encourage high-quality, innovative design “to create a distinctive skyline,” according to Oyer’s application. The district would add consistency and predictability to an area currently subject to “a hodgepodge of varying zoning regulations,” he wrote.
The plan “ensures the perpetual public view of the waterfront by restricting buildings within 300 feet of the west right-of-way line of Flagler Drive,” according to the application.
Officials with Related Cos. of New York, along with land-use attorney Harvey Oyer III, have spent months trying to sway opponents to support their project, known as One Flagler.
“It’s nothing new that the city wants more Class A offices, whether this building or any other office tower in the city,” said West Palm’s economic development director, Christopher Roog.
On July 20 Roog will keynote a luncheon of the Florida East Coast Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America, an event sponsored by Related.
“Our presenter will talk about Related’s project and its impact on the construction economy as well as the City of West Palm Beach,” said a flier for the event. “It’s not an endorsement of the Related project,” Roog told The Palm Beach Post. “We want them all. We don’t have any capacity.” Is it the city’s plan or developer’s plan?
Nancy Pullum, who heads watchdog group Citizens for Thoughtful Growth, said the interaction between the city and developer has the public confused.
On the one hand, Related has spent months making elaborate presentations before groups of residents, the city Planning Board and Downtown Action Committee, selling the project and having Oyer craft the Okeechobee Business District plan to create a high-rise corridor from Rosemary Avenue to Flagler.
On the other hand, the city, rather than acting as an independent evaluator of the proposed project, says it is initiating the plan for the district, which clearly was invented to allow Related’s tower.
Is this the city’s plan, the mayor’s plan or Related’s plan? Pullum asks, “Who’s pushing this anyway?”
One architect of the 5-story limit, lawyer Reginald Stambaugh, said there’ll be a political price if the city ignores the people’s will.
“The waterfront was protected and has remained protected with the referendum intact,” said Stambaugh, who drafted the original language of the referendum question. “If the city representatives want to change that, then they’re up against the residents, who overwhelmingly voted to limit the heights along the waterfront.”
City has followed procedure in past
Development Services Director Greene said that just because his department is drafting an Okeechobee Business District plan doesn’t mean his boss, the mayor, will endorse it or commissioners will vote for it.
And it’s not unusual for the city and a developer to work together, he said. The Related application was meant to help his staff understand what the developer wanted, so staff could take it into consideration as they draw up the city version, he said.
“We asked Related to submit the application but realized they could not get owners’ consent for all the properties within the proposed corridor, so the city thought it best for us to move forward with the application.”
Related attorney Oyer confirmed that.
The city followed the same procedure on a number of occasions, Greene said. For example, it did so with developer Jeff Greene’s (no relation) One West Palm project, a proposal for two 30-story towers on Quadrille Boulevard, several blocks west of the waterfront, which also required a zoning change and a change to the city’s comprehensive plan for downtown.
The city incorporated some of what that developer liked and “tightened up the language,” Rick Greene said.
“It happens more times than you would think,” he said of the cooperation between the city and a developer.
That might be so, but developer Jeff Greene has threatened to cancel his $250 million project if the city rewrites its height rules to allow Related’s competing tower with waterfront views he can’t match.
This is the second time in the past year that the city has moved to create a district that would allow high-rises in the 5-story area.
First the city crafted a plan to designate a Flagler Waterfront District, a north-south section of downtown where it would ease height limits to encourage top-flight office construction.
Despite support for the district from the chamber of commerce, Business Development Board and Related, downtown residents flocked to public meetings to complain that 30-story towers there would block condo views, grid-lock streets and destroy the city’s small-town ambience.
“We are now ‘going back to the drawing board’ to rethink how to add this office space in the Flagler Financial District while keeping in mind our stakeholders’ feedback,” Mayor Jeri Muoio said in November after the city’s Downtown Action Committee recommended against the plan.
The latest plan, the Okeechobee district, amounts to “trying to do a work-around,” in watchdog Pullum’s view.
The two districts, the old north-south one and the new east-west one, have just one property in common: the site where Related wants to build.
If you have no interest in what is happening in this particular part of the city, how will you react when developers take an interest in your neighborhood and see dollar signs.
The waterfront is the jewel of West Palm Beach and we, the residents,taxpayers and homeowners are losing our right to visit beaches along with our quality of life.
Of course we can always drive along the water front, but do it fast before the next high rise appears and blocks the view, and remember what we once had and lost due to lack of attention or caring.
Time To Give Back
America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan on Dec.7,1941, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt was quoted as stating “a date which will live in infamy”
Another date that should “live in infamy” is September 9, 2001 when 19 hijackers and a few others in a cave in Afghanistan planned and carried out the attack on America causing the death of nearly 3,000 Americans which included:
343 firefighters (including a chaplain and two paramedics) of the New York City Fire Department.
37 police officers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department.
23 police officers of the New York City Police Department.
8 emergency medical technicians and paramedics from private emergency medical services.
The above figures do not represent the thousands of other first respondents who still fall ill to this day due to respiratory and cancer causing carcinogens inhaled on that faithful day, running into buildings in their attempt to save lives and in the process losing their’s. Why do I bring this up now? For 2 reasons, let me explain.
When a fire broke out in London England 79 people living in the 24 story Grenfell Towers lost their lives, and many more injured with severe burns, and the death toll is expected to rise. I watched the news, saw the inferno, and said a prayer for the victims. Then I read Sunday’s paper and the article on Developer Jeff Greene and his plans for WPB.
Mr. Greene has 8 projects in the work, and I will mention a few.
Micro Apartments=550 Banyan Blvd.=12 stories.
Clematis Place= Clematis St.= 12 stories
One West Palm= 550 No. Quadrille Blvd. It is written this is his biggest project with 2 towers, each 30 stories high, 209,000 square feet of offices, 328 luxury apartments, hotel and retail. I am assuming the luxury apartments will be on the top floors. Mr. Greene has the OK from the ,city to build, but is waiting on a decision from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) but doesn’t anticipate a problem.
What could kill Mr Greene’s project? Related Co. plans to build a 25 story tower near the waterfront, on a site zoned for 5 stories and is pushing the city to allow the construction. If the city allows the project to go forward, Mr. Greene states “I probably wont go ahead with the project. I don’t feel like competing with a building right on the water unless he gets a big tax break to compensate”
The city has allowed so much construction, there is no where to go but up, and after 30 years of living in WPB, I now live in a possible flood zone. It’s a shame they cant make concrete to absorb water like the land can. Water has to go somewhere, and if it crawls into your home that’s really a shame.
If you read this far, thank you, here is one point I wish to make and it concerns the WPB Fire Dept; The fire dept; along with the police dept; are and always will be my heroes for reasons mentioned above. They are selfless individuals who put our safety above their own, and rush into danger while others are trying to escape. I believe both departments are in financial trouble, and would offer a couple of solutions.
First the city has 3 Fire Truck Ladder’s, and they can extend 100′ capable of reaching 8-9 floors if they can get close to the building. For every 10′ away from the building, that’s 10′ they lose in height.
One truck is in the process of being disposed of due to the cost of keeping it operational, and needs to be replaced. (To damn old and falling apart).
If the ladders cant go beyond 8-9 floors, why would the city allow 30 story buildings? Simple answer, the developer want to make as many millions as possible on the project.
Instead of Mr. Greene asking for “a big tax break” why not thank the city for all he’s received by purchasing a much needed fire ladder truck, donating it to the city, and have a nice tax write off for himself, not to mention the great publicity he would receive.
I imagine these trucks run hundred’s of thousands of dollars, and the city could hire much needed help in both the fire and police dept. if they didn’t lay out money for the new truck. I see it as a win-win.
If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know I ask readers to vote no on all new taxes the city, county and state ask for because I believe they could do a better job of handling our tax dollars.
Homeowners soon will be asked to vote for another $25,000.00 Homeowners Exemption, bringing it to $75,000.00.
I am a homeowner, and will vote the exemption down if the city promises they will use the tax dollars to fully fund the WPB Fire & Police Dept. with the needed manpower and equipment.
Mayor Muoio please ask Mr. Greene to purchase and donate the Fire Truck.