Commissioner
Scott Maxwell
City of Lake Worth, Florida
City News
Use this page to find the latest news and press releases important to Lake Worth.
Suggested design for Lake Worth casino rehab blends traditional architecture, Earth-friendly features
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 10:32 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010
Posted: 5:54 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010
LAKE WORTH — REG Architects presented a conceptual design for the Lake Worth casino today that blends the style of the original 1922 building with eco-friendly features and what the firm estimates is enough commercial space to cover the cost of the renovation.
The northern half of the casino is designed in a Mediterranean Revival style similar to the original W.B. Eckler design, with arched walkways, a second-floor terrace where visitors could look out over the ocean and a domed tower at the northeast corner.
The southern part near the city pool has a more modern Tuscan Revival style, said William Waters, project manager for REG.
"We're going to create a waterfront village so the whole feeling of the project has a little variety," said Rick Gonzalez, president of REG Architects.
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Community meeting in Lake Worth to include health reports, energy auditors
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 3:05 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010
LAKE WORTH — City Commissioner Scott Maxwell will host a community meeting Tuesday night to discuss health department reports about the Osborne Community, gymnasium improvements and the Genesis Neighborhood Association.
Representatives from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and For the Children and energy auditors with Lake Worth Utilities also are scheduled to speak.
The District 1 community meeting is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Norman J. Wimbley Municipal Gymnasium, 1515 Wingfield St. For more information, call (561) 586-1730
August 22, 2010
Is Lake Worth poised to pass highest tax rate increase in Palm beach County?Reported crime goes down as arrests go up in Lake Worth
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 8:15 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010
Posted: 6:03 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, 201
LAKE WORTH — The number of major crimes reported in Lake Worth dropped more than 14 percent during the first half of this year following a similar drop in the first half of 2009 a sign that the decision to merge the city’s police department with the sheriff’s office in the fall of 2008 is working, according to some sheriff’s officials and residents.
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Lake Worth officials, labor unions spar over proposed cuts to employee benefits
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 3:47 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010
LAKE WORTH — Pensions, special pay and health-care benefits are at the forefront of city negotiations with three labor unions representing 270 city employees.
Faced with a 23 percent drop in property values, City Manager Susan Stanton is recommending $4.7 million in spending cuts for the upcoming budget year, including substantial reductions in personnel costs.
Lake Worth's painful cuts: Other cities can expect similar budget woes.
By The Palm Beach Post
Posted: 9:03 p.m. Friday, July 16, 2010
Lake Worth's budget suffered double whammies in previous years. That's why the city's reserves basically are gone. By now the city is up to quadruple or quintuple whammies But some people still don't see it.
In her budget message accompanying the proposed fiscal 2011 budget, City Manager Susan Stanton says, "During the last 14 months, I have been surprised by the sense of institutional denial associated with the economic conditions in the community and the city's diminished capacity to continue its current spending levels."
The message includes a slew of factoids intended to knock the denial out of anybody still hanging on to it. Since 2006, Lake Worth has lost 44 percent of its taxable value.
Lake Worth seeking input on casino future with 32-question survey
July 14, 2010
LAKE WORTH — Architects planning the overhaul of the casino at Lake Worth Beach have received more than 150 responses so far to a survey that asks how the historic building should look and be used.
The "casino charrette questionnaire" is available online at www.Lakeworth.org and in hard copy at city hall, the city library, the Osborne Community Center and in a drop box next to the Casino Dairy Bar at the casino
Yesterday's Antique Mall to close in Lake Worth
July 12, 2010
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE WORTH — Yesterday's Antique Mall, long considered an "anchor" on Lake Avenue, is closing its doors this month.The 7,460-square-foot shop has held court at its space at 716 Lake Avenue Lake Worth in downtown Lake Worth for more than 17 years - a destination for buyers and sellers of antique jewelry, furniture, lamps and knick knacks.
But with higher rents on the avenue, owner Steve Gaffney said he can't afford to renew his lease.
Mayoral Discussion on the City’s Current Financial Condition
July 12, 2010
PRESS ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FROM: Office of the Mayor
CONTACT: Rachel Smithson, Assistant to the City Manager 561-533-7394
DATE: July 12, 2010
RE: Mayoral Discussion on the City’s Current Financial Condition
LAKE WORTH - Mayor René A. Varela, will be giving a public budget presentation on Wednesday, July 21st, at 7:00 pm in the Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Avenue. During his address the Mayor will provide a report on the current economic condition of the City and also outline the City’s plan to stabilize the economic condition in Fiscal Year 2011 and improve conditions in future years; providing Lake Worth residents and business owners with a better understanding of where the City currently stands and how these challenges can be overcome.
This will be the first Mayoral Budget Presentation given in Lake Worth. Mayor Varela is committed to ensuring fluid and open discussion with residents and business owners to promote transparent government and to keep the community aware of the progress that is being made. The event is free of charge and open to all interested residents of the City.
Extra homestead exemption stings Lake Worth's tax base
July 10, 2010
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE WORTH - As the city struggles for money following two years of sharply dropping property values, its tax base is further eroded by a 2008 voter-approved constitutional amendment that doubled the homestead exemption on many properties.
What might have made sense when home values were high at the tail end of the housing boom is adding to the city's pain this year as city officials work to cut $4.7 million from the budget for the year that begins Oct. 1.
Commissioners are considering four-day workweeks, pension cuts, a reduction in Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office staffing and new sources of revenue, such as charging for downtown parking and red light cameras.
During the past three years, the city's tax base has dropped a whopping 46 percent, from a building-boom peak of $2.09 billion in 2007 to $1.13 billion this year.
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Lake Worth sets tax rate, but hopes to lower it
07/01/10
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE WORTH — City commissioners approved a tentative tax rate in a 4-1 vote tonight that raises the same total amount from city property owners as this year's rate.
Lake Worth commissioners choose architect for casino building project
6/15/10
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE WORTH — City commissioners Tuesday approved a contract with REG Architects to design the renovation of the historic casino building at Lake Worth Beach.
Approval of the contract came in a 4-1 vote despite concerns that the city has no financing plan in place to rebuild the casino, a job expected to cost $6.5 million. Commissioner Scott Maxwell dissented.
The $460,000 contract with the West Palm Beach is written in phases. The city manager was instructed to provide funding for the $75,000 first phase.
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Lake Worth residents have until Friday to apply for seats on city boards
06/14/10
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE WORTH — Friday is the deadline for residents to apply for seats on several city boards, including two seats on the Planning and Zoning Board, two on the Community Redevelopment Agency board and six on the Tree Board.
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Lake Worth leaders puzzle over fixes to fallen property values
6/6/10
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE WORTH - What's wrong with Lake Worth?That's the question some residents are asking after the city's taxable property value fell nearly 25 percent for a second consecutive year.
Lake Worth's drop in taxable value this year was the steepest in Palm Beach County, and more than double the countywide average of 11.8 percent.
In neighboring West Palm Beach, by contrast, the decline was 14 percent.
Lake Worth to draft noise ordinance in response to complaints about downtown bars; criminal penalties an option
2/10/10
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE WORTH — After months of discussion over how to handle noise coming from downtown bars, city commissioners decided Tuesday to appoint a seven-member task force to create a noise ordinance.
The noise task force, which could begin meeting as early as Monday, will consider questions such as whether to impose fines or criminal penalties for violations, what noise standards should be used at various times of day, how noise should be measured and whether variances should be allowed for special events
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Filling Lake Worth's $1.7 million budget hole will deplete city's reserves
01/27/10
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE WORTH — The city needs to plug a $1.7 million hole in this year's budget and expects another drop in taxable property value for the 2011 budget year.
Lake Worth city employees collect aid for Haiti relief
01/22/10
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE WORTH — Boxes of clothing, diapers, non-perishable food and medical supplies were stacked to the ceiling inside the Lake Worth Resource Center this morning at the conclusion of the city's Race for Relief, a competition among city departments to collect supplies for earthquake victims in Haiti.Lake Worth day-labor center to celebrate 1st anniversary Friday
11/17/09
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE WORTH — The Lake Worth Resource Center, a day-labor center established last fall in the city shuffleboard building to get workers off the streets, will celebrate its first anniversary Friday .City Commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill is scheduled to speak along with laborers and employers who have used the center during the ceremony, set for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the center at 1121 Lucerne Ave.
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The State of Our City
"...in the grip of the worst economic crisis since The Great Depression."Misguided City Commission policies of the past several years, coupled with plummeting property values, spiraling unemployment and a failed U.S. economy have placed our City squarely in the grip of the worst economic crisis since "The Great Depression."
If Lake Worth is to rebound from these catastrophic conditions you, as a concerned citizen, will need to assume an active, participative role in shaping our City's direction and future.
No longer can any of us sit on the sidelines and expect the next guy to fix our problems.
History has proven that this approach has only exacerbated our issues as the next guy simply "kicked the can down the road".Unfortunately, we may have very well come to the end of that "road".
...Doomsday, you say?
...Negative perhaps?
View it as you may, but the harsh reality is that our City's economic condition and future isn't very pretty...however all is certainly not lost and I believe we can ABSOLUTELY rebound from this and move in a much brighter, more positive direction.
Frankly, and let me say it again, it depends on you!
Are you willing to help and make a difference?
Are you willing to get your friends and neighbors involved?
Are are you willing to help move Lake Worth toward a stable, economically sustainable community where all our residents will benefit and feel more secure?
Only you know how to answer that.
Make no mistake, the time to redefine & redirect our City is now...
...not next week,
...not next month,
...and not next year,
...but TODAY!
Consider this. What you and I do or don't do over the next few months, without question, will define and shape Lake Worth destiny for generations to come.
I believe the choices that must be made are clear, and I hope you will actively join with me to see these choices realized for a better Lake Worth for all of our residents.
In conclusion, please join me as I blow open the lines of effective, two-way, communication and dialog for all of our citizens to assure that collectively we make the best decisions for the future of the City we love to call home!
Thank You for visiting and share this blog with all of your friends and neighbors!
Please use this blog as the powerful communication tool it is intended to be. I look forward to hearing from you and your friends soon.
South Florida home values see nation's biggest drop in a yearClick chart below for complete story...What do you think?
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