Lake Worth
February 9, 2011
Friends, neighbors, business leaders, City Staff, and Commissioners, Good Evening. Before I begin tonight, I want to once again thank the folks here at the Lake Worth Playhouse for opening up this beautiful venue for this public forum. Situated in the very center of our downtown, serving the cultural needs of our residents, and once again serving a civic function for the City, clearly establishes this place and the people who manage it as absolute assets to the community. Thank You! About a year ago, you might recall my reflection upon the conditions that our first City leaders encountered. They were truly a determined bunch, with the voracity to build a City from nothing but the few people in residence. Those people overcame the initial struggle to literally build a City, then rebuild it after hurricanes, and overcome the struggle of the Great Depression. All of that occurred within the first twenty years of this City's existence. They endured all of this to create a safe place to raise their families and earn a decent living. So our people know a thing or two about hard work and determination...........and hardship. Tonight, we are once again gathered to discuss the state of our City. Let me start off by wishing you all a Happy New Year! Happy especially because I am certain that each of you couldn't be more delighted to see 2010 fade away into a bad memory. Yes, 2010 saw record home foreclosures, many small business failures, a largely jobless recovery, and much apprehension as to what the future will hold. But the end of 2010 saw some small glimmers of hope. Nationally, the economy is showing signs of sustained recovery. In fact, in a recent study commissioned by the US Conference of Mayors and performed by IHC Global Insight it was determined that our metropolitan area is very likely to have one of the most rapid economic growths within the next 4 years. This growth can be Enhanced by expanding the components of our local economy beyond housing construction, to include clean technologies, light manufacturing, and research and development. So recovery is possible, as along as our
government can continue to achieve at a higher level. Let's take a moment to explore what was accomplished in 2010.

PBSO Accomplishments:

1) They procured a $500,000 SMART Initiative grant form Bureau of Justice, which has helped contribute to a citywide decrease in robberies of 9.13%. Because of the
programs preliminary successes, they likely have obtained an extension for additional funding of the grant past September 30, 2011, keeping the program active and the Community Outreach Liaison in Lake Worth.
2) They obtained a 14.1% reduction in Total Index Offenses as outlined in UCR
reporting for the first half of 2010 (Jan to Jun). This decrease is in addition to the 13.8% reduction achieved in the first half of 2009 (Jan to Jun). The full annual report numbers for 2010 are not published as of yet by the FDLE, but will no doubt be consistent with these data.
3) They have initiated and maintained several youth oriented programs in Lake Worth such as the First Tee, Youth Director Counsel, Lake Worth PAL, and Gang Resistance and Education Training.
4) They also continue to serve the community by attending all of the neighborhood
associations and community events.
5) Finally, they undertook the Haiti relief project where they delivered an estimated
$80,000 worth of supplies, including two patrol cars.

Utilities Accomplishments:

1) Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plant ----- Started construction on a $20M water treatment plant and a $5M deep injection well. The plant is 65% complete and the well is 80% complete. The plant is on schedule for an October 2011 in-service date.
2) Electric System Upgrades ----- Replaced the control system at Smith Power Plant. Rebuilt the East Switch Substation. Replaced five 138kV and twelve 26kV oil circuit breakers with modern gas and vacuum breakers, replaced the system protection relays at 3 sites, and replaced a substation transformer at Main Yard Substation.
3) Conservation Management ----- Conducted in excess of 800 conservation audits
resulting in an estimated savings of 2M gallons of water usage and 500,000 kilowatt
hours of electric usage. Provided energy efficiency improvements for 85 customers
through the ECAP program and rebated $35,000 for energy efficient appliances and
fixtures.
4) The employees and management of the utilities have adopted a mantra "we have the power to.....", which they all have taken turns to finish with their own team-oriented goals. This can-do attitude is literally changing the culture within our utilities.

Public Services Accomplishments:

1) BRYANT PARK SEAWALL-- Funded in part by Florida Inland Navigational Grant, the old deteriorated sea wall was replaced at a cost of about $1.8 M. The project came in under budget and within the original time schedule. The result is solid concrete pilings that will last at least another 75 years, a new meandering 6 ft sidewalk with all new drought tolerant turf and soon new benches, trash receptacles and nearly 100 new trees planted along the entire 1800 ft. As a follow up, the city is considering applying for another grant with FIND to supplement new wall construction with a "living shoreline"

2) BRYANT PARK IMPROVEMENTS-- The seawall project allowed the city an
opportunity to review and improve the park's layout in regards to traffic flow and parking. As a result, the entry road once meandering near the pavilion, was redirected to create a safe space for a new playground area. The deteriorating playground was replaced
with a new "state of the art" playground which has been extremely popular. The parking lot once occupying the water-front was relocated further north away from the wall and the spaces reduced from 61 to 39 thus decreasing the size by about 36%. The palm trees were relocated to along the to enhance and increase our picnic area, and Florida friendly landscaping employed in the rest of the site. Finally, the outdoor exercise equipment area was cleaned and new handicap mulch installed along the 3/4 mile fitness trail.
3) Recreation: The facilities section of recreation continued its fast pace of renovating and improving current facilities and fields, while planning and completing new construction projects. Improving security and safety at existing sites was a priority with over 600 ft. of new fencing installed at the NW Complex and Sunset Ridge Park at the same time as new security lighting was installed at the Gymnasium, Osborne Center, Memorial Park, and the NW Complex. The old maintenance building at the NW Complex was renovated during the fiscal year and provided badly needed office space, activity space, and storage for the department. Four of the City's baseball fields were upgraded with improvements to the turf, clay, lighting, and fencing. Dave Manzo field at the NW Complex underwent extensive renovation to the field and facility, utilizing a recent inter-local agreement with the school board and Palm Beach Atlantic University to pay for the project. The improvements to the athletic fields in the city has resulted in a large increase of rental requests as well as the starting of a new travel USSSA Baseball
league at the NW Complex and a brand new recreation soccer and flag football leagues for the City of Lake Worth. Local churches and organizations are utilizing Sunset Ridge Park and Memorial Field for soccer practices and games during the down time between recreation programs. In addition, the Howard Park CDBG project started in fiscal year 2009 was completed during this fiscal year providing the residents using Howard Park and the cemetery a public restroom facility and maintenance storage room. Sunset Ridge CDBG project for park improvements and new facilities was initiated this fiscal year and should be completed by December 2011.
4) Special Events & Athletic Programs: The Recreation Division was also extremely
successful in implementing new family oriented programming and athletic events during the 2010 fiscal year. Our first time events included hosting the annual Youth Soccer League enrolling over ninety children; Annual Kids Triathlon; Annual Daddy Daughter Date Night to the delight of beautiful young ladies of all ages and the proudest fathers, grandfathers and uncles in the land and the Battle in the Tropics youth basketball tournament with forty-two teams in attendance from all over the state of Florida. Our existing programs were enhanced by the use of our dedicated volunteers and staff with the numbers for Summer Sports Camp nearly doubling from last year's attendance figures. The Travel Basketball Program in its 3rd year brought home the USSSA 8th Grade Girls National Championship and State Championship in the 11th Grade Boys Division, 2nd place in the 8th Grade Boys Division and a total of nine 1st place tournament trophies, and five 2nd place tournament trophies. The 45th Annual Holiday Parade was coordinated and hosted by our Special Events section and drew over 100 entries and more than 15,000 spectators. 

Community Development Accomplishments:

They have spent the lion's share of their time reorganizing the previously titled
certificate of use program, bringing many dozens of long-term code enforcement cases into compliance and put to date, and shepherding the process of developing land designation regulations for the comprehensive plan. The department has also worked diligently to promote economic development by furthering the efforts of the Park of Commerce. The result has been the organization of the principal property and business owners within the Park of Commerce, the development of an infrastructure needs assessment analysis and implementation strategy, and a formal submission for phase 1 funding from the Economic Development Administration. We are well on our way with the Park of Commerce.

Lake Worth Climate Action Plan- Energize Lake Worth:

The City has engaged a consultant to develop a Local Climate Action Plan, which when delivered will be implementable by June of this year. This plan is absolutely essential for us to take advantage of funding for sustainability improvements City-wide, but most importantly to create achievable targets for our City to become much more energy efficient, cost-effective, and desirable in which to live and do business.

Commission:

We secured an agreement with the County to fund the beach redevelopment project
and hired a design and contracting team to execute the project. We are now in the final design, development, and permitting of the project. For the Casino Building project, we selected a distinguished architect, adopted a business model that would make the entire beach financially self-sustaining, selected a design for the Casino Building, and hired a highly regarded construction manager at-risk to perform the construction work. It's astonishing to think about it in retrospect, but all of these accomplishments occurred in a year where we cut the cost of your government by 6% and did not raise your taxes. Those efficiencies occurred by our employees sacrificing some of the value of their traditional benefits, while not being faced with losing their jobs. It was a regrettable but necessary step to take is realigning the cost of government with the capacity of the public to pay. This success will serve as a model and important step forward in how we manage our budget and government in the coming year. What lies ahead? In Palm Beach County, the unemployment rate went from 12.3% to 11.5%. and 4,522 jobs were gained in December alone. Also consumer spending was up 0.7% making December the sixth consecutive month with increase. For the whole of 2010, consumers boosted spending 3.5% being the best performance since 2007. So on a county level, there are some positive economic indicators. However, what we choose to do as a City will determine if we fully capture the benefits of the coming economic upswing, or fall into the same pattern as in the past. PBSO Goals:

1) To continue to work collaboratively with the Neighborhood Associations to understand the true nature of the neighborhoods crime problems and develop meaningful cooperation strategies which will best deal with these problems. Additionally, utilizing the PBSO Community Outreach Liaison, engage the Latin Community in the South of the city and help them form a Neighborhood Association or Community Watch Program
2) To continue to assail criminal behavior in a way that emphasizes prevention and is marked by vigorous law enforcement maintaining Lake Worths reputation as a safe city.
3) To continue to deliver our services in a manner that preserves our citizens rights and best reinforces the strength of the citys neighborhoods.

Utilities Goals

1) Present to the commission and start a 10 year water and sewer master plan for
distribution system upgrades.
2) Present to the commission and start a 10 year electric system conversion and
improvement plan.
3) Study and recommend an electric rate design that includes demand rates, time of
use rates, and feed-in-tariffs.

Public Services Goals:

1. Boat Ramp restoration with new floating docks and a designated Kayak launch
2. Work with ERM to complete the Snook Island and Reef Project
3. Construction of new "Green" Public Services Building
Commission:

Continue the process of designing and undergoing construction of the beach front
redevelopment and Casino Building projects. This year will mark the inception of
construction of both beach projects.
All of this will be accomplished while we face an anticipated 4.5 million dollar budgetary shortfall in the coming year. With even greater urgency than last year, we must place our highest priorities on the top of the list and determine where the crucial cuts and efficiencies within our existing budget will occur. We will need your input and certainly that of our Finance Advisory Board to identify the highest priorities and establish those areas that will need to be sacrificed to make this coming year's budget work for us all. What is at stake? The coming year will be unlike any other that preceded it. There will be many challenges, and to the same extent, many tremendous opportunities. We enter the coming year with anticipation that our previous financial urgency will indeed broaden with a larger budget shortfall of 4.5 million dollars. Last year we came a step closer to decreasing the overall cost of government, there are still many more steps to take. This task is much like a marathon, but as any elite runner knows, you must run all the way through the finish line. I do not intend to, nor can we afford to, coast into my finish line. This year we will find more ways to decrease the cost of your government, through reorganization, seeking further inherent efficiencies, and instituting best practices from other successful cities. As a result, your government will change, and we hope, for the better. However, this process will require your constant input and more importantly your tolerance and confidence. We must all accept that the way government had functioned in the past had cost us too much and delivered too little. Change simply has to occur for us to continue to make any meaningful progress. We need your help to realize this goal. The fundamental question that we should all ask is: 'Why do cities exist?'  The most unequivocal answer is: 'To create environments in which people can succeed.' We can accomplish this ideal, but it will require several critical actions by the government and the public it serves:

1) We must redefine the role of government in this City- to serve at an affordable cost
2) We must decrease the electric rates for our residents. Thats why I'm proposing a
short-term plan to reduce our general fund dependence on the franchise fee that it
charges the electric utility. This is the single quickest and most dramatic way to
decrease utility rates.
3) Our customer service in all departments must become superior. We can no longer start at 'no', when asked questions from residents and businesses. Ultimately, we as a government have to facilitate not regulate.
4) We must engender a reputation of unparalleled public safety, casting away our
historic stigma of crime infested streets.
5) Continuing investments in critical infrastructure, such as roads, electric, water, and sewage utilities, economic development as in the Park of Commerce, and City
resources such as the beachfront redevelopment and Casino building projects.
6) Finally, we simply must become a more civil city, reflective of the goodness within the majority of our residents. I participated in the US Conference of Mayors Civility Accord, which originated from the Mayor of Tucson, Arizona after the recent tragic events in that City. The Accord calls upon elected officials and citizens alike to treat each other with dignity, to produce constructive outcomes.

Recently, the Children Services Council State of the Child: Economic Indicators report, indicated that children within the City of Lake Worth face the most economic risk factors within our county. If we are to succeed as a community, it is absolutely imperative that we make this City a better place in which children can live and thrive. We can begin this process by viewing our city through the eyes of children. If we did this, we would realize that our neighborhoods would need to become safer places in which to live and the streets as well as parks safer places in which to play. We would also know that this City must become more affordable in which to live, so that parents wouldn't have to work two and sometimes three jobs just to pay the electric bills and their taxes. Our children need their parents at home to keep them out of trouble and help with the their homework. Our children also need a City that celebrates culture and education. Especially during times of economic downturn, communities such as ours must invest in serious arts and history programs that incorporate seamlessly with the school system. A real sense of culture and education is what draws families into today's Cities. And finally, our children need to
learn from our example on how to become a civil society. We should all become more active in our communities and government, but should follow the saying to 'disagree without being disagreeable'. In other words, if you can't say what you are thinking in front of a small child, or better yet, your grandmother, then figure out a better way to say it. In the end, we should all remember that we are friends and neighbors, with motivations to make our community a better place.
I believe strongly that if we follow the vision of making this a community that is ideal for children, then people of all ages and backgrounds benefit. After all, if we can make the required changes in our community to benefit the most vulnerable among us, the dividends paid to us all will emerge like a well spring of progress for all in our
community. The only question remains is: Will we rise to the challenge? Only you, our residents and elected officials can answer this question. You alone have the power to write the next chapter in our history. And only you can prove that, once again, this City can rise from a crisis with sacrifice, hard work, and determination, to become a better version of itself. I know that we can do it! You must all begin to realize it yourselves, since the future is truly yours. Our children are watching!
I wish you all a good night. God bless you all and the beautiful City of Lake Worth.