RESIDENTS ORGANIZE to fight Lantana Airport expansion

See how two NON COMPATIBLE USES of Lantana Airport have been approved and protected by the FAA despite public petitions, protests and well over 6000 complaints... and the FAA did so without ANY study of what effects these non compatible uses would have on the health, safety and wellbeing of pilots or the public.

Find out how local control over airports is quietly surrendered to FAA adminocrats hundreds or thousands of miles away and why this maniacal little scheme caused one airport to rip up its runway to get out from under FAA control.

The FAA in south Florida has no time to investigate SAFETY issues which is what they're supposed to be doing. Really??

Helicopter schools agreed to abide by Palm Beach County 'good neighbor' standards and then managed to abuse and assault the public for eighteen years by violating those standards and teaching their students to do so. How did they get away with it?? You'll see.

See how the unfair burden of monitoring the Lantana Airport is forced on the public who lacks the necessary training, expensive equipment, vantage point, or the time to accurately monitor it.

See how aviation interests are being served at your expense and how that has already caused a mid air collision. See how the planned expansion would roll over your quality of life, property values, health, safety and wellbeing.

Resident Concerns:

1. The addition of Jet traffic at LNA (Lantana Airport) which raises the issue of the safe and efficient use of the airport
2. Helicopters training over our communities where they're not supposed to be training
3. Any significant expansion of airport operations
4. Increases in traffic pattern congestion that has already resulted in a mid air collision between a fixed wing Piper and an R22 helicopter.
5. Unsafe flight practices not being monitored or addressed
6. Lack of public access to airport flight operation and complaint data

So, before we begin... let's make a few things clear:

1. No one wants to close the airport. We knew the airport was there with plenty of fixed wing activity.  In the nineties, helicopter training schools applied for tenancy and the County and the schools agreed that there should be no helicopter pattern training at LNA in order to maintain public health, safety and wellbeing.
2. Some of us are pilots, so we do understand the airport, its operations, its flight rules, and history. 
3. Regarding helicopters, we want exactly what the County has entitled us to receive ...nothing more, and we won't settle for anything less.
4. We realize as is often the case, that a few ruin it for the many and therefore we want to be clear that we applaud and support pilots who are acting responsibly... ones that are following the County's Guidelines.

What happened to the ARC FLASH study?

In April of 2009, an ARC FLASH STUDY was commissioned by the utility director who is now being given $72,000 for her last three months on the job.

An ARC FLASH study is required by federal regulators for safety reasons and LWU was due to complete this study by January 2009 but granted an extension to comply. An ARC FLASH study specs out the clothing, tools and headgear to be worn at specific locations where high voltage danger could cause harm to electric utility employees. Such harm did occur when an employee got severely burned while working near a high voltage area in 2009.

CITY MANAGER STANTON BOOTED OUT

In this joyous season, I am celebrating the potential for renewal in Lake Worth which began with a bold move to clean out city management from the top down.

From Paul Boyer to Susan Stanton… inept, corrupt, wasteful and often cruel leadership disregarded the public and common sense honesty and openness.

Yes, I know there are those who are disappointed to see Stanton fired but dwelling on one side of her performance while ignoring the other side of the story… is delusional.

SCREWING TAXPAYERS & MISAPPROPRIATING FUNDS

September 11, 2011 -  please note that comments are disabled... see end of article for explanation. You can post comments here:

Over the past few months, I’ve tried to answer the inquiries and calls as to why the delay in writing such an important piece …so let me begin here for those who didn’t receive a response.

For the past few months, the Lake Worth budget was a work in progress and nearly impossible to pin down long enough to write about it. Figures and projections were shuffling around and items were being edited and deleted as city staff scrambled to get out from under the reign of terror that descended on them concerning millions “misappropriated” in the electric utility funds.

So my apologies for not committing this to writing sooner but it would have been a disservice if I had done so.

AUTO RENEWAL SCAMS... reading the fine print

Scam

PCTOOLS and other software and service companies have gone to great lengths to make it as difficult as possible for customers to stop the automatic renewing of their products and services. The fine print is in the “terms of purchase” where PCTOOLS claims that by buying their product you agree to have your product, service, or subscription automatically renewed. And of course, you never agreed to that since the salesman never told you anything about it and you didn't see it on any of the PCTOOL advertisements. So it's a big surprise when you get the email notice of automatic renewal and you discover they've rigged everything so you can't just cancel this renewal... you're going to have to WORK HARD AT IT. They've already got your credit card number and they know that a certain percentage of novices will probably give up and let the renewal go through.

Looking on the email, you see no customer service phone number so you can pick up the phone and call… there's no convenient “cancel automatic renewal” button or link somewhere... they made sure of that... so what do you do?

You can follow the directions in the email notice for “opting out of auto renewal,” which say “go to my account” but the last thing you needed when you bought the software was to set up another unnecessary account and password to remember. After finding yourself in an infinite loop of being bounced back and forth between two screens it becomes apparent this doesn't work either.

It’s likely this interruption in your day will cost at least a half hour of your time as you go through the rat maze of figuring it all out and finally getting someone on the phone who speaks and understands English to stop the runaway train.

The first number google listed as PCTOOLS support ended up with someone from "Iyogi" (tech support outsource for PCTOOLS) with a heavy accent who wanted to backdoor into my computer. That was a totally ridiculous request... but they do that so they can terrorize you into thinking that if you don't renew, you may end up with a dead computer and none of your files.

When I refused to allow it, he didn't understand and finally got his supervisor on the phone who couldn't even find the correct number of PCTOOLS for me to call.

This is what’s happened to many American businesses where most everything is outsourced and greed reigns supreme. I do not recommend this product as there are many comparable products that cost less, one for free (CACHE CLEANER) ...some even packaged within security software that offer the same features and performance. And most important... they won't be automatically stabbing your credit card with renewal fees you didn't agree to pay.

HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT HELICOPTER SCHOOL
Palm Beach County Helicopter Training

Before you spend a hundred thousand of your or your government’s money, make sure you get the most for your money with the least hassle and cost. The County has four airports, three of which cater to General Aviation interests and have helicopter training schools based on them… 1. Lantana Airport known as Palm Beach County Park Airport, 2. North County Airport, and 3. Pahokee Glades Airport.

Part IV - MR REYES AND AMERICAN VALUES

So make sure you see the video linked on Part I of this story. It is a short and very effective witness to the truth about the city you live in and how it has treated those who refuse to lie to you. It exemplifies how virtue is despised, attacked, slandered, and disposed of. And it shows exactly what is happening in America and why it is becoming more difficult than ever to get honest people into government.

Part II & III - A STORY OF THE BEST AND WORST OF LAKE WORTH

Susan Stanton (top) & Utility Director Rebecca Mattey and PowerPlant manager David Mulvay (right) addressing the commission. Susan Stanton, formerly Steven Stanton has always fought the oppression of and discrimination against his/her rights and yet indiscriminately violated Mr Reyes' First Amendment Rights in an ironic and hypocritical twist to our story.

So again we see the video and a good and honest man at the peak of his career and no one predicting that a little over six months later, this man and two other top utility employees would blow the whistle on a long seated tradition of corrupt behavior at Lake Worth utility and would be heard from no more. It would reveal to the public for the first time the mafia style use of intimidation, threats, humiliation, gag orders, and slander to silence the truth and to bully employees into lying to the public.

PURSUIT OF JUSTICE LONG OVERDUE

What happened to the man everybody liked, the one that got our electric utility running right and got us back on 13.2 kV with some clever moves, and saved us from heavy NERC fines, caught Stanley Consultants shafting the city, stopped waste...

CLICK HERE FOR BACKGROUND 2008 VIDEO

How do you define Justice? Some of us might say… it’s when good triumphs over evil? Others might say… it’s when we cry tears of joy when we see humanity extending itself to help the needy and oppressed?

WARNING, UPGRADE COSTS COULD DOUBLE

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THE SMART GRID alone is a wild card. Xcel's Project in Boulder Colorado is coming in at about 300% over projected cost   That plus undergrounding costs need careful review as this appears to be another boondoggle headed our way courtesy of good ideas without the ability to afford them.

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