 | |  | | Money Wasted
Lake Worth Utilities
Waste Meter
|
|
Total Taxpayer Dollars
Wasted:
$1,621,591 |
| |  | |  |
 | |  | | Who's Online
There are currently, 41 guest(s) and 0 member(s) that are online.
You are an Anonymous user. You can register for free by clicking here | |  | |  |
|  |
 |
|
 |
|
What a dirty political ambush really is
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 @ 11:39:49 EST by admin
What a dirty political ambush really is

An editorial by William Coakley
Well, its not often a chance arises to let out some line and actually rag on
something funny. Funny ...not because the event isn't sad enough for taxpayers
who will be footing the 20 million dollar bill, but funny because the headline
in our local Herald sounds so serious that some even took it seriously. But you
have to know the editor to understand his sense of humor.
All this has to do with this week’s commission meeting and commissioner
Jo-Anne Golden’s expose on the level of corruption it took to sucker the
mayor and commissioners Lowe and Vespo into screwing the people out of millions
of dollars on a water deal we didn’t need. The headline was this:
Golden Talk – Dirty Trick – Called worst political ambush ever
Well first of all, it couldn’t have been “the worst political ambush
ever” because that event had already taken place when the mayor and commissioners
Lowe and Vespo shafted taxpayers to the tune of 20 million dollars for a 40
year water deal with the county. Did they really think no one was paying attention
to what they were doing? Right on the city manager’s cue, the mayor and
commissioners Lowe and Vespo in perfect concert, attempted to eliminate every
alternative but the most expensive one… county water. Of course this doesn't
make any sense unless the trio was connected by a conduit... but does anyone
know for sure?
It was obvious that the commissioners weren’t prepared for Golden’s
systematic analysis from the record, showing exactly what they did and when
they did it... complete with full screen video clips of the mayor scoffing at
the existence of any valuable information other than what he had been given
by staff which had been carefully orchestrated to support the county water deal.
Much to the mayor’s surprise, just 8 days after his decision, a city memo
leaked out which confirmed what Golden had been saying for the 5 months preceeding
the vote… other less costly options existed which the commission was not
told about but most importantly… they didn’t care in the least to
know about. When the trio (mayor and commissioners Lowe and Vespo) had
the chance to redeem their ill conceived decision, they flatly refused; Vespo
even saying that normally he would have reconsidered it but because he got "ambushed"
with Golden's report, he wasn't going to do it.
But, Golden's report was very tame, neutral politically, free of any personal
attacks or inuendo; just the facts and history laid out methodically which exposed
the corruption of process leading to the decision in favor of the county deal.
And so what ...if a few guilty commission members suffered a little embarrassment
which was long overdue. Okay, so they called it “a dirty trick.” But mind you,
it was only "a dirty trick" because they got ambushed at their own game. And
with all the hot air and protesting that erupted after the report, neither the
trio or any of the few critics offered a single fact, figure or statement that
refuted anything in Golden’s report. As one observer put it… that’s probably
because they really didn’t know anything about the water issue to begin with.

So ask yourself, which ambush is worse… one that screwed taxpayers out
of 20 million because the mayor and commissioners Lowe and Vespo went with the
flow or the ambush that exposed them for what they did to the people and the
city for the next 40 years? That’s the humor... they got nailed at their
own game and fortunately its far from over.
Most people would consider a deliberate 20 million dollar waste a criminal
act… and so its understandable that the trio was squirming a bit as the
public was finding out for the first time just how recklessly they had proceeded
to commit the city to a water deal which will take us out of the water business. It
is clearly a scandal of mamouth proportion and their actions have already triggered
calls for recalling their decision and seats. And in a few months it will
be front and center as a key election issue when candidates will be asked how
they feel about saving taxpayers money.
But in all fairness before closing it must be said that although the trio was
a willing accomplice in the city manager's plan to outsource everything but
the city clerk... the real culprits are the city manager, Robert Baldwin and
his counter part Mark Bates who carefully “manipulated and controlled
the information to elicit a specific outcome;” the quote from the summary
in commissioner Golden’s report.
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
 | |  | | Article Rating Average Score: 5 Votes: 1

To rate this article please Login first
| |  | |  |
|
|