PBG Watch Hosts Forum for City Council Candidates
Posted by PBG Watch on January 28, 2013 · 2 Comments
Candidate Forum
Join us for an evening of in-depth discussion of city issues with the candidates for the March 12th election in Group 4. The seat has been vacant since former Mayor (and current candidate) David Levy resigned to run for the County Commission.
Moderated by Daniel Martell, President and CEO, of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
7:00 PM
Gardens Branch, Palm Beach County Library *
11303 Campus Drive
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
The candidates are:
For information, call 561-972-8789
This event is jointly sponsored by:
Palm Beach County Tea Party
Palm Beach Gardens Residents Coalition
PBGWatch
South Florida 912
* This program is not sponsored/endorsed by the Palm Beach County Library
Candidate Biographies
David Levy
Florida native David Levy was born in 1960 and is the owner of environmental engineering firm Southeast Remediation Technnology, and an adjunct professor in environmental geology at Palm Beach State College. He received a B.S in Geology from Florida State University, and a M.S. in Geological Services from Virginia Polytech.
He is the former Mayor of Palm Beach Gardens, and was a City Councilman from 2004 through 2012. County-wide, he chaired the League of Cities Environmental Committee, the Regional Hazardous Material Oversight Committee and the Water Resources Task Force, as well as participating with Workforce Alliance, the Biotech Land Advisory Board, and the Loxahatchee River Management Coordinating Council.
James D’Loughy
James D’Loughy, is a long-time resident of Palm Beach Gardens. A lawyer of over 17 years, James is the founder of AdvisorLaw PLLC, a legal firm that represents clients in complex business matters. He helps individuals and small businesses alike protect their assets, resolve conflicts, and plan for a rainy day.
James’s knowledge of politics is informed by a degree in political science as well as experience working on Capitol Hill. Having worked on corporate transparency and compliance issues, James seeks to bring a new level of ethical governance to the Palm Beach Gardens City Council.
James lives with his wife, Anne Louise, his two daughters, Fredericka and Wilhelmina, and his newborn son, Maximilian, in Frenchman’s Reserve, where he volunteers his time as a member of the community’s governing body.
Moderator Biography
Daniel Martell
Daniel Martell is President and CEO of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, a not-for-profit, non-governmental, non- partisan organization established in 1975. Its members come from all geographic areas of the county, represent all major business categories and encompass all sizes of businesses. Its mission statement is simply, “Create an environment to help business prosper.”
Mr. Martell came to the Economic Council of Palm Beach County from local sugar company, Florida Crystals Corporation as Vice President of Real Estate. His responsibilities at Florida Crystals included overseeing local government affairs, corporate land development, and real estate investments.
Beginning his career as the Director of Government and Political Affairs for the Gold Coast Builders Association, he was responsible for the regulatory and political issues confronting the home building industry in Palm Beach and Broward counties. He received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Florida, Juris Doctor from the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University, and obtained a Certificate of Corporate Finance from Cornell University in 2011.
Issues:
* pesticides being poured into the canal that runs through neighborhoods of BallenIsles (Hickory Dr., Seagrape, Juniper, etc.).
*improperly sealed dumps on Northlake Blvd, west of Military Tr.
Many years ago, there were maps provided and introduced at a city council mtg that had many houses marked with residents who have died of cancers. Witnesses came forward to report golf course maintenance workers pouring remnants of pesticides into the canal. Also, too many residents of Northlake neighborhoods, west of Military Trl complained of sprinkler water contaminating their yards and causing cancers. This issue was in the Post but after a time, the topic disappeared. The north Military neighborhood of Gardenwoods, backs up to the canal that separates it from the old Mecca Farms, which used pesticides. Many brain cancers were developed. Now there is an entire neighborhood built directly on top of the farm area with pesticides beneath.
Residents either are new to this area and unsuspecting or have developed amnesia, so this issue has disappeared ( as a city council headache ). Someone who is a long-time resident and and deals with environmental water issues – that would be candidate Lev y – should look into this issue and not be relieved that it is dead and buried.
The Thursday, February 28th, 7PM forum will be a great time to hear the candidates present their vision for the City. We need a fresh, informed, transparant representative who is concerned with all PBG homeowners and business operations. The City employees need to know how they can expect to be fairly compensated for their work. The City Charter needs review, not by just one city emplyee appointed by the City Manager. A written evaluation standard for the City Manager would be appropriate as opposed to a verbal “good job” statement and raise. Watch out for the budget!