Next City Council Mtg on Thursday July 7th at 7PM

The next City Council Meeting will be this Thursday, July 7th, at 7pm in City Hall.

Consent Agenda includes 3 Purchase Awards:

• Ancillary Health Benefit Plans – Openly competed – 2 year contract valued at $296K. “The City has a self-funded Group Health Plan that is administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. The Group Health Plan is supplemented by various other Ancillary Health Benefits Plans that are available to employees and qualified dependents, including domestic partners. The current Ancillary Health Benefits Plans are: Life Insurance and Accidental Death & Dismemberment; Dental Insurance; Employee Assistance Program; Vision Care; and Long-Term Disability.”
• Bunker Gear for Fire Rescue Department – Piggyback Contract – $99,990 upon delivery
• Repairs to Allamanda Water Control Structure – Piggyback Contract – $292K

City Manager Report – no details listed

Public Hearings and Resolutions:

• 2nd Reading Ordinance 5, 2016 – Police Pension Amendment.
• Resolution 37, 2016: Tentative Maximum Millage rate will be set for Fiscal Year 2016/2017– it can be adjusted downward during the September Budget Hearings
• Resolution 39, 2016 – Attention Sunset Drive/40th Terrace North/Brenna Lane property owners – “Adopting a non-ad valorem special assessment roll for the design, construction, and installation of water utility and road improvements on 4Qth Terrace North, Sunset Drive, and Brenna Lane. ” Note: In accordance with the requirements of Section 197.3632(4), Florida Statutes, all affected property owners have been notified of the need for the special assessment, its cost, payment schedule, the effect of non-payment, the identities of the Benefitted Parcels, the right to appear and participate in a public hearing at the July 7, 2016 City Council Meeting at which this resolution is considered for adoption, the right to file written objections, and all other relevant information concerning this special assessment.
• Two Art in Public Places resolutions – Harborchase Assisted Living Facility (Resolution 41, 2016) and Northlake Gardens, located in PHASE II of the Banyan Tree PUD (Resolution 42, 2016)
• Resolution 45, 2016 – PGA Station Planned Unit Development (PUD) Amendment – A request for
  

  PGA Design Center

  approval of a PUD Amendment to modify the 30.03-acre PGA Professional and Design Center PUD to allow a conversion of uses for a revised development program of 415,401 square feet of Professional Office, 49,279 square feet of Medical Office, 11,777 square feet of Retail, a 111 room Hotel, and 3,000 square feet of Restaurant, along with modifications to the master plan, landscape plan, sign program, and architecture.

• Resolution 46, 2016 – The Applicant is requesting approval of two (2) temporary modular structures located on the Zimmer Biomet site (formerly known as Biomet 3i, Inc.) at the South Park Center Planned Unit Development (PUD) in the Northcorp Planned Community Development (PCD). Staff recommends approval of the request.

Items for Council Action/Discussion – the annual City Manager Evaluation

(Editorial Note – Noticeably absent from the published agenda is any discussion of the recent Fourth District Court of Appeals Court ruling that David Levy was ineligible to run in the March 2016 City Election. Mr. Levy’s name appears on the list of Council Members on the Meeting Agenda – see the latest Palm Beach Post article here.   A hearing is to be scheduled with the original judge, Judge Colin, in the near future.)

Check the agenda to see if any additional items have been added before the meeting here.

Martino: Levy and Council Outfox Themselves

Why does it take the Circuit Court and the District Court of Appeals to read and understand the City Charter of Palm Beach Gardens? Is the answer because the City Council of Palm Beach Gardens, its records’ keeper the appointed City Clerk, and its legal adviser the appointed City Attorney – CANNOT! No, I’m sure they all can read and understand the Charter language. But do they want to is the significant question? As written does the Charter language fit with their power agenda? Does the Charter language meet their obvious desires to maintain the status quo? The answer to those questions and others similar to them is, NO!

The City Council, its City Clerk , and its City Attorney, have tried to distort and misrepresent the Charter language as it applies to the City Election of March 14th, particularly, the Seat 4 results. First, they allowed the 4-term incumbent, David Levy, to be placed on the ballot as a candidate even though the Term Limit language in the Charter determined him to be ineligible. Second, when the election results were tabulated and none of the Seat 4 candidates gained a majority, as the Charter mandates, the City Clerk declared David Levy the winner based on faulty assumptions and imperfect Charter application.

The challenger, Carl Woods, filed suit as was his right. The Circuit Court ruled a runoff election should be scheduled while upholding the City Clerk’s interpretation that Levy was an eligible candidate. Thus, at this point both Levy and Woods have a victory. Levy beats the term limit retroactive eligibility provision and Woods gets the runoff election he sued for. So both candidates are in the ballgame and all they have to do is compete.

But competition and fairness is not good enough for Levy or the City Council. Levy appeals the Circuit Court decisions to the District Court of Appeals. The City Council votes to join the appeal process, in my opinion, without cause. The Appeals Court overrules the Circuit Court and sustains the Term Limits provision of the City Charter. The District Court of Appeals Judges clearly mandates that David Levy was and is an ineligible candidate. Thus, he should not have been on the ballot in the first instance. The decision renders all other issues moot. The case is sent back to the lower Court for final declaration which is pending

So it appears the City Council’s political shenanigans resulted in failure. It looks as if David Levy’s appeal is for naught and he is remanded to the sidelines instead of competing in a runoff election. What’s further distressing is that the residents of Palm Beach Gardens are not being dealt with seriously, truthfully, and responsibly by the City Council they elected to do just that. Instead, the residents are being dealt with cunningly, circuitously, condescendingly, and arrogantly.

Martino: The Charter is Clear! Why Appeal?

I have a question for anyone who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, and above all, our esteemed City Council. The question is, “Wouldn’t it be nice if the City Council could get acquainted with the City Charter, particularly, its words and their meaning?” Well, in my opinion, apparently with all their “experience” the current Council members have yet to master many of the words and much of the meaning of the City Charter.

Case in point is the bungling and embarrassment surrounding the March 15th 2016 City CouncilSeat 4 election. There were 15,970 total votes cast in this election contest as certified by the election canvas board. David Levy, the incumbent, received 6642 votes (41.6%) and Carl Woods the challenger, received 6256 votes (39.2%). Neither received a majority of the votes cast.

In Article IV: The City Council, Section 4-1. – Election the City Charter clearly states, in plain everyday good old-fashioned English, that it is a requirement for a candidate to receive a majority of the votes cast. When this does not occur, the Charter states a runoff election must be held. When the City Council and its Administration decided to play politics with the results of the March 15th Seat 4 election and not hold a runoff election as the Charter mandates, Carl Woods filed a lawsuit to establish his right to a runoff election. A Circuit Court judge ruled the City must obey its Charter and schedule a runoff election between Messieurs Levy and Woods. But lo and behold, the City Council and its Administration refuse to believe the Judge can read and so they have voted to appeal his decision.

That raises questions, questions, and more questions! Is the City Council dwarfing the will of the people’s Charter by trying to produce a dictatorial end that they, each of them, seek? Why involve the City in continuous, contentious, and costly litigation? I wonder if power has something to do with it. Are the Council members protecting one of their own, David Levy, the City Clerk, or perhaps both? Who is paying for David Levy’s personal lawyer, who incidentally, is affiliated with a law firm that regularly appears before the City Council on behalf of developers?

From my perspective, there is something very ominous in this dereliction of trust in the City Charter by the Gardens’ City Council. Is it a deliberate and direct falsification of the Charter’s words and meaning to support personal power and ambition? Is it a direct attempt to discount the will of the voter by sowing the seeds of discord and confusion? Is it none of this but simply plain incompetence? Only the City Council can give the correct answer but they never do.

This City Council never fails to disappoint. I have said this before, but I shall say it again – and again – and again. Collectively, this is an arrogant City Council that does not respect the sacred trust that was given to them upon their individual election. Palm Beach Gardens’ residents deserve better.

Martino: Term limits are now a part of political life in PBG

The November 4th election has come and gone. In Palm Beach Gardens the two Term Limits ballot initiatives were both big winners. As the City of Palm Beach Gardens has matured so has the mindset of its registered voters and they have embraced term limits as an asset that will improve the governing of the City.

The Gardens voters’ choice to insert Term Limits into the City Charter as another barometer for City elections affects the current long-time City Council members to some degree. It is understandable and perhaps only human nature that these Council members are undergoing a certain amount of disappointment. However, I would presume that these same Council members would understand that elections and ballot initiatives are part of the consequences of the job they accepted as candidates and officeholders.

In my opinion, the Palm Beach Gardens Term Limits initiatives were never intended to be a referendum on the current City Council Members nor a personal vendetta toward them. Unfortunately, some have made it so, including certain members of the present City Council.

For the City Council members not to facilitate the Term Limits initiative process is one thing, and possibly excusable. But haranguing and disparaging the results, as at least one City Council member has, is an insult to the residents of the City. These noisy, nonsensical, castigating remarks besmear, sully, and undermine the creditability of the City Council members individually and collectively.

The election is over and the results are in. Term limits are now a part of political life in Palm Beach Gardens. The City Council members should graciously accept that fact and move on. There are many pressing issues facing Palm Beach Gardens that need their undivided attention. They should move forward and discuss them.

Term Limits Passes in a Landslide

Voters answered both Gardens’ ballot questions  with a resounding ‘YES”;  Question 1 received 79% of the vote and Question 2, 68%.  Read Tony Doris’ article in today’s paper for additional background.

Total votes cast back in the City’s March 2014 Municipal Elections was 7167.  (See Analysis post for more details) That was an unusually high turnout at 19% of registered voters.   7-12% turnout is more typical in the Municipals.  The winners’ margins of victory were measured in the hundreds.   When any of our council is elected or re-elected because there is no opponent, or by such low turnouts and close margins it is difficult to say any of them are there by a mandate.  That is not so much a reflection on the candidates as it is voter apathy during local elections, and one reason why we in PGBWatch want to foster citizen participation!

There is no doubt with numbers like those shown below, that a much larger portion of the City’s voters were paying attention.   This time, as in the vote for the Ethics and Inspector General Ordinances in 2010, the residents’ desires were loud and clear!

Martino: Vote on the Term Limits Questions

On October 18th the local section of the Palm Beach Post contained a news article, “Council terms may be capped”. It highlighted the November 4th, Palm Beach Gardens ballot initiative for TERM LIMITS. I found the article to be informative, as well as, revealing. The information was appreciated and should help Gardens residents to better understand the Term Limit issue.

I compliment the citizen’s group that finally succeeded in bringing the term limit initiative to the ballot for Gardens residents to cast their vote, “YES” or “NO”.   As a long time Gardens resident I am resigned to the fact that it is time for term limits for our City Council representatives. So I will be casting a”YES” vote to both questions.

What I found revealing was the comments and quotes from the three long-time City Council members, 25-year veteran Joe Russo, 22-year member Eric Jablin, and 11-year officeholder David Levy. According to Russo and Levy it takes 5 to 6 years to learn the job. Levy laments, “I had no idea what a City Council member did … didn’t understand budgets, zoning, or impact fees.” Jablin says incumbents have been reelected because they are doing a good job. In more caustic comments Jablin says, “The people who are behind this have run against us and lost … they can’t beat the competition, so they want to eliminate it.”

To Mr. Russo and Mr. Levy I reply, if it takes a person 6 years to understand the basic responsibilities of the City Council that person should not be a candidate to begin with. Having witnessed the current City Council’s confusion during the recent 2015 budget meetings, it is my opinion, that after 25 years of incumbency the City Council still may not understand the processes of creating a City budget.

To Mr. Jablin I say, no one has said, and term limits certainly will not, eliminate the competition for votes. Term limits will simply make the competition for votes somewhat fairer for all contestants, and not just incumbents. Open for debate is the supposition that current incumbents have been re-elected because they have done a good job. Part of that debate is the very real possibility that the current incumbents have been re-elected not solely based on the good job hypothesis but due to block voting in certain sections of the City.

To the registered voters of Palm Beach Gardens I say, please search the ballot for the TERM LIMIT questions and vote, “YES” or “NO”.

Former Mayor Martino on Term Limits: Registered Voters are the Real Winners!

Finally! This November 4th registered voters of Palm Beach Gardens will get to cast their ballot for or against term limits for their City Council. This ballot initiative has been on the horizon for a number of years with a number of fits and starts.

However, once Mr. James D’Loughy pledged his leadership to the Palm Beach Gardens Needs Term Limits political committee things began to move in earnest. Recently, Mr. Michael Peragine took command of the committee’s effort to gather the necessary certified registered voter signatures and the finish line was crossed.

But the committee, Messrs. D’Loughy and Peragine, had hurdles to overcome. They needed to convince a reluctant City Council to request the Supervisor of Elections to place the initiative on the ballot. Then they had to convince that same Supervisor of Elections to put the language on the November ballot. In both cases their tenacity for their cause was rewarded with success.

So, a hearty congratulation is in order for Messrs. D’Loughy and Peragine, and their committee for pursuing the democratic opportunities that our government presents. But perhaps, also, a big THANK YOU should be offered by the registered voters of Palm beach Gardens who are the real winners because they get to decide.

Sincerely,
Michael Martino

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