Jennings an ethical voice on Lake Worth Commission

Lake Worth is one of the last bastions of Old Florida. It’s a tight-knit community where you can walk down Lake Avenue to meet friends and neighbors, and where mom-and-pop shops that cater to the locals outnumber the chain stores.

When the city signed a contract with Greater Bay Development to replace the old shopping plaza along the Lake Worth beach, a small, relatively unnoticed provision was slipped in that would allow for only 39 decal parking spaces for Lake Worth residents. Everyone else would have to pay a premium price for the privilege of parking at the city’s beach. Only Commissioners Cara Jennings and Jo Ann Golden opposed the plan. Does Florida really need another waterfront for the rich? Not hardly. We need an ethical woman like Commissioner Jennings, whose real concern is for the residents of Lake Worth.

Speaking of ethics, with so many of our former elected officials behind bars for criminal indiscretions, who was the only official to propose an ethics ordinance forbidding the “pay to play” so common in Palm Beach County? Cara Jennings. We can’t afford not to have her in office.

VON PETERSON

Halloween eve campaigning in Lake Worth

By Willie Howard (reporter/Palm Beach Post)

LAKE WORTH - Honking horns and cheering drivers greeted supporters of city commission candidates in front of city hall Friday afternoon as both the election season and Halloween were in full swing.

Sam Goodstein wore a joker’s cap for Halloween while holding signs for District 4 city commission candidate Rene Varela and presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Varela was standing nearby at the corner of Lake Avenue and Dixie, holding the same pair of signs against a blustery wind.

“I’m running, but this is the one I’m excited about,” Varela said, pointing to the Obama sign.

Less than a minute later, the sound of a group of young ladies chanting “Obama, Obama” wafted from the window of a passing car.

Dave Simms showed his Cara Jennings sign to passing cars in front of city hall and said he also supports Suzanne Mulvehill in the District 4 race.

A member of the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition, Simms said he likes Jennings for her pro-environment, anti-development posture.

“I want someone who will control development,” he said. “She’s a grass-roots candidate.”

The scene at 10th Avenue North and Dixie included a campaign volunteer in a bear suit and a woman walking a small dog that seemed to be dressed as a hotdog, all of which drew lots of honks from passing motorists.

Final campaign contribution reports were due at 5 p.m. on Halloween, but most probably were sent by mail as only two commission candidates, Varela and John Jordan, had delivered theirs to the city clerk’s office Friday.

As of Oct. 17, Jennings, the District 2 incumbent, had raised the most money in the city commission race: $16,002.

District 2 challenger Mary Lindsey was not far behind, with $14,938. Jordan reported $25.

In District 4, incumbent Dave Vespo had raised the most, with $12,200. That’s nearly twice as much Varela ($6,903) and Mulvehill ($6952) as of the Oct. 17 filing.

Reelect Jennings, Vespo

The joke is that Lake Worth is where the tropics begin and the bickering never ends. So it’s no surprise that The Post doesn’t agree with any Lake Worth candidate on all the major issues facing the city or all the actions the city has taken in the past few years.

But The Post continues to believe that Lake Worth is working its way through many of its problems and that incumbent commissioners Cara Jennings and David Vespo on the whole have contributed to that progress. On Nov. 4, voters should return Ms. Jennings to the District 2 seat and Mr. Vespo to the District 4 seat.

Ms. Jennings voted against merging the police department into the sheriff’s department - a merger The Post strongly supported. Given Ms. Jennings’ unique alliance with active protest groups - she calls herself their “diplomatic person” - a concern is whether she held a grudge against the sheriff or could engage in the wrong confrontation with the law enforcement agency responsible for safety in her city. But Ms. Jennings says believably that “I don’t have any plans to stir the pot with the sheriff.” Her politics might be radical, but her political style is careful. She is well-prepared, asks lots of questions and is constantly involved with residents.

Ms. Jennings says she voted against the merger because the contract has no long-term cap and could become too expensive. If she’s right, Ms. Jennings could help solve the problem she warned against. That also might be the case if the city’s deal with Greater Bay to redevelop the beach casino falls apart, as she warned it would and it is in danger of doing. With $5 million from Palm Beach County and $3.2 million from other city accounts, Ms. Jennings thinks that voters might finally realize that they won’t get a private developer or some other government to pay and would approve a $5 million to $9 million bond to complete a modest redevelopment plan.

Ms. Jennings showed political courage when she took the lead on establishing an immigrant labor center. It will provide education that will help immigrants adapt and move those seeking jobs off street corners.

Mr. Vespo pushed to bring in the sheriff because “public safety in Lake Worth had deteriorated to the point that good residents were leaving.” He makes a good case that even if the city pays more, it will get far more than the city department could have provided. He has strongly supported the Greater Bay beach plan, but would consider a bond issue if it falls through. He voted against the immigrant jobs center, he said, because he didn’t like the recreation center site, not because he opposes the idea.

Both incumbents have helped make progress on difficult water and electric utilities issues. Both want the city to renegotiate a better deal or leave the cooperative that provides power. Both think that the city needs to complete a water treatment plant that has environmental issues. Both also acknowledge the need to replace Robert Baldwin, whose stint as a semi-permanent “interim” city manager has been just plain weird.

Both incumbents also have capable opponents. Mary Lindsey, running against Ms. Jennings (along with perennial candidate John Jordan), is very involved and fully informed on issues. Mr. Vespo’s opponents, Suzanne Mulvehill and Rene Varela, also know their stuff and are passionate about improving the city. The good field provides reason to hope that Lake Worth will continue to improve no matter who is elected, even if the bickering continues.

“Across our country people are outraged over the pervasive corruption in government. Advocating complete transparency has endeared me to many voters and residents. I do not take PAC money and refuse to do any pay-to-play with big business. Capturing solid re-election support from such a broad range of local people is due to my willingness to take strong positions on challenging issues,” notes Commissioner Jennings.

Ms. Jennings is the only candidate in District 2 to offer Treasurer Reports online for the public to view. http://www.carajennings.com/?page_id=37

Summary of Treasurer Reports:
86% of contributions - $100 and under
68% of contributions - $50 and under

Media Contact:
Cara Jennings
Lake Worth City Commissioner District 2
www.carajennings.com
campaign2008@carajennings.com
561-584-2644

Lake Worth commission rejects campaign donations ethics rule

By TONY DORIS Staff Writer

LAKE WORTH - The city commission shot down an ethics proposal Tuesday night that would have banned bidders on city contracts from making campaign contributions to commissioners voting on the contracts.

Despite a plea from sponsor Cara Jennings that the ordinance would be a first step toward limiting influence of political money on contract votes, only one of the other four commissioners sided with her, Jo-Ann Golden.

The three opponents - Mayor Jeff Clemens and Commissioners Retha Lowe and David Vespo - said the proposal needed work. But rather than pass it on first reading Tuesday, which would have let them address concerns though a workshop or blue ribbon panel before giving it final consideration, they rejected the measure outright.

Under the proposed ordinance, similar to ethics laws enacted in New Jersey, Georgia and in a handful of Florida communities, any business under contract with the city, or intending to be under contract, would be prohibited from making donations to commission candidates or political action committees related to city issues.

“I’m all for campaign reform and strong ethics, but this reeks of politics,” Vespo said. He suggested that Jennings might have little support from businesses, so she was trying to keep her opponent from gathering corporate contributions, too.

He also warned that the contribution ban could set the city up for a lawsuit. “I don’t want to spend taxpayers’ money on something that doesn’t on the face of it pass the smell test.”

Lowe said the proposal would have benefited from more public input.

Clemens said potential effects of the proposal needed to be addressed. For instance, if someone who wants to unseat a contractor can contribute, Clemens asked, isn’t it right to let the contractor contribute, as well?

He added that he felt “trepidation” at the thought of the board members deciding how they may collect contributions, rather than a panel of experts weighing the matter.

The board reached an informal consensus afterward (to) discuss the issue in a workshop, but Jennings dismissed that as cover for voting down an ethics ordinance.

Having a workshop on ethics has been proposed for more than a year to no effect, she said.

As for complaints that the proposal needed work, she said: “They’ve had a copy of this ordinance since June. If anyone legitimately had issues and wanted them to be resolved, they’ve had three months.”

Anti-’Pay-to-play’ law proposed for Lake Worth

By TONY DORIS Staff Writer

LAKE WORTH — Companies competing for city contracts would face a ban on political contributions to commissioners, under an ethics ordinance up for initial review Tuesday night.

City Commissioner Cara Jennings said she proposed the ban, based on laws in place around the country, to prevent individuals, companies or their subsidiaries from trying to skew contract votes by putting money in campaign coffers.

The Lake Worth ordinance would prohibit any business that’s under contract, or intending to be under contract with the city, from making donations to commission candidate campaigns or political action committees. Part of the city contracting procedure will be for bidders to fill out a form declaring any donations they made; to be eligible to win the contract, the bidder would have to get the contribution refunded.

Jennings said the issue arose several months ago, when Southern Waste Systems and a number of related companies contributed $1,000 to at least one commissioner’s campaign, while Southern was vying for a city contract.

West Palm Beach enacted an ethics code last year, after convictions of two city commissioners and accusations that a pay-to-play atmosphere permeated the administration of Mayor Lois Frankel.

The Lake Worth law would be one of the first of its kind in the state, said Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause Florida, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization. Wilcox, who Jennings consulted in drafting the ordinance, said that both Georgia and New Jersey have enacted similar bans, at the state legislative level.

Federal law bans contributions by corporations and unions, he said.

The commission several months ago rejected an effort by Jennings to initiate a policy of voluntary disclosure by candidates or commissioners who accepted contributions from bidders, she said. As a result, she researched and found that other cities and states had enacted contribution bans, such as the one she is now proposing.

Lake Worth’s proposed ordinance would not let commissioners merely recuse themselves from votes, if they’d taken a contribution from a bidder or related company.

“We’re trying to completely pre-empt ‘pay-to-play,’ ” Jennings said.

The proposal has the backing of at least one other member of the five-person commission, Jo-Ann Golden. “I don’t see how anyone could be against it,” Golden said.

“Watchdog groups throughout Florida are monitoring this vote. Pubic corruption would be greatly lessened if governmental bodies were to enact more stringent ethical standards for both those seeking election and those already in office. The recent convictions of two PB County Commissioners and two WPB City Commissioners for criminal usage of their official positions, has prompted me to author and introduce this precedent setting anti-pay-to-play ethics ordinance ever to reach a City Commission for approval. In my opinion, it will keep the contributions from out-of-town developers and the multiple $500 contributions from their shadow corporations from having an improper, corrupting influence on the votes of those candidates whose Commission seats they have financed,” notes Commissioner Jennings.

Contact:
Cara Jennings
Lake Worth City Commissioner District 2
561-584-2644
campaign2008@carajennings.com

Well known for demanding transparency in government, Commissioner Jennings has been publicly noted for her studious approach to each City Commission meeting and her conscientious commitment to Lake Worth.

“Taking a stand for what is right and pursuing the most logical course for Lake Worth has been and will remain my purpose on the City Commission,” states Commissioner Jennings.

Ms. Jennings will debate the issues at a series of neighborhood gatherings to be announced.

Contact:
Cara Jennings
Lake Worth City Commissioner District 2
561-584-2644
campaign2008@carajennings.com