WHY AM I IN THIS RACE?

My husband and I were talking about how negative all things were in our City. We both agreed that there are wonderful attributes to living here, like the weather, the culture, and our incredibly wonderful neighbors and friends.

However, when it came to the City of West Palm Beach, its government, our elected officials, lack of quality services and high taxes, there is little to be positive about.

Our water has serious concerns and issues,
we don’t feel safe in our streets and communities,
taxes are high and don’t equal services rendered,
corruption in government has us doubting every public official,
improvements in areas of need seem to come slow,
yet City Hall went up in the blink of an eye.

The list can go on, but we all know what’s on that list as it pertains to our neighborhoods and different areas of the City.

The question remains then what is there that is left to offer the public?
They don’t trust politicians, or the process.
All things we hear in the news make us cringe.
Many even believe that nothig will ever change.

How do we restore our faith in public servants when the public doesn’t feel served?

This is my hometown.

I remember how as children, we knew each others' family, now we have our own children, hopefully we know their friends' families.

We walked to school,
slept with our windows open
and rarely locked our cars, let alone our homes.

There were roller rinks,
bowling alleys
and children riding bikes in the streets.

Stores rarely had lines
and we were bound to run into at least one person we knew if we went out.

The police where known to us by name
and the fire department was a place where the neighborhood ladies took fresh baked cookies.

There was the neighborhood garage band,
local Girl Scout Troop
and the Boy Scout Christmas tree sales.

Church groups had car washes
and housewives volunteered at schools or hospitals
.
I remember the Circus,
the Baseball arena
and a free Sunfest.

Today, nothing is really free.
There are no sounds of children playing in the yards
and how many of us know the name of our local police officer?

There are no more roller rinks,
bowling alleys,
Baseball arena,
Circus parades,
children climbing trees,
or sleeping with your windows open.

Things have certainly changed.

We can’t stop progress.
Its coming with rapid speed to our City.

I do not hate progress,
I only worry about unbridled progress.
I am concerned about progress that leaves some behind.

I welcome all the new families and residents how want to share our weather and culture.

But can I get a little positive change with all this growth?

Can we get rid of a government run wild?

We should be part of that change, not simply bystanders.

With our involvement we can add the positive attributes that would create a really wonderful place to raise a family.

I believe we can.
I know we can.

It simply requires leadership that understands where we want to be led,
and then the leadership needs to lead us there.

I am asking for the chance to lead us to a time of progress that includes the past, not ignores it.

I am asking for your vote on March 11th.
I promise to lead us back to a time when memories where made in neighborhoods,
not in the local news headlines.

Its time to stop the bullet train of government gone wild,
restore civility to our process,
and bring citizens back to the decision making table.
The voice of the residents is muffled on major decisions that impact us.
Unions, Political Actions Committees and Industries with Special Interest, rule the day.
They supply the dollars to campaign accounts,
which fuel the mailers,
which deliver the sound bites,
which influence our votes.

It used to be that we knew the person running for office personally. They were our neighbors and friends who we knew were active in our communities.

Elections were about knocking on doors and answering the hard questions.
Today, its about who has the most money to get their name out there the most.
Who can pay the most workers to place the most signs even if they don't have permission.

The worst tact is the "opposition research".
That's the strategy which says get as much dirt on the opponent,
ruin their reputation and hurt their family.

I have not run my campaign that way.
I have managed this campaign on volunteer help,
signs located where residents have given me permission,
contributions from family, friends and people who know my heart,
and NO MUDSLING ON ANYONE.

I have asked my volunteers to keep it straight.
I ran on the issues.
I ran on my record.
I am running as a service to our community.

I want to restore respect to politics.
I wish to set an example of good government.
I believe our residents and their families deserve leadership
with morals and values which can always act in the best interest of the public.

Without considering families and children first, we have no future.

Unity in community and all in city hall
...that’s the start to the future.

I am proud of my effort.
I remain proud of our resident leadership who know the truths.
I hope you are proud of me.

PLEASE VOTE MARCH 11th
FOR BALANCED HONEST GOVERNMENT

The rest of the story...

In my last blog I made a brief comment in response to the Post article regarding my late property tax payments.
I am running in this race on a platform of leadership and priorities.
That is why I sent the first blog out.

I wanted you to judge me not on the article, but on my priorities for the City, which you read earlier.
I do believe however the public deserves to hear the rest of the story…

Personally, there have been times when my husband and I have had to make choices as to what bills and expenses we needed to pay and what had to wait.

It was our priority to cover the expenses of our payroll, employee benefits, mortgages and other necessary office expenses, as well as household issues first.

Today, we are blessed to find ourselves in a position where ALL our property taxes are paid and current.

Unlike many, who today may find they must face these same decisions, I feel that the awareness of how taxing taxes can be to a household brings humanity to my understanding and sensitivity of government and its spending habits. Although this is not an excuse, I believe that these decision were made with our money, not another’s money, and it was based on our personal needs at the time.

Regarding the code violation charges;
I have lived in West Palm Beach my entire life. I own several rental properties and have always kept them up to standards I would consider superior. I invite any person to talk to the tenants and neighbors of the properties called into question. We have consistently improved our properties and take pride in their upkeep.

One violations I was charged with was a vacant lot I owned in Belle Glade which abuts the sugar cane fields. Since I do not frequent Belle Glade on a regular basis, it became overgrown with sugar cane. Upon receipt of the code violation notice, I hired a “bushwhack” operator (large tractor mower) to cut down the cane.

The violations which referred to the lot on Tamarind Ave was cited for the following issues. The overgrown weeds came as a surprise to me. Ever since I bought that lot, I have paid for landscape service every month to cut the grass and clean any trash that is thrown on the property. I never imagined that I might receive a code violation, because I believed the lot was being cared for. I immediately advised our landscaper who cut the grass he had allowed to overgrow.

The same inspector later cited me with yet another violation on the same lot for dead branches in our mango tree as well as a violation for a 6” pipe (an old clothes line pole) sticking out of the ground. Again, I hired someone, to cut down the dead branches and my brother removed the pipe from the ground.

There has been the latest code violation on the home my husband and I have owned and lived in for the last 13 years.
The violation: address clarification.
The numbers on our light post were not visible enough.
We now have new numbers on our house.

So there you have it.
I broke no laws, and dealt with all my issues in a timely manner.
Anyone can look into the violations to see for themselves that they have all been addressed.

I know I am still the better candidate for City Commission in the District 1 race.
Why?
Because I want to selflessly serve our City, the City I love.
That’s why I am in this race.
That's the only reason I am in this race.

Why else would I subject myself and my family to the rigors of this campaign or the microscope of politics?

If anyone has any other questions they wish to ask, please feel free to call me on my cell phone: 346-7311.
I am happy to answer any question you may have.

I will continue to run a straight race based on the issues and hope my opponent will do the same.