RPB FOURTH OF JULY FUN RETURNS HOME SEE STORY, PAGE 3
COUNTY FACES A TOUGH BUDGET YEAR SEE STORY, PAGE 7
THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
Your Community Newspaper
INSIDE Four File To Seek Vacant ITID Seat
Volume 31, Number 26 June 25 - July 1, 2010
FOCUS ON HEALTH & WELLNESS
A vacant seat on the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors drew four candidates who will face off in the Aug. 24 primary election. Jennifer Hager, Mike Nichols, Bill Riley and Richard Waite are vying to replace Supervisor Mike Erickson in Seat 1. Page 3
Parking At Planned Shopping Plaza Divides Wellington Council
Issues of parking and connectivity in the proposed Village Green Center divided the Wellington Village Council at its meeting Tuesday, June 22. Page 4
The 2010 Wellington Health & Wellness Festival was held Saturday, June 19 in front of LA Fitness at the Pointe at Wellington Green. Presented by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, the Village of Wellington and Wellington Regional Medical Center, the day included mini massages, skin evaluations, chiropractic evaluations and more, as well as a blood mobile, vendors and music. Shown here are Wellington Regional Medical Center’s representatives at the event. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 2
Palms West Chamber Honors Print-It Plus, Florida Public Utilities
Print-it Plus and Florida Public Utilities have been named the Palms West Chamber of Commerce’s small and large businesses of the year for 2010. The awards were announced at a luncheon Monday at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center. Page 7
Fun For All Ages At P.W. Surgicenter Health Fair
Palms West Surgicenter hosted a health fair Saturday, June 19 at its location on the campus of Palms West Hospital. The event included a visit from Fire-Rescue Station 25, balloons, face painting and other activities for children. Page 9
Opinion Write-In Candidates Aren’t Serving The Best Interests Of The Voters
With hotly contested elections up and down the ballot, voters will have a number of choices to make. However, because of a loophole in state law, a writein candidate has stifled democracy in at least one local race. Page 4
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Longer Mayor’s Term Among Possible Wellington Changes By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Wellington voters could have the opportunity to make changes to the village’s leadership rules if the Wellington Village Council votes this summer to put proposed changes to Wellington’s charter on the Nov. 2 general election ballot. Among the measures are increasing the mayor’s term from two to four years and eliminating runoff elections when a candidate in a race with three or more contenders gains at least 35 percent of the vote. Voters would also have the chance to decide whether the time served on council by an appointed official would count toward term limits and whether to expand the amount of time allowed for vacancies in the mayor’s office. Several council members said they supported changing to a four-
year term for the mayor. Councilman Howard Coates noted that the mayor’s vote has the same weight as the rest of council, but with a shorter term. “It doesn’t make sense to have it be different from any of the council members,” he said. “The mayor has the same vote as everyone else on this council and is on even par with the rest of the council’s votes.” Mayor Darell Bowen noted that there is a greater expense in running for election every two years. “As you all know, running for an election costs several thousand dollars,” he said. “And to do that every two years, it taps a lot of money from the community that could be used for something a lot more worthwhile.” The council also supported a change that would declare a can-
didate in a race with more than two contenders the winner if they gained more than 35 percent of the vote. Originally the council wanted a minimum of 40 percent, but several council members felt it needed to be lower to be effective. Willhite said he was in favor of keeping the runoff elections. He noted that only one of the four runoff elections since 1996 would have been changed by the 40 percent minimum. “Only one election would have triggered this,” he said. “That was in 2002 with Ms. Benacquisto and Mr. Paglia.” In the 2002 election for Seat 2 between incumbent Al Paglia and challengers Lizbeth Benacquisto, Alan Medoff and Joe Piconcelli, Paglia gained 45 percent of the vote on election day but lost by See CHARTER, page 18
Big Holiday Weekend In Wellington By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Wellington residents will be treated to two days of fun during Wellington’s Hometown Holiday Weekend, July 3 and 4, sponsored by Schumacher Automotive. “It’s going to be a great holiday weekend,” Interim Parks & Recreation Director Bruce Delaney said. “We’re very excited.” Residents can join the village and the Palms West Chamber of Commerce as they celebrate the opening of two facilities. The fun begins with the grand re-opening of the Wellington Aquatic Complex at the Wellington Community Center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with free admission, food and giveaways. “Entrance to the pool will be free for everyone,” Delaney said. “From 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., we will give our residents a free hamburger or hotdog, chips and a drink.” At 3 p.m., the village will officially open its new amphitheater
with several musical acts set to entertain the crowd, followed by a laser light show. The event begins with music from a DJ, followed by the official opening ceremonies and speeches, which are set to start at 3:30 p.m. The first act takes the stage at 4 p.m. with music by Brainwaves, followed by folk musicians Cakalaki at 5 p.m. and acoustic rockers WEHUMANZ at 6 p.m. Headliners the Brass Evolution will start their set at 7:30 p.m. and will play until 9:30 p.m., when the laser light show begins. When the laser light show is over, music will keep going until about 10 p.m. In addition to music, there will be activities for all ages. Children can enjoy bounce houses from 3 to 10 p.m. for $5, which buys an all-access pass. From 4:30 to 8 p.m. there will be free face painting, and the day will be filled with family fun contests such as a hulahoop contest, sack races, a water
balloon toss and more. There will also be vendors with food, beer and soft drinks from 3 p.m. to the event’s end. On Independence Day, the village will host a Patriotic Pool Party; however, all regular entrance fees apply, Delaney said. The pool will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Then at 5 p.m., the village will host its Freedom Ride. Motorcycle enthusiasts will meet outside the Wellington Community Center at 5 p.m. with departure at 5:30 p.m., Delaney said. “They’re going to ride from the community center over to Lantana where they’ll stop for food and drinks,” he said. “Then they’ll drive back to Village Park in time for the fireworks.” Riders will stop at the Old Key Lime House (300 E. Ocean Avenue) and are responsible for their own food and beverages. Interested riders can pre-register at Village Park (11700 Pierson Road) See HOLIDAY, page 18
Serving Palms West Since 1980
Three Candidates Running For Vacant School Board Seat By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report With longtime Palm Beach County School Board Member Dr. Sandra Richmond not seeking another term, three candidates are running to take her place representing District 6 — Marcia Andrews, Dean Grossman and Ron Young. Andrews, of Royal Palm Beach, is a retired teacher, administrator and principal who is currently an education activist. Grossman, of suburban Delray Beach, is a former teacher turned business executive who said he loved teaching but changed careers in order to support a young family. Young, a Loxahatchee Groves resident and barber, said he wants to “support the children rather than a political agenda.” Andrews, 59, said she has been an advocate in community causes, especially for the improvement of schools in the Glades. “I feel my experience has made me the best candidate, and I can give something back,” Andrews said. “I have been working as an advocate to the community with the Palm Beach County School District since I retired. Just knowing the school district as an educator for 35 years has given me a
wide insight of the needs of our school district, and I really want to help.” For the past several years, Andrews said she has been working with legislative issues, such as opposition to Senate Bill 6, the teacher merit pay bill, which passed in the legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist. “I was out there on the picket lines,” she said. “I was out there with the teachers, telling the governor, telling the legislators, emailing and writing letters to say this was going to hurt the profession, it’s going to hurt the children and it certainly wasn’t good for teachers. I went to every rally, to every board meeting.” The bill included provisions that would have attached teachers’ pay to FCAT scores, cut out teachers’ pay based on longevity and provided avenues to allow a teacher to be fired whose students’ performance is not where it should be. “What was so bad about the bill is it was done in the middle of the night,” she said. “They did not allow many of the legislators to give input. They rammed it through at the 11th hour.” Andrews said she has attended school board meetings regularly See SCHOOL RACE, page 18
RPBHS Principal: New AP Academy Will Start This Year By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report An Advanced Placement academy is being developed at Royal Palm Beach High School in time for the next school year. Details about the new academy will be revealed at an invitation-only meeting with incoming freshmen and parents Thursday, July 15 at 7 p.m., said RPBHS Principal Jesus Armas. “This will be an in-house academy,” Armas told the Town-Crier on Tuesday. “It will be zoned for students who go to Royal Palm Beach [High School], and it will be a very rigorous curriculum that will have opportunities for students to earn lots of Advanced Placement credits.”
Students in the academy will take classes mostly in the same area on campus, Armas explained. “What we’re trying to do is make it a school within a school. We’re going to run it like a true academy,” he said. Armas noted that he has several objectives in creating the academy. “The first is to give students at Royal Palm Beach High School the education they want and deserve,” he said. Increasing the number of students who take AP classes will improve the school’s ranking, Armas said. Over the long term, Armas said the goal is to get RPBHS listed among the country’s top high schools. For example, severSee RPBHS, page 18
IN DOG WE TRUST Dog We Trust, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to the rescue and adoption of dogs that might otherwise be euthanized, held its grand opening last Saturday at the site of the former Folke Peterson Wildlife Rescue Center near Wellington. Shown here is Kelly Gorozzo with Gunner, a Great Dane. STORY & PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/ TOWN-CRIER
Royal Palm Agrees To Relax Residential Parking Code By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Royal Palm Beach Village Council agreed last week to somewhat loosen its regulations on commercial vehicles parked in residential areas. At a meeting Thursday, June 17, council members directed village staff to rewrite the ordinances regulating commercial vehicles, which has generated many recent citations for violations such as exposed equipment or ladders stored on exterior racks. Council members agreed that Royal Palm Beach’s regulations are somewhere between the strictness in Wellington and the leniency in The Acreage. They expect the new rules will remain in that middle ground. But while Village Manager Ray Liggins said the ordinance should be easy to rewrite, Councilman
David Swift, who was participating in the meeting by telephone, warned the public to pay attention to what they’ll get in the future. “It’s pretty easy to say if we allow something, we know what we will see in the future,” Liggins said. “Wellington doesn’t allow any signage; it’s fairly strict. The Acreage on other end, many of us moved here to avoid that. We are in the middle. It will be an easy line for us to move. We can paint the picture, but we need guidance where to go.” Swift noted that such a change should not be made lightly. “We are making a major change in code enforcement,” he said. “I want to make that statement to the public. These racks on a lot of trucks and storage, with acetylene, herbicides, pesticides, sprays, I have a problem with how that line is drawn.”
The issue arose after Liggins and Community Development Director Robert Hill met with several local trades and service people who park their work vehicles at home. “What we’re discussing is the commercial work vehicle definition,” Hill said. Village ordinances regulate parking and storage of commercial vehicles on residential property, as well as the size of signs on vehicles, currently allowing about the size of a real estate sign. The village is working on a proposal to allow larger signs, Hill said, but it still wouldn’t allow vehicles totally painted as a rolling billboard. “A regular work van with compliant signage that does not have any materials or equipment that is exposed in the back or on the top, if it parked correctly, that is in compliance at this time,” Hill said,
adding that pickup trucks are also allowed as long as there are no tools on top or exposed in the back. Hill showed several dozen slides of vehicles that have been cited, several of which had violations that only involved ladders stored on racks outside the vehicles. Hill added that his code enforcement staff generally patrols from the street and does not cite trucks with material that is not visible from the street. In 2009, village code enforcement had written 59 courtesy notices, 11 of which proceeded to violations where most eventually did comply. Five proceeded to a public hearing, with three resulting in liens on the homes. Resident Anthony Fawley said having to park his truck at a remote site would put a hardship on him. “We run service work,” Faw-
ley said. “We keep material on the truck. A lot of us had better jobs a year ago. Now I have to buy another car to get to my truck? I could not afford my mortgage and to pay taxes.” Joey Ayala of Ponce de Leon Street said he has seen other utility vehicles parked at residents’ houses. “This is what I do. This is how I pay my bills. I never had anybody tell me I couldn’t do this. I thought it was OK,” Ayala said, asserting that code enforcement has escalated in recent years. Mayor Matty Mattioli said that was because a few years ago, residents complained that the village was not policing the neighborhoods. “Code enforcement started patrolling on weekends,” he said. The goal of the code, Mattioli said, is to keep Royal Palm See CODE, page 18