Saturday, June 4, 2011

Developer lobbyist Lisa Maxwell aims to fill shoes of disappeared dolphin dealing mayor in Lake Worth special election


When former Lake Worth Mayor Rene Varela resigned last month, over email, with a days notice, his parting gift to the city was a special election to fill his role. The election is set for June 28, 2011.

And there is a familiar candidate on the coming ballot. Lisa Maxwell, who ran for a commission seat last year, is in the race for Mayor.

Maxwell is a former lobbyist for the Builders Association and employee of Miami-based Lennar Corp., one of South Florida's largest builders.

If that doesn't give you enough of an idea where her priorities and allegiances are, then you can have a look at her financial reports from last year and see proof of donations she received from controversial business Southern Waste Systems (SWS).

Despite ongoing efforts to keep dirty money out of elections, developer candidate Lisa Maxwell accepted $2,500 from 5 different companies all operating out of the SWS facility on the Lantana/Lake Worth border.

Despite these facts, Maxwell is sure to try and convince the public that she is devoted to creating a "green" environment. Don't be fooled by the greenwash.

Aside from these environmental controversies, Maxwell has been involved with a plethora of other lobbyist-oriented drama throughout Palm Beach and Broward Counties, from advocating against unionized teachers, arguing against traffic concurrency requirements and advocating demolition for historic homes. In short, she's the perfect politician. The kind we've had enough of in south Florida.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Scripps/Briger updates and why we need an EIS now!

Hey y'all,
Don't forget that the Monday, June 13 PBCEC meeting is canceled. Instead there will be a door-knocking excursion, leaving Lake Worth from the Night Heron at 5:30pm.

We have made a new brochure for outreach.

And we have also updated the ScrapScripps.info website with new links and information, including a post on legal matters from the treesitters and new sections on:

-Forests & Climate
-Animal Testing; and
-Genetic Engineering

Please help circulate the website through your online networks, and then get off the computer and come meet us in the streets!

And lastly, please check out the sample letter to Eric Reusch Below with several of our concerns which we feel most clearly warrant the need for a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Please sign and send the petition below to Eric Reusch IMMEDIATELY at: Eric.G.Reusch@usace.army.mil

For the wild,
Panagioti

______________________________________________________________________________________To: Eric.G.Reusch@usace.army.mil

Dear Eric,

Below is a list of concerns I have for Scripps Biotech Phase II Briger
project. Please hold a public hearing and consider these specific
concerns before approving this project:

1. Briger is suitable habitat for at least 13 federal and state
listed species, this project should not be approved unless a thorough
Environmental Impact Statement is conducted.

2. It is alarming that the search for Eastern Indigo snakes, a
federally protected species, was conducted during some of the coldest
days of 2010, when they are a species that is less active in the cold.

3. It is inadequate that only 1 day of research was conducted in
a manner officially adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
find Eastern Indigo Snakes on a span of 681.69 acres.

4. Briger is within a Core Foraging Area of a Wood Stork
rookery and therefore should be maintained to aid the Wood Stork
population which is also federally protected.

5. The Army Corps is tasked with thoroughly accessing climate
change, carbon emissions and potential for carbon sequestering. Pine
trees, like those on Briger, have been proven to trap 3x more CO2
than other trees, helping to stabilize the climate. It is therefore
imperative that the Corps further analyze the value of Briger through
an Environmental Impact Statement.

Thank you for considering my concerns.

Sincerely,
________________