Info on Lake Worth 2022 Elections: District 4 and Ballot Items

[UPDATE: There is a runoff election on March 22. The fundraising deadline is March 17th at 11:59 pm. You can donate on his website. Please kick in $25 today, and spread the word. Follow his social media for more info on volunteering. With Reinaldo elected, this would give us a more solid commission majority for pro-environmental and community-centered decisions. It's much harder to turn out less engaged voters in a runoff, so we need your help, on the phones, knocking doors, and donating funds, ASAP. Report on 3/8 Results.
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As local environmentalists and community activists in Lake Worth Beach may have noticed, our success in re-electing Christopher McVoy for District 2 was not contested by a pro-developer candidate, so he will thankfully continue to hold that seat. It was a major sigh of relief after all the work we put in engaging voters to show up at the polls last year.

But the District 4 seat is now up for grabs, as Herman Robinson leaves office. There are three names on the ballot. There are also some important ballot questions to vote on. We succeeded in creating a major shift last year, unseating four developer-backed, socially-conservative candidates, three of which had been in office for a decade+, but the pressure of real estate greed continues to impact commission decisions. 

For example last year, a significant upzoning for the proposed Deco Green development passed in a 3-2 vote, requiring neighbors, environmentalists and local affordable housing advocates to file a lawsuit aiming to send it back to the drawing board for a reassessment of the city's "sustainability bonus" and deeper input from surrounding residents. (Details on that fight here.) Who gets into office this year would have a real impact on decisions like this one, which affects the cost of housing and the quality of life for the low-rise, working class neighborhoods that make up most of the city.

Here's a little about the candidates and the ballot items to aid in casting an informed ballot.

Diaz works with kids to clean the Lagoon

District 4 candidates

Reinaldo Diaz: He has an extensive background in land use law and policy, as well as the management of a non-profit, public interest organization. Born and raised in the city, he is the founder of Lake Worth Waterkeeper, advocating to protect water quality in the lagoon and surrounding watershed. He could be an excellent asset, bringing valuable skills and experience to the commission. Learn more about him here. The Sun Sentinel did a good write up in their endorsement of him, which you can find here. 

Morgan speaks on public health at press event

Daniel Morgan: As a former employee of the Guatemalan Maya Center, and a current case worker for refugees, he has relationships with central figures in the local community of immigrants, many who have been here decades with little to no representation in the city's political affairs. He was a member of the City's Charter Review Committee. While he is a relatively recent resident of the city, he brings a fresh energy that could be a great addition to the commission. Learn more about him here.

Every year, we see yard signs pop up in vacant lots
during election time, as real estate speculators
attempt to influence results.
In this case, property owned by Greg Rice,
which should be a city park,
instead piles up with garbage
...and campaigns for Frost. 

Craig Frost: Craig seems like an alright guy, owns a local upholstery business and participates in the neighborhood associations. Unfortunately for him, he has the support of the previous commissioner and is the choice of many from the pro-development, chamber of commerce, real estate speculator crowd. His campaign literature has the tired old cliché about running city hall like a business. According to his campaign's Facebook page, he worked at Capri Pizza when he was in high school. They have pretty good pizza, but that's not enough to overlook where his primary support is coming from. 

When people say "the city should be run like a business," we think the response should be "sure, a nonprofit business, where public interest is the driving force rather than profit-making." To that end, Morgan and Diaz both shine. Frost, not so much.

Ballot Questions:

Voters in Lake Worth Beach also will decide four ballot questions. 

Question 1 is about term limits: Vote Yes. 

The city currently has none. This item would limit commissioners to two consecutive three-year terms in one seat, and 12 consecutive years in local office. You wanna go longer than that, you gotta take a break for a term. There are mixed feelings among some about term limits for higher office, like in Congress or the State Legislature because of "losing institutional knowledge and shifting power from novice legislators to entrenched lobbyists and staffers," as the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board put it. But it's very different on this level. We want a variety of voices coming into the commission.

Question 2 is about runoff elections: Mixed feelings, but No.

The reality of local elections is that a very small number of people actually show up for them. A candidate should be able to show that they have 51% of the those votes, without the runner up being made to feel that they are wasting time or money, and being pressured to concede. On the other hand, a run-off candidate conceding may offer insight about that person, so you can take note of it in case they come back and ask for your vote in the future. Either way, the fact that it happened in 2019 isn't reason to worry too much, as it doesn't happen often enough to warrant stress over which way you vote on it. Flip a coin, leave it blank, not a major concern.

Question 3 single-member districts: Vote No

This would result in each commissioner being elected only by voters in that district. Currently they run city-wide (or 'at large'), and all voters vote in every race. Single districts may make sense in larger cities, where there are vast differences from one district to another, but in Lake Worth it is misguided. It would most likely exacerbate the existing segregation in this small town, where the wealthier, whiter pockets hold a concentration of votes. Districts 1 and 2 may become easier elections to win for community activists and grassroots folks, but easier doesn't always mean better quality. And securing broader community representation for districts 3 and 4 could become much more difficult, which would make the campaign for mayor higher stakes, concentrating developer influence on what would become the primary swing commission vote. This would further polarize the town along race and class lines, rather than pushing us out of our comfort zones to cross town and work in various neighborhoods to figure out solutions to common problems in this relatively small geographic area. 

Question 4 fill a commission vacancy before the next election. Vote Yes

This is basically a low-stakes technical issue. As the Sun Sentinel put it in their endorsement: "Unfilled seats disenfranchise residents, leaving them without a voice."

That's our two-cents on the matter. We encourage folks to make up their own mind, and then get out in the streets and engage with your community.

Oh, and if you still have a Vote By Mail ballot, mail it soon or bring it directly in to the Supervisor of Elections office. If you are undecided up until the end, bring your mail-in ballot with you to the polls, otherwise you will have to vote by provisional ballot, which slows down the final election results.