OK, let's get started, lot's to say...
The oldest of the sites, Lake Worth Talk.....
At first conception, Jim Stafford created Lakeworthless Utilities in Novemeber of 2005, a site against the Lake Worth utility and the city's course in operating it. It started off slow, first a protest in front of City Hall. Jim stood there, along with another protester, with a bag over his head. I guess he thought he was the "unknown comic" of the day.
Next came the creation of a PAC, "Coalition for a Better Lake Worth". I never knew why they called it that, it had nothing to do with the betterment of living standards in lake Worth. No, it's main purpose was to figure out a way to force the city into selling the utilities. Nothing at all mattered to these people except a plan to gather signatures to force a referendum to be added to the polls, asking the public if it wanted the city to dump the utility department at all costs, just get rid of it. MMmmmm, doesn't this referendum petition bring to mind some currant accusations against another group? Gosh, this PAC even had a member who sued the city, something they all claim as a no-no. But then this is another issue to be discussed along with the petitions for referendums which they are now against the right to do.Oh well, we'll get to them another day.
Remember, practice what they preach, not what they do.
The PAC started off strong, but then began to slowly fracture after just a few months. First they backed William Coakley's research on the electric upgrade, and endorsed him highly as chairman of the city "utility task force". One of the PAC members took Mr. Coakley's research and put it to words in a report, pages long, at first giving credit to Coakley for his work. Later on that person took the credit for it as their own work.
But then issues continued to change. Some say there was a backroom deal made with city management. Who really knows for sure, there are no facts or proof ever surfacing on this claim. But suddenly Mr. Coakley was a loose cannon, someone who saw his close allies and supposedly close friends, turn their backs on him, throw him under the bus, and claim he lost it. Ruthless actions? It's all in the eye of the beholder.
The PAC continued to exist in name, with it's last public issue being the backing of electing Cara Jennings for their own commissioner of district #2.
It's to bad that Jim couldn't live up to his commitments and wishes. After the elections, Jim posted this:
Jim
E-mail:
not available
Date:
3/20/2006 2:47:36 AM
Subject:
What our community should be like
Message:
We should all be trying to work on making Lake Worth a better place. Lets focus on solutions for the real issues that face our community.I want this to be a positive exchange of ideas!!! I understand the need to post past and present actions and histories of the candidates. Please only post things that you can prove! The debate should be about the issues that we are all facing in Lake Worth. (Development, Utility, Beach Front, Green Space, Affordable Housing, etc....)Remember after the election we will all have to work together on making Lake Worth a better place!!
CFBLW finally fell completely apart soon afterwards. But the message board lived on. It began to grow, it began to really have a following. Everyone thought this board would bring the community together. More and more was added to the agenda of the board. Live shows, news, it just kept coming and coming. A year or so went by and the board was doing great. But just like most small minded people, they start to think they alone can shape what happens in their community. Way back in March of 2006 people were telling Jim to stop these attacks, this "mud slinging" that is so prevalent on his board. Even back over a year and a half people were getting tired of the normal way issues are discussed on this site. Someone wrote in a post:
In any case, it is time, Dear Webmaster, to terminate this behavior. You have given us a wonderful forum in which to share our concerns and voice our ideas for a better Lake Worth. Thank you for that. But, most of us have put up with way to much abuse here. And, I for one, can't stand the mud-slinging that even our candidates for the Commission have had to endure. I'm looking forward to the day when reasonable people will have a safe forum, the one that the Better Lake Worth website promises to provide. The only solution, I'm afraid if you want to keep good people posting, is to shut down this website (Lakeworthlessutility), and require interested persons to sign up on the other. And require that all postings conform to a proper code of ethics.
Over time, Jim thought he was getting so big, so influential, that he became a target by a stalker. He made a police report on something he blew out of proportion, something about an outhouse model that was mailed to him. A big deal over someone telling him graphically that his board was nothing more than a toilet. He continued to build his ego, thinking he could influence the elections, the mood of the city.
During this last election Jim and his group campaigned hard for their candidates. Retha Lowe won, or should we say Exline lost by his own merits, again. Wes Blackman lost, and still to this day can't get over it. And Jeff Clemens beat Marc Drautz but not by much. They claim they proved the majority wants the beach project, by defeating the SuperMajority referendum and electing the people who did win. I don't know about you, but I voted against the S/M referendum because I did not want the future of zoning changes to be "held back" because it required an extra vote to carry, why not change it to all of the commissioners need to vote in agreement, that made more sense. I did not vote against it because I support the G/B and LakeWorth partnership. Not only that, but I thought I heard Commissioner Golden say she is against the plan, and she won her seat against Wes. So where is their proof that the majority has spoken. No just their group has spoken, a very small group at that.
Is it a numbers game with these boards? Well it certainly sounds like it is going by Jim's count. His most recent board before this new one boasted 350+ members signed on. Figures that boasted 150+ people tuned in almost 18 hours of the day was normal. But suddenly Jim's delusional mind set back in, he thinks there was this large scale attack against his board. Hundreds and hundreds of computers, I think I heard him say over 800 were utilized at one given moment, but double that was needed to ensure enough traffic to bog down his board. Resources like these are very expensive, and contacts to pull this off is a huge requirement, but Jim's board is so threatening to some, it was a master plan to destroy him. I think he watched to many computer hacking movies, in real life something as small as a community website would never be on a hit list that requires that kind of network to pull off. No, just Jim's wild imagination, along with some playing around with the software that caused the crash. What proof do I have? I have about as much proof as Jim does to substantiate his claim, nothing, zipp. But let's look at some facts. Before the crash, Jim boasted 350+ members, with a usage constant around 125 to 150 users signed on at once, usually 20 out of 24 hrs a day. He was accused by many of seeding his numbers and his posts. While the board was back up but the message area still down, he had a figure of 75 users signed on most of the time, just waiting for his board to get back up and running to post. Then the day came, the new LakeWorthTalk came on line. Now, after weeks of being back up, he boasts a grand total of 70 users registered, and a high of 18 users at once one day, but usually sits around 8 or 9 users. The same few members are doing 85% of the posts. The phrase they were once known as, "The Dirty Dozen" really describes how many loyal posters he has once again. But we still see Jim being his usual delusional self, thinking all the others in the city are posting against him and his group. He thinks they are spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars just to discredit him and ruin his board. No Jim, I think you are doing a great job doing just that all by yourself. You have proved over and over again, you are a person with a short attention span, brains of a fly, and have the influence of a cockroach. Want to hear more? Well maybe tomorrow I will continue. I have allot more to say, about power plays he thinks he has pulled off, his future plans, his delusional thoughts of him becoming the man of the hour, with all the contacts and close sources to city hall someone of his stature needs. And more on his group of followers, of leaches, of people who think they control our city. More on the Mighty Groups in Lake Worth.
For now that's it, from Mr. Lake Worth himself.......
