Post Editorial Board: Who should lead Lake Worth Beach: Betty Resch, Sarah Malega, Kim Stokes
For Lake Worth Beach's upcoming municipal elections, The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board endorses incumbents Betty Resch for mayor; Sarah Malega for the city council's District 1 seat; and Kim Stokes for District 3.
The city is well-positioned, with its personable downtown, ample middle-class housing stock, easy commute to West Palm's and Boca Raton's corporate employment centers, and local plusses such as its beachfront toe-hold and its golf course along the Intracoastal. But city leadership faces challenges in overcoming past divisiveness and bringing those assets to their full potential.
Resch, a lawyer, has served on the Florida League of Mayors board, the Florida League of Cities Legislative Committee and on the Palm Beach County League of Cities board, bringing a broad perspective to local issues. She is committed to preserving the city's charm, and to helping move forward such stubborn projects as the Gulfstream Hotel renovation. She'd like to revive the city's closed pool at the beach but only after a look at how that project could make financial sense.
More: "Loofah code" at Florida's largest retirement community more about confused than enthused
She'd like to see a parking garage downtown, and a restaurant at the golf course, where flooding issues also would need to be addressed, she said. She sees her role as that of a board member of a multimillion-dollar corporation, with fiduciary duty to shareholders, "to usher the city into a good financial, marketable place that people want to come to."
She said she was "gobsmacked" by her colleagues' unannounced vote to fire the city manager, who she felt hadn't been given a chance to adjust to a position she was still new in.
Resch says she hopes to restore dignity and professionalism to city proceedings that tend toward chaotic. "I have never had to use the gavel, never walked out during a meeting, and generally have encouraged civil discourse," she says. Smooth sailing is important if city hall is to convince companies and developers that Lake Worth Beach is worth the risk of investment.
More: The Civics Project column: Could former President Barack Obama run for vice president?
Resch opponent Andy Amoroso did not respond to requests for an interview. Opponents Alex Cull and William Joseph didn't respond in time.
For District 1, Sarah Malega
Malega, a council member since 2021, works for PersonalAutoShoppers.com. She also felt firing the manager "sent the wrong message to residents and our staff and the financial community."
She'd like to see the city provide additional housing for senior citizens and veterans, such as those being built on South Dixie Highway but also units affordable for people in the hospitality industry.
Like Resch, she would like the city to revive the pool but only with a business plan that makes it sustainable. It's the kind of project that would benefit from outside expertise, she says, rather than expecting city staff to know how to devise such plans or handle real estate projects or lease negotiations.
As for accomplishments of her first term, she says, those included "leading my district through Lake Worth Beach’s first redistricting, and by doing so, guaranteeing that the collective voice of our large minority community remained intact"; creating jobs through restoration of The Gulfstream Hotel; getting the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to assure that police wear body camera; and adding term limits on the ballots.
More: The Civics Project: Has American politics always been this bad?
We believe Malega has a command of Lake Worth Beach issues that her opponent, Melvin Pinkney, a Riviera Beach water treatment plant superintendent, did not demonstrate.
For District 3, Kim Stokes
In District 3, Councilwoman Kim Stokes also wants to hire consultants to fill gaps in city staff expertise, to reopen the pool complex. As for housing, Stokes says, the city should allow applications for additional density and structure height, and reduce parking restrictions.
Stokes, a math educator, voted to fire the city manager, for failing to communicate to council members important information about the Benny's on the Beach restaurant lease renewal, and about budget shortfalls. We disagree with her on the blitzkrieg firing of the city manager and would hope to see a more collaborative approach in the future.
Her opponent, Mimi May, a teacher at Bak Middle School of the Arts, presents an intelligent alternative but has a much thinner understanding of city issues.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach Post election endorsements for Lake Worth Beach
