West Boca Update – Part 2

We previously described the state legislative update at the West Boca Community Council event. This post covers the rest of the event.
Someone from the WBCC talked about some projects that are going on in the area. In particular, some work is going to be done on the median on Route 441 (State Route 7), including planting trees and adding sprinklers. There have been problems with vagrants occupying bus stop shelters and some work will be done to reduce that including posting “No Loitering” signs and increasing enforcement. He also mentioned that the Solid Waste Authority is available to help communities add or improve recycling efforts and that the Authority’s director, John Archambo, is known for being very helpful.
Captain Eisenberg of the Palm Beach Sheriff spoke about crime in the area. They recently caught some burglars. He indicated that roughly 95% of residential burglaries occur during the daytime, and that one method they use is to bang loudly on the door of the home. If there is no response they think no one is home and break in. If they hear a response they leave. Captain Eisenberg encouraged people to call 911 if they see or hear something suspicious. These particular burglars were caught because residents did call.
In a discussion after the main event he indicated that gated communities may feel safer but they are still targeted because burglars may think that’s where the money is. It’s always better to be cautious, keeping doors locked, using alarm systems, keeping cars in garages, not leaving valuables or cash out in the open, etc. But even with all that, he emphasized that you’re never completely safe and you should be ready to call 911 if you suspect something is going on.
He also mentioned that there has been a rash of incidents where valuables are being stolen from cars by valets at valet parking. You should not leave valuables in your car.
All of this may seem like common sense, but a lot of people are not following that advice.
Tax Collector Anne Gannon spoke briefly, reminding people that there is an option to pay taxes quarterly and the deadline for that is coming up.
Someone spoke on behalf of the Palm Beach County Commission, mentioning progress toward completing a skateboard park, and that the Delray Marketplace is expected to open on November 15th.
This event was wonderful and we hope the WBCC and the neighborhood associations will do a better job in the future of notifying residents of future events.

Brooklyn Boys at Shadowood Shopping Center

imageGrab a slice of NY style pizza at Brooklyn Boys. If you just want a quick slice or two, this is the place to go in West Boca. Their pizza is delicious. You can order a pie also. They offer a large variety of toppings at a reasonable price. They deliver as well.
We do not agree with the old criticism of them on the WorstPizza website. Either they’ve improved or the critic was wrong.

Doraku in Miami – Brickell

Eating lunch today at Doraku in Miami in Mary Brickell Village.
I had a couple items off the limited lunch specials – a roll/sashimi combo and the beef tataki. Both were small but good for the price and quality.
The atmosphere is pleasant with both indoor and outdoor seating. Mary Brickell Village is a nice spot with shops and other restaurants.
I also ordered the Doraku Ceviche from the main menu. It’s more expensive than the lunch menu but has more food and is more interesting. It includes a variety of fish and was definitely the best part of a good meal.
Doraku Ceviche
Two other things to mention: the waiter described it as “tapas style” which is accurate. And I was pleased to encounter a staff member who is actually from Japan in a Japanese restaurant. Doraku was started by the son of Rocky Aoki of Benihana fame. The acorn did not fall too far from the tree.
It’s a long drive from West Boca but if you’re going to be in Miami, it’s worth a visit.

State Legislative Update and More

As mentioned in our last post, The West Boca Community Council had a meeting tonight with a legislative update. In this post I’ll go through what the state legislators had to say, and in the next post I’ll discuss the other items that came up.
All three state legislators who spoke were excellent speakers.
We first heard from State Senator Maria Sachs, who represents what is currently Senate district 30. She has great presence and a real sense of humor. Her funniest moment was when she compared the state House of Representatives to kindergarten (lots of activity and people borrowing each other’s crayons) and the Senate to an assisted living facility.
For substance Senator Sachs limited herself to redistricting. This is something a lot of politicians (of both parties) talk about, but they don’t seem to understand that it doesn’t matter much to voters. She also mentioned the Stand Your Ground law but didn’t say anything about it. On redistricting she described the balance between “coastal communities”, which is apparently where the rich people live, and western communities where I guess we’re not as rich.
There was also an “End of Session Report” for 2012 distributed which listed and described a number of things she has been “Fighting For”. I would post a link to it but can’t find it on the internet.
Representative Steve Perman spoke next. He went into far more depth on issues. First he explained that both houses of the legislature are roughly 2-1 Republican and that it’s difficult for Democrats to have an impact, which is a common problem for minority parties.
He then talked about his opposition to auto insurance reforms that are supposed to prevent fraud by reducing PIP (personal injury protection) benefits unless you go to specific kinds of health care providers within 14 days of the accident. If you want to learn more about particular types of auto car insurance, check out Truly Insurance’s page. He seemed particularly annoyed that chiropractors are not included, which may have something to do with his work as a chiropractor. He did make a solid point that it’s not clear whether the reforms really do much about fraud, or whether they will have any effect on insurance premiums. If an individual has been the victim of fraud, they are best seeking an auto fraud attorney denver or whichever state they reside.
Perman also discussed homeowners insurance and the state “Citizens” program. A member of the audience challenged him on the fact that taxpayers in areas like West Boca are subsidizing insurance for wealthier homeowners in coastal communities. Perman did not disagree, but said it’s difficult politically to get changes through and that he feels there will be a bipartisan effort to address it.
Perman talked briefly about a new law that protects farmers who store water to help the state water system from having their land designated as federal wetlands. It was not clear why the state legislature would have any power over federal designations, but no one asked. He also mentioned a bill related to accelerating foreclosures that did not go through because of problems agreeing on the definition of when a home has been abandoned.
Perman also distributed a legislative update, but again this is something I could not find on the web. His update was more substantive than the one from Sachs.
Representative Joseph Abruzzo was the last speaker. Unlike the other two he does not seem to have a campaign website though he is running for State Senate, and he has registered a bunch of domain names related to his name. While a good speaker, he was not as dynamic as Perman nor as entertaining as Sachs.
Abruzzo mentioned that he attended President Obama’s visit today to FAU. He talked about a bill he’d pushed to get help for veterans convicted of crimes, including treatment over incarceration. It sounded like a good idea but he was unable to get this through. He mentioned the success of the Silver Alert program and that it was working well in Palm Beach County in particular. However, it wasn’t clear why he mentioned this since it became law back in 2008.
He discussed the state budget in depth, criticizing it for raising tuition at state universities and colleges, and complaining that it “gutted” the Bright Futures program and education in general. Perman had also expressed concerns about cuts to education.
Your correspondent challenged Abruzzo about where he would get money for education. He offered two areas. First, he felt that the deal with the Seminole Indians did not get enough money for the state. However, this answer did not address funding for the current year, nor was it clear why it’s appropriate for the state to be handing out monopolies to gambling enterprises.
His second answer was more relevant but a concern. He suggested the state should collect sales tax revenue on internet transactions. He denied that this would be a tax increase on Florida consumers who shop online, but the audience did not seem to find this persuasive. Online shoppers are increasingly spending borrowed money — often times turning to a forbruksln (consumer loan) or credit cards — and are understandably not fond of paying more, especially on borrowed money that must be paid back at a high interest rate.
Abruzzo also had a habit of making “bringing home the bacon” references. Aside from this being a disturbing view of the role of a legislator, practically speaking it’s a big weakness for a member of the minority party. A Republican state senator would be better positioned to bring benefits home to the district.
There were several state Republican candidates in attendance, including Melanie Peterson, Geoff Sommers, and James Ryan O’Hara. O’Hara had the most thorough and thoughtful answer on how to address state government spending problems, and we hope to provide a complete profile of him in a future blog post.
Also in attendance was Paul Tocker, a candidate for Palm Beach County Commission, as well as other candidates for various offices (some of whom will be discussed in the next post).
Overall this was an excellent event. It was disappointing that the audience was not larger and most of the attendees were public officials, candidates or involved with political parties. We hope that the WBCC and the media will do a better job of informing the public about such events in the future, and we’d be happy to help spread the word.

State Legislative Update in West Boca – April 10th

There will be a legislative update presented to the West Boca Community Council at the Boca Lago Country Club on April 10th at 7:30 pm. Please note that the speakers are apparently all Democrats, including Maria Sachs, Joe Abruzzo and Steve Perman.
–Update: report on the event is here: West Boca State Legislative Update
Since both houses of the state legislature are majority Republican, and the Governor is also Republican, it seems odd not to have a Republican voice at such an event. But nevertheless it is worth attending.
As always, we encourage voters to ask their representatives (of both parties) where they would cut spending in order to save money in these difficult times.
We can’t find any public notice of this event on the web, but we have been told it’s happening by a source we consider reliable. Neither of the websites is up to date.