Opinion – Page 14 – West Boca News

Editorial: How Stupid Are You?

Warning: This post contains coarse language and other things that some readers might find offensive.

A couple days ago we reported one of our routine crime stories, which included the arrests of three teens from West Boca High. Two of them were Tommy Covella and Joey Lutz, who responded to the article by posting comments on Facebook. Their responses, along with comments from others, prompted this editorial.
Their comments didn’t start off that bad:

While Covella claimed he was innocent in the above comment, he’s still not helping himself. As any lawyer would tell you, you should not be making public comments about your arrest. It’s not going help your case. It also doesn’t help you with the public when you use coarse language and, as Lutz did in his comment, say that you’re laughing about it. Getting arrested is not funny.
Mr. Covella and Mr. Lutz: When I was your age and we got caught doing something wrong, we didn’t shoot our mouths off in public about it. We were embarrassed. By the way, I was your age once and my friends and I did do things we shouldn’t have. But we were mostly smarter about it than you and never got caught for anything anywhere near this serious.
Of course it got worse. Covella contradicted himself in a mini-rant:

Here Mr. Covella admits he had a weapon on him, asserting that it wasn’t nunchucks but rather brass knuckles. Why would you admit that you had a weapon on you at all? That doesn’t help your case.
Next Covella decided to threaten us with legal action. Since posting it Covella deleted this comment and a couple others, but not before we took screenshots:

We had a similar experience when we wrote our Spanish River Thugs article. And we previously wrote an article about why we will continue to cover crime stories on West Boca News.
But this is the kind of moment that led to this editorial and its headline: How Stupid Are You?
Mr. Covella, if you had read the whole article you might have noticed that I am a lawyer. I am not impressed when teen criminals offer their opinions about what’s illegal. You make yourself look like an idiot when you say stupid things like this.
If you made the extra effort to do a little research about me you’d realize you want me on your side. I’m a criminal defense lawyer. The way you’re going, you may need someone like me at some point in your life.
In another now-deleted comment, Mr. Covella tried to talk tough:

This one has a lot in it. First of all, nothing we said was false. We report the facts as we find them. We asked Mr. Covella to let us know what was false and he had no response. Second, we’re not telling “random people”. We are telling our readers, most of whom live in West Boca.
Now, to the meat of it:
Mr. Covella, four kids smoking pot in a van is not a team. I’m not hiding. My name is on the article – in three places. And manly? You have no idea what it means to be a man. A man takes responsibility for his actions. A man stands by his family and supports them – he doesn’t embarrass them like you’re doing now. Getting caught smoking pot in a van with your friends doesn’t make you manly.
Lutz and others used a variation of the “N word” in their comments:

Are you kids that clueless? You don’t say that word publicly. Maybe you can say it with your friends while you’re smoking in the van. But you say it in public and it makes you look like stupid racists. Shut up!
For more on the use of the word, here’s a video with Charles Barkley and Shaq:

As for Ms. Rodgriguez’ comment, a lot of people seem to care. Nearly 5000 people have read the article so far. No one is acting like they murdered someone. We just had that with the murder at Jimmy the Greek. We get the difference. Do you?
We had a comment on our website that was similar to hers:

Dear John: Yes it’s news. And no it’s not “real gay” to write a story about it. Gay? You sound like another prejudiced moron. Get a vocabulary. Use higher level language. Call it “pedestrian.” Look it up – it has another meaning besides a person walking. And while I personally agree with you that driving after marijuana is not particularly dangerous, saying that doesn’t help your credibility with most readers.
Cinn’s comment was another inspiration for the headline:

“Are you dumb or something?” No Cinn, you’re the dumb one here. Getting arrested is a big deal. With all the stupid things I did as a kid, I never got arrested. Lutz is charged with a felony. That’s a really big deal.
Stuff like this does happen all the time. Fortunately it only seems to involve a small segment of the population. Being in that group is a bad place to be.
The last comment of note came from Mr. Trevor Evans, who wins the prize for stupid:

Mr. Evans, publicly threatening a journalist with violence violates two Florida statutes: Stalking and Assault, and as a result you may be getting a visit from PBSO in the near future. A man was arrested for making a joke on Twitter that a reporter took as a threat back in December, and what he did is less than what you just did. You also just made yourself the first suspect if any harm should come to me. And to top all that off, you just gave a George Zimmerman defense to anyone who shoots you.
Let’s all hope for Mr. Evans’ sake that we don’t read about him in the Darwin Awards next year.
There’s a moral to this story:
1. Don’t commit crimes.
2. If you ignore #1 and get arrested, your mugshot and story will probably appear in West Boca News or some other media.
3. Don’t talk publicly – or even privately – about any of it unless your lawyer gives the okay.

Narcotics Overdose Prevention at WB High

The NOPE Task Force of Palm Beach County (Narcotics Overdose Prevention & Education) will conduct a forum for parents the 31st (not this Monday but next Monday) at 7 pm in the West Boca High School auditorium.
The event is sponsored by the PTSAs of Loggers’ Run Middle School and West Boca High.

While West Boca News likes the idea of such a forum, we do not agree with the NOPE legislative agenda. Their efforts to increase federal control of prescription pain medication will do nothing to protect our kids. Current controls already cause serious difficulties for people with genuine medical problems.

Craig Ehrnst

West Boca News invited candidates in the 2014 Boca Raton City election to submit an article of up to 1000 words. Here is the submission from Craig Ehrnst, a candidate for Council Seat B. Ehrnst’s campaign website is CraigEhrnst.com.
—
My wife and I, along with our three children, have proudly called Boca Raton our home for the past fourteen years. Prior to moving to Boca Raton, we lived in Miami for nine years. We relocated to Boca Raton because of the unique small-town community environment with the downtown parade, library, and beaches. Boca Raton is a special community and a nice place to raise a family.
I hold both a BBA and MBA from the University of Michigan. While in school, I worked on a GM assembly line and was a member of the UAW. For the last twenty-five years, I have worked in the treasury, financial, and audit divisions for ExxonMobil, Ryder System, and since 2000, NCCI in Boca Raton, as Treasurer responsible for key financial operations.
After volunteering on the City’s Financial Advisory Board for three years, I learned a great deal about the strengths and opportunities of our City. The City has great people and resources to do great things. However, the City also faces several issues, which I have summarized below:
1. Ensuring fiscal responsibility: addressing City pensions, supporting an Inspector General, and encouraging accountability
2. Implementing long-term planning: managing building density, allowing for succession planning, and managing risks
3. Preserving the character of Boca Raton: – reforming the election process and supporting community activities for all age group
My educational, professional, and community experiences give me the credentials to be a qualified candidate. What separates me from my opponents is the energy and drive I have to always “put residents first.” I will help Boca face its challenges by ensuring that all constituencies (retirees, business people, city workers, teachers, students, soccer Moms, developers, etc) are represented in arriving at balanced and practical solutions to keep Boca a great place to live for all residents.
If you look at who is funding my leading opponent, you will see that Developers and Unions are trying to influence his positions on city growth and pensions, decisions that benefit their special interests. Look at who is funding my Campaign and you will see that it represents a much broader spectrum of the population and is consistent with my theme to “put residents first” – all residents!

Guest Article: Failed Transit for Disabled

Courtney Gale writes to us about problems with transit in Palm Beach County for persons with disabilities. Here, with our edits, is an e-mail and then a more formal article:
E-mail
I am disabled, so I use Palm Tran’s door-to-door service. I have been having problems with them for years:

Many drivers are late even though they have a 30-minute window for pick up;
Waiting over 30 min in the FL heat is not ideal;
Many drivers get lost even though there are many options available now for finding a pick up or drop off point;
If you do not qualify for PT’s Transportation Disadvantaged program you end up paying $6 for a round trip (that’s $3.50 each way);
When riding, wheelchairs and the people that occupy them, are to be strapped in. Many of these belts are loose so even though they may be around a person, the effect they are meant to have is moot.

Article
IN THE WRONG DIRECTION WITH CONNECTION
By Courtney Gale

According to the U.S. Census 2000, 20.9% of the individuals in Palm Beach County are disabled. Some of these will have been born with their disabilities, whilst others won’t have. Not only does this highlight why everybody should have good disability insurance coverage in place (this disability insurance guide is useful for more information), it also shows how important it is that disabled access is kept at the forefront of our minds. Many people who ride paratransit buses do not drive for medical reasons. I am also one of these people.
Living in Palm Beach County, I use the shared, door to door, paratransit branch of our public bus system known as Palm Tran Connection. I have been a Connection rider for 10+ years and other than experiencing the trips that I have scheduled, I have also undergone a plethora of problems which makes me seriously wonder if Connection drivers show their charges the respect and compassion they deserve. Disabled, frail and elderly citizens depend on this service and these vehicles to get to work, college, important medical appointments, shopping or just spending some time out of the house.
When I have an excursion planned, I have learned to state my appointment for at least thirty minutes to an hour ahead to ensure I arrive on time as [other] passenger[s] who uses Connection to get to adult daycare.
One looks forward to her trips to daycare and gets upset if the bus is late. “All her friends are there […] it’s her life.”
Connection drivers are often late picking their passengers up whether it’s to their destination or a return trip home. The wait “window” is to be thirty minutes, but it often ends up being an hour or more. During the wait time, riders must stay alert to look for that big white van and, more often than not, place at least one phone call to complain or inquire about where their vehicle is due to the tardiness. Palm Beach Post reported the situation of a diabetic man who had not eaten prior to his wait window. He had a 9-9:30 am pick up time. The van finally arrived at 11 am. I admit, homes can be a bit difficult to find, but GPS, maps, hell, being able to read the signs pointing to the proper streets are all ways to overcome this hurdle.

When a van arrives early, the drivers usually leave before I can get out the door since he (or she) has not read the sheet outlining the details for each passenger known as their manifest. For example, mine says, “DEAF PASSENGER IN A WHEELCHAIR.” A wheelchair can make getting ready twice as long and being deaf, I do not hear the phone ring, but they usually call the house anyway and when no one picks up, they move on.
So after I have reached my frustration point for the day, paid the driver (We’re at $3.50 each way when those on regular buses pay $3.50 for an unlimited day pass.) and signed the intake sheet, I must endure the strapping in of my chair.
If you ask many drivers, the chest belt is supposed to go behind me. They do not know the proper placement of the restraints and many belts are so loose, they forfeit any and all responsibility for keeping a wheelchair user securely in place.
Once they drop me at my doctor’s office and I have finished my hour-long appointment, I get to do the whole thing over again.
It makes for a very long day surrounding a very short meeting.
The Palm Beach Post took notice of these problems when service became really bad in August of 2012. Palm Tran reduced service vendors from three to solely Metro Mobility Management Group. Metro promised them a savings of approximately $16.7 million over the next five years. Despite Metro’s problems such as labour issues and a case involving a blind passenger being groped by a driver, Palm Tran officials approved the takeover.
When asked about the switch, Palm Tran’s executive director, Chuck Cohen, was quoted as saying, “This has gone beyond what we were expecting,”
Switching from three providers to just one, what did you expect?
The administrator at New Day Adult Day Care Center, Julie Tombari, believes the drivers were not fully trained, but seven weeks after Metro’s takeover, Tombari and several of the customers thought they saw things starting to improve.
Apparently, not fast enough because not even two weeks ago, the Sun-Sentinel reported that Palm Tran had ended their contract with Metro Mobility.
“Providing paratransit service is expensive for any transit agency,” said Lisa Bacot, executive director of the Florida Public Transportation Association. Palm Tran is no exception, but what does cost to the county have to do with recognizing a rider’s needs and a driver treating the different impairments accordingly that they are faced with every day? Background checks, more thorough training periods, a standard of medical knowledge and a test for all of this should be mandatory for all drivers. Not only that, but the drivers should want to be there.
Maurice Jacobson, Palm Tran advisory board member and a Connection rider, agrees: “It’s a lifeline to be able to not only go to the doctor or the grocery store, but also they have a right to go to the movies, the library,” he said, “These are not profit centers. They’re service centers.”
In an e-mail that county commissioner Shelley Vana’s aide Kelly Peck composed to Cohen, PTC director Ron Jones and Metro owner Cullan Meathe, an excerpt read,
“It is horrible that our most vulnerable have missed important doctor appointments and even lost their jobs; it is totally shameful […] There are truly safety issues. That is not OK, none of it is. […] I shudder to think that something horrific is just a step away. This is despicable, and I am so glad that I do not have a loved one that has to endure these conditions.”
References: Palm Beach Post, Mon Oct 1, 2012
Palm Beach County, Aug 6, 2012
Sun Sentinel, Jan 18, 2014

5 Signs Someone is from East Boca

A conversation this evening with someone from East Boca inspired this post. She pulled a #5.

5. They say FAU is in West Boca.
4. Waiting in front of Publix wondering where the valet is.
3. They think Glades Road ends at the Turnpike but they’re not sure it goes that far.
2. Never heard of South County Regional Park.
1. They feel sorry for people who live in $500K houses.