Lake Worth Beach should elect Carla Blockson and Reinado Diaz
To help make that happen, The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board recommends voters elect Carla Blockson to the District 2 seat and re-elect District 4 Commissioner Reinaldo Diaz in hopes of taking Lake Worth Beach in a better direction.
This is not Blockson's first rodeo. This contest between Blockson and incumbent Christopher McVoy marks the third time the two have faced each other for the right to represent Lake Worth Beach's District 2. This time, though, voters should make sure Blockson wins the race. After considering her position on the city's chief issues, the Post Editorial Board believes right now she's the better choice.
Palm Beach Post Editorial Board endorsements for March 11 municipal elections
Blockson, 68, understands the issues facing the city. Since 2021, she has served on the Lake Worth Beach's Community Redevelopment Agency and as chair, she has overseen several grants and key projects along the city's Dixie Highway corridor -- including the proposed Weiner Museum of Decorative Arts. If elected, she would bring a pro-business approach to the dais in support of attracting more commercial development to boost city tax revenue and make the city more of an attraction. She'd also work to improve traffic congestion along 10th Avenue North in her northwest district.
Commissioner McVoy is the district's current commissioner. His status quo-stance on the city manager's position strikes the board as counterproductive. For that reason and more, voters should choose Blockson for the District 2 seat.
Incumbent Lake Worth Beach Commissioner Diaz represents the city's southeast quadrant, which includes Lake Worth Beach's only oceanfront tract. The Post Editorial Board recommends voters re-elect him to another term, with the following caveat: Lake Worth Beach needs a full-time city manager, a task the next city commission must address sooner rather than later.
In his first term, Diaz, 41, has tried to bring administrative changes to City Hall, in hopes of putting the city in a better position to address ongoing legal and development issues. He has also been thrust into the ongoing immigration controversy, threading the needle in protecting the city's growing Hispanic population, continuing to attract revenue from Tallahassee while abiding by punitive state deportation laws and federal dictates. If re-elected, Diaz would like to establish a more effective growth policy that would put the city in a better position to review and track ongoing projects.
Still, the commissioner's take on leaving Jamie Brown, Lake Worth Beach's current public works director, to somehow balance that job with working as the city's "interim" manager, is well, troubling. Diaz believes Brown is doing a better job than his predecessor that the commission removed in 2024. Fine. So start the process that leads to Brown being hired to the job on a permanent basis. There are many projects that need a full-time city manager's attention, and a full-time public works director, including the city's long unused pool that sits near the beach in the commissioner's district.
Greg Richter, a 69-year-old Realtor, is also running for the seat. He is running as a change candidate, but the Post Editorial Board believes that Diaz's performance to date makes him the better candidate in the race.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Lake Worth Beach voters should choose Blockson and Diaz | Endorsements
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