Posted on 05/16/2011 10:06:09 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby
Boy meets girl. They like each other. They go out three times. He picks up the tab.
Perfectly innocent — and in some cases it could soon be perfectly illegal, if the girl works for Palm Beach County or one of its cities.
It's an accidental side-effect of a simple idea: Put a hard limit on the gifts businesses can give government workers and kill Palm Beach County's reputation for corruption.
The county's proposed new gift law would extend the rules to thousands of government workers — down to the people who pick up your trash and answer the telephones. They would no longer be allowed to take gifts worth more than $100 each year from anyone whose company does business with or lobbies their employer.
And so under the current proposal, if a man who works for Home Depot dates a woman who works for Palm Beach County, he can't spend more than $100 on her in the course of a year — unless she pays him back or spends money on him.
The code has exceptions for relatives, for people who are engaged and for couples living together. But none for dating.
"Right now, people will be going Dutch," Commission on Ethics Executive Director Alan Johnson conceded.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
If it actually reduces graft, I am all for it. Somehow, I doubt it will do anything but get some poor unsuspecting guy thrown in jail simply because he footed the tab for an expensive date. Will public employees have some kind of mark on their forehead so that at least guys know who to not ask out on a date? I suppose this could be good; more liberals with less dates. Fitting.
Welcome to Boca Raton!!! Meanwhile, they do nothing about the porn shops and pawn shops on every corner.
There are porn/pawn shops in Boca?
This is SO stupid!
It’s a stupid law thought up by stupid politicians who will continue to thrive in an atmosphere of stupid corruption.
You must live on 441 going toward Deerfield. Not any pawn shops or porn stores in INCORPORATED Boca Raton.
This is a law I would oppose.
There are porn/pawn shops in Boca?
“How much for that used vibrator,
the one with the 2-cycle motor?”??
My experience has been that the more corrupt the politicians are, the more onerous the ethics rules they impose on government employees.
The corrupt politicians, of course, will never make an attempt to abide by anything even remotely ethical. They will continue to take bribes and kick-backs, without making even a token effort to conceal their corruption.
Same thing with spending. I have to make sure that every purchase made by our department is for valid business purposes, or I may end up personally paying for it—but the politicians who made those rules fall all over themselves thinking of new ways to spend our money.
If it reduces graft and corruption, it's fine. You seem to be of the mind a man should pick up his date's expenses even when she's gainfully employed. The policy doesn't apply to engaged or married couples.
I sure don't remember any two years ago before I moved.
I lived near the "little Brazil" section of Boca. Who needed porn shops?
The giving is mot illegal. The taking is what is prohibited.
I'm 60 years old. Dating isn't a part of my life, so your statement is asinine.
What part of intrusive government do YOU not understand?
NO MORE LAWS telling me what I can or can not do in my personal life outside of work. We have enough of that crap already.
I was in Boca in 2006 for the Super Bowl which was in Miami and there were quite a few pawn shops and porn shops.
I was very disappointed it was not the same Boca Raton that I visited yearly as a child.
There were many restaurants that I loved, gone.
The BAD BAD BAD area where I didn't feel safe was Boyton Beach. WTF happened there? It looked like an inner city!!!
Deerfield was bad but the WORST areas for the pawn shops, porn shops and DUI lawyers were in Miami Gardens by the Stadium. Literally every strip mall had it. Parts of Boca are still beautiful (I still see that the Early Bird Special folks are out at 4PM waiting in line at every restaurant) but the parts close to Boyton Beach changed.
The last time I was in Boca as a teen was in 1998 and we went to Boyton Beach to go to "Uncle Tom's BBQ" which is now unfortunately out of business and I don't remember that town being as shady as it is now.
There are no parts of Boca near Boynton. You must be thinking of west Delray. I am in Boca three times a year (Lyons Road area, won’t get more specific). It remains an affluent, disproportionately Jewish area and I never see any porn or pawn shops, other than in the small lousy section on lower 441 near the Broward County line.
That's "little Brasil"! And not the nice ones who dance samba, the mean ones who belong to gangs and run drugs. Right when you pass the church and fire department on the West side of 441, then watch yourself. It was getting bad when we left.
I'll just toss in that I loved that area. The "Casa De Pao" was my favorite store - fresh cheese bread and always a nice chat in Portuguese on my way to work. Too bad it was going to crap.
My friends, who I warned should get a home North of Palmetto have been telling me their neighborhood(s) there have changed a lot. More crime and vandalism, but worse, at night there are groups of guys in the streets now, past midnight, just hanging around. Bad scene. we saw it coming for years but didn't expect it to be that bad.
We were ready to move when we had the chance, and it was very good timing IMHO. The area we were in was beautiful, but has gone back to having crime and gang problems.
Sad, isn't it...
Cheers!
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