02/20/2026
🔥 Lake Park Deserves Better: Last Night’s Meeting Crossed a Line.
Last night’s February 18th commission meeting was hard to watch. What we saw from Commissioner O’Rourke was not strong leadership – it was inappropriate, destabilizing, and harmful to Lake Park at a moment when we can least afford it.
We all know emotions are high with lawsuits pending and an election coming. But that’s exactly when we need our commissioners to be disciplined, factual, and focused on solutions – not personal attacks and conspiracy hints from the dais.
Examples of behavior that is NOT acceptable:
🔹 Trying to fire the town attorney on the fly
In the middle of an agenda item about adjusting litigation rates, Commissioner O’Rourke suddenly moved to terminate the town attorney’s contract – with no notice, no resolution language, and no agenda item. It received no second and died immediately. That’s not thoughtful governance; that’s a stunt.
🔹 Talking about active lawsuits in public after a legal warning
The town attorney clearly warned the commission not to discuss the Sunshine lawsuit or P3 litigation in open session, especially with the plaintiff in the room. O’Rourke kept going anyway, criticizing the town’s legal strategy and exposing weaknesses on the record. That doesn’t “protect the town” – it weakens our legal position and undermines our defense.
🔹 Viciously attacking the town manager without cause
The town manager barely spoke all night, and when he finally did, he simply asked for clarity, cooperation, and better communication. Despite that, O’Rourke went after him repeatedly — questioning his integrity, his motives, and his leadership without offering a single piece of evidence.
He blamed him for “taking over,” accused him of ruining the town financially, and painted him as part of some orchestrated scheme — all without facts.
Attacking staff personally, for no documented wrongdoing, is unprofessional and disrespectful to the people working every day to fix problems this town inherited long before they arrived.
🔹 Undermining staff with insinuations instead of facts
He publicly questioned the marina director’s motives and brought up his former employment to imply favoritism in slip assignments. He hinted at secret agendas but refused to put any concrete evidence on the record.
This is how conspiracy theories spread — not how responsible governance works.
🔹 Attacking colleagues instead of debating policy
Throughout the meeting, he suggested other commissioners “don’t know what’s going on,” “only talk to two people,” and “don’t look deeper into things.”
Disagreement is normal.
Disrespect is not.
Commissioners are elected to work together, not tear each other down on live TV.
🔹 Taking Forest Development’s side while the town is losing money
Staff explained clearly:
✔ The developer refused to honor their agreement.
✔ They will not install the required floating docks.
✔ They will not pay the rent they owe.
✔ Lake Park is losing $7,500 every month because those slips are unusable.
Despite this, O’Rourke argued against enforcing the agreement and repeatedly defended the developer’s position.
A commissioner should defend Lake Park taxpayers — not the party refusing to pay the town what it is owed.
🔹 Painting Lake Park as a “financial mess” without facts
Declaring that Lake Park is collapsing and that “our revenue is going down, our expenses are going up, and our downtown is dying,” — all while major development is literally underway and staff are actively correcting long-standing issues — is reckless unless accompanied by actual verified data and solutions.
It is fear-based messaging, not leadership.
A question Lake Park deserves to ask:
If Commissioner O’Rourke has so little respect for his colleagues, our staff, and the residents of Lake Park —
why is he still serving as our commissioner?
If someone openly dismisses, insults, and undermines the very people they work with and the community they represent, we must ask:
👉 Is he acting in Lake Park’s best interest, or only in the interest of his own anger and personal agenda?
At some point, continued disrespect toward staff, colleagues, and taxpayers is not “holding people accountable.”
It is a sign that someone no longer has the temperament or judgment required for public office.
Lake Park deserves better.
We deserve commissioners who:
Follow proper process
Protect the town’s legal position, not compromise it in public
Treat staff with professionalism and respect
Debate with facts, not accusations
Stand up for Lake Park’s financial interests
Work with the community, not against it
Lake Park can debate big issues. We can disagree passionately. But the behavior we witnessed on February 18th is not how you serve a community you claim to care about. Link to the meeting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScCnd0FhnX8
