When Leadership Fails: How Mayor Betty Resch is Abandoning Lake Worth Beach

While Lake Worth Beach residents demand solutions to citywide public safety concerns, Mayor Betty Resch is quietly pushing a very different agenda — one that puts public land on the chopping block. Behind closed doors, she allegedly encouraged private landowners to pursue abandonment of a long-used shoreline access point at 13th Avenue South. Instead of enforcing the City Charter or addressing root issues, Mayor Resch has chosen the path of least resistance — one that favors wealthy property owners over everyday residents. This isn’t just negligence. It’s a failure of leadership.

Lake Worth Beach is a community full of people who care — about their neighborhoods, their environment, their city’s future. But at a time when residents are begging for action on real issues like public safety, code enforcement, and citywide improvement, Mayor Betty Resch is choosing to give away public land instead.

Let’s be clear: the proposal to abandon the public shoreline access at 13th Avenue South isn’t about fixing crime. It’s about protecting private interests. And based on public comments, Mayor Resch appears to have directly encouraged this process behind the scenes — sidestepping transparency, public input, and the very Charter she’s sworn to uphold.

Public Safety Is Not a Land Deal

Commissioner Anthony Segrich has claimed that the city doesn’t "own" the parcel in fee simple, and therefore the Charter doesn’t apply. But Florida law — including the Doctrine of Implied Dedication and the Public Trust Doctrine — makes clear that long-standing public use and municipal maintenance do create protected public rights, even without a deed.

There’s legal precedent. There’s clear Charter language.

But instead of standing firm on those protections, Mayor Resch allegedly told private property owners to pursue abandonment — encouraging them to hire lawyers, file requests, and bypass the public with the intent of transferring public shoreline to adjacent homeowners.

This isn’t leadership. It’s negligence.

Mayor Resch’s Pattern of Deflection

Residents near 13th Avenue South have submitted letters, videos, and complaints about drug use, loitering, and crime for years. These concerns are real — and shared citywide. But instead of coordinating enforcement, mobilizing services, or working on solutions, Mayor Resch allegedly offered just one suggestion: file to abandon the land.

This is a pattern we’ve seen too often under her administration:

Residents raise concerns.
Nothing happens.
Mayor Resch deflects or disappears.
Private workarounds are quietly greenlit — if you have the right connections.

Accountability Isn’t Optional

Public land is not a favor to be granted behind closed doors. And public frustration isn’t a justification for privatization. We elect leaders to handle difficult problems in the public interest, not to offload them to whoever yells the loudest or has the most expensive fence line.

We deserve a mayor who:

Enforces the Charter — not evades it.
Prioritizes all neighborhoods — not just the wealthiest.
Sees public safety as a citywide challenge — not a reason to give land away.

Unfortunately, Betty Resch has made it clear that she’s more willing to abandon shoreline access than address the root causes of crime and public disorder.

What You Can Do

This is a pivotal moment for Lake Worth Beach. The vote on Resolution 21-2025 may seem like a procedural step, but it opens the door to a dangerous precedent: that public land can be handed over without a vote, as long as you claim it’s inconvenient.

We cannot allow that precedent to take hold.

Show up. Speak out. Demand accountability. And if Mayor Resch won’t listen to the people — we should remember that at the ballot box.

🗓️ Vote on Resolution 21-2025
Tuesday, August 5 – 6 PM
City Hall, Lake Worth Beach

📝 Petition:
https://www.change.org/p/protect-lake-worth-beach-s-public-waterfront-access-for-all

📣 Share this post. Bring a neighbor. Speak during public comment.

Because Lake Worth Beach is not for sale.