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More Sides Now
KONK REACTOR column
[Published in the KONK Life newspaper on January 31, 2013.]
More Sides Now
Last summer I wrote a BOTH SIDES NOW column here with a “point / counterpoint” discussion of a number of local hot-button issues raised in the Voice and elsewhere. Let’s do it some more…
Roosevelt Project
Point: I never see anybody working on Roosevelt Boulevard. That project probably won’t be finished until after I’m dead. And why didn’t they tell us how much trouble it was going to be?
Counterpoint: Ain’t armchair quarterbacking fun? The TRUTH of the matter is that the project is ON SCHEDULE. Just because YOU don’t see them doing what YOU think they should be doing doesn’t change that. They’re proceeding according to their plan – a plan that they very much DID make well known to anyone who bothered to listen. (more…)
More Reactionary Voices
KONK REACTOR column
[Published in the KONK Life newspaper on September 13, 2012.]
More Reactionary Voices
Once again I return to answering local anonymous “reactionaries” who have commented in our Island Voice column. (You can submit your own comments there by writing to “voice@konknet.com” or by calling 305-453-6804.)
“Can Commissioner Lopez ever see beyond his district? The thought of opposing the assisted living center at the Truman Waterfront because his district will not receive any taxes from its placement there is not only vulgar but just plain stupid.”
This issue is far too complex for such histrionics. One must understand that a key provision of the Navy’s conveyance of the waterfront property to the City is that there must be a component that would provide direct economic benefit to the Bahama Village community. Prior to the collapse of the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust (BCCLT) that provision was to be met by a grand plan to set up a market-place, small businesses, affordable housing and a community square that would be an extension of the Village. The BCCLT’s demise left a hole in the plan that had to be filled. (more…)
Both Sides Now
KONK REACTOR column
[Published in the KONK Life newspaper on July 4, 2012.]
Both Sides Now
I’ve done a few ‘reactions’ and ‘reactionaries’ columns in the past, where I answered questions and points made in our Island Voice column and other local voice columns. But sometimes the issues that are raised really need to be examined from multiple points of view. They’re not necessarily open and shut cases. Today I’ll look at some that have come up recently, and try some “point--counterpoint”… (more…)
Reactionary Voices
KONK REACTOR column
[Published in the KONK Life newspaper on April 26, 2012.]
Reactionary Voices
It’s been a while since I compiled a batch of my reactions to other local reactionaries. This time I can quote the exact words I’m responding to, because the exhortations came into this very paper, in the “Island Voice” column. Off we go…
Now more than ever the community needs help and direction with affordable housing, elderly care and assistance. Whatever will happen with the dedicated 6.6 acres for Truman Waterfront. Has the community lost that, too? (more…)
People On The Street
KONK REACTOR column
[Published in the KONK Life newspaper on February 16, 2012.]
People On The Street
“There but for the grace of God go I.”
Could it happen to you? Many who are in that boat never thought it could. But unless you have very generous friends or family, you just might be one accident or illness or lawsuit away from living on the street. That guy you passed on the sidewalk yesterday certainly was. He never thought HE would be homeless one day.
I’m NOT a “bleeding heart” liberal. But I am extremely sympathetic when it comes to people down on their luck. I might not give them the change from my pocket, but I will fight on their side against those who want to kick them when they’re down. It’s really the right thing to do, and it’s also a matter of Karma, because it COULD happen to you — or me.
An old Army buddy of mine had skills, a decent job, a small happy family and a decent house. Drank one too many one day, crashed his car, drowning his wife and kid and maiming a bystander. Lost his job, and soon after, his house. He never expected he’d be on the streets. It’s that “easy”.
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Are there people on the street who are lazy and unwilling to help themselves, ready to take advantage of the good will of others? Undoubtedly. But can you tell the “freeloader” and the mentally ill apart? Are you willing to punish the hapless guy who’s trying to make it, or the shell-shocked veteran, just to make sure you don’t accidently give aid to a “bum”?
As a prime destination for the housing-challenged, Key West hosts more than its fair share of the homeless population. Anyone who’s lived on the Rock long enough knows how much stress this excess can have on our island. Back around the turn of the century, removal of encampments in the protected mangroves was a regular story. The “Bridle Path” across from Smathers Beach (as well as several other areas) was strewn with makeshift campsites. Something had to be done, and something WAS done: the City took Neil’s advice from his “People on the Street” song, where he sang “People on the street, need a place to go”.
Quickly (perhaps too quickly, from a permitting point of view) a Keys Overnight Temporary Shelter (KOTS) was born, on the property of our County “detention center” (jail) on Stock Island. It provided that “place to go” each night for about 150 with no place else to legally sleep. More importantly, it provided the City with a legal basis for disallowing the tents and sleeping hovels the homeless had been using on various public properties. The courts had held that we can NOT just run a homeless person out of town for sleeping on public ground – we HAVE to make sure that they have an alternative. With KOTS they do. So now, if you’re sleeping in an alley, you can’t claim a “right to sleep here” violation when challenged by the police.
On the same token, the courts have struck back at municipalities that try to enact an outright ban on begging. This is clearly a free-speech issue. You cannot order people to only speak what you want to hear. However the courts have held that you can regulate such “pan-handling” by limiting it to certain areas. As long as it’s not outright banned, and the areas are not completely isolated, you can regulate speech. And so again, this is what the City has done. Perhaps the currently defined “boxes” aren’t enough to withstand a court challenge, but the City is on a track that they feel can be defended.
The worst thing we as One Human Family can do is to adopt a total NIMBY (“Not In My Back Yard”) attitude. Certain communities are trying hard to interfere with facilities to help our homeless brethren get through their transition back to productive lives. Anonymous posters to the Voice and other forums call for total bans on begging anywhere – and even loading up homeless on busses for a forced ride out of the Keys. Others decry soup kitchens, implying that having to hike miles to stand in line for your next rudimentary meal is some kind of a free ride. What planet were these incessant whiners born on?
I have no doubt that the whiners will be the first in line at the soup kitchen when THEIR fortunes turn. You and I could be there right beside them.
Re-Intro-duction
KONK REACTOR column
[Published in the KONK Life newspaper on January 19, 2012.]
Re-Intro-duction
Those who know me from other newspapers have heard some of this, but for my first KONK Life column, let’s start with a brief review…
My “internet handle” has been Reactor for about 20 years. The roots of that nickname come from: 1) my relentless work ethic; and 2) my strong social media reflex impulse. The connection to a not-so-well-known album by musical sage Neil Young (whom I venerate) also comes into play.
Around the time I became a full-time Keys resident I expanded the handle to Key West Reactor. So if you see that attached to a Facebook or blog comment or in a forum somewhere, it’s almost certainly me. (Unless it’s something that really pisses you off, in which case it was probably hijacked….)
And now I’ve modified the handle a bit for THIS newspaper, for obvious reasons. ‘Nuf said about that. (more…)
More Key West Reactionaries
Key West Reactor column
[Published in Key West The Newspaper on December 2, 2011.]
More Key West Reactionaries
A couple of columns ago I wrote about how – if you go by local blogs, forums, Facebook walls or “the Voice” — Key West appears to be FULL of “reactionaries”. They’re experts at blurting sage advice or ridicule at the masses, without a hint of a notion that their reactions just might not bear muster. Many of them could stand to buy a vowel, Pat. So today I’ll examine a few more common overused blurtations….
[Like before, please note that, to avoid plagiarism, the quotes following are NOT direct copies of comments posted elsewhere. But they’re very close to what someone we know has spouted off in public media.]
I saw this rant posted recently… (more…)
Key West Reactionaries
Key West Reactor column
[Published in Key West The Newspaper on October 28, 2011.]
Key West Reactionaries
A previous column talked about how I’m partly known as “Key West Reactor” because of my public reactions to current events or the deeds of others. But few who know me consider me a “reactionary”, the term that commonly describes those who “shoot from the hip”. Those who “go off half-cocked”. Those who “engage tongue before putting brain in gear”. However, judging by our local daily newspaper column that calls itself the voice of our citizens or by some of the responses posted to local news stories or local blogs, Key West seems to be FULL of reactionaries…
[Please note that the quotes following are NOT direct copies of comments posted elsewhere. That would be plagiarism, or a usage violation -- and I must follow the “Journalists’ Creed”. However these quotes are very close to what your neighbor or my neighbor has spouted off in public media – usually under the protective cover of anonymity.]
Consider this common sentiment seen regularly in our papers: (more…)