AFFORDABLE HOUSING SOLUTION

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Word on the street is the Key West lodging and entertainment industry is having staffing problems. No wonder. The work staff, bartenders, wait staff, hotel workers, etc. are departing. They cannot afford to live in Key West any longer. Irma the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Rents became too high for ordinary Joes and Janes. Many ending up sharing an accommodation with anywhere from one to three other persons.

Irma caused damage in varying degrees to real estate. Renters found themselves without a home. Landlords in many instances became pigs. The law of supply and demand. Raised the rent!

Most were not able to work during the crisis. Two weeks or more  going unpaid.

Can you blame them for leaving? Or would you rather have them live under the Cow Key Bridge?

The heart of the housing problem is that the local law requiring Key West rentals to be for at least 28 days is not being effectively enforced. Forget excuses and difficulty of enforcement. Enforce! Hit violators with the fines permitted under the law, not a slap on the wrist.

Within a year, the affordable housing problem could be resolved. Without the need to construct affordable housing. The high cost of affordable housing itself  a joke.

Berlin proves my point.

Berlin was experiencing a relatively new housing crisis. Rentals became unavailable. Those available experienced sky rocketing rents.

Berlin attributed the problem to Airbnb. The greed of swift big dollars caused homes to be converted to unlicensed, super profitable hotel rooms. Such caused housing prices to be driven up and a shrinking rental inventory. Suddenly, Berlin was unaffordable for the people who lived and worked there.

Berlin dealt with the problem face on. Enforced a long term rental policy. Punished those who violated the policy.

In the first year alone, 8,000 units were returned to Berlin’s long term rental market.

San Francisco had a similar problem. Enforced its long term rental laws. As a result, 6,000 illegal listings disappeared.

New York City is presently complaining of the Airbnb problem. Airbnb has resulted in a raised cost of living for renters.

Unless local laws are enforced sternly, the situation will be as the comedian Robin Williams related regarding England’s unarmed police: Stop or I’ll say stop again!

Key West must use the law and its staff to combat the problem. Give Codes more men, a bigger budget. Resolve cases with significant fines. Of a size that hurt.

Then there will be no need for affordable housing. The working community will be able to pay fair market prices for rentals.

Trump’s State of the Union Address last night. What can I say that is not being bandied about via the media last night and this morning. I thought the address more form than substance. Considered it divisive. The tone Trump’s way or the highway.

Trump is fortunate to have finally discovered the value of prompters. He stuck to script last night. Made him appear Presidential.

Things are happening under Trump which I do not consider in the best interests of our Nation.

I hear purge and cleanse too often these days. With relation to the Department of Justice and FBI. Trump is a destroyer. A member of the Apocalypse.

Trump could have sanctioned Russia yesterday. He already had Congressional approval. He failed to do so. His excuse being he thought the ability to sanction was a sufficient deterrent to Russia.

He gave Russia a free pass. Russia who is out to bury us. A Russia that cannot be trusted. A Russia that only understands force/compulsion.

Trump claims that one of the benefits of the new tax law is that many corporations are paying bonuses in the thousands to its employees. I would buy $1,000. Not the point, however. A recent study shows only 9 percent of Fortune 500 companies have arranged to have their employees share in the windfall.

Whether 9 percent or 100 percent, the corporations who pay something to their employees still come out with huge significant monies remaining.

I am concerned. A society that is 1 percent/99 percent cannot survive. The 99 percent deficated upon will accept it only so long. Social disorder could result.

I worry about the market. So high! Higher every day!

Such cannot sustain itself. Fifty percent of Americans are not in the market, not benefiting.

Herbert Hoover was elected in 1929 when the market was acting as it is today. Upwards, ever upwards! Less than 8 months after his election, the market fell. The U.S. experienced its worse depression in history.

Trump could be the Herbert Hoover of the 21st century.

Irma and Me is now available at the Key West Library. Available for checking out. I am honored.

Syracuse/Georgia Tech tonight at 8. I will be watching the game. I am not sure where yet.

Enjoy your day!

 

DOGFISH DEMANDS HOGFISH RENAME TO SPEARFISH

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It’s called growing pains. Microbreweries/minibreweries have been gaining in popularity in recent years. Competition arises. The older guys don’t like the newer ones. Pressure arises. Pressure brought by the older companies upon the newer companies.

Hogfish have been around since time immemorial. Fished with a spear.

Dogfish have been around equally long. A  shark species.

A company in Delaware whose name contains Dogfish wants local Florida Keys Brewing Co. to change the name of one of its beers. Hogfish. To avoid confusion. Don’t want people ordering Hogfish thinking it is a Dogfish brew.

Ridiculous. I do not see it in this situation. No one has a singular hold on fish names. Especially under these circumstances.

Florida Keys Brewing may be considering capitulation. I can understand. Legal costs in such a case can be burdensome. Especially for a relatively new company.

I would take one last shot at the problem. Florida Keys Brewing should tell Dogfish they will change Hogfish to Spearfish if Dogfish changes its name to Shark.

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander!

Chart Room last night. Drunk lady not there. I assume she was a tourist. I had never seen her before and hope to never see her again. Bill bartending.

Ran into Ted. Ted from Wampsville, NY. How many of you have heard of Wampsville? Wampsville is a small community in central New York. County seat for Madison County.

Ted is a fellow lawyer. Spent most of his career as a court clerk. A responsible position. The brains behind the judge.

Ted has vacationed in Key West for years. This year for a whole month. Retired.

The past two years, Ted has stopped into the Chart Room looking for me. Our paths did not cross. We exchanged cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses to avoid such a problem in the future. We intend to have dinner together before he leaves.

Ted and I exchanged legal talk. I tried cases in the Madison County Courthouse over the years. I enjoyed the conversation. Lawyer talk. A while since I have had someone to do it with.

John was outside at the Beach Bar. Visited him. Cold!!! The Beach Bar sits on open water. Low 60s with 20 mph wind.

Met Brian and Shanon at the Beach Bar. Nice people. From Columbus, Ohio. I love Columbus. Spent many a day working there on Nationwide matters.

Brian a realtor. Shanon in HR work.

First time in Key West. Having a great time!

On the way home, stopped at Publix. Cupboard really bare. Spent twice what I normally do.

Watched a bit of the Syracuse/UNC-Greensboro game. Syracuse won 90-77.

William Hackley still having dental problems. 1856 had to be a painful year. He was up most of the night with intense teeth pain. Went to Dr. Walton’s office in the morning. Dr. Walton “sacrified” his gums and “cut down to the roots.”

Dentistry years ago not as it is today. Pain!!! I recall my visits in the late 1930s and 1940s. Today, almost painless.

I can imagine how painful it had to be in 1856. Dentistry? Or, butchery?

The North Roosevelt Boulevard cross-walks continue to be in the news. Someone wrote to Citizens’ Voice re the danger: “Next to all the cross-walks on North Roosevelt Boulevard should be kiosks where you can buy life insurance.”

Something bothers me. I am a liberal at heart. As most of you are aware. I believe conservatives generally are on the wrong track.

The Key West Library is permitting its facility to be used at noon today for a two hour meeting. The group the Florida Keys Indivisibles. Political. Democratic at heart. Popularly referred to as bird doggers.

The organization is an activist training seminar. Speakers I assume trained provocateurs. The cry to organize and oppose. Require legislators to attend a town meeting, attend town meetings yourself, tie up with similar groups across the etc.country, be confrontational,  etc.

Will the rhetoric of the campaign ever cease?

Sounds like a guerrilla training camp to me.

Bocce tonight.

Have to hustle. A haircut with Lori at noon.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

TRUMP TIME

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Donald Trump is in the forefront these days. More than previously. Justifiably so. The man is mad. America is viewing his instability. More and more each day. He is self destructing before our eyes.

Better now than later. If elected, I worry about him and the nuclear button. So should you.

I spoke of Trump on my blog talk radio show last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Half the show. Example after example of his instability.

Spent yesterday afternoon preparing for the podcast.

The Civil War has intrigued me since my college days. Today, I read everything I can get my hands on re the War.

The Key West Library is sponsoring a Civil War event. Titled Civil War Living History. In the Library’s Palm Garden. Saturday, August 13.

The editorial in yesterday’s Key West Citizen concerned Social Security. It was a republication of an editorial carried in the South Florida Sun Sentinel titled Put Priority On Solvency For Social Security.

A bad editorial. Avoided discussing the real reason why Social Security has money problems. The reason being the government borrows surplus monies in the Social Security Fund and never pays back. The government owes Social Security $1.8 trillion. Social Security is the biggest creditor of the United States. Ahead even of China.

The issue of pay back is always avoided in articles. If the government started paying back over a long period, the monies would be more than sufficient to keep Social Security payments at a level where cuts would not be required. Not even discussed.

The American people continue to get screwed by a government that borrow’s their money with no intent to ever pay back.

The William Hackley saga continues. Baby doing much better. Visited Mrs. Hews four times this date in 1855 for breast feeding.

A quick Venezuela update.

Two weeks ago, Venezuelans were eating their pets. This past weekend, they were invading zoos and stealing the zoo’s inhabitants. For consumption purposes obviously.

Curacao is one of the largest cities in Venezuela. Has a large zoo. Some people snuck into the zoo in the middle of the night. They were after a horse.

When the zoo keepers arrived in the morning, all that remained of the horse was the head and ribs.

A Venezuelan revolution is long overdue. Recall three years ago they ran out of toilet paper. The country is still out of toilet paper.

My column in this week’s KONK Life is German Persecution of Homosexuals. Sick, sad. Hits the stands today.

Key West has many fun events. One of the local favorites is the Battle of the Bars. Bartenders and servers engage in a competition down Duval Street. The winner gets bragging rights for a year.

The Battle of the Bars this sunday at one.

Enjoy your day!