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Local
government is destroying environment
The pandemic
debasement of life in the Florida Keys has ubiquitously disrupted the
natural ebb and flow of an existence once characterized as "paradise."
Poisonous gases now cascade upon us from the steady and congested stream
of traffic traversing the only road entering and exiting
Monroe
County. Fecal
matter, disease-causing bacteria, trash, and other pollutants in our
beach waters [cause] infections and sickness ..., as well as regularly
closing down swimming areas in our state and county parks. ... Chronic
noise disturbances ... have become the established norm. This
scientifically established harm has infiltrated every aspect of life,
damaging the once sought-after ethos of the Keys.
The ongoing hazardous
methodology of development embraced by the Monroe County Commission is
systematically eradicating one ecological system after another, [and] is
demonstrative of a political body that is threatened by eclectic
individuals and creative solutions (Monroe County's Livable CommuniKeys
Program). Habitat and species destruction, with little or no regard for
... impacts that the residents are made to live with, is standard
operating procedure. Those county staffers who were once committed to
the enforcement of our land-clearing and building guidelines have been
[punished] through firings, demotions, and transfers. Oblivious ..., the
commission hastily proceeds to compress a new populace into a string of
densely crowded condominiums along the U.S. 1 corridor.
A restoration of
integrity is ... required to generate a credible and effective county
government. Our islands cannot be developed to the brink of extinction.
This synchronic mind-set of "clear and build" is driven by money. ...
For years we have been trying to purchase property to protect our
fragile island environs. The political leadership's failure to
assertively forge ahead with a comprehensive and fully funded plan of
action has led to the noxious realities we are now faced with. ...
The cessation of all
construction projects, whose by-products will degrade the quality of
life in our homes and families, is the order of the day. A cathartic
overhauling of the commission's priorities must be initiated without
delay.
Frederick Douglass
Bailey |
