The President’s Message

Dear Last Stand Members: Thank you for your continued support of Last Stand!

As we plan the 2003 Annual Meeting, I find myself reflecting on the past year's projects. Last Stand continues to serve as a local government watchdog for the residents and the environment. As usual, we've enjoyed some successes but there are plenty of fights that never seem to be resolved. The pressures on our Keys are enormous, but Last Stand tries to be there to insist that environmental and residential quality of life be weighed heavily against plans that are designed to increase the income from our local tourism industry.

AIRPORT: Joan Borel's cover article about the Key West Airport is about one of those issues that just never goes away. Last Stand was founded 16 years ago over residential concerns about the airport - noise pollution caused by jets was dismaying residents and preservation of the Salt Ponds as a greenspace and natural wildlife refuge was identified as an objective important to Key Westers. Now jets are again flying into our airport, a move that was never approved by the public. We were assured that this new generation of jets would be quiet and could operate within the natural confines of our airport. However, these "new" jets aren't really all that quiet as they roar over old town, and now the County is pushing for runway expansion that would require paving acres of Salt Pond wetlands. As explained in the article, these runway expansion plans are NOT about safety. They are about increasing the number of passenger arrivals onto our island at the expense of the environment. This is not the will of the residents of Key West! So it's time to go to battle on this issue once again.

KEYS IN THE BALANCE & CRUISE SHIPS: When money-makers want a lot of something that has a negative impact on the rest of us, there is a need to find a balance between the commercial activity and the public benefit. That was the idea behind Last Stand's series of discussions called "Keys In The Balance." We've had four of these moderated conversations now, and all of them have effectively spotlighted concern areas of economic activities that effect the environment/local quality of life: commercial use of the waters, lobster mini-season, airport plans, and most recently, cruise ships. Residents are showing up in large numbers to demand that the health of the Keys environment and the quality of life for locals be improved.

Cruise Ships: An Economic Trojan Horse?

by Michael Kilgore*

What is the impact of the cruise ship industry on Key West? That was the question at last Thursday’s crowded debate moderated by Last Stand. "Keys in the Balance" included panelists from government, the Chamber, environmental, fishing and charters, lodging, travelers and sunset artists. Key West is now the fourth largest cruise port globally. Nearly 1/7 of all cruise passengers, almost 1,000,000 people, enter our tiny port annually, a phenomenal growth over the past seven years. 1996 studies found each cruise ship visitor spent $47 to $94 per visit, meaning our merchants might see sales of $94 million, assuming today’s visitors spend the same.

Someone asked "Who, beside Ed Swift (owner of Historic Tours of America) and the tee shirt shops, benefit from the cruise ships?" Silence. Virginia Panico, of the Chamber, answered, "On Wednesday it’s quiet since it’s turnaround day... a sad day for our merchants with no ships in port." A guest house owner said, "Wednesday is the only day my guests feel comfortable leaving the property to discover Key West."

Does this $94 million benefit outweigh the costs? Most thought not. Bruce Cronin said "The impact has been disastrous. Turbidity from the ships has silted over the harbor and affects the living coral reef. Since the cruise ships, I haven’t seen fish in what once were hot areas. Mounds of silt are 20 feet high. It’s killed the bottom." Nancy Klinginer, of the Ocean Conservancy, noted a lack of regulations for cruise ships dumping "grey water" in the port, saying the industry has a history of "systematic intentional evasions of even existing laws." Leslie Leonelli noted "With smaller ships coming in, towns are able to maintain that funky quality, which, of couse, is why people want to visit in the first place. Nassau, which has become a mega ship port, was an area of lowquality shops - not even restaurants. Beyond that, significant portions of the town were boarded up." Will Soto, performing in the shadow of the cruise ships, added "Sunset is a major attraction in town. Tourists are staring at a steel hull instead of sunset." Peter Ilchuck, of the Keys Lodging Association, added "We spend millions advertising Key West as easy going, laid back, filled with beautiful shops, fabulous restaurants. Strolling down Duval, you’ve got Times Square - not what we’ve advertised."

City Manager Avael is calling for more studies, but panelists indicated it’s time to exercise cruise control. Missing from the debate was the impact of the cruise ship tourists on gay and lesbian visitors and locals. "I no longer feel comfortable going in the area of Mallory Square," said Joe Benten, a gay business owner. "One cruise ship visitor wearing an HTA sticker walked up to myout- of-town guest and his partner and said, ‘kiss,’" remembered Chris Kerns. "You can imagine where he told him to put the camera." Why should these stories matter? The cruise ship industry is a short-term economic boom of $94 to $235 million with high environmental, cultural and quality of life costs. Gay and lesbian visitors spend at least $1.2 billion here annually. The TDC estimates that 650,000 gay men and lesbians who visit spend $1800 per trip. Steve Smith, of the Business Guild says, "Gay and lesbian tourists are the high-yield, low-impact visitors that lay around the pool and spend a lot in the restaurants, bars and shops. The TDC now includes gay and lesbian images in its promotions for Key West to let visitors know that this is an all-welcome town. However, cruise ships market now to cheap "family-oriented" travelers who, based an the increasing number of incidents, seem to be at odds with our island’s diverse population.

In defending the City’s position to further increase the number of cruise ship visits, Avael pointed out that some Caribbean Islands have converted cruise ship visitors to return visitors. Virginia Panico said that over 18,000 people had walked through the Chamber’s doors in November and December. "Over 30% asked for information regarding a return." In contrast, the TDC states that 46% of the gays and lesbians in the last 12 months are repeat visitors - clearly an established market, but one that could be adversely impacted if the City allows more "family-oriented" cruise ships. "We need to look at other cruise ports," reflected Ilchuck. "And ask: is this where we want to make our dollars?"

For information on Celebrate!, call 295-8292 or visit their website at: www.celebratekeywest.com. *Excerpted with the permission of Celebrate!, Key West's Uncommon Journal of the GLBT Community, January, 2003.

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