A fool's work never ends: Key West's Pulitzer-deserving, boat-rocking blue paper strikes again, and a breath of fresh air 2020 mayor candidate?

Key West the Newspaper (The Blue Paper)

April 13 at 10:42 PM

More Stock Island developer "smoke and mirrors"... The Blue Paper investigates...

http://thebluepaper.com/stock-island-developers-zero-in-on-last-bit-of-public-waterfront/

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Stock Island: DEVELOPERS ZERO IN ON LAST BIT OF PUBLIC WATERFRONT

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Dick Moody, Tom Long and 69 others

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Sloan Bashinsky Well, Naja, mebbe you and hubby Arnaud should write a sequel to "Bubba Justice in Key West: Pooping on the people in Paradise", but about the county and the city governments, and get it published and put copies in the county library branches, and then watch it disappear from the libraries after the bubbas start screaming :-), which is what I heard happened to "Bubba Justice". Mebbe you could name the book "If Their Lips Are Moving". Maybe it will sell better and make you money, for a change, which the thousands of ardent blue paper readers don't do. Or, maybe it will get you disappeared? Or burned at the stake? No good deed goes unpunished.
Ronda Rinald Stock island has a separate history and it’s very own charm. It is NOT key west. Visitors get this mixed up. But it deceives the public who book a stay there that don’t know it’s not actually the island or downtown Key West or the island - that it is separate. It only shows Key West there and up to rockland because there is no post office. Stock Island needs to be recognized for the old Florida Keys Charm. Stop trying to be what you are not.
Rick Brown I still find it funny that only half of stock island is considered key west - I believe that the whole stock island should be incorporated into key west not just the golf course- this will allow a better control of things like this .
- Sloan Bashinsky It is a puzzle that the larger (other side of US 1) part of Stock Island, is not in the Key West city limits, but I think if it was in the city limits, it might not far any differently before the city commission, than it has fared before the county commission. The proof of that is simply look at what developers have done to Key West.
- Rick Brown Sloan Bashinsky it would have it own commissioner to represent them and our permitting takes for ever.
- Rick Brown Sloan Bashinsky I know that our new mayor is in construction- I will be running for the 2020 mayor race - I am in healthcare and no one owns me and I owe no one - I hold people accountable
- Sloan Bashinsky I think your, or anyone's, chances of beating Teri Johnston in 2020 probably are less than zero. KW city commissioner Jimmy Weekley and Mayor Craig Cates led the charge for the city to GIVE a mainland developer $12.5 million for the down payment on Perry Court, the rest of the purchase price the developer financed, all backed by the land, apartments, and rents. The developer got it for nothing. To save that so called affordable housing, which not one of Weekley's line employees at his family grocery store, Faustos, nor any rank and file city employee could afford. if you are going to run for mayor in 2020, I think you should attend every city commission and city planning board and city architectural review board meeting between now and that election. That's the only way, I think, to get to know what is actually going on. That,and read the blue paper - heh!
- Rick Brown Sloan Bashinsky I go to about 70% of meetings but it’s the same 20 people that go- I attend multiple events and my company is one of the leading companies in healthcare for key west. I employ over 100 staff members that are in the same Per dick a meant as all of us. I was the first to raise my staff wages by 4dollars hr. I will be on 106.9 on 4/24 @ 9am - to discuss these problems that are affect our community and what we have done in the last 2 yrs help improve the situation- if you ever want to talk in person please come to Key West Health and Rehabilitation and ask for me. Also I will not spend over 120k for campaigning for mayor of key west that is only a part time job that pays 24k a yr - 120k in campaign funds for 10k votes doesn’t make since to me - I would donate my whole check as mayor back to the seniors in the community that need our help - I also believe that we need to look at our current budget because there are talking about raising our taxes for this excess cost - my degree is in finance and I believe that we need to relook at our budget and hold people Accountable for there spending
- Sloan Bashinsky Commendable.
  
  I attended city commission meetings regularly for years, and spoke during citizen comments often several times a meeting. Did same at county commission meetings in KW and Marathon, for not as long. Ran 6 times for KW mayor, 3 times for county commission. Learned a lot I didn't want to know. Concluded anyone who actually wants to be an elected official in the keys is insane. I moved back to Alabama last November, so I'm a bit distant to drop by your office for a chat. But if you want to pay me a few thousand$ to advise you re your 2020 run for kW mayor, I'll be pleased to take your money; :-). I personally detest vote-for-me political signs, which say nothing but me spent money littering the streets and by ways and fences and buildings. Think such signs should be illegal, a prison offense. If you speak at commission meeting, you get free city/county TV coverage. I think it also should be illegal to run for public office. Instead, candidates should be drafted by the electorate, campaigned for by the electorate, and if they win, they have to serve, or be fed to the local sharks.
- Rick Brown Sloan Bashinsky lol - I like it - sorry you had to move away- this past yr we lost over 5% of total residents and how much of that 5% was workers- is it more like we lost 20% of our work force due to the cost and greed - I have no personal agenda except to make things right for residents of key west or at least 51% of them lol - i believe if you do the right thing first you never have to worry about what you did .
- Bob Charles they did a great job controling what they did to KW. NOT!
- Sloan Bashinsky Rick Brown Not sorry I moved away, was not for financial reasons - heck, I lived many years in Key West on a shoestring, or less; was homeless plenty of moons. What I miss is good friends there, and my two hangouts: Harpoon Harry's Diner and Jack Flats Sports Bar, where the wait staff and owners were also very good friends. I also miss lounging in my tree hammock at Fort Zachary State Park. I do not miss going to local government meetings, nor running for public office, and I can imagine there are plenty of people happy in KW and FlaKeys that I am not doing that any more.I'm an old fart, 76 and rising. I feel sorry for the younger people/rank and file workers/elders scraping to get by. I agree with your concerns, but see no likely fix. City and County sold out to $$/tourism/developers before I arrived there in late 2000, and it's gotten much worse. Could be viewed as addictions. Wish you success. How about this for cleaning up the riff raff businesses on Duval Street? Ban cruise ships! Hee, haw!
- Sloan Bashinsky one of Arnaud Girard's beauties
- Sloan Bashinsky Just my opinion, the blue paper should have gotten several Pulitizers under Arnaud and Naja's helm there. That opinion is based (a) on the quality of what the blue paper published with the Girards at the helm, and (b) on my living in their home for a good while, and seen just now hard they worked investigating and interviewing witnesses and getting evidence, including documents and information out of local governments. Many times the blue paper broke boat-rocking stories that never would have seen the light of day, but for the blue paper.