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Formerly Larry Shaffer.com
 Please tell everyone our
Internet address, which is listed as follows:
http://RunesofAo.com/LarryShaffer.
The following letters, speeches, and columns were created by Larry
Shaffer in the pursuit of the interests, needs, and concerns of Marathon
citizens, voters, and locals. This is page one off the cover page. Another
page was added to speed up the downloading times. These are listed with the newest on top and
the oldest at the bottom. Please be aware that as the issues change Larry
sometimes adapted. Also, citizen, voter, and local input can cause Larry
to slightly modify his stand on some issues. His stance on the issues is
not set in stone.
Letter The Marathon Weekly Editor 21SEP03
Editor:
I am Larry Shaffer, resident, citizen, and voter in this great City of
Marathon. The Marathon Weekly is a welcome edition to Marathon. We cannot
have enough media coverage over a broad range of topics. I especially like
another venue to discuss issues affecting all of our lives.
In November Marathon will be four years old and starting its fifth year.
The city has matured into a vibrant community sensitive to the environment
and its locals. We have come a long way and have a long way to go, but
every day brings another surprise. The Marathon Weekly is such a welcome
surprise.
As workforce housing, jobs, the local economy, and runaway
development/redevelopment issues continue to percolate, your news weekly
will be important in the continuing discussion of these very important
issues. Your weekly edition is a joy and very welcome indeed. Thank you
for starting such a daring endeavor.
What follows is a mini-interview via email:
-----Original Message-----
From: Free Press/Citizen
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 10:35
To: RunesofAo.com
Subject: Your opinion, please
Do you think this moratorium will truly help residents of
Gulfstream, etc.? How do you, as a Gulfstream resident, honestly feel
about it?
Larry's response:
Since Sandler at Great Marathon Bay, LLC, does not have a
development agreement even in the works, this moratorium would be very
beneficial to slow the process down. Then the lawsuit can work more
effectively. Then the city and the state can study the issue and come up
with actions to prevent the displacement of people, especially the
approximately 35 Gulfstream residents who live and work in Marathon. The
natural result of the study, for which we know what the results will
indicate, will be to draft LDRs that require redevelopers of any Marathon
RV and Mobile Home Parks to provide adequate housing within Marathon for
those displaced by any such redevelopment. I would want to go further to
mitigate any job loss or any effect on mom and pop businesses that would
be associated with any such redevelopment. This affects not only
Gulfstream Trailer Park and Marina but all such parks in Marathon.
As a member of the Gulfstream community, I experience daily the
mean-spirited way Sandler treats its residents. They try everything
possible to get people to give up and leave. I honestly feel we do not
want such companies in Marathon. People come first in my honest opinion.
If we must change the character of the city council, then we need to do
that. If we must challenge the state, then we must do that. Yet good
people should not be displaced from their homes, see their communities
destroyed, and watch existing businesses wither from lack of an adequate
workforce.
Thanks,
Larry Shaffer
Comments for City Council 09SEP03; also modified and printed in
the 14SEP03 Key West Citizen
1)
Mayor, Council, and citizens.
2)
I’m Larry Shaffer, a proud citizen and voter of Marathon.
3)
Many times the last nine months I have heard council and staff say
that we have to ask the state to take certain actions.
4)
Recently, both State Senator Bullard and State Representative
Sorensen said that Marathon citizens must request certain actions from the
city.
5)
With Marathon and the state both pointing at each other, one has to
wonder who is going to do what and when, if ever?
6)
Someone, somewhere, somehow needs to do something, anything.
a)
Our city is facing a workforce-housing crisis that affects the
economy, jobs, and mom and pop businesses.
b)
Time is a wasting.
7)
How about passing the RV/Mobile Home Park Moratorium Ordinance
quickly so that good people are not displaced from their homes?
a)
No one is amused at the delaying tactics while park owners file
applications with the city.
b)
No one will be happy if the ordinance is watered down.
c)
Please get on with it so that the state can be lobbied to help in
this effort.
d)
How about less finger pointing and more working together for
solutions?
8)
Also, how about passing a resolution asking the state to
grandfather all the existing Boot Key Harbor permanent liveaboards so that
they can stay?
a)
Those liveaboards who live and work in Marathon should be allowed
to stay beyond the 64 city-owned moorings.
i)
According to our state officials, all you have to do is pass a
resolution and ask.
ii)
At the very least, it is worth the effort to try.
b)
Attrition will eventually get the numbers down to the 64 moorings
controlled by the city.
i)
That could be your eventual cap on permanent liveaboards.
9)
I submit to you that now is the time to do something, anything!
10)
Thank you.
Free Press Guest Column 10SEP03
I am Larry Shaffer, a concerned resident of Marathon. I have had many
citizens ask how city council can help local schools. I asked this
question of many different voters throughout the city. The issues involved
are complicated and hard to adequately answer. While the state and county
control many aspects concerning our local schools, there has to be
suitable actions city council can take to help.
Teachers need pay raises not more supervisors. Teachers need to teach and
parents need to parent. Televising the school board meetings is important.
Smaller class sizes are quite necessary. Ensuring the superintendent and
the school board members are elected and not appointed is equally
essential. Less testing and more learning would go a long way in improving
education as well. All the above can only be addressed by the city council
through lobbying efforts. What then can the city council do to help our
local schools?
There is the obvious action of addressing low-income workforce housing.
Unfortunately, our teachers fall into the low-income range in the Keys.
The city council is trying very hard to solve the workforce housing issue.
In addition, volunteers provide time and even money to help, but where is
the state and county? We wouldn’t have to rely on volunteers so much, if
the state and county did its job. Volunteers could be a true add on not a
stopgap for a troubled education system. Yet, all this ranting and raving
does not answer the original question. How then do we come up with new,
inventive ideas for our city council to help our local schools?
Devin and William, grandsons of Fran Purnal, proposed that Marathon
students interact with city council members directly. There are programs
that exist, but I think these students are thinking outside the box. After
talking with a local newspaper editor, a city council member, and other
interested persons, a germ of an idea is developing. I hope to see
Marathon students provide ideas that the city council can act on.
If our local school administrators would be amendable, every student in
our fair city who must write would compose an essay on how city council
could help its local schools. The essays after being graded would be
collated and presented to the council. While some might be amusing, I
suspect that others could be quite useful. New ideas can come from
anywhere. Who else has the most at stake in our local schools than our
local students?
This is just the kind of idea that could produce other benefits as well.
An energized student body could provide some real solutions that the city
council could actually act on without the help of the county or the state.
If students were interacting with local government now, then the future of
our city would indeed be much brighter and encouraging. I hope that
everyone involved in this possible project will get on board. This could
even end up being fun. Who knows what could happen?
Comments for City Council 26AUG03; Key West Citizen modified
letter to the Editor 29AUG03; Free Press modified letter to the Editor
03SEP03
v
Mayor, Council, citizens.
v
I am Larry Shaffer, proud
resident of Marathon.
v
I’ve been thinking about
this annual budgeting process for quite some time. Something has been
bothering me. If you will bear with me, let me illustrate an example of
what I mean.
v
GTPHA earlier this year
obtained over 400 pages of materials from the city.
Ø
The homeowner’s
association used the Freedom of Information Act to get these pages.
Ø
These 400 documents detail
a sordid story of greed and arrogance.
v
Several places in these
documents the argument was used that the redevelopment of Gulfstream would
increase the city’s tax revenue.
v
This discounts the
residents who would be forcibly displaced from their homes.
v
This supposes that those
residents are not important and contributing members to this city.
v
I tell you that these
citizens and voters are far more important than the petty arguments of
developers and redevelopers.
v
These citizens and voters
contribute to the city far more than any developer and redeveloper.
v
These good people are more
important even than any planned development or redevelopment.
v
Developers and
redevelopers need to prove their worth to the citizens and voters.
v
Developers and
redevelopers need to prove that their developments and redevelopments
benefit the city and all of its citizens and voters, not just the bottom
line.
v
There is far more at stake
here than the possible increase of tax revenue to the city.
v
The city’s soul and
ultimate character are at risk, if we believe that developers and
redevelopers can bring us more tax dollars and that is all that matters.
v
People count more than
developments and redevelopments.
v
I think that people should
be utmost in your minds when you put together future budgets for our city.
People count more in every aspect of our city and its governance, even in
this critical budgeting process.
v
Thank you.
Marathon's Budget comments to City Council 12AUG03, Key West
Citizen modified letter to the Editor 16AUG03; Free Press modified letter
to the Editor 20AUG03
1)
Mayor, Council, and citizens.
2)
I’m Larry Shaffer, a proud citizen and voter of Marathon.
3)
Budget time is almost here again.
a)
Worthy projects need funded.
i)
Yet, common sense and restraint should prevail in this process.
4)
The last few weeks have seen the local media like the Marathon Free
Press, the Keynoter, and the Citizen run articles and opinion pieces.
a)
They are united that Marathon would be wise to adopt the rollback
millage rate.
i)
The rollback millage rate is the rate that would raise the same
amount of tax revenue as was raised last year.
b)
Although the local media are united in this viewpoint, all citizens
and voters must think for themselves what is proper.
5)
Property values went up nearly 19 percent this year.
6)
The proposed millage rate is 2.96.
7)
The rollback millage rate is 2.49.
8)
If the proposed millage rate were adopted, that would result in an
increase of taxes of over $725,000.
a)
Don’t let anyone try to fool you; any rate adopted above the
rollback millage rate would be a tax increase.
9)
When you add in the sewer costs, the tax increase could total over
26 percent.
10)
I urge the council to fulfill the promises and expectations of
incorporation and adopt the rollback millage rate.
11)
Otherwise, citizens and voters, when they feel the council is not
acting on their behalf, think about taking direct action.
a)
There appears to be a gathering storm on the horizon. Two
referendum initiatives concerning liveaboard and RV/trailer park issues
are that gathering storm.
b)
If the city does not address these issues, then the city charter
provides resolution through the ballot process.
c)
If you want citizens and voters to participate in their local
government, then you can’t be upset if they exercise democracy via a
referendum.
d)
Still, I sincerely hope that citizens and voters would work with
the city council for the benefit of the entire city before resorting to a
ballot initiative.
12)
Thank you.
Free Press Column 13AUG03
Two referendum initiatives are underway within the City of Marathon.
The petition drives are an outgrowth of citizen frustrations. When city
government doesn’t react fast enough or with resolve, the citizens will
use other means to seek resolution. They will put together their own
ordinances through ballot petitions.
One petition addresses liveaboard people who live, work, and contribute to
the city, but feel cheated by the council. The crux of the matter is
whether we have enough places for liveaboard vessels to anchor. On state
bay bottom the law seems to say that such vessels can only stay for six
months at most. On city bay bottom there is no such limitation. There are
only 64 mooring buoys that the city will control, leaving out many
liveaboard people.
The other petition initiative is about protecting RV, mobile home, and
trailer parks within the city. People living in such communities are tired
of council inaction. They propose an ordinance forcing the city to do an
impact study and place a moratorium on the development of trailer parks.
The other part of the initiative is to make trailer park developers find
homes within Marathon for those displaced by trailer park development,
once the moratorium has expired.
Some will ask why. Frankly, this all started early this year. This
movement even has roots going back to the days of incorporation. While the
council and staff try very hard to address citizen concerns and issues,
many still feel cheated by the process or lack of process.
After presenting their concerns at the many forums, citizens sometimes
have had enough. They organize, study the city charter, and attempt to
take control over the process. Forcing an ordinance on the city to solve
citizen desires is working within the system. Citizen activism is
democracy at work. The council and staff might examine why citizens are
doing this. Why would citizens want to take control by ballot, exercising
their voting privileges?
How important is voting then? Extremely. You have no say so or control,
when you don’t vote. Citizens have the responsibility to exercise their
right to vote. You can’t vote unless you register to do so. You can
register to vote at 63rd Street with the Supervisor of Elections, or when
you get or renew your driver’s license.
With the advent of these two referendum initiatives, there will be plenty
of people hawking voter registration forms. If you want to protect
liveaboard rights and preserve existing park communities and the sanctity
of people’s homes, then you must register to vote.
Registering to vote doesn’t do you any good if you don’t vote! Your vote
always counts. You can vote early, or by absentee ballot, or at the local
polling place. People will even assist you in your effort to vote.
We have three newspapers in town to help you learn the candidates and the
issues. Time spent doing so is minimal. As we face a bright, new future
for our grand city, everyone needs to vote.
Free Press Column 16JUL03
The western end of Marathon at the Seven Mile Bridge is ripe for
improvements. The improvements could possibly benefit all citizens of this
fine city. There are already new trees and some landscaping. We all know
that restroom facilities are needed though. Regardless of the zoning, this
area could be a great place for sunsets and community involvement.
Some citizens think bigger, of course. A restaurant would add to the
character and help improve the general economy of the city. But wait, the
residents of Knight’s Key are not quite so pleased with this particular
vision of the future. Human nature being what it is, the people involved
in this issue immediately rallied the troops and prepared to do battle
royal.
The owner of the property does have the right to build whatever the city
regulations, zoning, comprehensive plan, and whatnot allow. Frankly, the
whatnot scares me, but that is another column. On the other side of
Knight’s Key, the residents are entitled to peace and quiet. They have the
expectation that the good life remains so.
Central to this issue is the benefit to the entire city. Why can’t the
participants work out their differences? The owner of the property could
easily build a restaurant that has little impact on the surrounding
community. Traffic can be controlled. Noise can be abated. Crowds could be
restrained. The residents of Knight’s Key have every right to expect that.
Then the city can have a wonderful edition to the western end of Marathon.
The economy benefits and the great battles of zoning and whatnot are
avoided. As Wilhelmina Harvey once said to a wayward county commission,
“Can’t we all get along?”
L. E. Shaffer
Keynoter letter to the Editor 26JUL03
Mass transit from Homestead and Florida City through Marathon to Key
West can’t be wrong. Right? Of course, we need cheap, mass transportation.
That has been the mantra of cities for a long time. Yet, there is a
symptom of something else going on here. Right now, there are 500 people
bussing into Marathon daily. I’m sure that they are all here to spend
money and lounge at Sombrero Beach. Right?
Actually, these busses are contributing to the loss of jobs and money.
Jobs that locals used to work are gone. Money the locals were paid from
these jobs used to be spent in Marathon. Now that money rides right out of
the city on the busses. Local businesses don’t benefit from workers who
live outside the city. This is that “no matter what you do, it is wrong
thing” happening all over the Keys. We need the busses, but not the loss
of jobs and money within our fragile economy. All economic levels need
each other to sustain a healthy economy from rich to poor.
Law enforcement, service industry workers, fire fighters, teachers, and
nurses already have a hard time surviving here. One day they will have to
ride these busses right out of Marathon to South Florida to even survive.
Then the character of our community begins to disintegrate even faster.
Even the commercial fishing industry will be affected. The very reason
many tourists come to Marathon is the character of its people. Now the
tourists and snowbirds begin leaving, but probably not on the busses.
They’re long gone by now.
There is possibly a day coming when Marathon will bare little resemblance
to what we envisioned. How can we prevent this? We need to keep our
workforce here in Marathon, providing low-income housing. We need to
improve the economy, such that local businesses can pay better wages. We
need to keep local dollars in the city. I would hope that we could also
keep the busses. Then we could go see the Florida Panthers skate around on
the ice. I love how those players knock the snot out of a hockey puck. I
also promise to ride the bus back after the game and buy a big pizza right
here in the great City of Marathon!
L. E. Shaffer
Key West Citizen letter to the Editor 21JUL03; Free Press letter
to the Editor 05AUG03
Dear Editor:
I am Larry Shaffer, a very proud Marathon resident. I attended the
Vacation Rental workshop last week. There are many sides to this issue,
and opinions multiply by the second. The current ordinance must be
reviewed annually, and that is a very good thing. Now that the vacation
rental ordinance is out of Pandora’s box, there is no way to put it back.
So we must all find ways to live with each other and the ordinance.
Members of the council and staff suggested some needed improvements. Most
of the suggestions were obvious to increase the enforcement of the
ordinance. Then citizens were able to give their input. Most people had
some valid complaints. Some suggested that vacation rentals were
economically important to Marathon. Apparently, your business type and the
nearness to an existing vacation rental decided which way one stood on the
contentious issue.
I think most of us are agreed that vacation rentals need controlled,
enforced, and probably capped. Marathon can ONLY tolerate so many vacation
rentals, before things could go seriously wrong. Currently, Marathon has a
little over 5000 housing units. 432 vacation rentals are licensed, while
many MORE are not. Assuming a small number being unlicensed, then the
total number of vacation rentals in Marathon exceeds 20%. What percentage
of Marathon should be ALLOWED vacation rentals? 25%? 50%? 75%? How many
vacation rentals would be considered too many? There is a balance in this
issue somewhere that won’t satisfy everybody, but will work.
Larry Shaffer
PO Box 501833
Marathon FL 33050-1833
(305) 743-9648
Free Press letter to the Editor 23JUL03
Dear Editor,
I am Larry Shaffer, resident of the City of Marathon. I’ve studied the
proposed Comprehensive Plan. I see the results of a lot of hard work. City
staff and the council are to be applauded for their efforts.
My main concern is the possible loopholes that would result in unintended
consequences for the short and long term. We need to be so very careful to
design a plan that speaks to the needs of all the citizens far into the
future. Already, there seems to be a problem in the proposed Comprehensive
Plan regarding the Knights Key situation. Residents on Knights Key are not
pleased with any possible zoning allowing a development that is not
desired. Citizens would like the Comprehensive Plan to put them first not
developers.
Loopholes constructed intentionally or unintentionally should be closed.
We need to look for these possible loopholes and avoid them at all costs.
The council needs to think in terms of long-term consequences instead of a
short-term gain that could cause more problems later. There seems to be
portions of the proposed Comprehensive Plan that give out blank checks to
favored developers, redevelopers, real estate agencies, and bankers.
Many of us are for careful, restrained development and redevelopment that
benefits all citizens and voters as well as existing businesses. Yet some
parts of the Comprehensive Plan seem written for other purposes,
intentional or not. For example, Gulfstream Trailer Park and Marina was
initially changed from Residential High to Commercial Mixed Use. All you
have to do is look on the Future Land Use Map called FLUM by those who
love acronyms. The Future Land Use Map is located at City Hall, which
makes viewing this important part of the Comprehensive Plan very difficult
for many of our citizens and voters. This particular bit of Future Land
Use Map magic could easily allow Southstar of Tampa LLC to displace
citizens out of their homes, destroy a community, and adversely affect
existing businesses.
This could happen regardless of the lawsuit currently in litigation
between Gulfstream, Southstar, and the residents. Yet, at the Planning
Commission meeting the FLUM change reverted to Residential High.
Apparently, a number of changes had to be made. The process may appear
messy, but the FLUM is being massaged. Citizen input had some part in this
process, and that is definitely good.
While the proposed Comprehensive Plan has many agreeable parts, there
appears to be an attitude that is oozing out from in between the pages. An
ultra-conservative agenda might be showing its ugly head. I’m a moderate
with centrist views. I believe we can have beneficial development and
redevelopment that preserves, protects, promotes, and improves existing,
vibrant homes, communities, and businesses. I believe we listen to our
citizens and voters and abide by their desires.
The city belongs to the citizens and voters. The proposed Comprehensive
Plan belongs to them as a tool to improve their lives. Yet there are parts
of the Comprehensive Plan that would most certainly put citizens out of
their homes, out of jobs, destroying communities, eliminate mom-and-pop
businesses, and run out more teachers, law enforcement officers, and
service industry workers. Already, busses bring in more than 500 people
daily from South Florida. That giant, sucking sound you hear are jobs and
money leaving our city.
A tool is very useful in the right hands. If we use all the safety
features, a tool is safe and a joy to use. I’m afraid that possible
loopholes make the plan unsafe at present. Not all is doom and gloom,
though, as the proposed Comprehensive Plan is very well done on many
levels. There is some tuning to do to make the plan benefit everyone. Can
we trust our elected officials to listen and act to help all our citizens?
Many others and I certainly hope so. The right thing is SO easy to do.
Overall, the Comprehensive Plan seems to work on most levels. We need to
implement the Comprehensive Plan as soon as possible after taking citizen
input. Remember you will only get what you inspect not what you expect
meaning citizens need to become as involved in the process as possible.
Signed --
L. E. Shaffer
President SNPCO
PO Box 501833
Marathon FL 33050-1833
(305) 743-9648
Comments for 10JUN03 City Council Meeting; Free Press modified
letter to the Editor 18JUN03; Keynoter modified letter to the Editor
25JUN03
-
Mayor, Council, Citizens and voters,
-
I am Larry Shaffer, a proud resident of the City of Marathon.
-
I attended the City Council workshop recently that concentrated on
affordable housing for low-income residents.
-
I heard some excellent and well thought out discussions and
suggestions.
-
I commend the Council and the Staff for addressing difficult issues
head on.
-
We all know that we are facing a housing crisis that is getting
much worse.
-
Our teachers, law enforcement, nurses, firefighters, and so many
others along with the service industry employees need help. Otherwise,
we are going to lose more of them. Frankly, that is NOT good for any
of us from the very affluent to the fixed income citizens.
-
To think that natural market forces would be a solution is living
in a dream. We live in the Florida Keys, and we have to shape our
future carefully regardless of what market forces may or may NOT
exist. We must overcome whatever blocks our path to certain action.
-
All of us are affected by the lack of low-income, adequate housing
for our workforce.
-
Our Council and Staff have been thinking outside the box to
paraphrase a few of them.
-
Currently, a mix of low-income rentals, some affordable housing,
some low-income low-cost housing with a few market rate thrown in
would create communities that would be highly desirable. Not only
that, this would attract developers to be part of the solution and not
part of the continuing problem.
-
While real estate agencies, banks, and developers/redevelopers are
necessary services for a community, the existing homes, communities,
and businesses come first. The needs and desires of our citizens and
voters who vote are paramount above all others.
-
Even retirement communities are important to this city, and the
perception that they might NOT be important needs to stop. Are you
going to tell a 25-year United States Navy retired vet that he doesn’t
count? Or any citizen or voter for that matter?
-
The Council and Staff have come a long way with this housing issue.
The city could easily influence what we desire with a good mix of
rentals and ownership by using the Request for Proposal process, which
was some of that thinking outside the box at the workshop.
-
We need to continue pressing on all fronts like the phased sewer
systems and storm water systems, the crisis in workforce housing, and
even the completion of the Comprehensive Plan with the Land
Development Regulations including the Master Plan which sets the
vision for our fair city. Now is NOT the time to relax but to push
ahead as quickly as possible.
-
Let us endeavor to include NOT exclude, to encourage NOT
discourage, and separate the players by asking them to either lead,
follow, or get out of the way.
-
Thanks.
Free Press letter to the Editor 14MAY03; Key West Citizen letter
to the Editor 18MAY03
Editor:
I am Larry Shaffer, a Gulfstream Association Director. While I applaud the
long-lead time given citizens and voters to study the upcoming
commercial/market rate Transferable ROGO Exemption [TRE], I am appalled
that this is coming up yet again. Even if this is in a different form with
some bones thrown to the trailer communities, TREs do not benefit anyone
except developers, redevelopers, and a moneyed few. By the way, ROGO
stands for Rate of Growth Ordinance for those of us who are befuddled by
the alphabet soup in constant use.
We have developers/redevelopers lining up for handouts from our city.
Commercial and market-rate TREs are one reason among many. TREs should
never be allowed in any form or manner. You must ask yourself who gains
and who loses? Of course, the developers/redevelopers gain. The citizens
and voters most certainly lose. Beware of any kind of TREs!
TREs are a gold rush without regard for the long-term impact. The law of
unintended consequences will consume us all with these TREs. Any way you
word them they are full of loopholes. TREs encourage criminal conduct and
back-room deals. If we can’t manage our future development and
redevelopment without TREs, then something is definitely wrong.
While limited and very restricted development/redevelopment of existing
businesses that have no impact on existing homes and communities might be
a good thing, any other type of development and redevelopment is not yet
desired. First, we must build our citywide sewer/storm water systems.
Therefore, we need a moratorium on all development and redevelopment until
our infrastructure and regulations are in place. Those regulations should
benefit ONLY the citizens and the voters NOT developers/redevelopers.
Transferable ROGO Exemptions were a bad idea in the past. They are a
terrible idea now. In addition, they should not be considered in our
future. Please, give us back our city!
Thank you,
Larry Shaffer
Gulfstream Association Director
President SNPCO
PO Box 501833
Marathon FL 33050-1833
(305) 743-9648
To keep the download times short, we have moved the
older letters, speeches, and columns to other pages that can be accessed
by the links below.
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