Categories
2014 October

Sunday, October 5, 2014

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The-Coconut-Telegraph-w-CoconutsAnonymous Letters to the Editor with Pictures. Published Daily by Noon Since 2002. No Saturday Edition

autumn5
It’s like Autumn today. They say the temp will go down to the eighties!
lower keys boat rental7.11.14
[Good Mechanic] I am a bit late on this, but I have used Vince at Precision Auto for several years and have gotten the best service I have ever had from an auto repair business. That guy who claims fraud is a nut case. Vince is fair and reasonable and has always stood behind his work. None better!
baby-doc5
[Baby Doc Scumbag] Jean Claude Duvalier Dead: Haitian Ex-Dictator Dies At 63. Link
[Marathon Journal] The Ebola breakout in western Africa is a scary fact. Of course, there is a ton of movies showing a pandemic. What is Ebola? Ebola virus is an infectious and generally fatal disease marked by fever and severe internal bleeding, spread through contact with infected body fluids by a filovirus (Ebola virus), whose normal host species is unknown. Ebola virus disease (EVD), Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), or simply Ebola is a disease of humans and other primates caused by an ebolavirus. Symptoms start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a fever, sore throat, muscle pain, and headaches. Typically, vomiting, diarrhea, and rash follow, along with decreased function of the liver and kidneys. Around this time, affected people may begin to bleed both within the body and externally. Link

Officials from the states are saying that a large breakout is unlikely. Western Africa is not doing as well, but aid is coming from all over the world.

Election season. You can find the physical candidate list at your nearest election’s office. Marathon’s elections office is on 100th Street. Park in the parking lot and go in to meet some dedicated people running the place. You can pick up your absentee ballot too. Don’t forget about early voting as well. Candidates Info Link

The Journal endorses for Marathon City Council Michael Cinque, Dan Zieg, and Chris Bull;
for Islamorada Seat 2 Dave Purdo;
for Islamorada Seat 1 Deb Gillis;
for the US House Joe Garcia;
for City, County, and State Referenda all yes – medical use of marijuana, funding for school security, composition of City Canvassing board, city election and term of office of councilmembers, city initiatives and referendum, non-interference by City Council, city tie votes, City Charter corrections, prospective appointment of certain judicial vacancies, Water and Land Conservation – Dedicate funds to acquire and restore Florida conservation and recreation lands

george-neugent9.3.14
I think it would be a good idea for Mosquito Control to soak these islands and kill off all the bugs that can spread diseases, especially since the Ebola bug is going to go wild and circulate everywhere. It may not stop the virus, but it may slow it down until they develop the cure, if there is one. Our government has already lost control on the situation
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tattoo-tatto5
[No Tattoo
] A federal judge has ruled in favor of the city of Key West in denying a Virginia man’s bid to open a new tattoo shop in Old Town. U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez ruled the city of Key West did not violate Brad Buehrle’s First and Fourteenth amendment rights under the Constitution.
Luminous blue waves caused by plankton are seen breaking on Manly Beach in Sydney. According to a local marine biologist, the glow-in-the-dark waves are caused by bioluminescent marine animals called dinoflagellates emitting light as part of a chemical reaction. Link
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[“Lid lock on recycle bin”] A lid lock of any sort would negate the whole purpose of the new bins that are made to be automatically emptied buy the driver in a special truck without having to get out of the truck. If he had to leave the truck to unfasten the lock that would foil the whole concept of automated pickup.
legalize it
[Legalize it] I am a Vietnam war veteran. I suffer from PTSD. I have tried every medication that the VA uses for this problem – none of them work for me. There is one thing that works and I do not have access to it. Please vote YES on amendment 2. Don’t let the ads fool you. If you want to help Veterans suffering with the same problem, please vote YES. Let them have access
[Jobs] It’ll be interesting to read how FTR is going to spin the wonderful jobs report to make it look like it was Republicans who caused the low unemployment rate. I’m sure he can do it.
BP-Flea-Market-closed
Not to worry, if you do catch Ebola there is always the chance that you may come back as a Zombie or a Ghost and end up on your very own reality show.
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glass5
Late Saturday night picture
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[No Electronics] Just think what the world would be like if all cell phones stopped working. There are no pay phones anymore and lots of people dropped their land lines from home. How about if TV and radio stopped? If electricity was cut off? If our water supplies stopped flowing? Then there’s a thing about storing food without a fridge? Forget gensets, there will be no fuel because you cannot pump fuel without electric or deliver it without trucks. Does reality hurt? It will.
manley-deboer-7.11.14
[Cookie Cutter Towns] Traveling through Florida’s Gulf Coast recently my family was amazed at how look-alike the towns were. We frequently had to check the map to see where we were. Every place has the same stores, plants and strip malls. I hope the Keys don’t continue on this cookie-cutter course. People come to the Keys because it’s different here. Let’s not forget that
parking5
[Inconsiderate People] My father used to have a pad in the family car. It had a list, one of which said something like, “Thanks asshole for taking two parking spaces”. It had check boxes so he could check-off the things the driver did wrong. He’d fill out a sheet and place it under the asshole’s windshield wiper. My dad was some kind of influence to us kids.
[Rainiest September] According to the South Florida Water Management District, above-average rainfall across the 16 counties from Orlando to the Keys made September the wettest month of the rainy season so far.
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[“Eight Years”] I like shopping at the Big Pine Radio Shack because if you are not satisfied with something you bought there they will cheerfully refund your money with no hard feelings.
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semen5
Engrish.
[Positive Thought for the Day] When you have come to the edge of all light that you know And are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: there will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly. Have a blessed day my friends.   ~Joe/Coconuts
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[Washington Review] National Mall renovations.  $500 million for National Museum of African American History & Culture, due to open in 2016 plus $2 million for new signs. Link
tv i-love-lucy
Remember when
it used to take five minutes for the TV to warm up.
Remember when you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped  without asking, all for free, every time And you didn’t  pay for air, and, you got trading stamps to  boot!
[Ebola] 3,500 dead in Africa.
Phil-Goodman8.14.14
[For Sale] Sleeper Sofa & matching love seat, rattan dining table with glass top & 4 matching chairs. Big Pine Key Classified Ads > Furniture
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tank5
Priorities.
[Trimming Mangroves] I don’t know if it is the Power Company guys or the Highway guys that have the really bad breaths, because every time I drive down Route 1, the mangroves seem to be dying off or disappearing. Being that it is illegal to cut mangroves, there must be something wrong here! It’s almost that time of the year when the dreaded Mangrove Disease strikes the mangroves at full moon every month and kills them off or reduces their height to mere inches. How can we guard against it?
johnsons-7.9.14
What can I do? I keep telling my neighbor across the canal, her telescope lens is dirty, because my telescope is much more powerful than hers and I can see everything!
Sloan-angel200h
[Angels] Pope Francis has said he believes in angels, telling Catholics around the world to reaffirm their belief in holy guardians. Speaking to followers at the Vatican on Wednesday, the pontiff said every person has a guardian angel advising them in life.” It seems Sloan and the Pope agree. It appears that Sloan is in good company with his beliefs. Link
[For Rent] Furnished 2 room efficiency for a working person. Separate bath and entrance. No perfumed product use. All natural. A/C. Cable. Good location. Private drive. Long term. No pets. $900 a month includes utilities. MM 28. $500 deposit. Classified Ads > For Rent
eleanor-mcadams-9.18.14
Some whiner the other day was complaining that there was no lid lock on his new recycle bin. Just drill a hole in the top and in the front of the bin and install a bungee cord. Problem solved. The wining complainer would probably bitch if the found a five dollar bill in the parking lot that it wasn’t a twenty dollar bill. Would you like some cheese with your whine?
murcury heel
[Mercury] I’m on a see food diet. I see food and I eat it! Link
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lead-bullets5
[Investing] My stocks and bonds adviser is telling me to leave just enough cash in my bank accounts to pay bills and give him the rest to invest. The banks will soon charge us to keep our money in their vaults, even though the average return on their investments using our free loans to them, is from 80 to 170 percent net profit. If the banks go belly up and people remove all their savings, it will mean nothing because the dollar will be worth toilet paper and there will be nothing to purchase anyway. Gold, Silver? Nah, Lead is what to invest in, lots of it!
Condoms don’t guarantee safe sex anymore. A friend of mine was wearing one when he was shot by the woman’s husband.
hareens-hats8.29.14c
Using salt water for toilet flushing might work with a cesspit (does anyone still have those?) With the Aerobic Advanced Waste Water system, I think the salt water would trash the aerator pump before long. I like the idea of a divert valve that empties onto my yard (instead of into my house.)
Setting your router for best WiFi. Link
old5
Wonder why old guys like young girls? Who wants to have fun with a older woman over 30 that is only good for cleaning and cooking?
What can’t you flush down your toilet if you have a Grinder Pump?
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[Ebola] Aren’t you a little bit curious how a Liberian citizen, not an American citizen, could get a U.S. visa, tourist or otherwise, within 5 to 10 days and enter the U.S. and not even be checked for temperature entering at the airport or changing planes in Belgium for that matter. There are ways to lower one’s body temperature, wrapping head in ice cubes, taking a lot of aspirin. We don’t know if he vomited in the plane’s bathroom. The CDC report site says that the virus can remain alive in blood, vomit, feces, urine, etc on a floor or other surface for up to 6 days and the virus remains alive in semen for 3 months (could be longer, but they don’t know). They are telling the public on television “no problem” can be spread if the person doesn’t have symptoms but he can have the virus in his blood, just not enough to cause internal bleeding that’s 2 to 8 days later. How many other people have flown in. He came here for the free medical treatment, and he probably doesn’t have insurance. That’s why he went to the hospital when he didn’t feel well. He was probably positive they would take him in and he would get free medical care and hospitalization. And there are 80 people he had contact with and 10% might or might not show symptoms for up to 18 days or might recover and then be carriers.

Why the heck aren’t we cutting off air travel. And do the 3000 soldiers being sent to Sierra Leone know they might not be able to come back, but will have to be quarantined? And why didn’t we send those 3000 soldiers to Iraq to repel the ISIS army?

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outhouse5[Outhouses] Forget the diverter valve to your old septic tank. The Dept of Health will not let you retain your old tank for use when the flawed Cudjoe Regional sewer system goes on-line and you are forced to connect to a system that will quit working sooner rather than later. Here’s your solution. You are allowed to build a shed without plans and permits if it is under 100 sq feet and no more than 7 feet tall. I recommend one like in the picture.

Most people have never lived with a flat ground privy, so here’s a tutorial. I lived with one built in 1852 and it was built correctly. There was no odor and no flies. Our stone lined well was about 50′ away and tested clear of coli form, with gin clear water. Mother Nature has been dealing with animal waste for millennia and she does it better than FKAA ever thought they could. You need to build it right for good results. Always build a two holer at least. You can dig a shallow hole under, but no need to dig a deep pit. You only use one hole except in an emergency such as when you are blowing out both ends or you need to share space after that tainted meal. Build the second hole within easy reach for stomach flu events, but normally one hole is covered. A normal toilet seat is much easier to clean than a hole in a board and gives your old lady something to complain about when you leaving it up, so put one over the board hole. Proper use consists of doing your job as usual in the hole that is currently doing duty, then sprinkling wood ashes over the evidence. Water plus wood ash equals lye, so odor and flies are eliminated. if you don’t have wood ashes, you use hydrated lime that you can buy in a sack. When the pile under the seat is getting pretty high, you switch to the other hole. It will take a lot longer than you think for the pile to build up — months at least, even with a family of 5 piling on. When the second pile is getting excessive, you will find that the first pile is dirt. You lift the hatch in the back and hoe out the new dirt that has been created under the first hole. If you intend to fertilize something, let your new dirt set for at least a year. Another thing you should know is that when a mosquito finds you with your drawers down, do not slap her! The sound will draw in a mob of mosquitoes. Catch it in your hand and roll her legs and wings off quietly. Noise attracts mosquitoes like nothing else. As for “grey” water from other than the toilet, dig a swale near where the wastewater leaves the house and simply remove the cleanout cap on the 4″ soil pipe. Washing water will simply overflow into the swale. Plant bananas there.

One idea that I thought was good is to leave a piece of car tire inner tube attached to a permanently opened cleanout. When the sewer collection system is working, this prevents anything from getting into the pipe because the rubber is flattened. When there is a backup, it runs out the inner tube instead of into your house. The inner tube is neoprene and will deteriorate from FKAA’s disinfection chemicals in about 2-3 years, just like the check valve used on grinder pits to prevent other people’s waste from being forced onto your property. Unlike the chintzy plastic check valve which is not serviceable, not easily accessed because it is buried, and thermally welded into the pipe for extremely difficult replacement, you simply replace the piece of inner tube to refresh your overflow device. Yes, even the E/One check valve is poorly designed. Here is more good outhouse information Link

[Ebola] It won’t be long before they throw the CDC director under the bus for the Ebola screw-ups and misinformation. I think this would be a great diversity opportunity to appoint that behemoth woman that was fired from the secret service to head the CDC. At least we will all feel good about it and she won’t have to worry about passing any more rigorous PT requirements
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[Angry About Something?] Can’t you people see what is happening in Monroe County? Our government is turning its members into Gods. If I have a company and someone does not do what I want, I fire them. But in governments those that get to play Gods, cannot be fired because they have the guns, the lawyers, your money to back themselves up and the power to eliminate you either by jail or deletion. The only way to get these blood sucking bastards out of office is to make them a deal they cannot refuse in the same ways they treat us. Canceling their retirement packages is a good start! Maybe they will quit!
pirate5
[The Scourge of Islam] Ever heard this song “From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli”.  You know what our forces were doing in Tripoli?  Fighting the Muslim pirates and terrorists who were taking ships that didn’t belong to them and making slaves of the crews they didn’t kill back in the early days of our country’s existence.  This crap has been going on a very long time
The sign of intelligence is that you are constantly wondering. Idiots are always dead sure about every damn thing they are doing in their life
bynny5
AARP Playboy Bunny reunion.
Link
[Kenyan email scam including wicked stepmother difficulties] My Dearest, It is with profound respect and humble submission, I beg to state the following few lines for your kind consideration. I hope you will spare some of your valuable minutes to read the following appeal with sympathetic mind. I must confess that it is with great hope, joy and enthusiasm to write you this mail and I believe by the faith that it must surely find you in good condition of health. My name is Arogo John Paul Oulu 24 years old female from the Republic of Kenya, the daughter of Late Mr. John Paul Oulu. My late father was a Kenyan lawyer and human rights activist who was the Chief Executive Officer and Communications and Advocacy Officer of the Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic Kenya (OFFLACK). My Father was brutally shot dead on Thursday 5Th March 2009 after a government spokesman accused their group of aiding a criminal gang. What led to the cold blood killing is still unclear but I know that my father life was the target.

After the death of my beloved father my wicked step mother along with my uncles team together and sold everything that my late father had and share the money within themselves, I lost my mother long time ago, and since then, my father loved me so dearly at my tender age may he rest in peace and may the great God give him a safe entry in Paradise Amen. Before the death of my father, he told me that he made a fixed deposit of the sum of Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars ($10.500.000.0 0) in one of the Banks here in Burkina Faso, with my name as his next of kin, which I confirmed his statement positively from the bank. But on my arrival to the Bank to withdraw the fund, the Bank foreign Operation Department Director whom I meet in person told me that my father instruction to their bank is that the fund would only be release to me when I am married or present a trustee/partner who will help me and invest the fund overseas after the transfer, and the bank ask me to go and look for a foreign partner.

Therefore my dear, I am soliciting your help for transferring of my inheritance fund into your bank account and investment assistance in your Country as my legal appointed trustee as the bank mentioned and it will be my intention to compensate you with 40% of the total fund for your services and help then the balance shall be my capital in your establishment which you are going to establish there in your country or position as my trustee and manger. I have suffered lots of set back as a result of my parents death. I left Kenya, because of incessant family funds. Presently, I am currently residing in Christ De King Refugee camp here in Ouagadougou Capital city of Burkina Faso. Hence, I want to settle in your country to further my education and spend the rest of my life. Please consider my request as my life is being hugely affected.

Thanking you a lot in anticipation of your quick response. I will give you details in my next mail after receiving your acceptance mail to help me.
Yours Sincerely Arogo John Paul

Nira-Tocco-6.14
We read the post by FTR about his membership in the police union where he worked. He says that he went to one meeting and then never after that because all the meetings were just bitch sessions. So that means that for the majority of his job he had input into issues that may have had a large effect on not only the job, but may have been very important to his life (insurance coverage/payments, salary increases etc.). That means that for the majority he was very content to just go along and get along with what he was told by his shop steward or union delegate. There is another possibility; that he did not belong to the union and only paid agency fees. That would mean that he would have no protection that the union would provide to a member. Whatever he chose it means that he let others make many decisions for him without his input. Talk about being led by the nose. Now of course, he tells you how independent he was, what a lone wolf he was, when in fact he is the ultimate yes man. So of course I’m now willing to swallow all of his well studied arguments. You know what they say GIGO[?] or money talks and BS walks. Let us hope he a good pair of walking shoes
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beer5
Who controls all the beer?
  9 companies control all of it. Micro breweries are irrelevant profit-wise
It’s a very simple equation; you tax what you want less of and subsidize what you want more of.  Using that formula our govt is going about it bassackwards.  Not a huge surprise.
accurate-home-insp-750w
Great post on costs in the Dominican Republic – quite an eye opener! But I’m not ready for amber jack over grouper and snapper
needle
If a female mosquito bites a person with a bad disease then bites you, can you get the disease? Mosquitoes are noting more than a flying syringe anyway.
Who is George Neugent’s campaign manager?
The Marathon Weekly recently did an article about how the grinder pumps in Grassy Key service between 3-4 house for each pump. Why couldn’t we get the system in the Lower Keys? It would have completely ended the argument about grinder pumps in people’s yards
fanci-10.3.14
Poor old F.T.R., he sure takes a lot of misplaced heat. What some posters don’t realize is that he is not spinning Republican deeds, but is comparing them to deeds mostly on the same subject only they are the Democrat version of the solution. It is then that the Republican version indeed becomes a great thing. It is all a matter of how realistic you are when looking at a real life situation, not a pie in the sky solution.
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haunted house5
The Big Pine Key Haunted House is needing help to build the house this Wednesday October 8th. We will be meeting at 6 PM at the Blue Heron Rec Center on Lyttons Way to take supplies to the BPK Community Park and start building. Trucks are welcomed. We are still in need of actors if anyone is interested. Check us out on Facebook for upcoming meetings. The Event will take place October 28-30th from 7-9 PM. You may leave a message with Mike 813-787-4325
This upcoming traffic apocalypse will be the end of Chris Christie. Link
Cousineau-Ad-7.3.14
With all the obvious wheeling and dealing from the FKAA and the sewer contractors, I think someone is going to jail on this Grinder Pump scam, or damn well should, but in Monroe County we only slap wrists and play kissy-face then let them open a business elsewhere, right? Will the Flea Market have any sales on brand new unused sewer pipe and fittings? Park benches? Aluminum railings? Road reflectors and paint?
abraham5If you are Jewish, Christian or Muslim, you should be fully aware that according to the Torah, Old Testament and the Qur’an. It states that Abraham is the father of both the Arabs and Jews. God, Jehovah, gave Abraham strict orders to carry out this act of separatism amongst his children. This created a bitter feud between both brothers for thousands of years. Since Jews were the chosen people, the Arabs felt left out, and this is why Islam was created. Which means that the fault of all this bitterness that has been creating war for thousands of years, is no one else’s fault but Jehovah’s. Yes! It’s your Gods fault!

After WWII the west decides to give the Jews a piece of Palestine without consenting with the Arabs in Palestine, and Israel is born. The Israeli’s begin to muscle out Arabs with military force backed by the west. Meanwhile, the west is sucking the Arab countries dry for oil. The sheiks and political western puppets become rich while the majority of the people live in poverty and misery. Every time a true democracy was established in an Arab country, and the leader picked by it’s people would change the course by attempting to control the oil business where it would benefit the country and it’s people, the west would create a Coup, and send in western military forces such as what took place in Iran and Iraq.

The only reason why Israel was placed in Palestine is because it’s the perfect strategic location point of interest to have an ally for oil. This is why Muslim extremists hate us. Because we side with Israel, and because we have taken their lands and resources. But now, it’s too late! The west has no other choice but to stay in the Mideast in order to prevent Russia and China from grabbing their oil. Who’s fault is this? It’s the fault of the western corporate oil tycoons in which our military is really present to safeguard or retrieve their oil interests. In the meantime our corporate controlled media is convincing us that we need to send our boys and girls to fight overseas because Christians are being raped. beheaded and slaughtered. Or, because some Arab nation is a nuclear threat like Iraq was supposed to be.

[Governor] If you don’t like Charlie or Rick vote for Wylle. Libertarians can’t screw up things anymore than the others and it will send a strong message even if he came in second.
8years5
Congrats to Radio Shack in the Big Pine shopping center on eight years in business. They have been helpful and had what I needed every time I’ve shopped there. Support our local businesses!
[Jerk] I do and say what I want everyday.  Unfortunately this just makes more of the really nice people want to torture me to death.
Radio-Shack-750w
It’s funny it took this long for the United Way to dump Margie Smith. I knew someone close to the organization who said that the board thought that she was a numbskull and added that perhaps she suffered from Aspergers disease. All hail Eris. And the peter principal. ~ greengoop72@yahoo.com
uke5
[“300 Pounds of Ukulele Player”] Throughout his life, Kamakawiwoʻole was morbidly obese and at one point weighed 767 pounds, standing 6-foot-2-inch tall. He endured several hospitalizations because of health problems caused by his weight. Beset with respiratory, heart and other medical problems, he died at the age of 38 in Queen’s Medical Center on June 26, 1997.
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bill-10.5.14
[Sarcasm] Encourage the GOP to eliminate what is left of unionism in this country and help eliminate what is left of the middle class.
politics-zone-750w
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from the right
A POSTER WROTE: “There is no organization called the Kaiser Health Foundation! There is however an insurance company named Kaiser foundation Health, that lobbied long and hard against Obamacare. I am sure it was just a typo on FTR’s part. No way would he try to make it sound like an independent organization without an ulterior motive.”

FTR’S RESPONSE: My thanks to the critic for his/her fact checking. I’m flattered at the attention he/she pays to these humble postings. I should not have used the term “Kaiser Health Foundation”, I should have written the proper name of the foundation, “The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.” Link

Just for the record, there is a Kaiser health insurance company, it is not associated in any manner with the Kaiser Family foundation. You can read about the foundations good works at Link

By the way, according to a Pew poll dated 9/12/14 only about a third of Americans believe Obamacare/Democare is doing mostly good. Link

That nearly perfectly matches the Kaiser Family Foundation polling results.

Mutant-MosquitoPart 2) Monroe County Mosquito Board’s member, Commissioner Smith’s, posting on Friday was interesting, informative, and especially eye opening.

If you’re interested in good governance and your tax dollars, it’s important that you consider several items mentioned by Mr. Smith.

There has been no mention in any press that the FKMCD failed to win the competitive bidding for mosquito control at the Naval Air Station. But it did. The loss of that contract speaks volumes. The sorry fact is that FKMCD was under bid by 40% by a private contractor.

How is that possible? How is it possible that a private contractor can kill mosquitoes at cost that is 40% less than an organization that is supported by tax dollars, $11 million of your tax dollars per year? The private vendor must pay staff, have the necessary equipment, have substantial overhead, and…make a profit. All of that without government subsidy. You can be certain that the Navy specs on the project were very specific and had strict safeguards built in. FKMCD should not have lost that contract.

Mr. Smith mentioned that he had logged 650 hours in attendance at conferences. Given that the board meets only 3-4 hours per month, or 36-48 hours per year, it would seem that Mr. Smith spends much more time “conferencing” than he does in tending to the governance of the FKMCD. Please recall that Mr. Smith’s salary is @$19k, probably more, and he will receive a pension and health care for life.

Even though Mr. Smith imperially states that: “…I am not open to the suggestion that FKMCD is wasteful, overspends…..”, it is evident that there is manifest overspending in FKMCD.

The most glaring example of many is Mr. Smith’s insistence that the fiscal functions of FKMCD be located in a new facility in Big Coppitt wherein some operations functions will be housed. This even though the balance of the administrative component are to be moved to a new facility in Marathon. Amazingly offices for fiscal were a part of the Marathon plans, but certain FKMCD employees were opposed to commuting between Key West environs to Marathon. Hence offices for fiscal functions exist in Big Coppit and in Marathon. The new construction is terrible expensive and will be even more expensive to operate. Further, having fiscal in a separate location from management is atrocious business practice. Like most matters related to FKMCD, this bacchanal of waste flew under the public’s radar.

Mr. Smith, and FKMCD candidate Roger Cousineau, who is a realtor, are campaigning to raise your tax bill. It is an absolute that an increase in taxes could not even be contemplated if the building of a FKMCD facility were not being proposed for Big Coppit. We must wonder why the building of this facility is so important to Mr. Smith and some other board members when a single facility at Marathon would save hundreds of thousands of dollars, and would be more efficient. We must ask what role politics played in the Big Coppit decision.

Both Mr. Smith and candidate Cousineau suggest that there is an effort is afoot to “privatize” mosquito control. If there is such an effort, it is not visible. Their claim, foolishly presented, is a straw dog. To the best of my knowledge, neither FKMCD member/candidate Goodman nor candidate McDonald has suggested any such measure. Nor, at this time, do I. Both candidates are fiercely committed to delivering efficient and effective mosquito control that will safeguard the public health and comfort. Mr. Goodman and Mr. McDonald are also totally committed to being strict and demanding guardians of the public purse. And each candidate supports term limits, a fact of life in our Florida legislature, most state wide political offices, many county commissions, and many more public boards. We need persons who are dedicated to serving the public, not those who are dedicated to carving out political careers on the public’s dime.

Should you wish to inquire as to Mr. Smith’s reasoning in constructing two facilities instead of one, he lists his email address as keysgay@aol.com. Should you wish to inquire of Mr. Cousineau, he lists his email address as Roger4bugboard@gmail.com