PAGE ONE COMMENTARY

The Southernmost Hoax
Continues
How Many
Members Of the Planning
Board And City Commission
Will Buy Into It?

THE SOUTHERNMOST HOUSE
WAS APPROVED AS A 13-ROOM
GUESTHOUSE IN 2001 WITH 13
SPECIAL CONDITIONS. MOST OF
THOSE CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN
REPEATEDLY VIOLATED. NOW
THE OWNERS OF THE MANSION
WANT APPROVAL FOR 150-SEAT
RESTAURANT

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

Since November 2001,
Attorney Michael Halpern, in
partnership with the Ramos
family, has been operating the
100-year-old Southernmost
House as an upscale 13-room
guesthouse. But, because the
house is located in a primarily
residential area, the City Commission
imposed a number of
stringent restrictions on food
and beverage service, the use of
amplified music and additional
construction. Those restrictions
have become known as the 13
Special Conditions.

During the City Commission
meeting on November 20,
2001, Halpern happily agreed
to the various restrictions in
order to get any kind of approval
to begin guesthouse
operations. But since that time,
like the proverbial camel with
his nose under the edge of
the tent, he has continuously
pushed for waivers of many
of the restrictions— including
challenging the legality of some
of those restrictions in court.
And in many instances, neighbors
allege, Halpern has simply
ignored the restrictions.

The Southernmost House:

A Neighbor
Speaks Out

She Was 14 In 1993. She Didn’t Get To
Finish Her Speech Before the City
Commission Then Because She Started
Crying. Here’s the Rest of That Speech

by Marcela Morgan

It was the summer of 1993. I had just finished the
8th grade. I was 14 years old. I remember looking up at
my dad’s worried face. He was explaining to me that our
next door neighbor, the owner of the Southernmost House,
was proposing to convert the house to a restaurant. And if
that happened, we would not be able to live next to that.

I reassured him that everything would be okay. I
believed the City Commission would never vote against a family, especially a Key West
family. Growing up here, as I
did, you can’t help but feel a
sense of community and, with
that, a sense of security from
all the evils that occur on the
mainland. We are safe here.
Good will prevail.

Probe Targets Four City Employees

After Altercation
In Bahama Village

WOMAN ASSAULTED AFTER
DISPUTE OVER PARKING SPACE.
A CODE ENFORCEMENT
INSPECTOR, A FIREFIGHTER
AND TWO KWPD CLERICAL
EMPLOYEES INVOLVED

by Rhonda Linseman

A dispute over a parking space in Bahama Village last
June 24 resulted in multiple internal investigations concerning
the conduct of four City employees— two Police Department
employees, a firefighter and a Code Enforcement Inspector.

The dispute began when Melissa Lee Salyer couldn’t park
in front of her house because a small purple truck was reportedly
taking up two spots. The truck belonged to a neighbor, Cassandra
Butler, who works in Code Enforcement for the City. Butler
refused to move the truck and the incident quickly escalated into an angry exchange including an
alleged racial slur by Salyer. Her
statement was reported in many
variations by witnesses, including
“I’m sick of you people, just
sick of you!” and “ Why do you
have to be such niggers!”

OPINION

Annexation Petition

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

The Wisteria Island Committee is attempting
to get 1526 signatures on petitions to put a binding
referendum on the November ballot to require
the City Commission to get voter approval before
annexing any property into the City of Key West.
This is a worthwhile effort which, if successful, will
avoid in the future the type of shameful fiasco we
just witnessed with developers wining and dining
City Commissioners in an effort to curry their votes
on the annexation of Wisteria Island.

But getting the required number of signatures
has been slow going. After all, it’s summer in Paradise.
Although the group has almost half the number of
signatures needed, they have only about a week to
get the rest. The deadline is September 6.

Rhonda

Siblings Happen,
Then You Die

by Rhonda Linseman

My sister, Jill, and her
quasi-boyfriend, What’s-hisname,
went skydiving this
week. When she told me of
their plans, I became interested
in her chances of dying. I was
moderately concerned because
she’s the only person who consistently
laughs at me at the
right times and she’s probably
irreplaceable in that regard.

I was relieved to learn
that the chance of death due
to skydiving complications is
approximately one in 100,000.
It seems a titch risky, until we
consider that the chance of
dying in a car accident before
age 65 is approximately one in
150. I had to laugh out loud as I
thought about the stark contrast
between my reasons for being
interested in her chances of
death today and my reasons for
being interested in her chances
of death when we were kids.

ON THE SONNY SIDE

Recording Our Island

by Charles “Sonny” McCoy

Finally, I have begun to receive
boxes containing the first of a trilogy
of architectural books that document
some of my work. It is basically for
history and academia to pictorially
reflect a period of time and history.
My six years in the Caribbean were
exciting for a young architect with
the different cultures that could be
reflected in its architecture and add
meaning to its citizens.

I have architectural
registry in several States on
mainland USA where an architect
could be challenged, solving unique
design and aesthetic problems. And lastly my architectural works in Key West and the
Keys. But in October 2005, Hurricane Wilma flooded
a storage building containing a fire proof vault that
housed the architects drawings and photographs.
Unfortunately the fire proof vault contained a small
air vent at the bottom that allowed the back surge
flooding that damaged much of its contents.

Where's Winchester?

by Hal O’Boyle

"Personal weapons are what raised mankind out of the mud and the rifle is the queen of personal weapons." — Jeff Cooper

“Where’s Winchester?” she asked. The woman is an expat American
living here in Costa   Rica. She was referring to the word embroidered
on my baseball cap, trying to make small talk.

“It’s not a place,” I
said, “It’s a rifle.” She could scarcely hide her horror. From her
expression you would think I had offered her some beads for a peek at
her tah tahs. She dove for cover at the buffet. PC angst at any
favorable mention of firearms lives as large among expats as it does
among liberals in the States.

RIDENOUR REPORT

by Valerie Ridenour

The Elvis anniversary
reminded me of old friends.
Larry Strickland was with the
Stamps Quartet who sang with
Elvis, mostly Gospel. They
lived at Graceland.

Larry told us the king
would wake them up at three
or four in the morning when
he couldn’t sleep (too many
drugs). They would have to go
to the piano and sing for him.
After Elvis left the planet
Larry was in a quartet called
Memphis, but they didn’t
last long. Quartets were not
in fashion at the time. Then
Larry married his girlfriend,
Naomi Judd. If he resurrected
Memphis, it might work. They
are much younger than the Oak
Ridge Boys, who are happening
again after all these years.

Dennis O’Rourke At Finnegan’s

DENNIS O’ROURKE is back at Finnegan’s Wake, tonight and tomorrow night, Friday and Saturday, August 31 and September 1.

 

BARNES LAW: Q&A

What Is a Whistleblower Lawsuit?

by Michael Barnes

Have you ever been in a
job where you observed wrongdoing
but didn’t know what to
do? Or . . . have you ever been
in a job where you became
aware of illegal activities but
were afraid to try to stop them?
If your answer is “Yes !,” then
this series of articles on Florida
Whistleblower Law is meant
for you.

By the way, this article is
also for the people who are out
there doing wrong. You need to
know how the Whistleblower
Law will ruin your day and then
soon after that, your career.
This first article will be an
overview of Florida’s Whistleblower
Act. You can read it
yourself, in Florida Statutes,
beginning at section 112.3187.