I’m a bit tardy, but I did read Friday’s Blue Paper.  As always there are quite a few items of interest.

Affordable Housing Public Form:  This is hosted by the Democratic Party, and contains this very intelligent statement.

Missing has been a comprehensive and integrated long-term approach to managing and maintaining adequate affordable housing in our community.

Yes, that’s basically the problem with this whole “affordable housing” issue.  A county-wide plan is needed.  Blowing $55 million on 157 units that don’t even serve the population in greatest need just does not make sense.  That’s about $350,000 per unit.  If as some folks claim, the need for affordable housing is something on the order of 6,000 units, it will cost $2.1 billion at that rate spending.  Perhaps there is a more effective way to use the resources available?  I certainly hope so.

Open Letter to Commissioner Jimmy Weekley:  This was written by a resident of Peary Court.  It addresses all the uncertainty around the purchase and how all this might actually affect residents.

The Missing $22,000 at Horace O’Bryant School: Why Potential Whistleblowers are Hesitating to Come Forward:  Making the point that if you fire a whistleblower, other whistleblowers will be less likely to come forward in the future.

The Peary Court PAC: Who Is “Housing First”?:  A good thing to know.  A couple of other points are raised.

1.  The people in need of “affordable” housing as presented in the media are not necessarily the people who will be living in Peary Court.  Also the name “Housing First” has been adopted by other organizations advocating for the homeless.  In other words, the people who will live in Peary Court are much more well off than some of the marketing might suggest.
2. Jimmy Weekley, a Key West city commissioner, is also heavily involved in the “Housing First” committee.  If he is that committed to the purchase, how impartial can his decision-making be on behalf of the citizens?
3. Most important.  It is possible to support affordable housing without supporting the purchase of Peary Court.  In fact, I would argue that Peary Court requires such a huge amount of taxpayer money that Key West will not have the resources to reach its “affordable” housing goals, whatever those may be.

Monroe County: “Affordable” Housing for the Rich:  This one is about the Toppino family’s 213-unit housing development on Big Coppitt.  The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved it under the guise of wanting to make “affordable” housing available.  But we know how that goes.  And we know the county cannot be counted on to tell the truth.

By creating a moderate-affordable housing category, the County has basically allowed “affordable housing” rental rates to rise to the market rate level. Developers are now building homes for people who legally qualify for “affordable housing” while making up to $73,440 a year [for a single person].

Honestly, why does the county even try pretending?

Being Homeless in Key West:  Definitely worth a read!

This one’s from KeysNews.com.

Keys receive funds for sewer upgrades:  More good news on the wastewater funding front.  The Army Corps money is another pot of money that the county tried to divert and squander.  They got caught red-handed and then lied their butts off.  Major fail.  Fortunately, this particular story has a happy ending.  Key Largo, Islamorada and Marathon managed to head them off and repair the damage.  This incident really illustrates how fundamentally dishonest and corrupt the county really is.  And it illustrates how vigilant those entities have to be to guard against the county’s chronic thieving.  More information can be found here.