The Southernmost Point has been a giant pain to its neighbors since time immemorial. Tour buses loiter there, pouring out toxic fumes. Bums wheedle tips, get high, and squabble. Parking is insufficient in peak season. Most importantly (to me), the Southernmost City chickens are constantly in danger of becoming pancakes.
City Commissioner Merili McCoy came up with a startlingly Gordian solution to this mess on Tuesday night, after trying in vain to amend the Tour Bus Ordinance. "When are we going to consider moving the Southernmost Point to Rest Beach? The pier is after all the true Southernmost Point," she said.
A memory came to me: back when you could drive to the end of White Street Pier, I used to make a little side trip from time to time just to breathe in the view and watch the locals fish with their hand lines. One morning two cars with Miami plates arrived as I was having a contemplative moment with my dog. The crews of the two cars spilled out, men, women, children of all ages, and they embraced, looking out over the water toward Cuba and talking excitedly in Spanish. Then they hauled out a boombox and began celebrating, dancing with abandon. It was a joy to behold, people celebrating freedom, a family reunited. As a finale, they hopped back in their cars and circled the pier's turnabout several times, slowly, blaring their happy music into the wide blue sky and honking their horns. Then they were gone.
I wished then that we had a ôSouthernmost Statute of Liberty.ö
Instead, we have a clunky, earthbound monument at the corner of South and Whitehead, stuck in a neighborhood that rejects it, and all the traffic it brings.
On Tuesday, when Commissioner McCoy suggested moving the monument, a gasp of awe and a heartfelt cheer arose from the floor. I was one of the many to applaud. What a wonderful solution to the tourbus problem! No lack of parking at our spanking-new Rest Beach. A breathtaking open view, perfect for photos. Even restrooms nearby, at Indigenous Park and Higgs Beach. WhatÆs not to like about the idea?
The Commission never stopped to say ôHmmm...Maybe....ö
It did spend plenty of time talking about replacing the current bus outfit, Personalized Tours, with trolleys, in an exclusive franchise— or maybe, better yet, with a City bus service! Now that would really fix things. They talked much about Enforcement. But first, a study!
Do we love our city and our fellow man and our lives enough to find solutions that will harm no one? Or do we just want every little thing— transportation, housing, commerce, horticulture, art— to become a police matter, to be turned over to government control?
We the voters must give our City Commission the guidance to do the right thing— Before it is too late. Should we move the Southernmost Point to Rest Beach? If you care, write or call your Commissioner.