But City Commissioners Seem Ready To Act
CITIZEN ACTIVIST CITES LACK OF COORDINATION BETWEEN POLICE AND CODE ENFORCEMENT
Nearly a year has gone by and, apparently, nothing has happened since the Key West police launched its months-long undercover operation into the dark netherworld of t-shirt sales scams at some Duval Street stores.
"There's been no follow-through," complained city Commissioner Harry Bethel on Tuesday.
"Why did they spend all that money on the investigation, if they weren't going to benefit from the fruits of their labor," said Linda Berard, the leader of a group of citizens that picketed several t-shirt shops last week.
Last year, Rookie officer Tara Koenig, 22, spent seven months as an undercover investigator, actually working in several t-shirt stores. Although she was able to document how the various rip-off scams work, not one single arrest for consumer fraud was made as a result of her investigation.
However, a number of arrests based on drug and immigration charges did result from Koenig's investigation.
This week, Police Chief Buz Dillon issued a statement to KWTN indicating that the investigation is continuing. He also said he is working with the Mayor and City Attorney to try to criminalize some of the illegal business practices by some of the t-short shop operators.
Mayor Jimmy Weekley was in Miami this week, but his aide, Jay Gewin told KWTN: "The mayor has discussed the matter with the Chief of Police, the City Attorney and the City Manager, but we're limited by some of the things you can put in ordinance form," Gewin said.
Commissioner Jeremy Anthony agreed that the problem is a "confusing issue" but he said that he is contacting other resort cities to see what action is being taken there.
"These are crafty folk," he said.
Both Commissioners Ed Scales and Merili McCoy want to be more aggressive, however. They say they want to see an ordinance with more teeth in it and both say they have discussed this with City Attorney Bob Tischenkel.
Commissioner Tom Oosterhoudt is on record as favoring a consumer protection agency in Key West.
"The Commissioners know there's a problem, but we're trying to get the public's attention," said picketer Berard, who was critical of the Chamber of Commerce and Code Enforcement.
"The Chamber of Commerce should be policing their own," she said.
A call to Virginia Panico, the chamber's spokeswoman, was never returned.
Berard said that most Key West police officers have been very supportive regarding her group's two-person-at-a-time picketing on the sidewalks outside some of the t-shirt shops, reminding her group— but there was one notable exception, she said.
"Lt. Al Flowers chewed us out, telling us we were wrong to picket these stores," said Berard. "He was horrible."
She said she knows the majority of the t-shirt merchants are honest, pointing out that they are only targeting the three shops that have received the most consumer complaints.
Berard said her concern is that the majority of tourists getting ripped-off are elderly or foreign. Assistant city Manager John Jones echoed that point. "It's the same type of people who prey on the elderly in other con games and they're giving the whole town a bad reputation," he said.
Both commissioners Anthony and Bethel say they agree with the picketing. But while Bethel thinks it's important the picketers get the word out, he's not so sure their message troubles the offending shopowners.
"These people could give a damn if you picketed them forever," he said. "We've got to do something. I still say that the only way is to pull their business licenses and charge them more than these $250 fines."
Tischenkel has previously said that the state limits the fines municipalities can impose to a maximum of $500.
Bethel also said that a major problem in the prosecution is that "90 percent of the victims are tourists, who leave the city before we can get the merchants guilty of ripping them off."
Assistant City Manager Jones agrees. "It's very difficult to get these people to file an official complaint," he said, "because they have to leave town."
Berard also agrees that it is a major problem in more ways than one. She said these people go home and report how some businesses are charging exorbitant prices. "The city is getting a black eye among tourists. We need to come up with creative solutions."
Her biggest complaint remains with the "lack of coordination" between the police and Code Enforcement. "Two different businesses told me they have called the police numerous times, the police might come down and talk to them, but that's the end of it— and that incident never makes it into code enforcement's records."
Calls to Code Enforcement Director Charles Stephenson this week were not returned.