If you think the challenges facing Key West are new, think again. Some of our problems are so persistent that you can look at 10- or 20-year-old newspapers and see virtually the same stories we read now— about high housing costs, the never-ending quest for a workable noise ordinance, growing traffic on our roads, a diminishing sense of community, deadly scooter accidents— you get the picture.
At a certain point, we're going to have to sit down and assess responsibility for these continuing problems, and then make the changes necessary to address them. The most logical place to begin is with the City Commission, the elected officials most directly responsible for our local affairs. Our mayor, who ran as an agent for change (campaign slogan: "It's about time.") is the longest-serving member of the commission, first elected in 1985. And with the exception of Commissioners Anthony and Oosterhoudt, who were elected in 1999, the remaining commissioners have been around for at least six years and as long as 10. Clearly, at least some of our ongoing problems stem from the commission's collective lack of vision.
A perfect example of this shortsightedness is the commissioner's resigned acceptance of tourism as Key West's sole industry. As any student of our island's history can tell you, Key West's economy has repeatedly crashed when we've depended too heavily on a single industry— wrecking, sponging, the Navy, even tourism itself in the dark days of the 1970s and 1980s gas crises.
Our current trend toward lowest-common-denominator tourism is particularly risky. Key West's tourism appeal depends a great deal on its reputation for hipness, something that can change in a heartbeat in the fickle public mind.
We also depend heavily on our rich history as a tourism draw. But that history is disappearing before our eyes as business owners and homeowners alike run roughshod over preservation guidelines, and as historical hucksters create a counterfeit story of Key West.
And completely uncon-sidered is what will happen to tourism in Key West with the opening of Cuba. Opinions range from unlimited economic bonanza to withering depression, but nobody has produced any hard data to support either prediction.
If the softening economy produces a downturn in local tourism, we should move immediately to fill the gap with one or more sustainable replacements. Because Key West is such a beautiful place to live, we have a natural advantage in the search for a stable, low-impact second or third industry. Computer software companies and other high-tech businesses would be perfect choices.
Likewise, we could encourage individuals who telecommute to make Key West their home. Another possibility would be to persuade a top-notch learning institution to open a branch facility here, perhaps one specializing in marine biology that could be headquartered at the soon-to-be-city-property at the Navy's Truman Annex waterfront. The possibilities are numerous.
At the most recent City commission meeting, Commissioner Harry Bethel did make a half-hearted stab at addressing the economic diversification issue. He commanded the city manager to convene a group of successful local business people to come up with suggestions for diversifying our economy.
Of course, the problem is that these business leaders will almost invariably be intimately connected to the tourism industry, and thus have a vested interest in keeping it as the only game in town. To do this right, the city will actually have to spend some money on a legitimate consulting firm — and not on some shill for an economic special interest, as we've had in the past. Don't hold your breath.
Ultimately, responsibility for the city commissioners' failures rests upon you and me, the voters— or nonvoters— who keep them in office. We must demand a higher standard from our elected officials, pinning them down on their positions during elections and holding their feet to the fire after they're in office.
And if you can't get your commissioner to respond, then you have a duty to seek out somebody who will— or even run for office yourself. It's the only way we'll ever get the respect we deserve.