That "something" is our people's integrity. It is also our quality of life. But it is our integrity that is making me stand up for this institution. Key West is about change, and everyone I know who is successful here on Key West is good with that.
But some change is forced upon us, man-made as it were, and that is the kind of change that we can do without. With regards to Waterfront Market, private concerns and personal agendas have eeked their way into the day-to-day operations and management of island affairs to the point where one of our brightest most shining examples of home-grown success has been thrown on the chopping block - for the sake of progress and a much-ballyhooed "bottom line."
But the bottom line is this. Several parties want Waterfront Market gone so they can further their own personal gain at the expense of our island's quality of life and our people's integrity. And with regard to change for the sake of the few at the expense of the many, that is where I draw my own line. It's where I have always drawn it. And mostly most stay well away from this particular line because it is where so many of us draw it. We are being tested.
Here it is. Silence equals death. It's either put up or shut up. And personally, I'd rather leave my island home than live here knowing I let my island and my community down in a moment of genuine need.
Waterfront Market is greater than the man who created it. It is a community success, and I'll be damned if I surrender it to greed without publicly standing up for what Waterfront Market stands for to me.
It reminds me of this famous poem.
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
If we allow the taking of Waterfront Market from our friend Buco, how much longer would it be before these rude intruders came after us?
My name is Mike Mongo. My phone is 305-304-1555. The email I can be reached at is immikemongo@gmail.com.
1 comment:
It's good to get more details on the 'behind the scenes' activities surrounding this debacle.
The city's spin sounded too 'pat' for my taste. We have to be out of town on 13th so we'll miss the GATHER 'ROUND. I'll be checking the blog, tho, from afar to see what happened at that meeting.
By the way, I wrote all commissioners and the mayor. I've heard nothing from the Mayor. Our absentee ballot is here on the table and I can promise my vote will hinge on what we see from the Mayor.
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