Monday, July 16, 2012

Ballad of the Lost Hotel

"Down at the lost hotel
Where there’s battles to be won
But the silence overwhelms you
Whoa and you come undone
You lose all your good sense
You go way over the edge
There’s no turning back
Once you’ve checked into the lost hotel"

This sad song refrain reflects on the lost opportunities and squandered resources suffered by the residents of Longboat Key over the past 3 years. For all their focused efforts to legislate a motel/hotel at the north end and the south end of the island, the result has been economically disappointing for the community as a whole. We were all told that the commission was involved in community-changing legislation that would be the salvation of Longboat Key. Instead we stand here, after three wasted years, somewhat behind where we were before this commission took power in their single-minded quest to create a "happy hunting ground" for developers.

If the commission had instead put its efforts into promoting the paradise that is already here, we might already be in the middle of a community renaissance and healthy housing recovery. Instead we have litigation, property owner unrest and falling demographics. We are no further along than when a now commissioner made his famous "penthouse edict" that he was going to take back the commission. The commissioner has been overwhelmingly successful at that, but sadly ineffectual at implementing anything he promised that promotes the well being and prosperity of Longboat Key.

The news that the north end bank building is in receivership with the Securities and Exchange Commission, prompted a developer to call me and say he was no longer interested in looking at a motel/hotel on the north end. Once again we discover that another member of the much touted member of the local business community is a scoundrel, and I am not referring to the developer who has been a "good guy". As a result much of the north end commercial property is likely to remain in a state of decay. This in turn has a negative effect on surrounding property values and community moral. There has been too much "shuck & jive" surrounding the north end motel. Some prominent citizens should hang their heads in shame.


The most recent actions by the town commission may actually be hindering what remains of any opportunity to re-mediate the north end commercial blight. I speak of the 30% residential restriction in the 2012-6 town ordinance. The commissioners tried to legislate a motel/hotel by employing the 30% residential restriction. Now their efforts have done more harm than good.

Hundreds of north end residents attended 3 commission meeting to protest any legislation that permitted inappropriate commercial tourism in a uniquely residential community. The commissioners totally ignored the people and passed legislation that favored a motel/hotel, while making it impossible to develop a residential solution.  The commission has now made a mess of things.

The first action of the commission in the fall should be to undo the restriction on residential development on north end commercial land. There will be no motel/hotel in the foreseeable future. The north end cannot wait another decade for a new commission to take effective, instead of pro-tourism, action to restore the beautiful ambiance that was once the jewel of the north end of Longboat Key.

As it turns out, the actions of the current commission have not furthered the great island revival promised by the Key Club. Just the opposite has occurred. The land use reforms sought by this commission have destabilised the real estate market on Longboat Key. Perspective property owners are faced with the spectre of uncertainty in town land use policies. Whereas in previous decades, Longboat offered home buyers a stable economic future, the current commission has demonstrated its willingness to allow unbridled commercial tourism by removing all safeguards that had guaranteed that investments in our community were stable and secure.

In a previous election I was helping a candidate put out campaign signs. I noticed that one of my signs had been removed soon after I had placed it on a commercial property that had always allowed signs to be posted from all candidates. When I inquired, the person in charge informed me that my candidate's sign would not be allowed. When I asked why, I was told that there were promises of a 5 story hotel at the north end. That was the day I became opposed to strong arm politics on Longboat Key. Promises, promises, lots of smoke and no fire. That is what happens when a communitity allows a few people to run the show.

Increasingly over the past three years, Longboat Key politics have deteriorated. As if that was not bad enough, the people who are responsible for this have failed to deliver on any of  their election promises. We have no new motels/hotels. I am told the Key Club is being allowed to deterioriate further. Retail business continues to deteriorate in spite of increased tourism figures. Perhaps that is because tourists only require food and tee shirts. Residents long ago found that going off-island was cheaper and more efficient, since much of the local retail business was directed at tourists anyway. It seems we cannot have it both ways. Either we are a residential community or we are a tourist destination. One way is good for the residents. The other way is good for the business community. The struggle continues.

Town government has become bare-knuckled power-brokering and fractured public interests.

The past three years have not been good for our community. When we should have been accelerating into the technology age as a community, we squandered our time and efforts on useless campaigns to promote cell towers and large motels in residential neighborhoods and community centers we cannot afford. We have allowed special interests to take control of the town government agenda. Worst of all, the town has accomplished nothing that furthers the community as a whole. The current regime has failed to produce any meaningful actions for three years.

We have lost more than a couple of motels/hotels and a few years where we could have been moving forward as a community. We, as a community, have lost our way politically.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

The tragedy of commons


"The tragedy of commons is a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource, even when it is clear that it is not in any one's long-term interest for this to happen."

The town commission, who gained overwhelming control of power three years ago, and has been augmenting their control through appointments to the commission, the planning and zoning board and a town manager on a short leash, have completed their appointed duties and altered both the comprehensive plan and the building codes. What the commission has done is pave the way for developers to do to us, what they have done to many other Florida coastal communities.

During the past three years, if one examines the commission meeting records and legislation, the words resident, property owner and taxpayer are seldom seen. Words and actions centering around tourism, business and development abound. The evidence is clear, no matter how some commissioners try to spin it otherwise.

This commission has completed its self-proclaimed duties. Now it is time for property owners to unite to protect what is ours. We need not become victims of the developers, who will most assuredly descend on Longboat Key, now that the commissioners have removed long-standing protections and barriers. We are already in the litigation phase of this process as evidenced by the IPOC/Key Club legal struggle. Anyone who has had any dealings with the town realizes that the property owner has become meaningless to the current town government. Lawyers, not residents, are the people who have the town government's attention.

We are in the midst of an island-wide "tragedy of commons". Individually we are sitting ducks for exploitation. If it is not you, it may very well be your neighbor. It is only through coordinated actions and pooled resources that we will be able to counter the recent commission activities surrounding our comprehensive plan and building codes. Very few residents or resident groups have the resources or the dedicated leadership of IPOC. The Longboat Key property owners may require a legal fund that is well-organized and funded by hundreds and perhaps thousands of property owners with the single shared interest of preserving the low density, low profile tranquility that has made Longboat Key a premier community for the past 30 years.

There are certain residents who accuse others of conspiracy theories and doomsday scenarios. It is the very people they are accusing who most want their projections to be found baseless. Unfortunately, there are too many sad tales of developer exploitation, in too many other unsuspecting communities, for many of us to be comfortable that what this commission has done will not profoundly affect our community.

We may soon have the words Blackpoint and Bay Isles become a large part of the Longboat Key dialog - now that they have rights to 1600 residential units at Bay Isles. We may discover that the Key Club expansion was only a "red herring" after all.

http://www.blackpt.com/portfolio_LongboatKeyClub.html

There are some property owners who will welcome anything that is a new development. There may be many others who will flee the island. Given the recent history of resident activism, I doubt there will be many who will do much, if anything, to protect what is theirs.

We may have already become a community where form comes before function, and the flow of community wealth into the hands of a few developers is tacitly accepted as being the easier path. After all tomorrow is another tee-time.

Perhaps a community leader or property-owner group will emerge to become the new and truly representative PIC on Longboat Key.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

We Need a Global Currency


They say that in the financial markets everything is a Zero-Sum-Game. If one understands that the money supply is finite, then every time someone profits from a currency trade, somebody loses. Few people understand the significance of currency trading compared to the puny DOW average we are all fed on the evening news and in the WSJ.

Here is just one example how global currency trading impacts your wallet on a daily basis.

In 1987, Andy Krieger, a 32-year-old currency trader at Bankers Trust, was carefully watching the currencies that were rallying against the dollar following the Black Monday crash. As investors and companies rushed out of the American dollar and into other currencies that had suffered less damage in the market crash, there were bound to be some currencies that would become fundamentally overvalued, creating a good opportunity for arbitrage. The currency Krieger targeted was the New Zealand dollar, also known as the kiwi. 
Using the relatively new techniques afforded by options, Krieger took up a short position against the kiwi worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In fact, his sell orders were said to exceed the 
money supply of New Zealand. The selling pressure combined with the lack of currency in circulation caused the kiwi to drop sharply. It yo-yoed between a 3 and 5% loss while Krieger made millions for his employers... 


Perhaps the increasingly global economy has reached a juncture where a single currency may be more stabilizing and efficient that the world's current system of local currencies and the daily transfer of vast amounts of value from everyman to the enrichment of a few banks and billionaires. Yes your friendly bank bets against your good fortune every day. The ensuing LIBOR scandal will only illuminate a fraction of the financial shenanigans perpetrated on the general global population by the banking industry, while they, at the same time, snivel about the need to gouge  depositors for every escalating fees and charges, and always in small print.


Besides all the complicated reasons why a global currency might help to stabilize the global economy, there is the daily drain of common resource into the hands of a few speculators, that far exceeds the sum of all stock trading, that would be eliminated with a single currency.


The same TVM metrics apply to your pocketbook and currency trading, as apply to the onerous fees and charges imposed on your 401K or mutual funds. Little by little these costs mount up. Over decades currency trading really matters to the average world citizen. When one takes out a 30 year mortgage the interest  paid over the duration of the mortgage, exceeds the amount borrowed. Likewise, currency trading most likely decreases your net worth to a significant degree just as inflation and deflation have a negative effect over time.

There is a saying that "misfortune" is the type of fortune that never misses. It seems that when it comes to the global financial zero-sum-game, the financial misfortunes of the little-man are never passed over.


The media recently pointed out that if a food stamp recipient (49 million Americans now receive SNAP) is found to have lied on any form, they are denied assistance forever. Meanwhile the banking industry is now experiencing their 6th or 7th major criminal disclosure (LIBOR manipulation) in so many years and still no one is punished.


Woody Guthrie once wrote that some people rob you with a gun, and some people rob you with a fountain pen. He also said an outlaw never drove anyone from their home. His words ring too true 70 years later. It seems the bankers are still the ones driving people from their homes.

A global currency would eliminate the needless and enormous profits of the currency trading industry that directly affect everyone. Likewise a global currency will stabilize commerce between areas of the globe. A single currency would greatly simplify financial and commercial planning and transactions. Allowing a few banks and trading groups to manipulate national currencies in a totally unregulated market only adds to our current global financial instability.

Currency trading is another form of the Chinese water torture. Drip by drip, value is transferred from everyman to the rich man over lifetimes. If  no one has the money to buy things, how do we create jobs? For those who celebrate the rich and famous, who now use our money to purchase national and local elections, are you better off than your parents?

Perhaps it is time to put nationalism aside and get down to the business of improving global financial conditions. It seems we are now all on the same globe financially.