2020-10-08
Hello Key Biscayne!
Weāre three weeks out from an election and itās covid so thereās no need for excuses: itās mostly politics, but hopefully something you havenāt seen yet. Also, hereās a car crash:
A game of chicken gone wrong (he was fine). šø:UPTONG
Let’s go.
In the snooze
VIP You donāt have to wear a mask anymore so itās time to hit the club. Too bad you probably canāt get in to the hottest club on the island; Club 86.
So named for the mean age of its members, Club 86 was finally back at it last Friday. Plenty of drinks to go around for this motley crew, and for as rowdy as they got, they beat curfew by twelve hours. š»
Sunny / shady redux Last week we mentioned a mailer that went out endorsing certain Key candidates on behalf of the Republican party but not actually from the Republican party. This week weāve got the other side butting in.
A mailer went out, this time from the Democrat-leaning Blue Wave Coalition of Miami-Dade. It endorsed three candidates, bizarrely only one of them a Democrat. This mailer, thankfully and legally, had a contact address. When reached for comment, the group said two people from the Key chose the endorsements. Two people. š¤¦āāļø
The candidate interviews
After slacking off for months the Tropical Rag finally sent out its questions for the candidates on Monday. As of writing only one has replied, but as more come in theyāll be published here. If you already sent in your ballot you can still read them to find out how much of a blunder you made.
Wonk tonk
As the political season tis’ the Rag should write something about it, probably. The bond referendum has brought out some curious politics; ācuriousā meaning itās totally consumed anyone with an interest in Key politics. Here are some musings from your lowly editor on the state of the debate.
1. There are more issues on this island than a bond that will be decided by the time anyone gets elected.
2. Not one candidate has so far come out against any of the proposed projects.
3. Not one candidate has so far challenged the Villageās estimates for what it would cost.
4. The projects are going to happen, at some point.
5. Covid has a lot of people uncertain of everything. Uncertain people donāt want big moves.
6. Anecdotally, just watching the real estate sales every week it looks like sub-million dollar apartments are getting hammered. People are selling at a loss or not beating inflation.
7. āBlank checkā is a very good sounding slogan, and it works.
8. In thirty years of KB government, I couldnāt name you a āblank checkā, and I disagree with the majority of projects, even in hindsight.
9. On an island of ~15,000 people, I bet almost every opinion youāve read on this issue (including chats and social media) has been written by ~25 people (š). Most everyone else just fed off that.
8. Proponents donāt really acknowledge the tax burden or the uncertainty from covid.
7. Opponents donāt really either, but theyāve got their āblank checkā slogan.
6. Undergrounding the power lines is one of the projects slated for the bond. If you remember, there was a debate last year whether that should be paid via bond, or via individual assessment. If this bond wins out, itās one less obstacle for those for the bond method. The former pro-assessment group are some of the loudest voices against the bond. The pro-bond voices are familiar from the opposite side. That said, thereās also a voice or two that doesn’t fall into this dichotomy.
5. The wonksā meta-debate has turned from the bond, to if you trust the Village government.
4. Sowing a distrust in our government, considering their record, is a bad thing.
3. This is not some unprecedented island election. Every big project in the history of the Key has been this contentious.
2. There are more issues on this island than a bond that will be decided by the time anyone gets elected.
1.
From the peanut gallery
Regarding last week’s take on whatever is happening at the Winn Dixie:
Nice coverage on the crap with too much shelf space. I want to point out the Winn Dixie has insufficient shelf space for beer. It no longer has Michelob Amber Bock, Three Horses (a delicious Dutch beer at a domestic price) and other drinkable brews. Instead it shelves an assortment of piss ā IPAs (that wouldnāt have been brewed had there been refrigeration to ship real beer from England to India) and flavored concoctions.
-MF
Maybe you could say a word about the paper section (toilet paper, towel paper, napkins…) of the Winn Dixie that has been empty since the beginning of the covid. Are we surrounded by papervores?
-BBF
Calendar
Got a bite
- Sunday, 10/11
- š¶ Hey, it's something (Crandon Marina)
Last Week's Sales
Location | SQFT | Rooms | Prev | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|
380 Harbor Ct | 4175 | 7/6 | '04 $2.35m | $2.75m |
635 Harbor | 4718 | 6/6.5 | '14 $3.58m | $3.72m |
475 Warren | 1433 | 3/2 | '01 $650k | $1.25m |
7 Harbor Pt | 10776 | 7/9.5 | '06 $9m | $15.5m |
201 Galen 114 | 854 | 1/1.5 | '95 $94k | $238k |
460 N Mashta | 10875 | 7/9 | '07 $7m | $13m |
CC East 1113 | 1260 | 2/2 | '14 $690k | $715k |
KC II 1135 | 1546 | 2/2 | '12 $775k | $845k |
OC OT II 908 | 5207 | 4/5.5 | '07 $5.4m | $5.75m |
CC East 610 | 1260 | 2/2 | '00 $315k | $775k |
CC East 909 | 1260 | 2/2 | '04 $375k | $780k |
Casa del Mar 6E | 1875 | 2/2 | '11 $525k | $930k |
125 Woodcrest Ln | 1582 | 4/2.5 | '14 $1.7m | $1.2m |
Island politics depot
Links to information about the upcoming KB election. This section will be updated as new information comes along.
All candidatesā contact info
Islander News candidate introductions
Tropical Rag interviews
Franklin H. Caplan
Candidate forums
Candidate forum 2020-09-21
Other interviews
Anti-Social podcast w/Allison McCormick
Anti-Social podcast w/Oscar SardiƱas and Matt Bramson
Anti-Social podcast w/Frank Caplan
Anti-Social podcast w/Brett Moss and Michael Kelly
Anti-Social podcast w/Reynaldo Figueredo
General obligation bond referendum
Tropical Rag bond FAQ
Village of KB official bond website
Village bond workshop 2020-08-06
Village bond workshop 2020-08-20
One more thing
The croc has been found but the bird is still missing.
Be on your way
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Questions, comments, tips, or to take off these wet clothes and slip into a dry martini together šø, write to hi@tropicalrag.com.
The empanada run got delayed. On to the next week!
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