Former County Mayor Shirley Freeman Urges A "No" Vote on Study to Widen Channel

To the Editor:

In case anyone is interested, here are some of the reasons I will vote NO on the study to widen the channel by dredging.

We do not need a study to know that cruise ships are degrading the environment and character of Key West.

Hordes of cruise ship passengers discourage higher income tourists who stay days and weeks and benefit the economy many times more.

The Corps of Engineers would do the study AND get the multimillion-dollar job of widening the channel.  They have done hundreds of studies and rarely determine a project would be harmful.  They are the geniuses that put levies along the Mississippi River leading to huge floods and destroying the wetlands that previously protected New Orleans.  The Corps is also the culprit who completely messed up the Everglades.

Cruise ships pollute the water and foul the air.  Huge plumbs of sediment follow ships through the Key West channel.  The sediment sinks over the coral smoothering it.  Cruise ships use the cheapest, therefore the dirtiest, fuel available.

The cruise ship industry is not subject to safety, labor or environmental laws of any country including the USA. They answer to no one.

Cruise ships pay no taxes to any country.  They are registered in small weak countries like Nigeria.  They suck billions from the American economy and make enormous profits, but pay no taxes.

The cruise industry is undependable.  We cannot assume the ships will continue to come.  Cruise companies now buy their own islands for ship stops.   They also buy docks at ports-of-call.  They build their own shops and restaurants so the local economy has no benefit – only the pollution.  (Remember, the Navy considered leasing the Truman Waterfront port to the highest bidder.)

Mobile, Alabama and Houston, Texas and have spent millions of dollars to improve their docks to accommodate cruise ships.  However, now the ships bypass these ports and the cities are left with huge bonds to be paid off by taxpayers.

Please join me and Vote NO on October 1.

Shirley Freeman

Former Mayor of Monroe County