Letter to the Editor of the Miami Herald

March 24, 2008

Letters to the Editor

The Miami Herald

One Herald Plaza

Miami, Florida 33132-1693

EW: A straight up look at look at an upside down editorial on golf course conversion, land use, the legislative process, and unmentioned clear and present dangers as put forward by you on Sunday March 23, 2008 in an editorial entitled “Find Compromise on Golf Course Rule”.

Sirs,

Pray tell but what business is it of the Broward County Commission to “strongly discourage” anything? In the above mentioned editorial you cite Broward County Commissioner Ken Keechl, surely an early favorite in the race for Luddite of the Year, who wants the Broward County Commission to “strongly discourage” the conversion of golf courses to residential development.

Clouded by typical government persiflage the specific target is the Coral Ridge Country Club. The owners of this tract believe that a portion of their property can be developed for residential home sites.

One of the fundamental tenets of our legal system, one that predates the Constitution, one that predates the Magna Carta, one that predates the agora in 5^th century Greece is the right of a property owner to dispose of his property as he sees fit. It is a right we have from birth. It is part of the Natural Law; it is a gift from “beyond the stars”.

Commissioner Keechl, surely the poster boy for tree huggers who have no use for the Rule of Law, proposes a Rube Goldberg system for property owners who wish to dispose of their property.

He seems to be saying that should you want to turn your golf course into a homeless shelter, or single family homes, or a hospice for AIDS victims you have to replace the disposed of golf course with a…golf course.

He phumfers something about the “contamination from pesticides and herbicides” and how this must be mitigated. I have a simpler and cleaner solution. If this problem is such a clear and present danger it would not be in the best interests of the people of Broward County for the County Commission to “strongly discourage” their continued use. What the Broward County Commission must do is ban the sale and usage of these products in Broward Country.

Why should ordinary citizens be put in harm’s way so rich White guys can 3 putt a verdant green? For that matter why should people walking in their neighborhood, perhaps with their children or visiting senior citizen relatives, be exposed to the toxic vapor of chemicals designed to prevent crab grass or mealy bugs?

Your editorial says that “governments have the authority to control how land is used for the common good”. If the “common good” is the desired result why stop with land use? We parse the Constitution for language supporting or attacking the right to bear arms. Tobacco kills far more people in a week than a truckload of Saturday Night Specials will in a year. Why not ban the sale and use of tobacco in Broward County? Why not ban the wearing of Spandex by calorically challenged people? The sight of highlighted pudenda and flaccid abductor muscles cannot contribute to the “common good”. Why not ban rude Quebecois from public places in Broward County? We have quite enough home grown boors without having to countenance guttural Frog speaking Gallic wanabees from clogging the aisles at our local Publix.

On the other hand perhaps Commissioner Keechl is on to something here.

There is something to be said for codifying fits of pique with the mantel of the law.

We pledge allegiance to free speech with certain exceptions.

We say that all men are equal before the law but certain men are more equal.

In a period of economic uncertainty, in a time when real estate values resemble a parabolic curve, in a time when cities are desperately looking for something else to tax we place obstacles in the path of risk takers who are willing to put their black chips on the table. All they ask is that the wheel be level and that the croupier be fair. The dealer shouldn’t be able to change the rules after the game is on. To do so makes a mockery of the Rule of Law.

One simple truth is that only wealthy people can enjoy the luxury of “open spaces” and free range roaming but organically fed chicken. Another simple truth is that when wealthy people indulge their fantasies poor people prosper.

We are told that we have an “affordable housing” crisis. Paraphrasing James Madison, a person with whom Commissioner Keechl is not the least bit familiar, “I am unable to lay my finger on that apart of the Constitution that says”…I can sell my house for considerably more than I paid for it. The market is “solving” the housing “crisis” by egregiously increasing the pool of potential buyers. The market, a thing which all card carrying members of the modern American Liberal fuzzy thinkers despise because it defies top down ukases, is speaking. We try to legislate away the discomfort caused by this at our own peril for two reasons: #1 – We can’t. #2 – The self induced chaos is worse than the problem that led to the “solution”. The sad History of 70 years of public housing in this country is the classic translation of res ipso loquitur. Of course, past failures are looked on as a reason to try more of the same, only much more. Such are the thought processes of the dunces we put in charge of the cookie jar.

If perpetually rising prices for housing is looked on as a “good” thing for all concerned why aren’t perpetually rising gasoline prices accorded the same respect? If the common good of clean air leads to fewer drowning polar bears why do we object to the trade off of sky rocketing grain prices as we divert more and more grains to making fuel friendlier to said polar bears? The more corn we divert to making ersatz gasoline the more difficult we make it for 3^rd worlders to feed themselves. It’s that simple and that complex. The Law of Unintended Consequences is afoot here.

If Commissioner Keechl is concerned with keeping green space green and clean air clean why doesn’t he “strongly discourage” the use of air conditioning in buildings owned by Broward County this hot season? Half the electricity generated in this country comes from burning coal. Everybody knows how dirty that is. Why not be a trend setter and turn the A/Cs off for the months of July, August, September, and October? Think how much better all the employees will feel about saving the planet and cutting back on harmful expenditures.

As a serendipitous addendum we will have a 4 month long furlough from regulators whose goal in life is to “strongly discourage” behavior that they don’t like.

Commissioner Keechl’s time would be better spent by preparing a referendum on manatee suffrage. That’s a task worthy of his ample talents.