- April 23, 2024
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With apologies to our friends at Gold Coast Eagle Distributing …
You can be sure the proprietor (a Longboat Key resident) and his colleagues at Gold Coast Eagle, the distributor of Bud Light and other tasty beverages, cringe and hate it when they see their customers not drinking responsibly. There is always a minority of miscreants who spoil it for everyone else.
But as our staff writer John McGuire reported last week, holiday revelers on the north (and south) end of the Key have a tendency to go too far — to the point of violating laws and becoming a public nuisance.
To that end, Longboat’s police certainly had their patience tested last Memorial Day weekend on the north end of the Key:
Add to that the day-after trash strewn all over Greer Island, also known as Beer Can Island, and the beach at the Broadway access.
This is nothing new, of course. Indeed, there’s a reason Greer Island has had the nickname of Beer Can Island for decades. Being free and public, the beach and nearby sandbar on the west side of Jewfish Key, unfortunately, are manmade magnets for visitors. You can’t fault them.
But it appears, once again, the conditions are bordering on a tipping point of being out of control, excessive, no longer acceptable.
What to do?
You can’t close the areas.
But you know the term: “Crime and punishment.” If you want to stop bad behavior, punish it to the point it hurts, so the threat of punishment serves as an appropriate deterrent.
That strategy, of course, has been around since Adam and Eve. And although it has not had a 100% success rate, by and large, it works.
Longboat Key Police Chief Pete Cumming is preparing for the Fourth of July weekend, scheduling greater numbers of officers and working with the town staff to post more warning signs. All to the good.
It probably would help to be extra explicit on the signs:
In keeping with Longboat Key’s longstanding reputation as a place that is tough on crime, the upcoming holiday weekend also may be a time for law enforcement to employ a few extra strategies in advance.
Send out news releases to the local media (especially rock and country-music radio stations) to spread the word that local law enforcement is asking Fourth of July celebrants to party responsibly, pick up after themselves and abide by the law. A good tagline would be a quote from Chief Cumming letting everyone know that violators won’t be warned, they’ll be ticketed and fined.
It might even serve well for Manatee County and Sarasota County parks representatives to be stationed at public boat ramps, handing out flyers and warning boaters that local law enforcement will be out in force — in patrol boats and walking the beach.
Sarasota County officials already say they’ll be handing out trash bags to beachgoers, encouraging them to do what everyone’s mother supposedly taught: Clean up after yourself.
It’s remarkable how much more pleasant life can be if you follow your mother’s advice.
BURN IT DOWN?
Longboat Key Vice Mayor Ed Zunz and Commissioner Jim Brown have it right regarding the deteriorating south fire station on Gulf of Mexico Drive.
The difference between renovating ($2.7 million) and building new ($3.6 million) is minimal, especially over 30 to 35 years. Says Brown: “My gut feeling is we should be looking at a new facility.”
Scrape it. Build new.
