The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1943-08-21
WARM GOLDEN EGGS

nut what course can Inc OIlZen 1OllON,
what course can any conscientious Key
Wester follow. when il comes to mind that
Key West has just had mountaineering
lear in the collection of taxes and is worse
than broke? HsH e
The Mercedes Hospital item led Citi-
zen sleuth to discovery that pretty well
took the wind out of him. He was trying to
learn why the city had not given the hospital
a penny since last March when he found out
that, in month, the city borrowed $4,000
TO make up payrOlls In other words, the
city borrowed 50. 900 on July 90 $4,000 OF
August 3 and $4,000 on August 20, despite
The record-breaking collections. As city
official remarked:
Not one cent of the money was spent
illegally. but. oh. how it was squandered!
Had il been spert carefully. even as care
fully as a man spends his own money. the
city today would have a balance of between
p and 80 thousand dollars in the bank. In
stead. il is worse than man who is broke;
II has had TO go into debt 70 meet its current
obligations You noted | said as carefully,
but maintain city official or any other
public Official should spend the taxpayers
money even more, carefully than he dOss his
own for that belongs 20 him and the other
is put in his hands as public trust.
Why is it that the financial condition
of Monroe county is generally good and
that of the city generally bad? Key West
has never had a council in its entire history
hat has succeeded i'm conserving its funds.
What is the reason for that? The commits
siOnerS are chosen from the same group
of residents as are the councilmen, 80 what
is the reason that one is thrifty and the
other extravagant?
The reason is not hard to find the COM
missiOnerS have the governor and the COMP
troler over them. the cOuncilmen are
their own bosses and are not answerable II
accountable to anybody, except the voters
of course. and that fact has not proved OF
any consequence. Why?
This true story will bring out the rea-
son. A Key Wester was stOrming in PepeS
coffee shop about the poor scavenger ser
vice His garbage had not been taken up IN
three weeks. Just about the time his cheeks
looked like blood would gush through them,
he blared, This Is the worst adminiStra-
ton the city has ever had
When he left the coffee shop, another
Key Wester remarked. You noticed the
way he carried on Well, when election day
rolls around he'll go to the polls and vote
for the same men
There's the reason in a shell smaller
than any nut: if our city government =
good or bad or Indifferent. it Is what it Is
because we want it that way. Nine out %
10 of us, when we go TO the polls, vote for
the men we like and rever entertain pass
ing thought about the interests of our city.
Where did all the money go? There i
rot enough space in this or in dozen edi-
torialS. 10 answer that question in detail.
Consider briefly 'athe matter of increased
salaries: What CHARGE would present
councilman. with,+be exception OF Paul AL
bury. whosNVas appointed. not elected. have
had To be successful had he addressed the
voters. during his campaigning. like this:
Fellow citizens: promise you that. IL
YOU elect me. | will more than double ny
salary ~ councilman during my term in OF
flee
Figure out. on your fingers. how many
votes Re would have received. had he said
that Yet he did that very thing. Further.
he not only increased his own salary, but
he increased salaries. right and left. and,
when The Citizen stopped him from pay
ing phony expense accounts he saw TO it
later that the city employees whose accounts
were concerned were given the equivalent
of those accounts by making their increased
salaries retroactive.
What IS true of the extravagant spend
ing of majority of the present eit;toHncil-
mer is true also of majority Of AL other
city councilmen in the history. ofth city
OF course. most councils did not Spend the
city's money freely. because they did not
have il TO spend. but in every case whenever
the city'S goose began To lay golden eggs.
they were yanked out of the nest before
4hay had q cbarea in cool