Key West Where Freeloaders Go Free

 

A decade ago I sold one of my favorite homes in Key West to a lovely couple from the Midwest. They looked at houses for a couple of years during and after the Great Recession in 2008. They had cash to buy the perfect or imperfect house. They chose the latter. They engaged a premiere architect and builder and rebuilt their dream house. They added one of those new-fangled tv cameras to the front porch which allowed them to watch Key West in real time from their place up north. 

The gentleman owner looked like Mr. Wilson from the Dennis the Menace tv show from the 1960s except he was a soft-spoken man - not one to get prissy about anything like Mr. Wilson. 

My owner had true Midwest values but appreciated the quirky Key West lifestyle. To a point. He had a Rule, however: Thou Shall Not Sit on My Porch! My owner called the Key West police when he saw a well known vagrant sitting on his porch. He called the Key West Police Department which arrested the man. I have seen this man's mugshot dozens of since then. I know his name. All Key West cops know this guy by sight. They book him and then the county sheriff frees him. All the time.

My buyers eventually sold their dream house not because of the porch sitter. But he did screw with their vision of a perfect retirement in Key West.

I will share this with you: The Monroe County Sheriff boasts about the money he makes for the county by renting rooms in the County Jail to other government agencies. He houses and feeds inmates like a hotelier except the guests cannot leave. He lets habitual freeloaders like the porch sitter go free and houses criminals for profit.