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FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
"every political insider should be reading right now."

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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

 

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The Blog for Monday, September 12, 2005

Florida's Shame

    Pierson, Florida; a delightful community:
    So farmworkers are in a bind. They can't stay in substandard housing. They can't afford proper housing. ...

    Pierson isn't the first place in the country to face a housing dilemma for its farmworkers. For now, however, it seems to be the only one not to recognize that there is a problem. That would be the necessary first step toward a solution. It would open several opportunities. The Town Council could apply for grants to subsidize farmworkers' housing. It could press the County Council to do so from its end, through its housing authority (as did Collier County, which applied, and won, $4 million in federal grants to house its farmworkers, in exchange for $7 per day for those getting subsidized housing). The Town Council could also enter into partnerships with nonprofit or private organizations to achieve similar ends. It's done elsewhere. Why not in Pierson?

    Because the Pierson Town Council is the problem. It does not recognize that there is a housing problem in town. Town Council Chairman Samuel Bennett, a fernery owner, is responsible for abolishing the town's housing code, a move that made it easier for landlords to avoid keeping up their properties decently -- until the county Health Department got involved. Bennett is himself a landlord for farmworkers. He's been cited for health code violations. He decided to evict tenants rather than make repairs.

    Isn't anyone on the council embarrassed for the town's indifference? Isn't anyone willing to try something other communities have tried and pulled off on behalf of their farmworkers? Ninety-seven percent of the nation's leatherleaf fern production takes place between Palatka and Pierson. As crops go, it's ornamental gold. As a state industry goes, it's a dependable boon. As a local industry goes, it's indispensable. If the industry is to stay put (when it could easily migrate to South America), the council and the fern industry should treat their workers as the indispensable adjuncts of that industry, rather than as disposable, replaceable slaves.
    "Farmworker housing".

7:10 AM

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