Bums? Thats Putting It Mildly.

Weary of the homeless encampments, fights and filth that have kept families and tourists away from one of the largest beaches and parks in the city, the mayor wants to reclaim Higgs Beach — but first the city has to own it.

Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson will start that process Aug. 21 when he officially asks Monroe County officials, at a City Commission meeting, to give the park to the city to use, maintain, patrol and improve.

The area has long been under county control, and has been the subject of a hot-potato debate over whose resources should be expended to enforce laws there and maintain the park.

"The ultimate goal is to turn that into a world-class park," McPherson said Thursday, envisioning a small miniature golf course, and separate play areas for children of different ages. The building that currently houses Salute restaurant also would be owned by the city, and McPherson said he would love to see the high school culinary program use it as a student-run restaurant.

The cost of owning the park would run the city about $500,000 per year in law enforcement and maintenance, but, McPherson said, most of that money still would come from the Monroe County Tourist Development Council as part of a beach restoration and maintenance program.

"It would basically be a break-even situation," he said, adding that city resources already are being used to enforce laws, remove homeless people and stop fights that frequently break out at the picnic tables that line the beach.

"We have a huge park that we can't use," said business owner and father Jim Gilleran, calling the situation "absurd."

He said a committee of concerned residents has started circulating a petition asking for the removal of the picnic pavilions to discourage loitering by homeless people during the day.

Although strict laws govern what can be done to remove homeless people from an area, McPherson said he would like to see a nonprofit foundation eventually lease the park from the city so it could enact rules that would be a deterrent to loitering, such as charging families a dollar to "rent" the pavilions for a day.

"There are things other places have done that are possible if a nonprofit runs the park," McPherson said.

I am weary of the homeless in general. Having been homeless on several occasions during my life, I feel no qualms at all about voicing my feelings towards them.

For some reason the bums on Higgs beach have decided that their stinking, drunken, filthy dirty lives should be shoved in the faces of everyone and anyone who has a bath once a week or more. They have been left alone by the authorities for so long that they now feel that the BBQ pits and Tiki huts are their own.

They throw bottles and other garbage at anyone walking by, and god help you if they decide to demand money from you. They have sex in full view of the kids in the park across the path, and trust me nasty does not begin to describe it, but by the time the 'cops' appear naturally there is no sign of the offenders. They shoot drugs. They scream and yell at each other and anyone else in or out of earshot.

I find it incredible that there are apparently 'strict laws' governing how to get rid of these scum bags. I am going to look them up, because I simply do not believe that this kind of behavior is not more illegal that removing these 'people'. If I decided to set up shop there and hurl insults at passers by, I wonder how long it would be before a disturbing the peace arrest would ensue.looking them up