Dear Gov., I am writing to you.
As the chief executive of your state, and one of its civic boosters, I am sure you have wornied of the Florida Man meme: Florida man attacked during selfie with squirrel, Florida man arrested for throwing alligator through drive-twelve window, and Florida man trapped in unlocked closet for
It's not a good look to have a lot of different headlines. The state is shaped like a gun but, thanks to Florida Man, it sometimes looks like a funnel.
That is a gross misrepresentation of Florida's citizens. For example, take you. A graduate of the Ivy League school. J.D. came from Harvard. A decade in office. The New York Times and The New Yorker have praised your intelligence, ambition and cunning. You are like an inverse Florida man. You like the jokes about Florida being stupid. People don't like being reduced to a cliche.
clichés were top of mind when you sent two planes with 50 South American migrants to Martha's Vineyard. Your previous anti- immigrant tactics can give you ideas about what these people mean to you. You were wrongly accused of selling Fentanyl to illegal immigrants. The summer coronaviruses surge was blamed on President Biden, without merit.
The latest in a game where red-state governors use humans to have a laugh on blue states was hatched to furthering a concept. Drop a bunch of dangerous, disease-carrying people off at someone else's house.
That was the next level. Martha's Vineyard has evolved from a New England vacation spot to an Elysium of the Elites over time. The president lives on the Vineyard. Ted Cruz said rich liberals swirl Chardonnay at the General Store where Larry David snubs Alan Dershowitz. Martha's Vineyard is now the symbol of everything that is wrong with the world.
I live on the Vineyard as well. Every year, I call the island home. I am definitely the eye you were trying to poke with your plan. I don't mind if you call me something else.
Martha's Vineyard and its 20,000 year-round residents don't share the same stereotypes. More than 3000 people are registered at the island food pantry, which is almost 7.5% of the population. Donald Trump received almost 30% of the votes in the town. The majority of the population was born in Brazil.
We have a lot of people who are not US citizens. Martha's Vineyard has been welcoming foreigners since Englishman Bartholomew Gosnold arrived in 1602. It has been a great example of integration. In the 19th century, many of the island's inhabitants spoke sign language. Oak Bluffs has been a summer destination for African American families for over a century. Camp Jabberwocky has been in Vineyard Haven for 63 years. The island has a deeper and more dynamic character that makes it an appealing place.
A profound housing crisis is one of the things we have. Like a lot of nice places in the country, The Vineyard has seen a population surge that has pushed real-estate opportunities for the working and middle class further out of reach. There was a problem before 2020. The island is a victim of it's own success.
The area's beauty has attracted more buyers to a shrinking pool of land thanks to decades of careful preservation. New houses need more people to serve them, while new residents need more people to serve them. The options for living at the back of the equations are very limited. The people who can't pay the bank note are not the only ones who can't. Fishermen and their families have plied the local waters for hundreds of years. The newest vintage is one of the clichés.
Martha's Vineyard voted to set up a housing bank last spring. Every real-estate transaction over $1 million is subject to a transfer tax. Long-term affordable-housing solutions would be supported by the capital. The Housing Bank wants to raise $12 million annually. The goal is to keep people close to work. $12 million is the amount of money you have earmarked to send people who want to work far away.
The migrants were taken to a military base on Cape Cod. We don't have the facilities needed for safe and dignified housing. The memories our visitors have with us will be good. The forty-eight hours were spent in the company of a generous and compassionate community.
There is a rally for fellow humans on the Vineyard.
Can you tell me how about you?
The author of the book "Steal This Country: A Handbook for Resistance, Persistence, and Fixing (almost) Everything" isAlexandra Styron.
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