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 Posted - 12/03/2008 : 11:12:17 AM
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From the PalmBeachPost.com - November 25, 2008
Raise cigarette taxes, allow nude bathing to save budget, residents tell state lawmakers
By GEORGE BENNETT
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
BOCA RATON — Smokers and nude sunbathers could help ease Florida's budget woes, activists told state lawmakers during a public hearing Tuesday.
Palm Beach County's legislative delegation traditionally hears organizations ask for money at such hearings. But with the slumping economy expected to drain billions from state coffers, money requests were at a minimum.
A few speakers even suggested ways to raise more money.
Representatives of the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society called on lawmakers to enact a $1-a-pack increase in the state's cigarette tax, an idea they said would raise $1 billion a year.
But House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, questioned that rosy prediction, saying it came from the same economists who had failed to anticipate what is now expected to be a $2.2 billion state budget deficit.
Meanwhile, Florida Naturist Association President Richard Mason suggested one way to prevent any closings of beaches in state parks: Let visitors sunbathe in the buff.
"What we're suggesting is maybe you consider asking them to open a few of those as naturist beaches that would attract tourists and be fee-based ... and maybe keep a few of the parks open," Mason said.
He said visitors to clothing-optional Haulover Beach in Miami-Dade County pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy and pay the county $1.2 million in parking fees.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has identified closing up to 19 state parks as one of a number of potential cost-cutting measures. So far, no specific parks have been targeted.
County Public Defender Carey Haughwout didn't make a specific budget request during the hearing, held at the Mae Volen Senior Center. But she said her office may have to begin turning away clients because of reductions the state has already made in her office's budget.
If the public defender's office cannot represent a client, a judge appoints a private attorney whose bill is paid by the state. That will end up costing the state more money, Haughwout said.
Staff writer Dara Kam contributed to this story.
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Admin
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Posted - 12/03/2008 : 11:23:02 AM
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From the PalmBeachPost.com - November 28, 2008
Nude beaches seen as cover for cash gaps
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 28, 2008
Times are tough, maybe even tough enough to start paying more attention to one of the state's leading nudists.
"It's time for the state of Florida to grow up," said Richard Mason, the president of the Florida Naturist Association.
Mason, who lives in Miami-Dade County, was in Boca Raton this week to urge Palm Beach County's legislative delegation to take a less-is-more approach to plugging holes in the state budget.
Mason's idea is simple: More nude beaches equals more state revenue.
"If you can build golf courses for golfers, why can't you designate beaches for naturists?" Mason asked.
He uses Haulover Beach Park in Miami-Dade as Exhibit A.
For the past 18 years, that beach has been designated as a sanctioned clothing-optional beach — the only one in the state.
"It's drawing more visitors than the Florida Marlins and the Miami Dolphins combined," Mason said.
And the county is reaping the benefits of the $5 parking fee, which brings in about $1.4 million a year, he said.
"Every year the parking money keeps going up and up," he said. "Nothing stops it from growing."
Mason estimated that 60 percent of Haulover's visitors travel from other parts of the state, elsewhere in America or abroad to sunbathe in the raw.
"It's a destination beach all because it's a naturist beach," he said.
Mason's pitch for more nude beaches is especially well timed because Gov. Charlie Crist is looking to make significant cuts in state spending, including from the Division of Recreation and Parks. That division has been asked to come up with a 10 percent cut in its operating costs.
To do that, the division has come up with a plan to close 19 parks across the state until the economy rebounds. None of the parks is in Palm Beach, Martin or St. Lucie counties.
But instead of closing the parks, Mason has argued, the state can more than compensate for its revenue shortfalls by keeping all the parks open and changing the designation of a few beachfront parks into clothing-optional spots.
"Naturists like to be around the ocean," he said. "You put one of those beaches in Palm Beach County and it will draw a lot of people."
The John D. MacArthur Beach State Park in northern Palm Beach County had been an unofficial clothing-optional beach until the state took it over in the 1980s and began arresting nude sunbathers there.
A state appellate court decision ruled that being nude alone does not constitute indecent exposure, and that there must be some lewd and lascivious behavior with it.
"So you can have a naturist beach as long as it is in a designated area," Mason said.
Public officials, however, have been reluctant to make accommodations for nudists.
In 1989, Palm Beach County's Tourist Development Council turned down a request by the Eastern Sunbathing Association to officially make a portion of MacArthur Beach State Park clothing-optional.
Like Mason's request this week, the sunbathing group made an economic argument to the tourism board, saying that a nude beach would bring in dollars to the county.
But that was during more comfortable economic times, days when it was easier to dismiss nudists dangling dollars.
In today's budget climate, its harder to scoff at Mason's pitch without mulling over the pros and cons.
"It's been a successful formula at Haulover for 18 years," he said. "Why not give it a try?"
Or to put it another way, what's worse?
A bare-bones budget or some bare-bones bathers.
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Posted - 12/04/2008 : 08:50:58 AM
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On the one hand, this seems like a reasonable and practical solution to a locality's budget problems.
I'm a little concerned however with the implication that laws and regulations can be bought. I don't like the idea that something that was considered illegal yesterday, can be considered legal today as long as it pays well enough to the local government.
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jerseysomething
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Posted - 12/04/2008 : 08:54:03 AM
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It reminds me of an old Doobie Brothers album... "What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits".
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HomeNudist
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Posted - 12/04/2008 : 10:33:16 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by honeysuckle
I'm a little concerned however with the implication that laws and regulations can be bought. I don't like the idea that something that was considered illegal yesterday, can be considered legal today as long as it pays well enough to the local government.
 You said a heck of a lot in just two sentences. Got my vote for post of the day. 
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Pete Knight
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Posted - 12/04/2008 : 12:40:15 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by honeysuckle
On the one hand, this seems like a reasonable and practical solution to a locality's budget problems.
I'm a little concerned however with the implication that laws and regulations can be bought. I don't like the idea that something that was considered illegal yesterday, can be considered legal today as long as it pays well enough to the local government.
If you go back through legal history you;ll find a lot of things you take for granted today, were once illegal, take America's biggie, prohibition. Do you like a drink now and again, well 75 years ago you wouldn't have had the choice.
Perceptions change with time, given enough time I fully expect the attitude towards nudity to change, I just wish it was sooner rather than later.
One day it will be normal to have clothing optional areas in parks and on beaches, and nudity in ones own back yard will be accepted.
Pete Knight
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Posted - 12/04/2008 : 1:15:12 PM
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Thank you, HomeNudist :)
Hi Pete :) ... yes I agree that attitudes change. And I wasn't criticizing the effort to create more clothing-optional beaches. I'm all for that. But my point was with local governments "selling" their laws to whoever can ante up enough money.
You could make the same argument for lots of illegal things. We could tell the City Council that we want to make those things legal, because of the tax revenue they will generate. To me, that's not right. Things are illegal because our society considers them to be wrong, and that shouldn't change just because they could possibly generate more revenue.
Carole
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Warmskin
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Posted - 12/04/2008 : 4:21:33 PM
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The laws change, in part, because the "victims" of excessive laws are not really victims. Another reason is that social values change over the years, and that reflects in what our legislative people think and do.
Laws that are too harsh are not necessarily honored in courts, and laws that are too weak become scoff laws to be ignored by the public. We simply don't need so many laws that confound the public's senses and tastes. The laws we do need are ones that protect people, punish people that hurt others and steal their belongings, and laws that limit government's tendency to grow ever more powerful.
Nudism in generally agreed on sites has no victims, and preserves choice for everyone. In the case of Florida, everybody wins -- the state, nudists, textiles, and taxpayers. You have to wonder about the lawmakers who would be opposed to more designated nudist areas in Florida.
"If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." James Madison
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Edited by - Warmskin on 12/04/2008 4:24:53 PM |
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nativenude
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Posted - 12/05/2008 : 6:24:18 PM
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It should not be a question of whether to allow more taxes and nude bathing but an insistence of government to live within a budget. People have to live within a budget, it’s way past time all levels of government live within a budget set forth by the people.
Why such laws exist against nudity is a yet another perfect example of laws and regulations being bought and sold every day. Did you hear the majority of people come forth and claim nude people was going to be the next great downfall of the country? No because it didn’t happen, only a select few manipulating the system brought those laws about. In some cases it was a few busy bodies promising to destroy elected officials careers if they did not “protect our children”. In other cases it was the huge tax revenues promised and got by changing land use from vacant beach property to multifamily condominiums. Yet another and my favorite, land bought up by various government entities for public land but with restricted use or NO public access which allows vase amounts of taxes to be diverted and spent as they see fit rather than with public approval.
Pete brought up prohibition but did not expand it far enough. A perfect example of a law brought about by a limited few to control everyone else. The majority did want those liquor laws in the first place, attested by the fact that speak eases sprang up all over in spite of the law. Even after a good number of people tried to get the law reversed, prohibition remained on the books because a select few bootleggers with political control stood to make even larger fortunes by liquor remaining illegal. It was only after a majority of citizens came together that politicians finally acted to the majority voice rather than a select few. The common mistake made by to many is that “the law” and justice are one in the same. There are countless examples of laws where justice is not even included in “the law“ which then becomes nothing more than legal tyranny . People always need to use the basics of rights and freedoms to test any law--existing and especially any newly proposed law. Does the transgression really intrude on another’s rights and freedoms or is it just perceived ? Merely being offended by someone’s actions should never be an excuse to remove or reduce any persons rights. Such trampling on another’s rights is nothing new either, all thru history such actions can be found. At one time is was “the law” to execute starving peasants that merely hunted on the “kings land“. In the early 1900’s it was “the law” that pregnant ladies could not been seen in public during daylight hours. And now we have a new law banning drooping pants, if someone has the time to be offended by something so trivial then perhaps they need to do something constructive, like maybe help out an elderly neighbor being fined 100 dollars a day because “their grass is to high”. Then they can further help by getting all such idiot laws removed from the books ! The real problem of these changing times is that to many citizens have exchanged “government for the people” to “people for the government“ for a falsely perceived warm and fuzzy feeling. The lost of our rights as nudists is but yet another sign. At the present rate of lost freedoms the new worry will not be where is there a nude beach or resort but whether we have proper documentation when asked by the Gestapo “der papers please”. The sign of these changing times needs to be once again the majority of citizens demanding and taking back ALL of our freedoms and rights and accepting no less than government allowed to do only what the citizens approve of instead of the other way around.
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balataf
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Posted - 12/06/2008 : 03:47:26 AM
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Honeysuckle:
The phrase "economic development" covers a great many incentives to promote whatever types of business will provide jobs, tax revenue, or other desirable by-products. There is nothing wrong with this IF, note IF, the process is open and not subject to bribes or kickbacks. Every government with the citizens' interest at heart absolutely has to work that way.
I've been active in politics for 45 years, including running for office several times. That is how the game is played, and when done properly, we all benefit from it. The downside often comes when established interests try to block changes or growth that would compete with or replace them.
The worst areas, the most stagnant, are usually ones that do not have any very competitive opposition party to help keep things honest.
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FlCpl4NewdFun
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Posted - 04/30/2012 : 6:49:19 PM
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Textile motel turns to nudism to stay afloat.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/30/tagblogsfindlawcom2012-freeenterprise-idUS298626847220120430
FL Motel Goes All-Nude to Boost Bottom Line
By Andrew Chow, JD at FindLaw.com
Mon Apr 30, 2012 3:37pm EDT
When times get tough, the tough get naked. At least that's what a Florida motel owner hopes, as he turns his 32-room property into a potential magnet for nudists.
The Fawlty Towers Motel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., is set to go clothing-optional May 1, after years of declining business and increasing competition from larger chain hotels, its owner told Florida Today.
Going nude wasn't a snap decision. Owner Paul Hodge first had to convince his skeptical wife. And he has yet to sway some of his concerned neighbors, who fear the soon-to-be nude motel will expose tourists, and local children, to some unwanted sightseeing.
"Young people surf on that beach," one local woman complained to WFTV. "What kind of a message is that sending them? It's inappropriate."
But Hodge says his nude motel plan is all about his bottom line. "It's sort of a make-or-break situation," he told Florida Today. "We can't pay ourselves in winter. We had to scrap health insurance. Every year it gets a little bit worse."
To prepare for his guests to bare all, Hodge hired a lawyer and consulted with the American Association of Nude Recreation. They apparently found no state or local laws that would stand in the way of Hodge's plan for unabashed indoor nudity.
While that may be the case for Hodge's nude motel, other business owners may want to think twice before adding a naked twist to their business plans. Nudity may reclassify your business as "sexually oriented" (as one nude maid service in Texas recently found out), and may require new permits.
Failure to follow local laws can lead to costly fines. That's why it's wise to follow Hodge's nude motel preparations, and consult a local business attorney.
Hodge's nude guests, however, may still face criminal charges of indecent exposure if they set foot -- or technically, their naked private body parts -- outdoors.
As for nude motel owner Paul Hodge, neither he nor his wife plan to remove any clothing when the Fawlty Towers Motel gets its first nude guests on Tuesday. He's hoping the motel's bartenders, however, will at least go topless.
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sailawaybob
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Posted - 05/01/2012 : 02:38:35 AM
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oh no nude people at a hotel, when are people going to chill out. what always amazes me is that when i visit apollo beach (nude beach) about a hour north of this hotel there are usually more textile folks walking the beach than nudist and they past four other beaches-parking lot getting to this one. If its clothing optional watch how many clothing/textiles visit just to see whats going on. I bet his business will do good, well as long as the government doesn't get involved - yeah right..
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nudesunguy
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Posted - 05/01/2012 : 10:32:26 AM
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That hotel next to Haulover Beach needs to do the same. Talk about a business opportunity! They could raise their rates by 25% and still have full occupancy.
And speaking of Haulover, I thought it was very interesting that all the beaches to the south were nearly empty, whereas Haulover was packed. You want to balance the books, FL, open your eyes and smell the coffee.
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Allow nude bathing to save Florida's budget
