5 County Commissioners in Walton County voted 5 to zero to affirm Customary Use as an ordinance. 5 County Commissioners voted 5 to zero to proceed with the process set forth in HB 631. 14,000 people signed affidavits affirming they have customarily used our beaches dispite claims private beachfront owners dispute that use. It's in the courts and we will see the outcome. I am confident those who have used the beaches as they always have will have their customary use affirmed regardless of private ownership. It's pretty simple. We will tell anyone willing to listen what we believe. We all have a right to continue using our beaches as we always have. The opposing view disagrees. They say the beaches have always been private. It's a matter of opinion. Sorry if you folks feel overwhelmed with sentiment towards customary use; more people just believe what we believe; that will always be the case. I'm sorry you feel outnumbered on this subject; the truth is you will always be outnumbered; just wait until this issue enters the national dialog. We are standing up for our beliefs and you, yours.
There will always be bad actors, out of control with personal attacks. We don't condone that, nor can we control that as people say and do things on impulse without thinking; plenty of examples of Private Beachfront owners treating beachgoers with disrespect. We, Florida Beaches For All, do not personally attack people and have treated those with private property on the beaches with respect. We will defend ourselves when attacked though. I am sure those folks at Florida Coastal Property Rights don't condone bad actors on the other side either.
You have all heard me on the record many times in the public realm in many BCC/County meetings vocalize that we should treat each other with respect. When we participated in the Stand your Sand events I asked participants to conduct themselves with respect and they did with no incidents. I have been called all sorts of names and lists of Customary use advocates have been published as though they are criminals on the Watchdog Blog (recently removed). Attempts to intimidate any and all Customary Use advocates that number in the tens of thousands have and will fail. Attempts to silence hard working Realtors on their opinions supporting Customary Use have and will fail. Attempts to call us all liars who just need to accept private beaches will fail. It's pretty clear we are all in this for the long run. I have had, for years civil discussions with opposing opinions; many of whom are my friends. We just disagree with you Reggie Gaskins or whoever you are with your fake name and all you others who don't stand out of the shadows as yourselves.
This utterly silly attempt at trying to paint CU supporters as ruining the legacy of 30A is truly ridiculous and yet another desperate tactic to silence the voices of ordinary beachgoers who have used the beaches for generations. The actions of a handful of private beachfront owners, political operatives, politicians and past politicians and lawyers going all the way back to the stop beach nourishment movement are responsible for any legacy damage that has and may occur. Our beaches have and aways have defined our 30A legacy and the actions of the few have damaged that legacy. It's about OUR beaches and we are going to work on many tracks regardless of intimidation, shaming or whatever may come to affirm our rights to continue using our beaches. A Judge in Walton County will decide, then many others will decide in other courts. Or, perhaps the people of Florida will decide. One way or the other this goes far beyond any of us. We hope to restore our Walton County beaches to their natural balance; shared, Customary Use. That's our aim and it's our opinion, that we have always had a right to those beaches and nothing and no one is going to stop us from using whatever legal means to that end.
