A letter in today's Mobile Register calls for legislation to prevent the use of tax dollars for rebuilding Dauphin Island.
Certainly the writer means well but he/she should have included supportive facts to back up his claim that the vacation and tourism industry contributes little to the overall economy in the southern portion of the state.
This is the author's single argument, the entire basis of his position, and he leaves it completely unsupported.
Every one of the people whose livelihood depends on Dauphin Island has a quantifiable reason to disagree.
ONCE AGAIN, the west end of Dauphin Island has been severely damaged by a hurricane.
But it doesn't even take a hurricane to flood the narrow spit of sand and run under houses sitting nearly in the Gulf Mexico. It only takes a higher-than-normal tide.
This time, Hurricane Katrina did more damage than usual. One-third of the houses are reported to be destroyed; a third are significantly damaged.
If those houses are rebuilt by their owners, no more tax dollars should be spent to protect them. Nor should any insurance fund associated with the state or federal government insure them.
If private insurers want to take on the risk of covering storm damage or flooding, that's up to them. If homeowners want to rebuild on private property, that's up to them.
But every time Dauphin Island floods, the west end erodes and narrows. A $1 million berm built a few years ago -- with 75 percent federal money -- lasted only a couple of years.
Unlike the beaches of Baldwin County, this piece of Dauphin Island is a relatively small part of the overall regional economy. Legislation of some sort may be needed to prohibit any use of tax dollars to protect it from wind, water and erosion, but in the long run, the public will benefit.
The lessons learned from decades-old decisions to build on Gulf Coast beaches should be heeded. Dauphin Island is a prime example of how such mistakes can prove to be costly.
While we sympathize with property owners who have lost their homes on the west end, there is no justification for repeating the mistake of building there.
If homeowners on the west end continue to deny the obvious and insist on rebuilding on shifting sand, they should do so entirely at their own risk.
What do you think? Should state and federal tax dollars be invested to rebuild Dauphin Island?