08/17 - Your idea of 'affordable?'

Brunswick News
Date August 17, 2007
Section(s) Letters


Walter Geiger, in his guest editorial column, writes about his memories of trips to Jekyll Island. Thousands of Georgians would love to add stories of their own to his. Most of these same visitors would agree with Geiger that Jekyll's aging hotels need to be updated or replaced.

What Geiger fails to consider is that the losers in the developer free-for-all he proposes for revitalizing the island would be the tens of thousands of Jekyll's long-time visitors who are drawn to Jekyll because of its unique character and affordability.

Mr. Geiger, get with the program!

The kind of development that is being courted by the Jekyll Island Authority's Board would be most unfriendly to the conventions you would like to see return to Jekyll. Can the folks attending the Georgia Rural Water Association's convention afford $250 a night hotel rooms?

Is this what you, Mr. Geiger, deem "affordable" for the average Georgian? If you answer yes to these questions you are out of touch with the Jekyll Island of your youth and the Jekyll Island that is cherished by tens of thousands of its visitors. Jekyll needs responsible stewardship from the JIA Board.

That stewardship includes the responsibility of upholding Jekyll's affordability mandate and embracing, not disenfranchising, the clientele that has sought out Jekyll as a vacation and convention site for decades and decades.

Margery Rubin