No More Palmas Del Mar

I sent a letter to Palmas Del Mar, a Puerto Rico resort I went to last year with my family. The service was so-so, but the actual resort and accomodations were fabulous. I felt like a fat cat.

Well surprise, surprise, it turns out that real fat cats go to Palmas Del Mar. I read this about Tom DeLay - a standup guy - in an AP article:

Public documents reviewed by The Associated Press tell the story: at least 48 visits to golf clubs and resorts with lush fairways; 100 flights aboard company planes; 200 stays at hotels, many world-class; and 500 meals at restaurants, some averaging nearly $200 for a dinner for two.

The meals and trips for DeLay and his associates were paid with donations collected by the campaign committees, political action committees and children's charity the Texas Republican created during his rise to a top spot in Congress.

Put them together and a picture of an opulent lifestyle emerges.

"A life to enjoy. The excuse to escape," Palmas del Mar, an oceanside Puerto Rican resort visited by DeLay, promised in a summer ad on its Web site as a golf ball bounced into a hole and an image of a sunset appeared.

The Caribbean vacation spot has casino gambling, horseback riding, snorkeling, deep-sea fishing and private beaches.

"He was very friendly. We always see the relaxed side of politicians," said Daniel Vassi, owner of the French bistro Chez Daniel at Palmas del Mar. Vassi said DeLay has eaten at his restaurant every year for the past three, and was last there in April with about 20 other people, including the resort's owners.

The restaurant is a cozy and popular place on the yacht-lined marina at Palmas del Mar. Dishes include bouillabaisse for about $35.50, Dover sole for $37.50 and filet mignon for $28.50. Palmas del Mar is also a DeLay donor, giving $5,000 to his Americans for a Republican Majority PAC in 2000.

Using money from a children's charity to live it up in fancy restaurants and golf clubs? The man is going to hell.

Anyway, here is my letter:

Director of Marketing & Communications
Palmas del Mar Properties, Inc.
PO Box 2020
Humacao, PR 00792-2020


In October 2004, my parents, my boyfriend, and I enjoyed a weeklong stay in a Club Cala villa at your resort. Although the services were only fair, the setting and the accommodations were excellent. At the end of the week, we all agreed that we would absolutely return, perhaps in the next year or two.

I am afraid that is no longer going to happen as long as the ownership of Palmas Del Mar continues to support U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay from Texas. I was very troubled to read the following in the Associated Press article headlined “Donors Underwrite DeLay’s Deluxe Lifestyle”:

[text as quoted above]

As you may well know, Mr. DeLay is currently under indictment in Texas for money laundering and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Beyond these charges, Mr. DeLay has been censured by the House of Representatives on three occasions for ethical lapses. He has received money and gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is under indictment and reportedly working out a deal to plead guilty – and is connected to a murder investigation in Florida surrounding his purchase of a floating casino. Further, Mr. DeLay has tainted the political process in Washington by allowing lobbyists to craft business-friendly legislation affecting all Americans, and threatening legislators of both parties in order to secure passage of some of his key votes.

As an American business, perhaps it is in the interest of Palmas Del Mar to subsidize Mr. DeLay’s pattern of corruption in order to ensure that federal laws – meant to protect the people – instead protect corporations. However, I have made it a commitment not to patronize businesses and enterprises that support the Republican party’s culture of corruption nor individual legislators that clearly act not only against the interests of people, but also in a criminal manner. It is simply unacceptable.

Unless representatives from Palmas Del Mar communicate to me – personally – that they will no longer support the present culture of corruption in Washington, please be assured that neither my family nor I will return to your resort. I will continue to seek out and patronize only those businesses that support ethical and responsible government.