William Crispin's Law office and tropical conference room sits on the ground floor below Sun 103.1's headquarters at mile marker 93.  Since 1997, the long arm of Crispin Law has worked with mainly agricultural clients in legal action against insurance companies who do not honor their policies. 

In addition to being a legal eagle, Crispin is concerned with the local community and the global environment in a rather large way.  He started work in Florida on early everglades restoration issues and held a position on the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Council of Advisors. 

Between sleep cycles, he also serves on the council of advisors for the University of Florida's School of Natural Resources & Environment and is general counsel to the South Florida Resource Conservation & Development Council, a non-profit organization under the assistance of the United  States Department of Agriculture. 

He is very interested in, and irritated by, the near-total lack of dialogue and discussion about global warming, particularly by the state of Florida, and especially Monroe County. 

"Both the state and the Keys are perhaps the most susceptible areas of the country to the impact associated with the  warming climate. From the association of climate change with the gulf stream, altering its direction of flow, rising coastal sea levels, increased frequency and severity of storms, to local fishery impacts such as our coral reefs, one would think that there would be more of a sense of urgency to lead the nation in addressing the issue," he says. 

Crispin is an action-taker, and has co-authored a patent for a methodology to calculate the amount of carbon sequestered by plants above and below the soil surface, which helps monitor Carbon Dioxide consumption.  Born and raised in Illinois, Crispin graduated from Chrisman High in 1975 and received a BS in Agriculture from the University of Illinois in 1979.  He received his Law Degree from Chicago's John Marshall Law School in 1982, and after making partner in the Illinois civil practice firm he worked in for six years, he sold his interest in that firm and began working with a firm in Coral Gables, during which time he began to cultivate his agricultural niche. 

"South Dade was the inception point for the Everglades Restoration projects, and the need for an attorney to counsel growers and the various governmental agencies from an agricultural production perspective was apparent," he says. He established an office in Homestead in 1993 to be more accessible to the agriculture community. 

Crispin's hands-on love for the environment may have come from the working farm on which he grew up, or from his father, a general contractor who died when Crispin was 6, leaving a wife and five children, of which Crispin was the youngest. 

Crispin's family raised thoroughbred horses, and after his father passed away, his mother, a registered dietician, started a dining room on the first floor of their country home.  A lawyer from Urbana who frequented the restaurant eventually became Crispin's stepfather, and his initial dreams of becoming a surgeon took on a new shape.  "He was very influential in steering me toward the legal profession," says Cripsin. 

After law school he turned down a couple of tempting offers to stay in Chicago and returned home to be with his mother.  "My mother's health was not good, and being closer to her was important.   At the time, I had been frequently traveling to south Florida to visit my uncle, Sam Crispin, and my cousin, Charles; Sam started Crispin Advertising, now Crispin Porter and Bogusky, in Miami," he says. 

And during his time in Miami he met his future wife, Eve, while performing duties as best man at cousin Charles' wedding in 1988.  One year later, the two were married and, after two Illinois winters, decided to relocate to South Miami.  They would travel south to the Keys to visit, until one day an opportunity to relocate opened up; they bought their home in Key Largo in 1996. 

"I continued to operate my law practice from Homestead for about six months, until I tired of the commute," he says.  A consensus from his customers in the north revealed that his physical location was not of great concern to them, and Crispin moved his offices to the Keys just in time to miss hurricane Georges. 

What he finds fascinating about the Keys are the many facets of community involvement and the opportunity these present. "No one can attend all the meetings and be on all the committees that meet  throughout the Keys; however, there are plenty of issues demanding attention, so I believe that just by being a full-time resident of the Florida Keys, one can't help but be involved in one constructive way or another," he says. 

And now, having lived here for 8 years, he has a feel for the place. He concerns himself with most aspects of Keys life and has been particularly active in the CommuniKeys process, an important extension of the Comprehensive Use Plan. To work it, one needs to seek the diverse opinions of the community, shape these into a workable model, and from these one can make well-founded decisions. 

"Whenever I attend such meetings/hearings, I am never sure this is truly being accomplished," he says. 

Wastewater is an issue that "is way behind the curve," he says. 

"One thing is certain . . . the Keys are much better off without the extensive, high-density development that was on the books and under construction in several places throughout the Keys before being halted," he says.  Regarding the need for a skilled labor force, he believes that an improved transportation system and workable affordable housing template would help.