Things are looking like they might be changing in some political respects in the Keys. Exciting stuff on lots of different fronts.
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First I was surprised to see Mayor Cates decided to pull the plug on Paul Clayton's contract. Clayton was hired by the city at $40,000 a year to develop low income housing plans. That nothing ever came of this contract didn't dissuade the former administration from renewing the contract with Clayton, a friend of former City Manager Julio Avael. Mayor Cates ended it, though there is some speculation he may maintain the account and give the money to some other "deserving" consultant. The Blue Paper meanwhile says Mayor Cates has quashed rumors that he was preparing to hire former City Manager Avael as a consultant. There is one other consulting account that is up for renewal next summer and that would also be for affordable housing. There is a lobbying firm in Tallahassee which is taking money from the city of Key West to promote some sort of affordable housing, also to no visible effect. These aren't large sums of money but it's a start.
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The earth shook at the county commission meeting this week when the State Attorney Dennis Ward stood up and addressed county commissioners. He asked Commissioner Mario DiGennaro how he had heard about a particular company DiGennaro wanted to hire to do some collections work for the county. DiGennaro, according to the Citizen newspaper thought he didn't have to follow the law and put the proposal out to bid. When the state attorney asked him how he knew of the Miami company's existence DiGennaro decided to duck the issue by withdrawing his proposal altogether. The suspicion thus lingers that some improper lobbying may have taken place. I have to admit I am developing a sneaking admiration for Dennis Ward who isn't backing down on his election promise to hold elected officials accountable. DiGennaro, who made a fortune as a businessman seems to have the barest grasp of the fundamentals of propriety as an elected official or how to follow lawful protocols and procedures. It is nice to see the county's top law enforcer taking the time to make sure he toes the line. The days of lawmaking by wink and nod with Commissioner Sonny McCoy appear to be over for the time being.
.The last piece of localnews that has got my head spinning was an editorial in the Citizen backing Key West City Commissioner Clayton Lopez's call for a re-vamp of the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust. The trust appears to be telling the city it doesn't have the money to refund $102,000 it was over paid by the city for a contract. Not only that, but the Land Trust is asking for more money from the city saying it has run out of cash to fund it's daily operation. The trust was set up to rehab housing in Bahama Village and rent out it's property to keep housing affordable in the community. A nice idea that doesn't seem to be working out so well especially as the paper says the leader of the trust likes to keep contracts all in her family. I had heard that Mayor Cates was a friend of the trust and his election might have been an election in their favor. However the re-election of Clayton Lopez by a wide margin doesn't look at all positive for the future of the BCCLT. His was a nasty fight with accusations flying back and forth betwen his campaign and that of the losing candidate, a former president of the trust. The newspaper also reported the board of the non profit organization got into a discussion over ways of defeating Lopez in the election- a potential violation of it's not for profit status. The trust also got into a fight with former Mayor MacPherson who opposed the trust's plan to build a senior citizen center on the former Navy land at Truman Waterfront. How Mayor Cates cuts this Gordian knot will be interesting to watch.
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As Fantasy Fest approaches in Key West I am keeping my eye on the serious stuff that has been coming out of assorted city halls. In Marathon the city manager quit after he was suspended with pay pending the outcome of a sexual harassment lawsuit. In Key West the City manager has curtailed everyone's ability to cancel parking tickets. It used to be any parking control officer could void a parking violation. Then the powers in charge said only the officer isuing the ticket could void it. Now only the city manager and one named police officer can void tickets. It seems too many tickets were being cancelled losing the city revenue. At the same time the city is contemplating what to do about free parking passes issued to past and present big wigs in the city. Grasping that nettle and telling former city commissioners to give up their passes will be an exciting scene in a city where privilege has always had it's...privileges.
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Happily I live outside the field of drama and watch with bated breath.
7 comments:
Looks like you've fallen for the anti-BCCLT hype that came out of Clayton's campaign. A serious look at the record would show that all the accusations were one-sided: Clayton's swift-boat henchman DID threaten the other candidate, and then followed through with his threat. His opposition never made any accusations against Clayton beyond reporting the threats by his aid. Clayton is the one who made the dramatic attacks on his opponent, who merely defended himself without counter-attack.
The Campaign was NOT a referendum on the BCCLT. Clayton had it in the bag from day one, and could have coasted back into office without controversy. When his opponent would drop out of the race (which would have greatly reduced his campaign costs) he chose to turn his opponent's former BCCLT position into an issue and got really ugly about it. It's a shame he felt he had to stoop to that level.
The Newspaper's "report" of the Board's activities was a direct lift of the carefully extracted board meeting snippets that Clayton's campaign trotted out at the last minute for maximum negative effect. The paper made NO effort to look at the full discussion (though the rest of the recordings ARE available to them) to see how they fit into a legitimate discussion of the future of the organization. And no political ACTION came out of it anyway. This "threatening the non-profit status" mantra is false, despite the repetition of those who don't really want to understand the whole story. You don't hear such hype related to EVERY ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP IN THE BOOK having discussion about which politicos should stay and which should go, for example. This is a false issue hyped for political purposes.
Also even the existing snippets, if you listen to them, reveal it was not the Board that raised the issue, it was the Board's LAWYER. The Board itself shut down the discussion. Case closed.
Though it's possible that other facts may come out, in general the BCCLT's employment of the director's son in the past was due to financial reasons: he worked for FAR below prevailing rates, to pay back the training he'd received (along with other local residents) by the BCCLT training programs. Yes, Norma should have bid out the work, but it's extremely doubtful that anyone else would have had the community appreciation to work so cheaply as her son did.
And once again you need to be corrected about the Assisted Living Facility -- that had nothing to do with the BCCLT. It's a separate project that Morgan SUPPORTED, and that the BCCLT did not oppose. The disputes the BCCLT had with Morgan were over his overt, documented attempts to tear down the Land Trust for being in the way of his pet projects (remember the Water Park?)
This is just another example of houw those with the power are able to write the history. Though most of the points against the BCCLT that you have made here have been debunked previously, the words of the Citizen, who buys their ink by the barrel, and the politicians, who have a bully pulpit, are what people remember.
I think you forgot to mention any connections you may have to the Board of the BCCLT.
Incidentally I don't think Dennis Ward was overly impressed by DiGennaro's defense of his reasons for avoiding the legally required bid process.
The way it was reported in the paper the attorney for BCCLT cautioned Board members not to discuss their potential influence of the election.
Mandy got it wrong (as she so often does). If you build
Also note that there is definitely legal precedent for non-profits to skirt the bidding practice. This isn't a cut-and-dried case by any means. It's real easy to sit on the sidelines with only part of the facts and cast stones at good people. That's what makes Blogging so popular.....
Somehow most of the second sentence of my first paragraph got dropped. here's the full one....
If you've built your opinion of the BCCLT on the reporting by Mandy (who can't stand Norma) and on the swift boat material from Clayton's campaign, you might want to dig a little deeper.
You still haven't disclosed your interest in the BCCLT...My interest is in what Mayor Cates does next.
The points I'm making are relevant regardless of my "interest", unless you are accusing me of lying.
I have no current interest in BCCLT other than my abject desire for people to give them a fair shake.
I have held a position on their board in the past, as have many distinguished members of our community.
Lying about what exactly?
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