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Linda Grist Cunningham
Fired. By a 4-3 vote, the Key West City Commission voted today to terminate the contract of City Manager Al Childress during an often contentious meeting that lasted over three hours. Video of the meeting can be seen here (part 1) and here (part 2).
- Public opposed. Not one of many dozens of public comments (submitted by email before the meeting, or on Zoom or in person during the meeting) was offered in support of the termination.
- Weekley rejects compromise. Vice Mayor Sam Kaufman was unsuccessful in persuading Commissioner Jimmy Weekly to consider a compromise or a delay.
- Rehire? A special meeting has been called for August 26th (after the August election results are certified and the new Mayor and one new Commissioner are sworn in) to consider rehiring Childress. Two additional commissioners may be certified following elections in August or November. It is not known whether Childress would seek to regain his job.
- Lawsuit(s) possible. Lawyers for the City and Childress disagreed on whether Childress is eligible for whistleblower protection under Florida statues. He was said to have filed complaints about misconduct by the city's Chief Building Officer (who is the brother of the city attorney) with several entities, including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI.
- Interim city manager likely. The Commission intends to hire former assistant City Manager Todd Stoughton, who resigned abruptly on June 14th as interim City Manager. It was reported that Stoughton is willing to serve in an interim, but not permanent basis.
- Front page news. Expect front page coverage of this story soon from the Citizen, Keys Weekly, WLRN, and the Miami Herald. Linda Cunningham's Facebook post is already up.
Previously in Key West Voices
Here is a repeat of our coverage published the day before the meeting.
'Bubba uprising' at KW City Hall. In what local columnist Linda Cunningham dubbed a 'bubba uprising,' political intrigue is swirling around Key West's City Manager, who may be out of a job as early as Wednesday, June 26th.
- Special meeting. The KW City Commission called a special meeting at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 26 to consider firing City Manager Al Childress, and hiring outside counsel to navigate the expected choppy legal waters the action would bring.
- City attorney recusal. City Attorney Ron Ramsingh recused himself from the issue because his brother Raj Ramsingh, the city’s Chief Building Official, was recently involved in a dispute with Childress. Following his recusal, Ron Ramsingh retained Mayanne Downs as outside counsel in the matter.
- Not without cost. If the move happens, it likely will cost the city about $93,000 under terms of Childress' contract, plus the cost of the outside counsel, which is not yet known.
- Mainland attorney. Downs, the city attorney for the City of Orlando and the past President of the Florida Bar Association had been scheduled to speak with commissioners on Friday, June 21st, and will attend the Wednesday meeting in person.
- "Moving way too fast." Commissioner and Vice Mayor Sam Kaufman has “a lot” of unanswered questions about the sudden action, and said he had not received “any facts” that supported firing Childress. Mayor Teri Johnston and City Commissioner Mary Lou Hoover said they supported Childress.
- Divided commission. Commissioners Lissette Cuervo Carey and Billy Wardlow called the Wednesday meeting. Carey, Wardlow, along with Commissioners Clayton Lopez and Jimmy Weekley made statements to the Citizen that supported terminating the contract, having raised concerns about employee morale, decision-making, policies implemented by Childress and his overall management style.
- Four out the door. Wardlow, Weekley, Johnston, and Lopez all leave office later this year. Weekley, Lopez and Wardlow are term-limited out of office, and Johnston chose not to run again; thus four of the seven city lawmakers will be new in November — and possibly in need of a new city manager. Carey, Kaufman and Commissioner Mary Lou Hoover will remain on the dais. They’ll be joined after the August primary by incoming Mayor DeeDee Henriquez, new Commissioner Donie Lee, who replaces Wardlow. and the winner of the District 1 race for Weekley’s seat — either Monica Haskell or Ben Hennington. Lopez’s successor in District 6 will be determined in the November general election unless one of the three candidates — Aaron Castillo, Thaddeus Cohen and Marci Rose — earns more than 50% of the vote in the August primary.
- Mixed community response. The controversy inspired community members to express themselves in different venues.
- Arlo Haskell, community leader and member of the Safer Cleaner Ships board wrote in the Citizen in support of Childress.
- Former City Commissioner Tony Yaniz posted on Facebook in defense of the termination effort.
- A resident with established city connections asserted privately that "...it appears that this effort is being driven by a select few in a power struggle over future development and other decisions." A lengthy report commissioned by Childress that was discussed at the June 6 City Commission meeting may have been the trigger of the prospective coup.
- Citizens' Voice posts in the Citizen were mostly in support of Childress. One post said, “I’m curious about how the commissioners spontaneously organized an ousting of the city manager without running afoul of the Sunshine Law. The timing is curious.”
- Attend the meeting. In her timely and insightful coverage, Linda Cunningham suggested three actions: 1. Take a deep breath. 2. Demand transparency and specificity from the accusers, and 3. attend the June 26 special meeting.
(We don't) love that dirty water. FloridaHealth for Monroe County issued a press release detailing unsafe water due to enteric bacteria, an indication of fecal pollution. Only two of ten Monroe beaches' water was rated 'Good.' Water at Higgs, Smathers, and South beaches in Key West was rated 'Poor' and advisories were issued.
DeSantis cuts arts funding. Several organizations in the Florida Keys will need to seek funds from another source following Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto of $26 million in grants for the arts.
- MARC hit. The director of Monroe Association for ReMARCable Citizens, a nonprofit which is the only provider of services to adults with developmental disabilities in the Keys, wrote a letter to the editor to protest the cuts.
- $800,000 local impact. Chris Hamilton detailed local impacts of the cut, which made national news. Impacted organizations include Waterfront Playhouse, Bahama Village Music Program, Mel Fisher and History of Diving Museums, Monroe County Council of the Arts, Key West Art & Historical Society, Key West Literary Seminar, Reef Environmental Education Foundation, and Red Barn Theatre.
Unopposed. Across the Florida Keys, 20 political races were settled outright on June 14, when the qualifying period for county and state races ended with no other opponents on the ballot.
- Local non-profit Hometown! hosted its Meet the Candidates forum on June 14th, and posted video of the event.
Statewide referenda. Keys Weekly gave us a concise summary of six proposed amendments to the Florida Comnstitution we'll vote on this fall, address topics including abortion, marijuana, and school boards.
TDC director job search. The Florida Keys is hiring a new president and CEO of the Tourist Development Council, Monroe County’s multimillion-dollar tourism agency.
Juneteenth. CBS News Miami looked at the unique role Key West played in how slaves were freed there long before the end of the American Civil War.
- Nancy Klingener recommended a book on Juneteenth.
- Bahama Village. Outgoing City Commissioner Clayton Lopez was featured in an appreciation of the history of Bahama Village.
Road trip. Mark Hedden needed to get the H-E-double-hockey-sticks out of the state of Florida.
