Helene | Monroe GOP at war with itself - Weekly briefing - October 1, 2024

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Hurricane Helene rapidly intensified from a tropical storm to Category 4 hurricane while passing west of the Keys, where the winds, rain, and isolated areas of local flooding brought anxiety, then relief to our neighbors. But utter devastation was visited on the Gulf coast and Big Bend areas of Florida, then on to Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and other states. Asheville, NC, a favorite summer destination for some Key Westers, suffered 'biblical' flooding, landslides, and closed roads. A few friends of KWV in Asheville reported their safety on social media, but the toll of death and destruction is still being tallied. Millions across the southeast are still without fresh water, power, road, and communications access, and as many as 100 persons (so far) are known to have died. 

• Photo tour. The Washington Post provided an interactive tour of some of the worst as of Sunday evening.
• Another storm? Yet another storm may be forming in the same region of the Caribbean that gave rise to Helene, and the eastern Atlantic has Tropical Storm Kirk and yet another disturbance. While none of these are an immediate threat, Keys residents are encouraged to monitor the National Hurricane Center web site at least once daily for the entire month of October
• One road out. With increasing frequency of rapidly intensifying storms, the official model for evacuating the Keys on 24 hours' notice is increasingly obsolete, while the Monroe Board of County Commissioners is granting and weighing issuing additional residential building permits later this year. WTF? 
• Road elevation. Florida Department of Transportation is elevating three short sections of U.S. 1 in an effort to reduce future flood risk in those low-lying segments.

Monroe County Republicans go to war, with themselves. Keys Weekly extensively covered the feud within the Monroe County Republican Executive Committee (REC) arising from its decision in May to endorse one Republican candidate over another in the primary race for Supervisor of Elections (SOE), along with a $20,000 campaign contribution to candidate Sherri Hodies, that some local Republicans contend was illegal.

• State attorney recused. Key West resident Phyllis May, a registered Republican, filed a complaint on July 26 with Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward (also a Republican and a member of the REC). Ward quite properly recused himself from the investigation, and prevailed upon Republican Governor Ron DeSantis to appoint another prosecutor. DeSantis appointed Amira D. Fox in an executive order. 
• MAGA election denier. GOP SOE candidate Hodies was previously reported to be a MAGA (Trump supporter) and 2020 election denier. Hodies wrote, "If President Trump can get on his knees and his face and cry to almighty God, you should know he was sent by God to help us save this nation” in March 2020 on her Facebook page. 
• Saunders cries foul. Democratic nominee for the SOE Ron Saunders posted on Facebook his reaction to the investigation, as well as responses to misleading campaign messaging from Hodies. 
• Unprecedented endorsement. Current Monroe County SOE Joyce Griffin, a Democrat, endorsed Hodies’ Democratic challenger, Ron Saunders, for the position. Griffin is retiring, and recused herself from the canvassing board in the election to replace her. 
  
• The bottom line. Leaders of the Monroe County Republican party want a Trump supporter and election denier to be the Supervisor of Elections here, while other Republicans are challenging that support. Some Republicans have quietly endorsed Democrat Ron Saunders for the SOE job. 

Taxes going up. Monroe's Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved a $715.7 million spending plan for the 2025 fiscal year, a $48.7 million increase from the previous year.

Fire rescue chief finally fired. Monroe County Administrator Christine Hurley fired the Monroe County Fire Rescue Division Chief Andrea Thompson. Thompson was among four county employees and contractors indicted in the ongoing scandal involving the 2022 theft of narcotics from the Trauma Star medical evacuation service. Former County Administrator Roman Gastesi was among those indicted.  

Florida lawmakers seek to politicize school boards. Florida’s lawmakers proposed Amendment 1: Partisan School Board Elections, on the November ballot. They claim the change will simply provide more transparency. 

• Opponents are concerned about the impact of increasing partisan politics on local school board decision-making, and worry about disenfranchising the nearly 4 million Florida voters who aren't registered with party affiliation. Passage of this amendment means those voters would be shut out of closed partisan primaries to determine school board candidates.

Homeless protections being dismantled. Among Florida laws taking effect on October 1, one bars local governments from allowing people to sleep at places such as public buildings and in public rights-of-way. Another part of the measure will give legal standing to residents and business owners to file civil lawsuits against local governments that allow sleeping or camping on public property. That part of the law will take effect January 1.

Live on an analog island? Coincident with our near miss by Hurricane Helene, Linda Cunningham contemplated what life would be like in the Keys if we were cut off from the mainland.  

Our Eyes  

Hurricane Sunset - Mark Hedden

Previously in Key West Voices

Kaufman out as vice mayor. In its coverage of the Key West City Commission's tax and budget approval (next story), the Citizen noted that newly-elected (actually, unopposed) Key West Mayor Danise “Dee Dee” Henriquez told commissioners she will remove Commissioner Sam Kaufman as vice mayor (a largely ceremonial position) in favor of District VI Commissioner Clayton Lopez. 

• Retribution. Henriquez's plan to remove Kaufman came less than a week after Kaufman unsuccessfully challenged her reappointment of Bob Dean to the Key West Housing Authority board. Dean was first appointed to the housing authority in 1987 and is 93 years old.
• Less than one month as vice. Term-limited Lopez would serve for less than one month until he is replaced by the winner of the November 5th election contest between Aaron Castillo and Marci Rose.
• Corporate dollars for Castillo. According to official filings of campaign contributions, registered Republican Castillo has more than twice what Rose has raised, including an aggregate five figure contribution from non-resident mogul Ed Swift,  as well as other corporate interests. 
• Next in line? Following Lopez's departure from the Commission, Henriquez says the next vice mayor will be Commissioner Lisette Cuervo Carey.
• Carey voted to oust former City Manager Al Childress in June in what Linda Cunningham  described as a coup, a political move whose fallout is still being felt. Neither incoming Commissioner Donie Lee (also elected without opposition in August) nor Henriquez took a public position on Childress' firing during their campaigns, but indicated their approval of the move in August after being sworn in. 
• Donie Lee likes Shawn Smith. Lee named controversial former Key West City Attorney Shawn Smith to the search committee for the next City Manager. Smith resigned his position in 2022 in a scathing letter to the commission. Smith is remembered for his ongoing efforts to thwart the will of the voters to limit cruise ships in Key West. 
• New bloc emerging. Carey previously served as the top aide to previous KW Mayor Craig Cates (now a Republican Monroe County Commissioner), and since her election as commissioner in 2022, has been a reliable vote in favor of commerce over community concerns. By aligning herself with Carey, former Monroe County Tax Collector Henriquez appears to living up to her reputation among knowledgeable locals as aligned with corporate interests. The potentially potent bloc of Henriquez, Carey, Lee, and Castillo (if he is victorious in November) would likely vote to return large cruise ships to Mallory Dock at its earliest opportunity.

Key West budget and tax increase approved. The Key West City Commission approved a property tax increase for non-homesteaded properties and an increase in its budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

• The commission agreed to keep the increase at 5% for properties that do not have a Save Our Homes property tax exemption, which caps the rate at roughly 3% over rollback. The 5% rate would levy $200 per $100,000 of taxable value of a home. Mayor Henriquez and commissioners Lee, Lopez and Mary Lou Hoover voted in favor of the tax rate. Commissioners Kaufman and Carey voted against the 5% rate increase, arguing for a zero or smaller increase. 

Overnight stays for small cruise ship approved. The Key West city commission approved regular overnight visits by a small cruise ship to Mallory Dock. Representatives of community advocate Safer Cleaner Ships spoke in favor of the approval because of its affinity for smaller ships. 

Schools budget approved. Monroe County School Board approved its budget for its upcoming fiscal year. The effect on local property taxes is not yet clear, and it's complicated. 

Kara Franker is now the new president and chief executive officer of Visit Florida Keys, the entity that promotes tourism for the Monroe County Tourist Development Council. Franker was chosen after a nationwide search. Uncomfortable conversations led to unavoidable questions and unprecedented decisions at the Sept. 17 meeting of the Keys tourism agency.

• Doing things the old way is over. Linda Cunningham applauded the big changes in store for the TDC, and described the Council's deer in the headlights look as Franker replaced the TDC's “heads in beds” focus with Destination Stewardship, a four-pronged approach that makes Keys residents, the environmental ecosystems and our quality of life the foundation for future marketing and tourism development.
• Skeptic. In a private Facebook discussion group, one long time Key West resident expressed concern that TDC will become an entrenched county department that will be spending less on ads because it's going to need the money for payroll, with a new director, three new six figure positions, and a greatly expanded overall staff, many of whom will not be Keys residents.
• Another skeptic said that it’s hard to believe that anyone who lives here thinks the TDC needs more funding. We need a referendum here to cut the bed tax in half and cap funding at that level.

ROGOs for CEMEX / Publix project approved. The supermarket and housing project in Tavernier moved forward with the Monroe Board of County Commissioners approval to handing out early evacuation workforce housing building permits to developers. A coalition of community groups has been vocal in its opposition to the move. 

Hiaasen on NPR. National Public Radio's nationally syndicated long form audio interview show Fresh Air rebroadcast its 2013 interview with beloved Florida author Carl Hiaasen talking about his novel Bad Monkey, now a mini-series on Apple TV+ and set in the Florida Keys. The 20 minute interview is worth a listen. 

Hurricane Helene likely forming. As of Monday evening, September 23rd, the National Hurricane Center said that Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine was centered about 450 miles south southwest of Key West. The system is moving toward the north-northwest near 7 mph. A northwestward motion is expected on Tuesday and Tuesday night, followed by a faster northward to north-northeastward motion on Wednesday and Thursday. Strengthening is expected during the next few days and is forecast to become a major hurricane named Helene on Wednesday and continue strengthening on Thursday as it moves across the eastern Gulf of Mexico.