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Spared by Milton. Hurricane Milton, which rapidly intensified from a tropical storm to Category 5 strength in about 24 hours, left few impacts in the Keys, and then closely tracked with the National Hurricane Center forecast to make landfall near Sarasota.
- Two bullets dodged in two weeks. Milton followed Hurricane Helene to make the second landfall on Florida's Gulf coast in less than two weeks.
- Massive impact on the mainland. Milton killed at least nine people and left extensive property damage across Florida, hitting some areas previously affected by Hurricane Helene last month. Millions were left without power,
- Tornado? The National Weather Service is investigating the possible touchdown of a tornado spun by Milton on Navy property in Key West late Tuesday night.
- Two more? The NHC has its eyes on new disturbances in the Caribbean and mid-Atlantic.
- Insurance exposure? Financial rating service Fitch said that insurers could be on the hook for over $100 billion in hurricane claims in 2024, the fifth straight year above that level. Property insurers, including state-run Citizens are still tallying losses, and its not yet known whether those losses would result in the special assessments it's entitled to levy on all policyholders if its reserves are excessively depleted.
- Going private. Florida regulators approved proposals by private insurers to take more than 300,000 policies in December from Citizens Property Insurance Corp., as the state continues to try to shrink the size — and risks — of its insurer of last resort.
- A first-timer reflected on his hurricane experience.
Ugly displays on the KW City Commission dais. The Key West City Commission met and showed no signs that tensions that emerged with its firing of City Manager Al Childress will abate, despite lip service calls for unity in the city government and the community, and three new faces on the dais. The Citizen described the meeting as "volatile at times."
- Lopez is Vice Mayor (for a short time). Mayor Dee Dee Henriquez appointed outgoing Commissioner Clayton Lopez to the largely ceremonial role of Vice Mayor over objections of Sam Kaufman, who previously held the title. Commissioner Lissette Carey will take over the role when Lopez is replaced by either Aaron Castillo or Marci Rose in the November 5th election.
- City Manager search fast tracked, but not as fast as sought. The city manager search committee narrowed the field to five candidates, over the objection of two committee members. Commissioners Donie Lee and Carey wanted to move forward with interviews and possibly making the hire at the Nov. 14 meeting, but the rest of the commission agreed to wait.
Lee criticized Kaufman, who serves on the selection committee, for making negative comments at the last committee meeting about one candidate and how he handled a recent rate increase proposal for live-aboard boaters at the city-owned Garrison Bight Marina. - Parking rate increase. The commission raised parking rates from $5 an hour to $6 an hour in a 4-3 vote.
- Commission in the balance. On some key votes, the Commission is divided between two blocs, with Henriquez, Carey, and Lee on one side, and Kaufman, Haskell, and Mary Lou Hoover on the other. The winner of the critical November 5th election of term-limited Lopez's successor is likely to be the deciding vote on controversial issues.
- Telling friends to vote “no." Linda Cunningham regretted her votes in favor of the Key West bond referenda, after a detail-free candidate forum. "We don’t have a clue how this newly constituted City Commission thinks, much less what it considers its priorities for the city and the new administration. Nada. Zip"
Navel gazing at the BOCC. Monroe's Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) considered hiring a consulting firm owned by a former chief of staff to then Governor Rick Scott to review all county departments and their processes, in the midst of two ongoing government scandals. County Mayor Holly Raschein disclosed she has a "longstanding relationship" with firm owner Adam Hollingsworth.
- ROGO surveys to be discussed. The BOCC has a packed agenda regarding prospective ROGO (residential building permit) allocations at approximately 10:00 a.m. at its regularly scheduled meeting at the Marathon Government Center, 2798 Overseas Hwy, as agenda item Q2. Those concerned about the controversial and rapidly approaching decision (expected in December) about how many new ROGOs will be issued (if any) should attend or watch.
- Show up and speak, in person or online. A newly formed advocacy group called Florida Keys ROGO coalition, which is comprised of 19 community organizations, has issued a call to action, in partnership with community advocate Last Stand for those opposed to further growth in the Keys to attend the meeting. Representatives from both organizations are likely to speak.
- Zoom in. You may attend by Zoom at https://mcbocc.zoom.us/j/89204098700
- Your personal safety. A post on Last Stand's Facebook page entitled Rapid intensification, ROGOs, and your life is a worthwhile five minute read on the topic.
Two critical races at candidate forum. Keys Weekly and the Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce partnered to sponsor a candidate Q&A forum. Video of the two hour event is available here. Voting by mail is already underway, and early voting begins Monday, October 21st.
- County Commission District III. Republican incumbent Jim Scholl clashed with Democratic challenger Chris Massicotte on issues of oversight and accountability in county operations, and fiscal responsibility.
- Massicotte stressed a need to divert additional resources for continuing audits of individual county departments, pinpointing “wasteful spending” to create a “culture of oversight."
- Scholl spoke of a need for stronger top-down leadership, beginning with newly-promoted County Administrator Christine Hurley, and reminded viewers that “the legislative body doesn’t control day-to-day operations of the county – it’s the administrator’s job.”
- The pair disagreed on the county’s future acceptance of additional building rights, with Scholl in favor of additional units bestowed by the state used largely for workforce housing, “as long as we get to control how they’re going to be issued out.”
- Massicotte said that while surveys and meetings to gauge resident sentiments on additional units were “okay,” he advocated for a temporary moratorium on additional units to allow completion of “an actual, real infrastructure assessment,” arguing that the threat of takings cases filed by property owners unable to build is “made out to be way more than our liability actually would be.”
- Supervisor of Elections. Republican Sherri Hodies and Democrat Ron Saunders are contending for the SOE job being vacated by the retiring Joyce Griffin.
- Amid an investigation authorized by Gov. Ron DeSantis into whether the Monroe County Republican Executive Committee broke its own rules in April and committed campaign finance fraud in endorsing Hodies with a $20,000 donation ahead of the Republican primary, Hodies pushed back against labels given to her campaign, calling the complaint filed by fellow Republican Phyllis May, “frivolous.”
- “I think (the investigation) is an example where we need to stay on top of things and make sure things are run properly,” Saunders said. “If nothing’s wrong, that’s great, but it remains to be seen what will happen.”
- Referencing a May fundraising event in which she hosted retired Army intelligence officer Capt. Seth Keshel, a nationally-known election denier, Hodies said, “I am not an election denier, but there have been people at my fundraisers who have been labeled,” she said. Asked directly whether Joe Biden won the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, Hoodies stated: “In 2016, Trump won, and in 2020, Biden won, plain and simple.” But why would Hodies invite a nationally known election denier to raise funds so she can count votes in Monroe County?
- Hoodies continued to blast May’s complaint in her closing statement.
- Saunders closed by touting bipartisan supporters of his campaign, decrying recent attack mailers from the Conservative Family Alliance political organization as “full of lies and misstatements.”
One step forward, two steps back. Mark Hedden quoted a Bruce Springsteen lyric to help us understand the challenges of counting hawks.
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Previously in Key West Voices
Will it be Milton's Paradise Lost? On the heels of last week's devastating Hurricane Helene, Tropical Storm Milton formed in the western Gulf of Mexico and headed east. It became a hurricane on October 6th, and rapidly intensified to become a Category 5 storm on October 7. Hurricane Milton's growth was nothing short of astonishing, as it strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just over a day. Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida.
- Expect coastal flooding. Jon Rizzo, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service Key West, said Hurricane Milton is expected to bring 1-3 feet of coastal flooding above ground level in low-lying areas on the gulf and bayside early Wednesday morning through Thursday.
- Keys residents are encouraged to visit the National Hurricane Center's official forecast site frequently to monitor the progress of the storm. Forecast models are updated several times each day.
- Tampa in the crosshairs. As of 11:00 p.m. Monday, the forecast track for Milton's center is aiming for the Tampa / St. Petersburg area, where storm surge flooding could be over 12 feet. But the path will change, and may be many miles north or south at landfall.
- It's not about the cone. The familiar cone map may be misleading (even without Sharpie annotation). The cone does not indicate the size of the storm; it shows the expected path of the storm's center. Significant impacts, including extreme winds and rainfall, and especially storm surge can occur well outside the storm center. The forecast path, intensity, and timing are updated each time the models are run.
- When. Not if. Linda Cunningham saw our future in Asheville in the wake of Helene.
- Storm impacts last for years. The Washington Post brought us the sobering news from the journal Nature that excess deaths in the wake of tropical storms far exceed the immediate death toll. The Associated Press reported the death toll from Helene is at 227, with many still missing.
- A ROGO lesson and meeting. In the very worthwhile members only Facebook group Reimagining Key West, local artist John Martini wrote:
- A fast moving and intensifying hurricane illustrates the negligence of Monroe County Commissioner's intent to consider adding 8000 new and unsustainable ROGO units to the Keys. They have already turned down one study which indicated evacuation times now are over allowable limits. Let them know that the lives and quality of life of the residents are more important then the desires of developers and corporate interests.
- Meeting 10/16 📅 Date: October 16, 2024🕒 Time: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM📍 Location: Marathon Government Center - BOCC 🏢Address: 2798 Overseas Hwy, 2nd Floor, Marathon, FL 33050
Vote by mail (VBM) ballots are out. Several Key West Voices readers reported receiving their VBM ballots, which were mailed on September 27th.
- Vote and mail now. Readers are encouraged to vote as early as possible, and to ensure that proper postage is attached (three Forever stamps does the trick).
- Didn't get your ballot? Check your VBM status at the Supervisor of Elections web site, and contact them immediately if there's a problem.
- Early voting begins October 21st at the Supervisor of Elections office on Stock Island and four other locations in Monroe County. Note that you may no longer vote at Southard and Whitehead streets.
- Election day is November 5th. Why wait?
Key West District VI campaign finance. Keys Weekly spotlighted the critical contest to fill term-limited City Commissioner Clayton Lopez's open seat, the only remaining seat to be decided in this year's election (note that the City's web site refers to both district 6 and district VI).
- Marci Rose and Aaron Castillo are in a runoff election to fill the seat. Neither of them reached 50% of the vote to win the seat in the August 20 primary.
- Few voters, slim margin, high turnout. As of 2022, there were 2,549 registered voters in District 6. Lopez was reelected to the seat in 2020 by a margin of only 18 votes out (0.84%) out of 2,126 votes cast.
- Potentially powerful voting bloc at stake. With the bulk of his contributions coming from local and out of state business interests, Castillo could vote for those interests on such critical issues as cruise ships at Mallory Dock, as Key West Voices highlighted recently.
- Big money, big business. Castillo has raised about $88,000, with big donations from business owners, including Ed Swift, owner of Historic Tours of America, hotelier Mark Meisel and the Spottswood family’s businesses. Rose’s donations of nearly $35,000 have come mainly from individuals.
- Data deep dive. Key West Voices dove into the contribution data that is visible to the public at the Supervisor of Elections web site to create the extracts below.
- GOP support. Although the race is non-partisan, the Republican Party of Key West donated $2,500 to Castillo's campaign.
- Two thirds from big donors. Over two-thirds of Castillo's contributions were in increments of $1,000 or greater, for a total of $60,500.
- Breaking the rules? Some individual Castillo donors appear to have violated the $1,000 aggregate giving limit.
Candidate forum. Non-partisan voting advocate Hometown! conducted its final candidate forum ahead of the November election, and posted its video of the event.
- Supervisor of Elections. The SOE race was described by moderator Todd German as “the main event,” due to media and public attention. Republican candidate Sherri Hodies faces Democrat Ron Saunders to replace retiring SOE Joyce Griffin. The forum came about a week after Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed a Republican State Attorney from outside the Keys to investigate a complaint that the Monroe County Republican Executive Committee incorrectly wrote a $20,000 campaign check to Hodies’ campaign.
- Key West District VI candidates Rose and Castillo took different positions on the June firing of Key West City Manager Al Childress.
- Monroe County Commission District 3 candidate Chris Massicotte challenged incumbent Jim Scholl on his votes for the unpopular Publix / CEMEX project in Tavernier, oversight of the scandal involving theft of drugs from the Trauma Star medical evacuation service that has led to indictments and firings, and raising taxes and waste disposal fees for Monroe residents.
Fire rescue chief finally fired. Monroe County Administrator Christine Hurley fired the Monroe County Fire Rescue Division Chief Andrea Thompson.
Hawkwatch. Mark Hedden returned from his travels in the northland to share his experience counting hawks and awkwardly avoiding small talk with strangers.
