TDC audit failure - Weekly briefing - 7 November 2023

Human-curated Florida Keys news, all in one place. 

Subscribe to Key West Voices for free. See something that should be in Voices? Send us an email with a link.

Our Community

TDC failed financial audit. An audit of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council (TDC) — the Florida Keys’  tourism marketing agency — revealed significant concerns with its financial oversight and operations. Coverage in the Citizen, Keys Weekly, and WPLG Miami. 

• The 32-page report by the Monroe County Clerk found repeated noncompliance with the county's purchasing policy as well as a significant lack of internal controls and management oversight over TDC' s financial transactions and annual financial reporting. 
• The county administrator, a county commissioner, the county attorney, and other county staff met last week with TDC representatives to produce proposals to address the issues.
• The Board of County Commissioners will discuss the audit publicly during its monthly meeting beginning at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, at the Harvey Government Center in Key West, 1200 Truman Ave.
• Monday p.m update: Monroe County officials propose suspension of TDC director. The Monroe County Commission will vote Wednesday, Nov. 8, on recommending suspending the director of the Tourist Development Council with pay.

Monroe traffic study also on the agenda. The U.S. 1 Arterial Travel Time and Delay Study was completed using the BOCC’s adopted methodology and indicated that the overall "Level of Service" (LOS) grade for the entire length of U.S. 1 has fallen from LOS C to LOS D, and there is no reserve capacity for additional trips. 

• The BOCC will discuss the 2023 draft study at its regularly scheduled meeting on November 8 at 11 a.m. (time approximate) at the Harvey Center. The meeting will also be available via Zoom.

Committee says no to court consolidation, unanimously. During a virtual Nov. 3 meeting, a state judicial committee voted unanimously in favor of a motion to recommend keeping the circuit court district boundary structure intact. 

• After weighing data and thousands of surveys from law professionals and the public, the committee will recommend no consolidation of Florida’s 20 circuit courts to state legislators. 
• In June, Florida House Speaker Paul Renner tasked the state Supreme Court with analyzing a consolidation of the 20 judicial circuits. 

Charter workshop. The County Commission hosted a public workshop on Monday, Nov. 6, to discuss a proposal that would be the largest change to its form of government in recent decades. 

• Earlier this year, the BOCC agreed to pursue changing the way it governs and instituting a charter form of government as a way to generate revenue for critical infrastructure programs without having to raise property taxes or go to the state Capitol to ask for funding.

We're among the lucky ones. Linda Cunningham remembered why she and her husband made Key West their home.

Refuge closure. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be closing Boca Grande Key, Woman Key and the Marquesas Keys Nov. 8-12 to protect wildlife and critical habitat from disturbance. 

Daylight saving time ended at 2 a.m. on Sunday, and the earth continued its rotation without interruption. 

Slow news week. Did we miss something? Send us an email with a link.

Our Eyes

Dunlin on Big Pine Key - Philip Dodderidge.

Previously in Key West Voices

• Linda Cunningham boldly ventured to touch the third rail by asking, "What does it say about us as a community when we can raise $587,375 for puppies and kittens while 43 percent of our neighbors can barely afford to feed and shelter their families?" Linda called for change, "We are better than that." Linda's earlier column detailed the reality of poverty in the Keys. 

KWV returns from hiatus - Touching the Third Rail - Weekly briefing - 31 October 2023

Human-curated Florida Keys news, all in one place. 

Subscribe to Key West Voices for free. See something that should be in Voices? Send us an email with a link.

(Beloved beta editions readers of  Key West Voices: We are most grateful for your candid feedback as we continue to shape and tune the KWV concept of 'human-curated Florida Keys News, all in one place.' With this issue, we return from our hiatus that began in September. This issue includes some notable items that appeared during the hiatus, and we expect to be back to a full issue on 6 November. We plan to soon begin promoting free subscriptions, and aim to have hundreds of readers before year end. Thanks, again.)     

Our Community

Fantasy Fest happened, and the Citizen and Keys Weekly and the promoters covered it well. 

• But Linda Cunningham boldly ventured to touch the third rail by asking, "What does it say about us as a community when we can raise $587,375 for puppies and kittens while 43 percent of our neighbors can barely afford to feed and shelter their families?" Linda called for change, "We are better than that." Linda's earlier column detailed the reality of poverty in the Keys. 
• Next year's theme will be It's a 90’s Neon Cosmic Carnivale! Um, okay. 

Hambright remembered. Renowned and respected Florida Keys historian Tom Hambright died 14 October in Miami. Mandy Miles shared her appreciation for Tom. 

Lopez heart scare. Longtime Key West City Commissioner Clayton Lopez disclosed that he had a health emergency on 12 October that required him to go to the mainland for treatment. 

• But a life flight aboard one of the county’s Trauma Star helicopters wasn’t possible. The hours-long cell service outage that stymied text messages and cell phone calls for much of the Florida Keys on Oct. 12 had bigger implications for Lopez — and anyone else who may have needed an emergency medical helicopter flight. "Air transport doesn’t fly when cellular communication is out, so I was transported by ambulance to Mt. Sinai,” wrote Lopez.
• Meanwhile, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay signed the agreement to acquire three new Trauma Star helicopters for free medical transport to the mainland for citizens and residents (not free for tourists). 
• Isn't anyone saying why a cell phone outage grounded the fleet?

Strand (Walgreens) sold. A buyer with local ties bought the historic Strand Theater on Duval Street, currently occupied by Walgreens. 

Rebranding. Local watchdog group Last Stand launched a membership drive and rebranding effort. Formed in 1987, Keys Last Stand is responding to recent unprecedented environmental crises in the Florida Keys, which included severe coral bleaching, decrease in water quality and an increase in algal booms and fish and sponge die-offs because of this summer’s unprecedented heat wave.

Not a Fantasy Fest story: Mark Hedden wrote about boobies, and flamingos.

Daylight saving time ends at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday 5 November, when you should set your clocks back one hour. Most phones and computers will do that automatically. 

Our Eyes

Flamingo on Ohio Key - Mark Hedden