If you read the Real Poop regularly then you know I am very skeptical about our current county clerk, Kevin Madok.  I’m also very skeptical about the Key West Citizen.  That’s why I question the Citizen’s giddy delight over the latest “positive” audit at the Clerk’s office.

I have some very good reasons to be skeptical about Madok.  Here are just a few.

1. Madok lied about having a CPA license.
2. Then he lied about how long he’s had a CPA license.
3. He lied about the impact of the Emergency Services Surtax on Keys locals.
4. He lied about the amount of money that Key Largo contributes to Monroe County.
5. He was gifted with a do-nothing job by the county commissioners for four years before finally being elected Clerk.  (Looks like somebody named Kimberly Matthews will take her turn doing nothing for a few years on the taxpayer’s dime.  Good for Kimberly, bad for the taxpayers.)

Madok has a lot of baggage.  He’s got a long track record of dishonesty and he’s beholden to the county commissioners and the iPhone Bandit – the very people he’s supposed to be watch-dogging as County Clerk.

I am also very skeptical of the Key West Citizen.  There’s a few reasons for that, too.

1. The Citizen soft-peddled Madok’s resume lie.
2.  The Free Press (Junior Citizen) broadcast Madok’s lie about how long he’s had his CPA license.  When called on it, they never corrected it.  In a subsequent story, they subtly changed the wording so that it was technically correct but still misleading.
3. The Citizen refused to even address the many falsehoods surrounding the Emergency Services Surtax.  (I guess expecting “journalists” to fact check is way too much to ask.)
4. The Citizen allowed FKAA Executive Director, Kirk Zuelch, to lie to the public about the extent of a board member’s conflicts of interest, and never set the record straight after the truth came out.  (Pesky fact checking again.)
5. The Citizen apparently has a contract with Monroe County to run the TDC website.  I don’t know how lucrative that contract is (yet!), but apparently it’s lucrative enough that the Citizen has zero qualms about setting its journalistic mission aside and lying to its readers – repeatedly.

And now, here’s the Citizen goo-gooing over Kevin Madok for his “positive” audit.  Let’s think about this for a second.

If something were wrong with the county’s books, it’s Madok’s job to discover that and report it.  But in his case, that means turning his back on his benefactors.  He’s already proven he’s more than happy to lie on their behalf.  Why wouldn’t he cover up their financial wrongdoing?

Madok’s predecessor, Amy Heavilin, brought problems to light.  The county commission has never forgiven her for it.  You don’t want a clean audit on a dirty set of books.  Not unless you’re crooked.  This should be obvious.  The bottom line is we’ll never know what’s really going on with the county’s books as long as Madok is in charge.

The county is too crooked to fail.  They’ve got the County Clerk in their pocket.  The State Attorney won’t dare challenge them.  Our political leaders won’t speak up.  And the two major local newspapers keep their readers in the dark.

I get why the Citizen lies and spins on the county’s behalf.  It’s a business decision.  Presumably, it’s more lucrative for them to carry the county’s water than it is to tell their readers the truth.  I don’t like it, but at least I can understand it.

I don’t get why the Keynoter/Reporter debases itself on a regular basis.  Maybe they want a cut of that TDC website money, and they’re trying to show the county how low they’re willing to sink?  The contract is up in September.  We’ll see if the Keynoter/Reporter crawls out of the woodwork to submit a proposal.

I’m so curious about the Keynoter/Reporter’s pathetic groveling, I actually sent an email to  Publisher, Richard Tamborrino, asking point blank if the Keynoter/Reporter has or wants to have a business relationship with Monroe County.  Research hasn’t turned anything up yet.  He actually responded which amazed me.  Here’s a link to the whole discussion so far.

p.s. Here’s a headline where the Citizen misspelled “Aquaduct”.  Snerk.  Forget about fact checking, they don’t even spell check.