The Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District (District) is now considering a solar project. This is interesting. When the District received $17 million from the state, the state refused to allow the money to be used for financial relief as was originally intended. I know – crazy decision, but I suspect they were led in that direction by our not-so-friendly county lobbyists. Anyhow, in response, the District came up with a list of projects, including solar, that would generate savings or decrease costs. (See Tab 4 of the link for a discussion of solar.) In that way, some form of financial relief could have been provided to the ratepayers. Continue reading
District Discusses Solar
Posted in KLWTD
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New Tax Rate
I wrote here about Monroe County’s lack of back-up for their budget meetings. It turns out you can find some of it over here. I found it because of this news story on KeysNews.com.
As usual, the county is making some technically accurate but misleading statements. Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Budget, Monroe County, Taxes
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Off Topic: Terrible Person
Update: Mathers has been officially charged with invasion of privacy. Her lawyer had this to say:
“I’m disappointed that she was charged with any type of violation. She never intentionally violated anyone’s privacy and never tried to break the law at any time.”
Huh? Are we supposed to believe Mathers accidentally snapped the photo and then accidentally shared it on the internet? She really thought it was okay to take a naked picture of someone in the shower without their knowledge or consent? Continue reading
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BOCC Budget Meetings
This was my entry for the logo contest. Never did find out who won.
The agenda packet for the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) July 18 budget meeting is up. There’s very little in the way of back-up documentation.
Here’s a rundown of the items:
A. Approval of agenda – no back-up needed.
B. FY 2017 budget presentation – no back-up provided. They should have something for the public here. There’s nothing.
C. FY 2017 budget requests – no back-up. Again there should be something. A summary, anything.
D. Employee services – plenty of back-up. In fact, I’d say this item is swamped with back-up. Not complaining. Better that than the alternative. But if they can provide such exhaustive documentation for this item, why can’t they provide basic documentation for the other items? Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Budget
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“Affordable” Housing
I believe “affordable” housing is the next great scam. Like the wastewater projects, affordable housing is necessary. Also like the wastewater projects, it presents a great opportunity for the unscrupulous to scalp the taxpayers. Of course, local and county government officials are all too happy to help in the scalping.
Here’s a story from the Blue Paper that has me thinking about the role of liveaboards in relieving the housing crunch.
I’m also wondering exactly how the Florida Keys Stewardship Act (FKSA) plays into all this. The subject of land for “affordable” housing comes up quite a bit in the FKSA.
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Stewardship Act – What It Actually Says
This is a long one. It’s almost as long as Carruthers’s temper-fit response to Diaz. I hope you have the patience to slog through. I’m going through the Florida Keys Stewardship Act section by section to figure out what it all means for the Keys. It’s essential to separate fact from rhetoric.
I want to start off by saying that in 2014 Rep. Holly Raschein was instrumental in securing the second $50 million of the Mayfield Grant, and making sure that it was distributed equitably. It was a major achievement and she deserves a lot of credit. It would not have happened without her leadership and without her insistence that the entities act as a unit, each respecting the needs of the others. I think that track record should earn her the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the Florida Keys Stewardship Act (FKSA). To a certain extent any way. Continue reading
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Stewardship Act – Clarity Needed
I’ll have some of that, please.
Update: I did eventually get documents from the county.
For the most part, the Florida Keys Stewardship Act (FKSA) has been presented to the public as an “environmental” bill. However, when Kevin Diaz pointed out that certain aspects of the bill might negatively affect the Keys environment, Comm. Carruthers responded with a pompous, tedious and extremely hostile rant claiming that it was not an environmental bill at all, but a “multi-faceted approach to addressing various needs arising from the State’s designation of the Florida Keys as an Area of Critical State Concern”. Hmmm….apparently environmental concerns have been run over by rambling, officious bureaucrat-speak.
Here’s just some of the media coverage of the bill:
- Jenna Stauffer interviewing Rep. Holly Raschein – June 25, 2016. FKSA is repeatedly referred to as an environmental bill. According to Raschein, the county does have a land acquisition plan and that plan supposedly prioritizes conservation land. Does this plan really exist? According to the the county’s response to my public records request, it does not. So where does that leave us? Once again, the public has no clear idea of what’s going on.
- Key West Mayor, Craig Cates and Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (FKAA) Chairman, Bob Dean both emphasize the benefits to the environment.
- On its legislative affairs page, Monroe County refers to the FKSA as a “comprehensive environmental stewardship bill”. (I took screen shot. You never know when it might poof away.)
- When the FKSA was filed, Raschein emphasized the benefits to the Keys environment – especially the marine environment.
Stewardship Act – Smoke and Mirrors
Update: The language meant to protect the Mayfield Interlocal never made it into the bill at all. It was not included when the bill was filed. The anemic version of the language cited below was not added until March of 2016. Monroe County caught in yet another lie.
I’ve had some heartburn over the Florida Keys Stewardship Act (FKSA) for some time now. I want to be supportive. I want to be comfortable. I want to like it. But somehow I just can’t quite get there. The more I read about it, the more uncomfortable I am. I’ve written about it here and here and a few other places.
The Act was supposed to increase the amount of money available for water quality projects and ensure a predictable flow of money for that purpose. It did not work out that way. At all. Theoretically, there’s more money available, but the Keys will have to fight for it year after year. Except for this years $5 million for water quality projects, the final version of the bill guts the Mayfield Interlocal. That means the Keys are back at square one in terms of unity. Continue reading
Stewardship Act – Did They Get Us Again?
The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and their staff are certainly a sneaky bunch. Here’s an article in the Blue Paper about some of the hidden impacts of the Act. In fairness, Comm. Heather Carruthers provided an in-depth response here. Her response may or may not have merit. Unfortunately, I’ve caught Carruthers in numerous false statements over the years. Even so, I’m unwilling to dismiss her analysis out-of-hand. But it will take a while to sort through it all.
It sure would be nice to have a county government we could trust. But that’s not in the cards at present. Kolhage and Carruthers ran unopposed and have been returned to office to continue their unrestrained spending and negligently unfair funding policies. Unfortunately, that will only get us farther into debt, and make life even more difficult for the the local workforce. Sooner or later the well will run dry. There is evidence that the BOCC’s inept financial management is already taking a toll.
With any luck Robby Majeska will beat Sylvia Murphy and there will be at least one voice of reason on the BOCC.
Posted in Florida Keys Stewardship Act
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Hometown! PAC – YouTube Video
If you’re not familiar with Hometown! PAC, you should check them out. They recently held a “meet the candidates” event.
The District 5 segment was amazing to watch. Sylvia Murphy gave a content-free speech. There was a lot of name dropping. If you care about who Murphy knows, you’ll find that interesting. I don’t and I didn’t. There was a lot about what a “straight-shooter” she is. Ha! And what a “great job” she and her colleagues have done. Ha! Her pitch, as is typical, was all about her. Continue reading
Posted in Clerk of Court, Elections
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The Real Poop 