I’ve submitted a few emails to the county regarding the apparently false numbers presented on page 37 of the 2015 State of the County report. Here’s the latest. I would like the county to substantiate the number of animals it claims have been handled at the Lower Keys shelter and the Middle Keys shelter. Those numbers are not backed up by the monthly reports. Continue reading
Animal Control – Still No Answers
Posted in Animal Shelter, BOCC, Bubba System, Public Records
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Murphy – Not Done With Us Yet
Hmmm….looks like Sylvia Murphy has decided to run again. That’s unfortunate.
Her ten year run has been a disaster. She’s completely failed to look out for her own District, and when asked about that she lies. She’s seen to it that her constituents unjustifiably pay more for their sewer project than any other taxpayer in the unincorporated area. Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Elections, Financial Condition
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Emergency Services Surtax – Cherry Picking Islamorada
Update: In this post, I blamed county commissioner Heather Carruthers for the Emergency Services Surtax because it was her proposal. However, it’s important to know that the “white paper” was actually written by Kevin Madok. Madok is now running for Clerk of Court, a position that requires truthfulness and integrity.
I’ve been talking about the various distortions found in Monroe County’s “white paper” analyzing Comm. Carruthers’s proposed Emergency Services Surtax (ESS). This new sales tax is being sold as a “tax shift” that will benefit locals. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case at all. Quite the opposite, as noted here and here. Much of the logic used by the county to support this new tax fails to stand up to scrutiny. Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Fire and Ambulance, Monroe County
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Emergency Services Surtax – Marathon and Key Colony Beach
I’m still digging into Monroe County’s “white paper”, which was written by Monroe County staff in support of Comm. Carruthers’s new sales tax, the Emergency Services Surtax (ESS). The “white paper” claims that by paying for fire and emergency services with this new sales tax instead of with property taxes the tax burden will shift from locals to tourists. This conclusion is based on some dubious “logic”. Continue reading
Posted in Bubba System, Fire and Ambulance
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More About That $38 Million Overrun
Cudjoe Regional isn’t Monroe County’s only disastrously over budget train wreck . That’s “only” $49 million over and counting. As it turns out there are another five capital projects that are now $38 million over budget. According to KeysNet.com, these projects started out at $25 million. The projected costs now stand at $63 million. This mind-blowing incompetence seems to be the norm for Monroe County government. Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, State government
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Animal Control – Fact Checking the Numbers
Note: Updated to include funding comparison table and prettify some formatting and language.
Update: County commissioner, George Neugent, is now facing sanctions for ethics violations, which grew out of his role in the Stand Up For Animals (SUFA) debacle. These maneuverings drew the attention of citizen activist, Rick Boettger, and prompted a close look into Neugent’s financial disclosures, which eventually resulted in the sanctions. I hope this will have a chilling effect on commissioners who actually think it’s okay to play politics with animal control. But I’m also a realist and I know that old habits die hard.
Let’s get one thing straight – the euthanasia rate at the Upper Keys shelter is still sky high compared to the other two shelters. And there are still no solutions being offered.
However, there has been a slight improvement in the coverage of the issue. I really have to commend the Free Press for their most recent article. They actually mentioned the funding amounts for each of the shelters. It’s obvious that the different funding levels might play a role in the issue and I’m glad somebody in the press finally mentioned it. Continue reading
Posted in Animal Shelter, Media
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State of Monroe County – Animal Control
I took another look at Monroe County’s latest state of the county report. The number of animals handled at each of the animal shelters really jumped out at me. They contradict what was reported in the media when the high kill rate at the Upper Keys shelter came to light. What’s going on here?
Is the county lying about this, too? Did the media get it wrong? Where’s the bust? This is another issue that’s gone down the memory hole. And that is just very, very sad. If the county could just be bothered to stop lying and make a good-faith effort, maybe a lot of needless suffering could be prevented. Continue reading
Posted in Animal Shelter, BOCC, Bubba System
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State of Monroe County – 2015
Took a vacation last week. Still catching up on all the excitement. Looks like the new state of the county report is out – 56 pages of recycled bull-pucky. It looks nice though. Somebody’s very artistic.
None of the budget over-runs on capital projects are mentioned. The county loves lying by omission. So expect spending to continue running amok. If the county won’t even acknowledge the problem, I don’t ever expect to see a solution. The current Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) is all too happy marinating in their delusions. Soothes the conscience I guess. Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Monroe County
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Carruthers and Her Cronies
Monroe County Commissioner Heather Carruthers is pushing the Emergency Sales Surtax (ESS). It looks to be another dishonest money grab. Just like the wastewater projects. In this case, the county is looking to take advantage of the taxpayers over a life-health-safety issue. They’ve hit a new low and the spin machine is fully engaged.
In order to further the proposal, county staff has made some preposterous arguments to support it. For instance, they claim that zero property tax is paid by tourists when in fact, there are thousands of properties in the Keys that derive most, if not all, of their income from tourists. They claim that local families will only pay an additional $125 per year in sales tax, when the math clearly supports a number around $417. In fact, information from a variety of sources corroborates the higher number. Staff is none too pleased when asked to explain the inconsistencies. Neither are the commissioners. Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Fire and Ambulance, Monroe County, Taxes
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Emergency Services Surtax – “Shifting” All Over Key West Locals
Updated to clean up the tables.
County Commissioner George Neugent said this in our correspondence about the Emergency Services Surtax (ESS) the other day:
There has been a tremendous transformation of Monroe County & municipalities. Going back to the 80s when I arrived here Key West was “strongly” in charge politically, even into the late 90s. It’s why Islamorada incorporated and to a great degree Marathon.
I can’t speak to the situation in the 80’s and 90’s. To be honest, I don’t believe that history is terribly relevant to the this issue anyway. But I find this comment significant for a number of reasons. Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Fire and Ambulance, Key West, Taxes
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The Real Poop 