Lots and lots of ink about the school district this week. As we know, $20,000 went missing from the Horace O’ Bryant Early Learning Center. Obviously, that is not good. But the way the matter was handled made things exponentially worse from a public perception standpoint at the very least. Continue reading
Hoo Boy! School District
Posted in Bubba System, School District
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Are SMART Districts the Answer?
It’s obvious that Monroe County government needs to change. Fortunately, there’s a new group that has an idea that might help – single member districts. I talked a little bit about that here. And here is a link to the SMART Districts website. This one snip says it all. Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Single-member Districts
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Oh Key West – New Assistant City Manager
So I saw this in the Blue Paper. Key West City Manager, Jim Scholl, hired convicted felon**, Greg Veliz, as Assistant City Manager. Supposedly he’s the only one who applied for the job. Hmmm…$120,000 per year. One applicant. Sorry. Does not compute. Where did they advertise? A sticky note on Veliz’s coffee mug? Continue reading
Posted in Bubba System
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Financial Squeeze – Employment
Let’s start with a few facts.
- The wastewater projects are, by far, the largest infrastructure project the Keys has going – $800 million.
- The wastewater projects in the unincorporated area will cost around $500 million.
- The two main wastewater utilities in the unincorporated area are the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (FKAA) and the Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District (District). The FKAA serves about 14,000 EDU’s in the Lower and Middle Keys. The District serves about 14,000 EDU’s in the Key Largo area (Upper Keys).
- Monroe County will supply an estimated $124 million to the FKAA for sewer projects from the infrastructure sales tax.
- The county has supplied $23 million to the District for sewer projects from the infrastructure sales tax.
- As a result of that huge $100 million difference, Key Largo taxpayers contribute $26 million more to their sewer projects.
Kathy Reiztel – Whistleblower
Update: The Blue Paper’s story includes a link to Reitzel’s affidavit. Warning: it is awful. If this is what people go through when they report wrong-doing, it’s no surprise the school district still has problems.
Terrific story in the Blue Paper about Kathy Reiztel, the Finance Director who blew open the Acevedo scandal. Read it! It’s really well done. The Blue Paper has a way of putting things into perspective. They do a great job of providing context. Continue reading
Posted in Bubba System, School District
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School Board and FKAA
The School Board
KeysNews.com (Key West Citizen) was the first out with a story about Tuesday’s school board meeting. I have to say, I’m no more enlightened than I was before. Continue reading
Posted in FKAA, School District
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Dean Residency Issue – Following Up
Kirk Zuelch, the Executive Director of the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (FKAA) was specifically instructed by the board to send a packet of documents to the governor’s appointment office. The governor’s appointment office could then review the documents and make a decision regarding Bob Dean’s eligibility to serve on the FKAA board. Did Mr. Zuelch do as he was asked? Is the governor’s office reviewing the material? Are they even aware of the issue? Continue reading
Posted in Bubba System, FKAA, State government
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Another One for the Scandal Sheet
From KeysNews.com (Key West Citizen): Jury convicts former Cay Clubs president.
Dave Clark was convicted of vacation rental fraud. He’s looking at a long prison stay. Sentencing in February 25.
He’s not a government official, but this scheme is huge dollar-wise. So I think it’s worthy of a place on the Scandal Sheet.
Posted in Monroe County
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Another Trip Into Bizarro-world
I usually take weekends off from blogging, but there’s so much weird stuff going on today. Is there something in the water?
First I saw this strange note from the Office of Open Government.
Then this crazy story in the Citizen.
And now this in the KeyNoter about Roman Gastesi’s contract extension. Roman Gastesi, of course, is the county administrator. Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Monroe County
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From KeyNews.com – Toppino vows to avoid conflicts
Update: It turns out the amount of Toppino’s subcontracts on Cudjoe Regional total well over $12 million. It’s almost certain that Zuelch knew that when this article was written, and Toppino most definitely would have. Yet they led the Citizen to believe that the number was something less than $1 million. The gullible and careless Citizen accepted it as fact. Shady. Very shady.
So I just read this: Toppino vows to avoid conflicts.
It caused me to snort with laughter and inhale coffee down my wind pipe. Don’t worry I’m okay. Breathing has returned to normal. If you decide to read it, be aware of the choking hazard.
Where do I even start with this schlock?!!! Continue reading
Posted in Bubba System, Conflict of Interest, FKAA, State government
Tagged Conflict of Interest, Florida Keys, Rick Scott
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The Real Poop 