PHOTO/Alyson Crean

During a moment of levity during the roundtable are, from left, Commissioners Weekley, Johnson and Rossi, Mayor Cates, and Commissioner Wardlow.

 

New Ambassadors grill commissioners:

covering the waterfront and everything else

 

BY C.S. GILBERT

The penultimate meeting of the Key West Ambassadors Class 22, traditionally a roundtable with the mayor and commissioners, was held in their EcoDiscovery classroom last Thursday and quite literally covered the waterfront –  the endlessly aborning Truman Waterfront Park, that is.

New Ambassadors, asking questions in turn after brief opening statements by the panel, also grilled Mayor Craig Cates and the commissioners about a wide variety of subjects, ranging from affordable housing and homelessness to a living wage, dais etiquette and the morale of city employees.

The mayor and Commissioners Teri Johnson, Mark Rossi, Billy Wardlow and Jimmy Weekley were present. Commissioner Tony Yaniz, out of town, sent an apology noting how important the Ambassador program had been to his understanding of city government and wrote, “Apathy is the enemy of good government.” Commissioner Clayton Lopez was expected, but did not appear.

In opening statements Wardlow cited “Truman Annex the park” and repairs on Duck Avenue. Cates characterized the city as “big business with a lot of great employees and management” and pointed to affordable housing as a most important concern. Rossi characterized himself as a “whipping boy” and said he was “just here for the Q and A.”

Johnston pointed out that there were “129 projects in the works; the city has never before been so active or proactive.” She pointed especially to dramatic increases in local recycling — 7% to 24% in five or six months — and noted that “quality of life” for residents was “as important as bringing money into Duval Street.”

Weekley touched on many issues. “I said I’d give Commissioner Lopez the Truman Waterfront if he’d give me the cemetery,” he said, to general laughter. Most important, though, was affordable housing “or we won’t have people to provide services for our tourist economy.”

The questioning, which was mostly serious in intent and totally courteous in tone, began with Parlin Meyer’s query about recycling. Most surprising here was the report that certain businesses had reached 97% recycling – cited were the Green Parrot, with Rossi’s bars as “close” to that. Most edifying was Johnston’s report that the pending contract for waste disposal required that businesses be charged the same, lower rate as residential customers, thus eliminating a major impediment to business recycling.

Additionally, if the company awarded the contract does not achieve 50% business recycling within a specific time, they lose the contract, Weekley said.

George Edson questioned the police practice of arresting the homeless for open container violations. The consensus was that it was not the best use of law enforcement time and resources. It costs $83 per night to jail offenders, Johnston noted. Also noted is the person-power needed call a canine drug unit to examine every stop of a young person. “I’m always on Donie’s (Police Chief Donie Lee) ass on this,” said Rossi. This conversation led, with some humor, to the overwhelming impression that marijuana busts were a waste of time — and that legalizing and taxing the substance, as with tobacco, could be a “windfall” income stream.

John Teets, as preface to many questions, commented that the Ambassador course would be of value to city department heads. Some “don’t understand quite what others do,” he said. In reference to a later question about employee morale by Ambassador volunteer coordinator and moderator Lois Songer, however, city staff was praised.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” Cates said. “The city’s in the best shape it’s ever been.”

The final meeting of the class will be when they “graduate” and their 15 weeks of study is recognized at a City Commission meeting, tentatively scheduled for May 7.

 

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