Konk Life’s Political Questionnaire:

Konk Life invited every candidate in the upcoming elections to answer the following questions about themselves and their candidacy.

Q&A with Phil Goodman

Interview conducted by Mark Howell

 

Tell us your age, what office you’re running for and any previous offices held.

I’m 66 years old and running for the District 2 Commission seat on the Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board. I am the incumbent for this seat, having taken office in 2011.

 

Explain your platform and why you are running.

Mosquito Control (MC) exists, by state legislation, for public health reasons and to provide for the comfort of our residents and visitors. Both of these have a direct impact on the long-term economy of the Florida Keys. Mosquito-borne diseases are still the leading cause of death in the world but not in the U.S. The mission of MC is thus very important to protect our way of life in the Florida Keys and must be done properly and optimally. I am running because we have come a long way in the past three years at MC, particularly when you recall the waste and corruption that existed three and four years ago. Real leadership is about doing the right things and I have made a difference in the past three years. However, there is still much more we need to do and must do to build a Mosquito Control District that offers real value to our residents and visitors. My business and technical background will continue to be a very valuable resource needed to reach this goal.

I am running on my record of the past three years of putting the taxpayer’s interest first for an increasingly effective and efficient MC, which today remains very labor intensive but as a science should be very technical and automated. We have gone about as far as we can go using the labor-intensive approach, especially here where labor is very expensive and in very short supply. To reach higher levels of effective control we must pick up the pace of integrating proven technologies that can significantly improve our results. This can be accomplished over time without increasing cost, just as the private sector does day after day. As a technology leader in my private business life, I am aware of the benefits of using technology as a competitive advantage in the private sector and it will work in the public sector’s technical areas like MC.

 

Detail how you differ from your competing candidates:

My vision of Mosquito Control is different than the others’ based on my business and technical background and experience. I have a thorough understanding of budgets, the chemical technology and chemical engineering aspects of MC and the fragile environment in which we live and the impact MC can have on it. During my long and successful chemical and business career, I made, balanced and lived within many complicated budgets. In the past three years as a Mosquito Control commissioner, I voted to ensure our budgets were balanced and our reserves stabilized and managed. I also introduced an analytical format for the MC budget development process that made the complicated fund-balanced format much easier to understand by all and it remains in use.

Mosquito Control is a highly technical, science-based discipline that historically has not been widely recognized as such. The Mosquito Control Board is not an advisory board and is responsible for the total success or failure of the mission. The collective knowledge, leadership and experience of the board guides the management to do the right things. Otherwise the board becomes a “rubber stamp” for management ideas and that has caused problems in the past. My business and technical background and experience are unique on this board and I think is a very good complement to that of the other commissioners. Not everyone on the commission needs to have a strong technical and business background but I have seen my knowledge and vision help ensure the right questions are asked and the right things are done. MC is the largest user of chemicals in the county and the pesticides used have an impact on our environment. My knowledge and experience in the chemical industry greatly parallels the needs of MC. When hundreds of aerial and land missions are made each year by MC spraying tons of pesticides over the Florida Keys and the National Marine Sanctuary, we’d better know our business and do it right.

 

Tell us your personal history — education; professional career; family life and how long you’ve lived in the Keys or the county and your relationship to the Florida Keys and/or Key West.

Originally from North Carolina, I am a graduate chemist from North Carolina State University and have an MBA from the University of North Carolina. I am also a Registered Parliamentarian with the National Association of Parliamentarians and the only one registered in Monroe County. I served for eight years in the U.S. Army Reserves receiving an honorable discharge in 1977. I am also an Eagle Scout.

 

I have lived on Cudjoe Key since 1999 with my wife of 43 years, Debby, and our daughter Carey. We have lived in South Florida since 1992.

My entire business career, spanning more than 40 years, was in the private-sector global chemical industry. I held various technical and executive level positions during my career and retired as corporate president and shareholder of a multinational chemical organization. This was a company that several business partners and I started from a “green field” in 1982 and grew into a corporation doing business in more than 100 countries. I have traveled to more than 90 countries. We sold this company to a larger international corporation and I retired in 2009.

I am very involved in the local community and try to use my expertise in business and chemistry to assist local volunteer efforts, including those involved in protecting our fragile environment in the Keys.

I am a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary where I am responsible for pollution response in District 7, which spans three states. As a USCG Auxillarist, I was the only one from Monroe County to spend 30 days at the Deepwater Horizon spill as a volunteer. I am a USCG certified hazardous waste and emergency response instructor (HAZWOPER) and in the past three years have additionally voluntarily trained, at no cost, more than 800 Monroe County residents to be qualified to assist emergency responders in the event of a major oil spill on our shores. I am also an American Safety and Health Institute certified first aid and CPR instructor and will offer free classes to the community.

I am also a member of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, a member of the Mote Marine Laboratory Advisory Board, a partner in the State of Florida Clean Boating Partnership that promotes the Clean Marina Program, a member of the Key West Military Affairs Committee, a member of the Key West Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Southernmost Republican Club in Key West and the Middle Keys Republican Club in Marathon.

 

Touch on your personal passions in addition to the above.

I enjoy boating and fishing in the backcountry with my family. I also enjoy traveling with my family within the U.S. and internationally. As a hobby, I enjoy woodworking and building an assortment of furniture items. One of these projects involved building a large chart table for the USCG Station in Marathon.

 

Describe where, in your view, we are going wrong in the Keys and/or Key West.

We do not do enough coordinated and long-term strategic planning in the Keys to stay ahead of the curve. The Florida Keys are unique and thus have unique problems and opportunities. We are dependent on tourism for our economic wellbeing and this causes conflict with other economic drivers and the ecology. We have a large representation of government entities in the Keys, each with an important role to play and each acting independently. Collectively, the role of government is getting larger in the Keys and the private sector that funds all this is often forgotten. We sometimes move from one extreme to the other and what we need to do is reach a balance on many fronts. Much better coordinated planning is needed to move in the proper direction on these tiny islands.

Specifically at Mosquito Control, the stage is also changing with increasing rapidity. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s move last year to eliminate adulticide spraying on Big Pine Key to protect endangered butterfly species should have been a real eye-opener to what may come and what will be required. Also recently, the local government of South Miami did a similar ban on mosquito spraying there. In addition, several private firms are offering mosquito control to Monroe County private residences for a fee. To meet the demands of the future for mosquito control and achieve our short and long term mission, we need to do what we do better and in a more environmentally friendly manner and continuously improve. We now have a strategic plan and are moving in the right direction, but we must continue to move at an even faster pace.

 

Tell us the political flash points you expect to encounter if elected.

I am the only current commissioner on the FKMCD board that has long-term experience using technology as a competitive advantage in the private sector. I know and understand much good and proven technology that should be employed at Mosquito Control that will significantly improve our performance and help control costs. This is a long- term process that begins with developing a culture at Mosquito Control that embraces change. This cultural change is oftentimes very difficult to accomplish and requires the right leadership. I envision a mosquito control in the future that uses more technology to do a better job and reduce the current labor-intensive efforts creating higher technology-based jobs. This will happen over time but we need to increase our efforts to make it happen.

 

Tell us anything you feel you need to explain or any misapprehension you believe voters may have of you.

When I joined the Commission in 2011, Mosquito Control had been called Mosquito Out of Control. There was much blame on the past organization and some of the former leadership faced legal charges and there was a history of mismanagement and corruption. I saw the immediate need to look at almost everything we did and put the brand of the new commission and management of the district on MC. I led the effort to make a strategic plan to guide us, including balancing our budget, reorganizing the district staff, setting guidelines for managing our reserves, setting new salary ranges for our employees, updating the employee handbook, televising our meetings, becoming more transparent in our actions, developing administrative procedures and more. Whatever MC is today, the people currently involved, including myself, are responsible and can no longer blame our predecessors. I am a fiscal conservative and have much business experience at identifying and eliminating waste and focusing those monies to the main goal. I have done this at mosquito control and have helped reduce needless and costly overhead, making more monies available for controlling mosquitoes. Today, our operating budget is $2,000,000 below three years ago, we are controlling mosquitoes in a more cost effective and more environmentally friendly manner but there remains much more to accomplish.

 

As a result of this, many people think I am only interested in the cost side of MC and nothing could be further from the truth. My goal is to significantly improve the performance of MC but we first needed to eliminate the problems of the past and set our new baselines upon which our new team can develop our long-term strategies. We have achieved this first goal in my opinion and now we can move full speed to further improve our performance including the use of improved and proven technologies, some of which I have already introduced.

 

Give us your view on the partisan divisiveness in politics today and any solution to it you might have.

 

I see the partisan gap widening at all levels of government. I believe in a limited government, I believe in the free-enterprise system and I believe in self-responsibility. I believe in giving a helping hand to those who for some reason need a hand. I believe in an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. I do not agree in government subsidizing a career of dependency for people who could eventually help themselves. The partisan gap is widening because there are many who believe what I believe but there are also many that believe just the opposite. In many instances there is little middle ground for these two mutually exclusive ideologies. The number of people who are becoming dependent on government is rising, causing a shift in American values. I believe the solution is for the government to step aside in some areas to allow the private sector to do its thing and create good jobs requiring a better educated populace, increasing wealth and productivity etc., etc.

 

Given that gender equality, income parity, voting rights and sexual preferences continue as big political issues nationwide today, tell us on which side of the aisle you stand.

 

I am a fiscal conservative, I believe everyone benefits from a strong U.S.A. and everyone has the responsibility to use their skills, talents and abilities to contribute to that end and to their own wellbeing. However, on social issues, I believe everyone is entitled to their own private life and equal access to the American Dream regardless of race, color, creed, gender or sexual preference. I also believe only American citizens should be able to vote in this country.

 

And how about immigration, gun control and capital punishment.

Legal immigration is good for this country and must continue. History proves that fact. In my opinion however, illegal immigration is one of the biggest problems we face as a nation and society. To allow illegal immigrants who will vote and have ready access to our social system, etc. creates a society that will more than likely perpetuate and further exacerbate the dependency problem. This dilutes the American Dream for those who have obeyed the laws and worked hard to help build that dream.

I believe in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Gun control sounds good from 30,000 feet but when you study the statistics, crime is much worse in U.S. cities that have strict gun-control laws. Gun control, as now defined, does not achieve the proper results and does not work.

I also believe in capital punishment for those specific crimes where the jury recommends it. Even though our system is far from perfect, I believe capital punishment remains a deterrent to many.

 

Name your favorite movie:

“Dave”

 

Your favorite TV show:

“24”

 

Your favorite TV talking head:

Lou Dobbs of The Fox Business Channel

 

Your favorite newspaper columnist:

Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post

 

Your favorite book:

“ The Killer Angels” (a history of the battle of Gettysburg)

 

Your favorite character in American history:

George Washington

 

Your favorite person in Florida Keys and/or Key West history:

Mr. Edward B. Knight and his father-in-law, the late Mr. Norbert Thompson. They are giants, both today and in our history.

 

Your favorite quote or proverb:

“ In business and in Life, you either make dust or you eat dust!” — Unknown

 

Is there any secret strength you’d like to reveal about yourself at this point?

My secret strength is my ability to set high goals and prioritize them and to work hard and tirelessly to achieve them.

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