Skip O’Neil running for Mark Rossi’s city commission seat

Skip O’Neil running for Mark Rossi’s city commission seat

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

A second candidate has filed papers to run for Key West City Commissioner Mark Rossi’s District 2 seat.

Robert “Skip” O’Neil, 72, a retired engineer and contractor from Chicago, said that his campaign motto will be “Less Talk, More Action.” O’Neil joins Sam Kaufman, a local attorney who kicked off his election campaign on Feb. 2, in a race to replace Rossi, who has said he will not stand for reelection on October 6.

O’Neil that his experience in construction – he worked 54 years in his family’s contracting business in Chicago – makes him an ideal candidate to represent District 2.

“I believe in every town, 70 to 80 percent is construction. I’ve done every bit of that. I think I can make a difference here,” he said.

O’Neil is a regular attendee of city commission meetings, sitting in the front row. He often can be found on an outdoor stool at Sandy’s Café on White Street, which he jokingly referred to as his office. This is his first campaign for an elected position, although he served as president of the Underground Contractors Association in Chicago in the 1980’s.

O’Neil moved to Key West in 2008 and said his primary goals if elected are to learn the issues District 2 residents are most concerned with, protecting the local ecosystem, and helping better serve the area’s homeless population, which he said he calls “the disadvantaged people.”

O’Neil also said creating more affordable housing in Key West is a priority. He said he has a solution to the soaring cost of local housing but wouldn’t release details of his plan yet.

“I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag. I just hit the street [with his campaign]. People listen to what they want to hear rather than what you want to tell them,” he said in a telephone interview with Konk Life.

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