Payne’s busy retirement includes running for office

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Retirement hasn’t exactly worked out the way Richard Payne originally expected.

The former 16th Judicial Circuit Judge stepped down from a 29-year legal career in Key West in 2008. But he left the door open at that time to be called back as what is known as a senior judge, an experienced legal authority asked to fill in for other trial judges who were away from the bench for personal or professional reasons. His phone rang often.

Payne even stepped away from that important role in 2013, wanting to let other legal eagles step up to the plate. But napping and reading just weren’t in his future. One year after his second retirement, Payne got involved in the reelection campaign for Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones, a former colleague on the 16th Circuit.

“I liked him and his ideas. I said I’d help him in any way I could,” Payne said in a recent telephone interview with Konk Life.

Working on Jones’ successful campaign was, unbeknownst to Payne, a primer for what has unexpectedly become the next chapter in a rich and varied professional life. A friend of Fredy Varela, Sr., who announced in February that he would run to unseat incumbent City Commissioner Tony Yaniz in Key West’s Fourth District, Payne dove into Varela’s campaign, helping out where he could. And there things stood, until Varela announced last month he was dropping out for health reasons. That’s when Payne’s telephone began ringing, again.

“Lots of people called me up and asked me to run. They talked me into it. I respected their opinions,” Payne said, adding with a laugh, “People think I’m crazy for doing it. But I have the education. I’m a hard worker. I’m a good listener. And I’m a fast learner.”

So Payne’s retirement now consists of going door to door in record-breaking heat in his neighborhood, talking to people about what he thinks he can contribute to District IV and to the city at large. The 73-year-old talks about his decision-making abilities, his training as a judge and how he used to manage a staff of 65 county judicial employees during the eight years he was chief of the 16th Circuit Court. He talks about how he is a “team player.” And he is studying what he called the “very complex issues” that city commissioners are facing. He has a list of the top three issues he wants to tackle if elected: the significant need for more affordable housing in Key West, the rapid rate of tax increases for property owners, and the dearth of parking in Old Town.

“Even with the $10 resident [parking] sticker, there is no place to park. Returning a library book I need to drive around and drive around and drive around,” says Payne.

All of the candidates running in the Oct. 6 election have said that the disappearance of affordable workforce housing in Key West is a stone around the city’s neck that could eventually drag it under. Key West is – and to an extent already has become – a town where wealthy second homeowners are the majority. While the poorest residents can take advantage of multiple housing programs aimed at helping them, middle-class workers are left out in the cold, Payne said.

“Where are the workers going to live? The cost of living here is so high. Then there’s the cost of housing on top of that,” he said.

But Payne does not have a one-size-fits-all solution to the problem. He wants the city commission not to let housing rules requiring developers to set aside one-third of their proposed project as affordable housing expire. And he wants city officials to do an in-depth study of the pros and cons of purchasing the 240-unit Peary Court complex and making it workforce housing.

“I’m not going to come in with any fixed ideas. We have to study it. Is this a good price [the proposed $35 million] or not? Can it be made to pay for itself? Yes, study it like crazy,” Payne said.

The third leg on his political position stool, rising taxes, has personally impacted Payne, who says the city and county taxes on his home have risen 24 percent in the past three years. But in his next breath, Payne says Key West can’t “go years” without giving raises to its employees, a situation the city is currently trying to remedy. It will be a difficult situation to balance all the needs, Payne acknowledged.

“It’s going to be hard. That’s why it is hard to be a politician,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m going to do what in my heart I think is best. When I look in the mirror, I want to say I like that guy.”

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