News Stories / Key West Election Results Digested Now What
By Pru Sowers
Konk Life Staff Writer
Richard Payne, who had just trounced incumbent Tony Yaniz in the District IV Key West City Commission election, was refreshingly frank when he spoke about the post-election night party he was heading to at Conch Town Liquor and Lounge.
Stunned by the size of his two-to-one victory vote margin, Payne said that he hadn’t really expected to win.
“I was going to celebrate that the election is over,” he said about his initial goal for the Conch Town party. Instead, it turned into a victory celebration for the former circuit county judge, who was drafted to run against Yaniz when the original candidate, Fredy Varela Sr., dropped out in July because of health concerns.
Once he takes his place on the city commission dais on Oct. 20, the first meeting with the new commissioner slate that which includes Margaret Romero and Sam Kaufman, Payne said creating more affordable workforce housing is at the top of the list but he acknowledged he has to get up to speed on that and other challenges facing Key West. As for Yaniz, who was defeated by a 33-66 percent margin in his effort to win a second term on the commission, he intends to do a lot of fishing and spending time with his grandson. That was in his first breath. In his second, he said he is considering hosting a new radio program called “Key West Confidential: Keeping it real.”
“Then I can go after everybody,” he laughed. “Tony Yaniz doesn’t go away.”
Yaniz said he has also been approached by some unnamed people to help defeat some of the current commissioners – again unnamed – when they are up for reelection. He seemed interested in that idea. But running for office again doesn’t appear to be in the immediate cards.
“I got fired. My brand of politics… balls to the wall… is not what constituents want and that’s OK. Obviously politics is not my cup of tea,” he said, adding post-election, “I feel like the weight of the world is off my shoulders.”
Mike Mongo, who lost to Margaret Romero in District V, had a different response to his defeat. His disappointment wasn’t so much that he lost, it was that he won’t be able to contribute in the way he had hoped, at least for now.
“It would have been a pleasure to serve with everyone on the dais,” he said. “It was awesome all the way through [the campaign]. The past three months I’ve spent time with the best Key West has to offer.”
But for Morgan McPherson, the former Key West Mayor who lost to Kaufman in District II, this campaign may be his last. Over the past 11 years, he has run six times for a wide assortment of political offices, losing four of those local and state races but winning back-to-back elections for mayor of Key West in 2005 and 2009. This campaign, though, was tough.
“It’s a lot to put yourself though, a campaign. At the end of the day, we campaigned on what we believed in. It wasn’t enough. That’s how it goes,” he said, adding, “My time in politics is pretty much over.”
Sam Kaufman seemed stunned at his victory shortly after the results were announced. This campaign was his first venture into public office politics, one that he said “was not always as diplomatic as you might think.” But it’s time to look forward, not back and Kaufman, along with the other new commissioners, will be sworn in on Oct. 14.
“I honestly believe I can work with everyone on the commission. I think we can make positive changes so people can be proud, really proud, of Key West,” he said.
As for Margaret Romero, who attends every city commission meeting, often making succinct comments on a variety of issues during the public comment portion, she was beaming after the election results were announced. But there was no after-party on her schedule. She said she was maybe going to have a drink with friends, but then had to head home to study the city commission agenda for the next night’s meeting. She intended to take her place at the public podium one last time before moving to the other side of the bench as a newly-elected commissioner.
“I will be as open and candid as always,” she said about her upcoming tenure as one of the elected officials she has often taken to task in the past. “I look forward to working with the entire dais.”
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