State of the city is “sound” despite ongoing challenges, says Key West mayor

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

Pushed back two weeks by a bout of laryngitis, Key West Mayor Craig Cates delivered his annual state of the city report on Feb. 18, laying out both the progress and the pitfalls the city encountered in 2014.

 

Focusing mostly on the positives, Craig laid out a department by department review of programs and projects city staffers worked on last year. The police and fire departments had a long list of achievements, according to Cates. So did the parking, facility maintenance and community services departments.

 

“Every part of Key West is touched by community services,” he said, listing the street cleaning, parks, recreation facilities, landscaping, street maintenance and city-owned building maintenance that department is responsible for. “It’s pretty incredible what they do day in and day out.”

 

Cates also pointed to two big storm water drainage projects currently under construction, one on Front Street and another on North Simonton Street.

 

“Both of those projects will be completed this year and should help definitely the drainage on Front Street and Duval Street,” he said.

 

Cates was positive about the work done last year by the Historic Architecture Review Commission (HARC), a controversial board that often draws the ire of homeowners required by the commission to use expensive materials and architects to ensure the historic accuracy of their building. Cates argued that the historic district is one of the attractions that keep tourists coming to Key West.

 

“HARC received over 2,100 applications last year. I know a lot of people are concerned about HARC or have issues with it. But 98 percent of those [applications] were approved,” Cates said, adding, “It’s very important that we protect our historic city, our historic architecture. It’s expensive but it preserves the historic buildings and the quality of them.”

 

One change that began in 2014 and will continue this year is outfitting the city’s police officers with body cameras. Complaints of excessive force made against some officers, particularly during the Charles Eimers case, where Eimers stopped breathing while being arrested in November 2013 and died a week later after being removed from life support, could be impacted by use of body cams. Cates said that 100 of the units have been purchased by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and will be donated to the Key West Police Department shortly.

 

“I just talked to Sheriff [Rick] Ramsay and he told me the cameras are in. So he’ll be presenting them to the City of Key West soon so they can start putting them into service,” Cates said.

 

Key West’s mayor also outlined several ongoing challenges the city faces, including soaring residential rents and the lack of workforce housing, which Cates said may not be able to be solved.

 

“Workforce housing is a priority. We may never have all the housing units we need,” he said.

 

But Cates also pitched another perspective in regards to steadily increasing rent levels.

 

“We have challenges regarding workforce housing, more so now due to rents increasing. The flip side to this is that this is good for development and property owners as higher rent is an indicator of an increase in property values,” he said, adding, “Addressing issues like this will be a marathon not a sprint. We must be dedicated to finding solutions, even when our patience starts to run out. One person cannot do this alone. It has to be a community effort.”

 

 

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