County Officials Discuss Florida Keys Priorities in Tallahassee

MONROE COUNTY, FL – Last week, Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi, County Attorney Bob Shillinger, Legislative Affairs Director Lisa Tennyson, and Planning and Environmental Services Director Emily Schemper, traveled to Tallahassee to speak to the Florida Keys delegation, as well as other State officials to discuss the Florida Keys Critical Area of State Concern and other important Florida Keys issues at the State level. A brief recap is below:

• Gastesi met with Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie. The County requests a $6 million legislative appropriation for the Emergency Operations Center being built in Marathon to cover additional expenses. Gastesi also discussed the FDEM and FEMA review process for the Twin Lakes Key Largo project to see what can be done to expedite the process.
• The group met with Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, Senate Present Chief of Staff Andrew Macintosh, and Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez to discuss affordable housing.
• Hurricane evacuation modeling was discussed with the Dept. of Economic Opportunity Director Barbara Powell. The modeling determines the Rate of Growth Ordinance (ROGO) on how quickly the Florida Keys can be evacuated if a storm threatens. The timeframe for the modeling remains unclear. Powell spoke about new included data in the modeling, such as the increased population. Monroe County’s population jumped to 82,874 in the 2020 Census.
• The team sat with Rep. Jim Mooney to discuss a draft bill addressing local occupational (contractor’s) licensing. “He’s very aware of the issue this causes for our locally licensed contractors,” said Gastesi. Also discussed were housing issues and the future inclusion of the County in the Land Acquisition Trust Fund, securing Stewardship Act funds in the future.
• Infrastructure and flood mitigation support was discussed with Speaker Paul Renner’s Chief of Staff, Allison Carter. “We will have some very major needs regarding our $1.6 billion roads vulnerability and flood mitigation projects in the future,” said Gastesi. “We hope to gain support from the legislature for our needs.”