Letter to the Editor / DEMOCRACY REQUIRES  “SUNSHINE”, TRANSPARENCY and HONESTY

By Roger C. Kostmayer

Important public issues must be decided by the voters, and done in public.

KW voters decided, by a large majority in 2018, that their health, environment and Quality of Life needed protection from the largest and most destructive cruise ships.  The KW City Attorney was instructed to draft a city ordinance that implemented those election results.  Essentially, the City Attorney refused by putting his personal and suspicious desires above both the voters and their elected representatives.

City Attorney Smith then told the Mayor and KW Commissioners that he needed to hire an outside lawyer to do the ordinance work, and Smith agreed to submit candidates to the city commissioners and Mayor for evaluation.  But, once again, Smith doubled down, failed to comply and continued to stall and torpedo the cruise ship ordinance.

Now, as time is running out, C. A. Smith is shamelessly attempting to give himself absolute power and control in order to steal our KW election by making sure that only he can hire the attorney, who is certain to be under Smith’s control.  This illicit gambit is designed to sabotage the ordinance, the election on which it is based and the will of the people.

There appears to be no shame or excuse for this power grab and it must not be allowed to trump democracy in Key West.

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