Proposal to name commission chambers after Mayor Cates voted down

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Hoping for the proverbial victory lap as his fourth and final term as mayor of Key West comes to an end, outgoing Mayor Craig Cates was disappointed when a resolution to name the city commission meeting room after him failed in a 3-3 vote.

Commissioner Clayton Lopez had sponsored the resolution to name the city commission chambers in the new city hall after Cates, who is precluded from running again because of term limits. Lopez’ three-page resolution listed several of the projects Cates helped achieve – building the new city hall, Truman Waterfront Park, the new amphitheater and using $12 million of land authority money to help a developer purchase the Peary Court housing development in order to keep it as workforce housing. The resolution also mentioned Cates’ wife, his three children and his mother, Emma Cates, who served as a Key West City Commissioner from 1983 to 1987.

But three of the current commissioners were concerned that naming a public facility after anyone, much less a person still living, was not good public policy.

“This [city commission] chamber doesn’t belong to any of us. We have the opportunity to represent the citizens of Key West in this chamber,” said Commissioner Jimmy Weekley. “Just as the United States Senate doesn’t have a name on it. It’s called the Senate Chambers.”

Commissioner Margaret Romero, who has often sparred publicly with Cates at commission meetings, agreed with Weekley, saying she is never in favor of naming public buildings and places after people, living or dead.

“The taxpayers have paid for all of these things,” she said. “This is the citizens’ commission chamber.”

Romero pointed to Weekley, who she also has sparred with at commission meetings, saying he has held numerous positions in Key West City government, serving the city for far longer than Cates’ nine years. The city needs to establish criteria for naming public spaces in the future, she said.

Ironically, earlier in the same meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to name the plaza located within the Clayton Sterling Complex sports fields on Kennedy Drive as the “Richie Garcia Baseball Plaza” after the very much alive Garcia, a graduate of Key West High School who umpired for several local baseball teams before becoming a professional umpire with Major League Baseball.

Cates was elected on his first attempt running for a governmental position and took office on Oct. 6, 2009. Cates has said he intends to run for Monroe County Commission in 2020, challenging incumbent Commissioner Heather Carruthers for the Key West seat.

Cates’ supporters had packed the room to back the naming resolution. Capt. Bill Wickers said the city “has been on a roll” since Cates became mayor, including the longest stretch he could remember without any exposed government corruption.

“Believe me, I go back a long ways. I can remember some real doozies,” he said.

Key West Planning Board member Jim Gilleran proposed that the room be named for both Cates and his wife, Cheryl, because of the “family support” Cates has received during his tenure. But another speaker, Diane Beruldsen, said that while she appreciated Cates’ service, she couldn’t forgive him for repeatedly badgering Commissioner Romero when she disagreed with him. Beruldsen said she thought Cates singled Romero out because she was the only woman on the commission.

“I don’t think you were treated fairly,” she told Romero. “And I’m really just sorry I didn’t come up here publicly to speak and support you.”

Commissioners Richard Payne and Sam Kaufman voted in favor of the resolution, which failed because the proposal did not receive a majority vote. Despite his support of the resolution, however, Kaufman said he was uncomfortable naming a public facility after a person, something “we should not be making a habit of,” he said.

“But at the end of the day, I think we also have to recognize his [Cates’] accomplishments. And I am going to miss him as a mayor up here,” Kaufman said.

Payne was enthusiastic about honoring Cates by naming the meeting chamber after him.

“This particular mayor, and his achievements in those nine years, is unparalleled by any mayor, God love them, that I know of,” Payne said.

Cates took the rejection of the proposed honor in stride when he rejoined commissioners on the dais. He had recused himself for the discussion, sitting in the audience next to his wife.

“I understand and respect difference of opinion. So, we’ll move on and do what’s best for the city,” he said.

Lopez was visibly upset, however.

“This will end up in the no good deed goes unpunished column,” he said after the vote.

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