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Holiday celebrations kicked into high gear this week, dominating the front pages of The Citizen and Keys Weekly (our most frequently cited sources). But there was still hard news to share.
TDC audit fallout continued.
- No, thanks. Key West Chamber of Commerce President Diane Schmidt turned down an offer to manage marketing for the Tourism Development Council while the forensic accounting firm Cherry Bekaert audits the group's finances.
- Okay, sure. But the TDC vice chair, George Fernandez, will oversee day-to-day marketing in the absence of Stacey Mitchell, the executive director the group's board put on administrative leave with pay pending the audit's outcome. His first official day on the job — for which he asked not to be compensated — was Dec. 1.
Feds question Citizens solvency. The U.S. Senate Budget Committee has begun an inquiry into Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-backed company that provides Florida home and property insurance coverage as its "insurer of last resort." The committee wants to know whether Citizens has enough reserve funds to withstand future disasters, as scientists warn warming oceans and sea-level rise are making storms more destructive.
- Committee Chair Sheldon Whitehouse sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky and Citizens CEO Tim Cerio saying that the situation “appears to have grown particularly dire…” and that “it is entirely possible that state leaders might ask the federal government for a bailout."
- Not messing around. Florida has until Dec. 21 to hand over documents about the company’s assets, plans, and policies.
Election races heating up. The Citizen caught us up on local races and candidates who have filed to run in 2024 elections.
- Beyond diversity: Michael Travis, a drag performer whose stage name is Erika Rose, has filed to run as a Democrat for the state House Rep. 120 race and will face incumbent Rep. Jim Mooney. Travis says that beyond “celebrating diversity,” his platform for the Keys includes environmental protection and access to affordable housing.
- Democrat endorsed by two Republicans. Former State House Rep. Ron Saunders, a Democrat, is the only candidate to file so far for the soon-to-be-vacated Supervisor of Elections seat and has secured two key endorsements from influential Republicans, Monroe County Commissioner Craig Cates and Sheriff Rick Ramsay.
Rapid intensification. With great interactive graphics, the New York Times marked the end of the official hurricane season in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific on Nov. 30. Both basins experienced an above-average number of storms, fueled by extremely warm ocean temperatures and El Niño. A high proportion of quickly growing storms this year exceeded the standard definition of rapid intensification — an increase of at least 35 m.p.h in sustained winds, over 24 hours.
- Not a factor? The possibility of rapidly intensifying storms isn't listed as a factor in the state's hurricane evacuation model, whose latest revision may result in additional residential development in the Keys.
- But more impact. In a 2019 study, experts said storms that rapidly intensify are typically associated with more forecast errors and cause a disproportionate amount of human and financial losses.
Yawn. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis debated California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Fox News, apparently absent local coverage. Moderated by a clearly biased Sean Hannity, only the pundit class seemed interested for a couple of days.
Get festive. Linda Cunningham recommended the best ways to celebrate December in Key West.
Long legs and bird poop. Mark Hedden answered questions in his Ask the Bird Geek edition of his Wild Things column.
Our Eyes
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| Breakfast! - Joan Shea |
Previously in Key West Voices
Pier B whistleblower lawsuit dismissed. The New York Times reported at length on the history of recent challenges to cruise ships in Key West in the wake of the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Safer Cleaner Ships.
- The 149-page lawsuit, filed by Safer Cleaner Ships 14 months ago under seal in Leon County, relied on public documents showing that Pier B Corporation earned more than $90 million in revenue from cruise ship disembarkation fees, but reported only a fraction of this amount to the state.
- Blocked. Last week, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody dismissed and unsealed the case, declining to pursue these allegations of fraud, and blocked Safer Cleaner Ships from continuing the case on its own.
- The suit was dismissed in part on jurisdictional grounds, a decision that SCS said was a sign of continuing state support for Pier B Corp’s president, Mark Walsh.
- Walsh has since doubled down, asking the state for permission to expand his operation to allow bigger ships with more passengers to operate legally out of the port.
- Any doubt about the decision? The expansion request will be considered by Gov. DeSantis, who has received nearly $1 million in campaign donations from Walsh, as soon as the next Cabinet meeting on Dec. 12. DeSantis can approve the expansion with support from just one member of his Cabinet (of which Moody is a member).
- Concerns. Keys Last Stand President Ann Olsen said her community activist group had concerns over how the scenarios were developed. “These models were based on statistics from 2020 and didn’t consider the population increases that we have seen since then … and yet the evacuation times have only increased by a half hour or hour to an hour and a half,” she said.
- Takings lawsuits. Another citizen noted the political pressures that officials will face and asked for hard data to separate the myth from reality of takings lawsuits.
- Get real. Linda Cunningham came out in support of the slowest growth scenario to ensure public safety, timely evacuation of visitors and residents, balanced growth, and environmental protection.
- No one in the virtual meeting, which included county and city officials and staff and concerned residents, was interested in dumping excessive development onto the Keys’ overburdened infrastructure.
TDC 'scathing' audit summary. WLRN published a detailed summary of news to date surrounding the audit of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.
Last man standing. Mark Hedden appreciated seeing Tom McGuane at the Key West Film Festival despite the power outage that may have been caused by a turkey vulture.
