Nelson wants to hire Seibert
BY STEVE GIBBS
Citizen Staff
KEY
LARGO — Monroe County Commissioner Murray Nelson says he wants to "fight
fire with fire" by hiring a former state Department of Community Affairs
chief to lobby for the county on growth management issues in
Tallahassee.
Nelson said Friday he is
frustrated with environmental groups he accuses of tying up a landmark
agreement he forged last year with the state that promised millions of
dollars in funding for local wastewater construction and land
conservation as well as permits for workforce and market-rate housing.
Several environmental
groups, including the Florida Keys Citizens Coalition and Last Stand,
have challenged state approval of the county's growth management plan.
Nelson said he will try
to persuade his four colleagues on the Monroe County Commission to hire
former Secretary of the Department of Community Affairs Steve Seibert to
fight for workforce housing in Tallahassee.
The County Commission
meets at the Key Largo Library at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
"Steve will serve a dual
role," Nelson said. "He will serve as a lobbyist in Tallahassee on
workforce housing issues. He will also act as a catalyst with Keys
organizations to get people to change their perception of workforce
housing."
Nelson said environmental
organizations — whom he often refers to as "obstructionists" — lobby in
Tallahassee every day, but the Keys have no consistent voice there to
argue the other side.
"We are losing
population," Nelson said. "Our schools' enrollments are decreasing, and
through gentrification we have more and more homes being sold as weekend
or winter homes. They are concerned with an increase in population, but
the truth of the matter is there is a steady decrease.
"It's time to fight fire
with fire."
Earlier this month Nelson
met with several government officials in Tallahassee. He said Key West
developer Ed Swift suggested hiring Seibert, so he called upon him.
"I have had a
relationship with Steve Seibert in the past, and I spent two hours
talking with him," Nelson said.
Seibert wrote to Nelson
on Monday, and his letter will be attached to the agenda summary item
before Wednesday's commission meeting. The item was not on the County
Commission agenda posted on the county's Web site by Friday evening.
In part, the summary
states: "The rule challenge will soon be determined. It is critical to
have methods to create workforce housing in place when this ruling comes
down from Tallahassee. The Seibert Law Firm will provide community
consensus and governmental concurrence on workforce housing in Monroe
County."
In his letter Seibert
suggests a "team approach," in which former DCA general counsel Cari
Roth, "a superb lawyer and respected lobbyist," and Bob Reid, "an
affordable housing specialist," both now of the law firm Bryant, Miller
and Olive, would be hired with Seibert.
"It appears you are
seeking a workforce housing 'advocate,' one who can help the county
develop a comprehensive strategy to address this difficult issue, and
who can effectively further this effort at all levels of government,"
Seibert wrote. "... [T]his advocacy will require many professional skill
sets, certainly more than any one person can provide."
Nelson said it would be
up to county staff to negotiate the county's costs, but Seibert
recommends a predetermined amount for each discrete task.
Otherwise the hourly fee
for Seibert and the BMO shareholders would be $250, with junior
attorneys receiving $195 per hour and paralegals $50 an hour.
County Mayor Dixie Spehar
said she had not seen Nelson's proposed agenda addition as of Friday,
and questioned the cost, but agreed that Seibert has name recognition in
Tallahassee.
"Having Steve Seibert
working on behalf of Monroe County would be a definite plus," she said.
"His connections and experience in Tallahassee is well-known and he is
greatly respected."
sgibbs@keysnews.com
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