County Commission hit a new low on Monday

I have been a resident of Monroe County for 34 years and have seen some bad political times, but I think we hit a new low at the special County Commission meeting [Monday] dealing with the working waterfront (i.e., the redevelopment of Safe Harbor on Stock Island).

This meeting had been scheduled to address proposed changes for the Maritime Industrial zoning around Safe Harbor — a designation meant to protect the marine industrial use that is the historical and current use of the properties in this area — which had been reviewed by the Department of Community Affairs and sent back to the county for more work.

Neither the county planning commission nor the Port Advisory Board was included in this review, which is in itself a major red flag.

The meeting was called to order just as the clock struck 3 p.m., and anyone who did not already have public comment cards in was denied the "privilege" of speaking. This included a representative for the Naval Air Station and several members of the public.

About a dozen people spoke about the proposed changes. ... The next-to-last speaker was attorney Jerry Coleman, representing the owners of Robbie's Marina on Safe Harbor, which is slated for some of the most extensive redevelopment.

He presented each commissioner with a thick packet of changes that he said would clarify and address some of the inaccuracies in the DCA's response to the earlier attempt to ram through increased residential development and a five-star hotel that is to be used as a residence for first responders in the event of an emergency.

This designation would exempt the hotel from the messy and expensive need for [transient housing allocations], thereby saving the developer hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.

Now, even though this in itself is pretty amazing to expect the commission to rubber-stamp such a request, you can't blame the developer for trying.

The ones I do blame are the three county commissioners who immediately made, seconded and passed a motion to accept this attorney's documents to be transmitted to the DCA as part of the language for the rewrite of our comprehensive land-use plan. Commissioner George Neugent asked how these commissioners could approve these additions, even over the objections of the county's planning staff, without even reading them.

The other obvious question was, had they already been privy to these documents even though the other commissioners, staff, and the public had not?

So, it would seem that our county regulations are being rewritten by development attorneys who do not want the impediment of a democratic process to stand in their way. I hope our democratic process proves them wrong in this next election.

Mimi Stafford, Key West

Commission prostituted its votes to developers

On Monday, the Board of County Commissioners showed their true colors. They voted on changes to the working waterfront legislation without even taking the time to read or discuss changes proposed by attorney Jerry Coleman.

Mr. Coleman ... handed out a stack of papers at the last possible minute to the commissioners.

Seconds later, faster than you can say, "My vote is for sale," Commissioner [Mario] Di Gennaro made a motion to accept the changes, immediately seconded by Commissioner [Dixie] Spehar. There was no public input on the changes — one more instance of our commissioners thumbing their nose at the public.

Commissioners Neugent and Murphy voted against the legislation. The three commissioners Spehar, Di Gennaro and [Mayor Sonny] McCoy blatantly disregarded the public and their own office by prostituting their vote for the developers of Robbie's Marina.

Ron Miller, Key Largo

Pressure needed now to keep 'Gang' in check

The [Tuesday] resignation from the Planning Commission of Sherry Popham sends a signal to all of us that there is serious misadventure in the County Commission.

Ms. Popham objects to the County Commission — in cahoots with a developer and abetted by the same Jerry Coleman who is paid hundreds of thousands by the county for legal services — sidestepping the Planning Commission to assist the developer in demolishing working waterfront on Stock Island. This violates stated county and state policy.

Ms. Popham encourages people to vote in November to "change the face of the [commission]" to bring "ethics, integrity, civility and due process" back to it. By this, I believe that she means we should vote out of office the two members of the "Gang of Three" who are up for re-election this November.

I agree, but it's a long way to November and strong public pressure is needed in the interim to keep the "Gang" in check.

John R. Clark, Ramrod Key

Talk about streamlining development decisions!

Monroe County Commissioners [Dixie] Spehar, [Mario] Di Gennaro and [Sonny] McCoy have achieved new heights in their tireless efforts to streamline otherwise time-consuming and cumbersome land development decisions.

[Monday], attorney Jerry Coleman, representing his client, Robbie's Marina, and acting in concert with Commissioner Di Gennaro (who read his prepared endorsement of Mr. Coleman's amendment) accomplished in one standard three-minute public speaking slot what could have dragged out for months while the public, the Monroe County Planning Commission, the Monroe County Growth Management staff, the county attorneys and the Navy would otherwise have actually read and considered the legality and implications of the proposals.

The issue of the Navy alone could have prolonged the process if they had been allowed to consider and comment on the safety and health impacts of having more people and taller buildings in the path of their aircraft.

As testament to Commissioner SpeDiCoy's streamlining prowess (noting here that it's effectively only one commissioner, as my small contribution to their streamlining efforts), the Robbie's Marina amendments were summarily adopted, with Commissioners Murphy and Neugent dissenting.

The only glitch in this slick process was an awkward discussion about how many times the word "shall" occurred in Mr. Coleman's amendments, and which of the "shalls" shall be stricken from the final version.

Another potentially lumpy issue was bypassed when the BOCC ignored Monroe County Planning Commissioner Popham's plea that the County Commission adopt the amendment as approved by the county Growth Management staff, legal staff and the Planning Commission, rather than the version Mr. Coleman had just presented to the public and the county three minutes earlier.

County Commissioners Murphy and Neugent attempted to delay the process by — gasp — asking questions. Commissioner Neugent's pointed questions remained unanswered. "... Have you actually read the amendments? How can you vote on them if you have not read the amendments, and why haven't I seen a copy of them before this meeting if you have?"

So, notwithstanding that a fundamental duty of the [commission] is to "present ordinances to the public for hearings and then vote whether or not to adopt them for inclusion in the county code," for the next eight months we can expect that Commissioner SpeDiCoy will do everything possible to bring us the most streamlined land development decisions money can buy, by getting to the voting part as rapidly as we allow them to.

John Hammerstrom, Tavernier