Key West City Commissioners made up for lost time at their rescheduled meeting Wednesday, taking action on several controversial issues including voting not to add two members to the Key West Housing Authority.
Commissioners also accepted a 50% settlement with outgoing City Manager Greg Veliz for unused vacation and sick leave above a capped limit and set Friday, April 16, as his last day. And City Attorney Shawn Smith said a resolution to fire Reimagine Duval project consultant KCI Technologies would be on the commissionâs Tuesday, April 13, meeting agenda.
The attempt to add two members to the long-time, five-member Key West Housing Authority board of commissioners was defeated by a 5-2 vote, with Mayor Johnston and Commissioner Sam Kaufman voting to expand the board. The majority of the 20 speakers at the meeting also wanted to add two new members. In addition to poor conditions at some of the KWHA-managed low-income housing complexes in Key West, a new KWHA senior citizen housing facility teetering on bankruptcy and three of the commissioners between the ages of 89 and 97, several speakers referred to the February housing authority board meeting where Kaufman requested the name of the Porter Place Apartments be changed because it was named after J.Y. Porter, a senior member of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. KWHA commissioners angrily refused Kaufmanâs request. Resident Tom Malone called the housing commissioners âarrogant,â referring to KWHA Commissioner Chairman Frank Toppinoâs statement, âLetâs move on to something more importantâ and walking out of the meeting after Kaufman spoke.