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
The Key West City Commission is slated to tackle some thorny issues at its meeting Tuesday.
Several potentially contentious issues will be discussed, including hiring a local non-profit agency to develop the 3.2-acre parcel in Bahama Village without competitive bidding, paying outgoing City Manager Greg Veliz more than the city allows for his unused vacation and sick leave, and adding two members to the Key West Housing Authority.
âWeâve got 19 items but lots of controversial items that have long-term impact,â said Mayor Teri Johnston about the agenda.
The affordable workforce housing development resolution for a vacant 3.2-acre parcel in Bahama Village is a departure from the normal city project process. For most capital projects, and particularly for one that is likely to cost millions of dollars, city officials would put out a request for proposals from vendors or contractors. This time, however, the city wants to eliminate the competitive bidding process and beg
Key West Mayor Teri Johnston will propose increasing the size of the cityâs housing authority board from five to seven commissioners within the next month, a move the current authority chairman wants to stop.
The expansion of the Housing Authority of Key West board, the first in its 83-year history, is aimed at bringing a more specialized knowledge onto the authority board. It is also an effort to increase transparency on a board where three of its five members have been in place for decades. Commissioner Roosevelt Sands Jr. has been on the board the longest, appointed in 1970 and serving 56 years. Chairman Frank Toppino has been on the board for 30 years, appointed in 1991. Vice Chairman Robert Dean has served twice for a total of 44 years. And commissioners John Parks and Annette Mobley were appointed in 2003 and 2018, respectively.
Key West may have found a partner for a proposed affordable housing development in Bahama Village that has been stuck in a vacuum for more than 17 years.