The county commission meeting on Nov. 19 was a lighthearted affair in comparison to current national politics.
When commissioner Jim Scholl took the county mayor’s gavel from commissioner Holly Raschein, the commission chambers in Key West were crowded at the beginning of the meeting. For a year, Scholl will be the mayor. Instead of being elected, the five lawmakers alternate in this role annually. In the event of a tiebreaker on any controversial matter, the county mayor chairs the commission sessions and casts the final vote.
Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Scholl in April 2022 to fill the position after Eddie Martinez resigned in 2021 due to personal and professional issues, and Scholl was reelected to the District 3 seat earlier this month.
During the meeting, commissioner Craig Cates, Raschein, and Scholl were swore back into office. In the primary on August 20, Raschein easily gained reelection because she had no Democratic rivals and Cates had no opponent.
Following the passing of the gavel, the commission paid tribute to Joyce Griffin, who has contributed to the success of every election in the Florida Keys for the previous 40 years.
The retiring supervisor of elections was commended and thanked by each commissioner for ensuring fair elections in Monroe County and assisting them in navigating the complex election regulations throughout their campaigns.
In recognition of his decades of devotion to the Monroe County Health Department, where he has been its medical director for the last 16 years, Dr. Mark Whiteside, another retiree with 40 years of public service, was given a proclamation. Whiteside was a key researcher on the AIDS virus, dengue, Zika, flu, and H1N1, and he was at the vanguard of the epidemic.
At last, the topic of discussion shifted to the bridges that link the municipalities of the Florida Keys. The others agreed with Commissioner David Rice’s suggestion to start talking with the Florida Department of Transportation about enlarging some bridges after the state starts replacing them in the next 15 to 30 years. Four-lane bridges are now prohibited by the county’s comprehensive plan, which controls growth. However, the commission instructed staff to start talking with FDOT and altering the comprehensive plan.
Rice stated, “I think the time to start discussing this is now, because these projects take years to plan.” Although I don’t have a traffic engineer’s view, we would give it some thought if it could speed up traffic.
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