Incoming City Manager Al Childress started work on April 3 and shared the helm of his first city commission meeting the next day. City Manager Patti McLauchlin, who retires in June, sat behind Childress for the April 4 meeting, and gave what could be her final report as city manager as she hands the reins to Childress.
A well-prepared Childress elicited praise and gratitude from Mayor Teri Johnston, Commissioner Sam Kaufman and others.
Childress told the Keys Weekly in a text message following the meeting that he is taking things “one day at a time, trying to move the city forward and be more efficient and effective.”
He proposed a few changes to city commission meetings that will move public comments — currently last on the city agendas — to the top of the meeting to allow residents to speak earlier in the evening. Childress also plans to move staff and community reports to the end of the meeting. He also will initiate a pilot program that reduces the number of meetings in the summertime to one per month rather than the usual two.
Childress also agreed, at the request of Commissioner Jimmy Weekley, to consider changing the day of commission meetings from Tuesday to another weeknight.
The commission is also working on finding a new city clerk, which is one of only three positions that the commission hires, in addition to the city manager and city attorney.
Longtime City Clerk Cheri Smith retires this summer, and based on the number of applications received, the commission will decide whether to empanel a selection committee to rank those applicants.
The commission also voted, though not always unanimously, to oppose bills pending in the state legislature and to convey that opposition to state officials.
Commissioner Lissette Carey voted against opposing the bill that would prohibit the Conch Republic, gay pride and other flags from flying at public buildings. The proposed bill would outlaw all flags except the American flag, the state flag, the POW/MIA flag and the Firefighters Memorial flag.
Carey and Commissioner Billy Wardlow voted against opposing a Florida bill that would outlaw gender-affirming care for people under 18.
Finally, the commission heard from the city’s new affordable-housing director Tina Burns, and the newly empaneled Workforce Housing Working Group, composed of local real estate agents, attorneys and others who are tackling the city’s housing crisis.
Burns has proposed changes to the city’s move-in assistance program that would provide financial help for renters in the form of a low-interest loan to cover the costs of last month’s rent and a security deposit for tenants.
The program likely will change a bit before its second reading, as Carey pointed out that one of the parameters of the assistance programs meant that “someone earning $55,000 a year would have to find a place to rent for $1,375 per month or less, or they wouldn’t be eligible for assistance.”
“Those places are extremely difficult to find, if they’re available at all,” said Carey, who works for the Housing Authority of Key West. She pointed out that the program, as written, would only be available for subsidized housing and not market-rate rental units. A video of the complete April 4 city commission meeting is available at cityofkeywest-fl.gov.
