The Dec. 2 vote by four Key West lawmakers to appoint former city manager Greg Veliz as the interim city commissioner for District 5 surprised no one inside or outside city hall.
But the electoral withdrawal just two hours later of candidate Harry Russell, who was running for the District 5 seat, did surprise many — and prompted immediate speculation about whether Veliz had been planning all along to replace Russell as a candidate once he was appointed to the commission seat.
On the evening of Dec. 2, when the commission meeting had ended and Russell had withdrawn from the race, Russell told the Keys Weekly that he had been thinking a lot about the time commitment of being a city commissioner and was concerned that he would not be able to devote the appropriate amount of time to either the commission post or to his full-time job as one of the Monroe County School District’s top administrators. Russell said he did not know if Veliz plans to run for the District 5 seat.
Mayor Dee Dee Henriquez and commissioners Aaron Castillo, Lissette Carey and Donie Lee chose Veliz from among five applicants to complete the term of Mary Lou Hoover, whose death on Nov. 19 left the seat vacant. Hoover had already decided not to seek reelection and two candidates — Chris Massicotte and Harry Russell — had filed as candidates for the seat.
At a Nov. 24 special meeting to discuss the interim appointment, commissioner Sam Kaufman said he would like to see former commissioners apply, given their experience, particularly with the city’s budget process that takes place in July and August.
Kaufman, Monica Haskell and Lee as well as Mayor Henriquez also indicated on Nov. 24 that they were not inclined to appoint either of the declared candidates — Massicotte and Russell — for the seat in the interest of maintaining a level playing field in the race.
Immediately following Hoover’s death, Massicotte had urged the commissioners not to appoint either candidate to the post.
“Giving any declared candidate an appointed incumbency would tilt the playing field and raise serious concerns about fairness,” Massicotte said on Nov. 20. “District 5 deserves a process that voters can trust. I am willing to recuse myself from consideration for appointment to this vacancy if the commission also commits that the other declared candidate, Harry Russell, will not be considered. No candidate should get an unfair advantage. The fairest path is to appoint a caretaker who will not run for the seat and will simply serve until the voters decide.”
Neither Russell nor Massicotte ultimately applied for the interim position and other applicants for the appointment, including Margaret Romero, Sue Harrison and Harry Bethel, all stated that if appointed, they would not seek election to the seat.
Veliz was not asked whether he would enter the District 5 race as a candidate.
After he had been sworn in and participated in the evening session of the city commission meeting, the Keys Weekly contacted Veliz to ask about any plans to become a candidate.
Here is that text exchange from the evening of Dec. 2, word for word:
Keys Weekly: Hi Commissioner, it’s Mandy. Congratulations. Really good to see you back at city hall. So….the question everyone’s asking given Harry’s withdrawal… Will you run for the Dist 5 seat? Or… have you committed to NOT running for it? Thanks!”
Greg Veliz: “I know that’s the question but I entered today with a plan and that plan has not changed. Just trying to process, it’s been a long day.”
The following morning, Veliz was interviewed on US 1 Radio’s Morning Magazine with Joe Moore, who also asked Veliz about future plans to enter the District 5 race.
“Today I’m 100% that I’m not running,” Veliz said on the radio. “Let’s get down the road a ways, but as of right now, I am not running.”
