The city of Key West lost its longtime port director on Monday, when Doug Bradshaw submitted his resignation letter to City Manager Patti McLauchlin, effective June 10.
The letter came five days after Bradshaw was questioned at the May 18 commission meeting about a large cruise ship that docked two days before the meeting at the privately owned Pier B.
The ship’s size exceeded “the submerged lands lease area, which the State of Florida has authorized for Pier B’s cruise ship operations,” states an email sent the same day by the Key West Committee for Safer Cleaner Ships.
Weekley asked at the May 18 commission meeting, “How did this debacle with the cruise ship happen?”
City Manager Patti McLauchlin told the commission, “We have put Caribe Nautical (local ships agent) on notice that they cannot bring ships into Pier B that exceed the submerged lands lease with the state. But the state has to do something about it. We can report it, but it’s up to the state to take action.”
Bradshaw, whose formal title is director of port and marine services, agreed and told the commission the submerged lands lease “is an agreement between Pier B and the state. We’re not a party to that agreement.”
Weekley then asked Bradshaw if the city can prohibit ships that dock at Pier B from using the city-owned docking bollard at Mallory Pier.
“Yes,” Bradshaw said. “We’ve told them that ships that don’t meet the requirements of the state submerged lands lease cannot use our bollard.”
Mayor Teri Johnston told Bradshaw, “Doug, this comes down to the fact that we get seven to 10 days’ notice of when these vessels are coming in. It just takes a quick look online to find out how long and wide they are, and yet we don’t say a word.”
Bradshaw explained, “When cruise ships were normal, and we were bringing them into Mallory, and they were bringing them into Pier B, we had a cohesive relationship. We used their bollards and they used ours. It all worked. Obviously, we are in a much different atmosphere now. Again, we’ve put them on notice that the practice can’t continue, even though, to be fair, it’s gone on for 30 years without much complaint. So this is something entirely new. Past practice has been that we work with Pier B and they work with us, but again, it’s a different world now.”
Johnston replied, “It’s kind of bad to say we’ve allowed them to violate their submerged lands lease for 30 years. That’s not a very positive statement and it is a different relationship now. … It’s like we stand up here and our hands are tied, and we have no control at all of our harbor. And I don’t believe that’s the case. I believe we haven’t been very proactive.”
Five days later, Bradshaw’s resignation letter stated, “Please accept this letter as my formal notice of resignation from the City of Key West effective June 10, 2022. I truly appreciate my time with the City but after 21 years, I am ready for a new challenge.”
There’s no word yet on Bradshaw’s replacement, and he has declined to comment to the Keys Weekly about his pending departure.
In other city news…
The commission on May 18 allocated 150 building permits to the Monroe County School District for employee housing at its Trumbo Road headquarters. Superintendent Theresa Axford told the commission the district had received an unsolicited proposal from a developer willing to build about 76 units on the six-acre property. Johnston specified to Axford the shortage of housing throughout the city.
“When I hear 150 units in comparison to the proposal to build 76 units, obviously my preference would be for those 150 units. … Take the message back to your school board that we need all the units possible there.”
