In an effort to provide greater familiarity and communication between the nine Marathon City Council candidates and our readers, the Marathon Weekly sent each prospective council member a series of questions concerning their backgrounds and stances on pressing city issues. The Marathon Weekly will continue to print each candidate’s responses in a Q&A series leading up to the election. Be on the lookout for a candidate forum co-sponsored by the Keys Weekly and Marathon Chamber of Commerce, set for Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. Readers who have questions they would like to see answered by Marathon City Council, U.S. House of Representatives or Florida House of Representatives candidates may submit them to ceo@floridakeysmarathon.com for potential inclusion.
Answers are printed exactly as submitted by candidates, with responses limited to 100 words.
INGRID TYREE
Anything I bring to the City Council of Marathon will be to the Glory of God. I have many ideas, but so do all of our locals. I will be available to a town hall meeting one week prior to council meetings to hear solutions and issues for everything concerning the City. It is essential to work as a team and community! We need to work family first mentalities into our meetings for the benefit of our local families.
ROBYN STILL
Having already served the community since my appointment to the Council in 2022, I am able to hit the ground running. My family is like many of yours. We work hard to make ends meet in our town. I have a child in our school system. With my personal and professional experience, I bring a fresh perspective to many of the issues our town faces. I have strong leadership skills, high integrity, and common sense and I will use these to represent the voices of our community members.
JEFF SMITH
I have an Economics degree from Tulane University and bring my expertise in economics, finance, and executive management to the dais. My business background and leadership experience will enable me to be an accessible and effective councilperson. My character is reflected in the selfless service to the community demonstrating integrity and honesty. I bring a perspective to the dais that honors the community history while placing the concerns of our residents at the forefront of our policy directives. My experiences serving our community provides a strong basis to focus on promoting policies and initiatives to improve our residents’ quality of life.
WAYNE QUARBERG
To really listen. Council must listen to the residents, hear their concerns and understand their needs. Then, we must tackle these issues in a timely, fiscal and realistic fashion.
KENNY MATLOCK
I bring Honesty, transparency and good old fashioned common sense, which appears to be lacking in our city leadership as a whole. I believe we need to tighten up on wasteful spending in our day to day city operations. I have a good relationship with many hard working men and women in our city that have given me a lot of insight over the years on how our current policies encourage them to be wasteful. We need to run the city more like a responsible business.
KEVIN MACAULAY
I have an unwavering commitment to bettering the lives of the people of Marathon. To accomplish this goal, I will bring my strong work ethic, transparent approach to decision making, and creative problem-solving skills, as well as a fresh, and underrepresented voice to the city table. As a 36-year-old, working class resident of Marathon, I understand the daily struggles many individuals and families are experiencing here. I am prepared to continue and expand the multiple fights for affordable housing, returning local decision-making control, sensible vacation rental regulations, and environmental protections, while ensuring fiscal responsibility for the taxpayers of Marathon.
MIKE LEONARD
I started visiting the Keys in 1980 and purchased real estate in Key West in 1987. I moved to Marathon in 2005 when I met and married Lindsay Rabito. I am a long-term resident here and have seen the changes in the Keys. I have a successful 50-year history in business, I’ve been involved in numerous charities, I’m a mentor for Take Stock in Children and I’m a member of Rotary since 2012. I was on the Code Board and Planning Commission for three years, so I’ve been active in giving my services back to the city.
LYNN LANDRY
I am a licensed building contractor with 32 years in the industry. I have also served on the city planning commission for the last 9 years. I understand the challenges small business owners face. With the knowledge I have gained from the planning commission, I better understand city and state government. I’m not afraid to hold city staff accountable for the budget and fee’s they charge. As a vacation rental owner, I understand the challenges we face with licensing and enforcement. I will fight for dedicated staff to enforce our rental ordinances and hold accountable management company’s and owners
RICHARD TAMBORRINO
My primary goals for Marathon are fiscal and growth responsibility and accountability, an open and accessible city government, and improving the Workflow Management within the city’s building department.
After many years running large, successful teams and businesses in the Keys and South Florida, I hope to be a Council voice for running city government like a business. That includes appropriate staffing, standards of performance, accountability, transparency and customer service with its residents and local businesses.
I am a highly articulate critical thinker, well versed in city business having attended all council meetings for the past 18 months.
