Note: This story has been updated to correct a misnamed business. In her evaluation of the city attorney, Mayor Teri Johnston refers to the Southernmost House, not the Southernmost Beach Cafe. The Keys Weekly regrets the error and has corrected the mistake in the text below.
Key West officials at the Nov. 1 city commission meeting chose a consulting firm to re-envision and revitalize Duval Street and approved the job description for the next city manager.
As of noon on Nov. 1, six people had applied for the job. Applicants have until Nov. 30 to respond to the city’s Help Wanted ad. A hiring consultant will narrow down the field to the top eight or 10 and pass her recommendations to the city manager search committee, which will further narrow the list to three candidates who will come to town for a series of interviews and public receptions.
Stantec Consulting, based in Coral Gables, was chosen from among the top three ranked companies that responded to a Request for Qualifications for the Duval Street project.
Stantec, which worked on the revitalization of Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale and Franklin Street in Tampa, emphasized in its proposal, “We understand that to be successful, this effort needs to go far beyond simply reconstructing a roadway. It’s a project that must capture the excitement and energy of the community, formulate a vision, and balance many interests and needs: local business, residents, preservation, resilience, special events, tourism, mobility, funding mechanisms, maintenance, and many more. It’s a project that must be implementable with the least amount of disruption to life in Key West, is fundable, and meets the overall objectives of the City. It is a project that the community must be proud of, that retains the essence and authenticity of Duval Street, while also preparing for the decades to come.”
Commissioners asked representatives from the three top-ranked companies about how they would involve the public in the planning and priority process and how they would prevent disruption to businesses.
Commissioner Jimmy Weekley also reminded the groups, “There’s an assumption that all the businesses are in favor of this revitalization, but that’s not going to be the case.” He also suggested that the consultants “Don’t just have public meetings here at City Hall, but have some down on Duval Street, maybe at La Concha Hotel.”
What wasn’t said…
The harshest words of the evening were neither spoken nor discussed, but were found in Mayor Teri Johnston’s performance evaluation of City Attorney Shawn Smith.
The six commissioners and the mayor each submitted their evaluations of the attorney, which were approved at the meeting without any discussion.
While all six commissioners gave Smith a score of 4 or 5 (out of a possible 5) in each performance category, Johnston was more critical in both her scoring and her comments.
“I continue to be concerned by the lack of action by the city attorney on requests and direction by the commission,” Johnston wrote. “The city attorney has been given direction since 2009 to negotiate or take legal action to open up Admirals Cut.” She was referring to the small strip of water that separates Opal Key Resort from the city-owned Truman Waterfront. City officials have long wanted a footbridge across Admirals Cut.
She also writes that Smith has failed to enforce the lease requirements of Southernmost House and the adjacent pocket park at the south end of Duval Street. The historic hotel is required to pay the city a 6.5% of its gross sales as part of its lease. Johnston writes that no payment has been collected for four years.
The mayor gave Smith a score of 2 (Improvement Needed) in the categories of “accepts direction in a positive manner,” and “works well with other employees.” The other six commissioners gave him a 4 or 5 in those and all other categories.
“The city attorney appears to have been in more altercations this past year with employees and the public,” Johnston writes. “The city manager, planning director, strategic planning consultant and our newly hired director of housing have all been consistent recipients of the city attorney’s ire. This unprofessional treatment of our city employees has got to stop right now.”
No discussion occurred about the evaluations, which were accepted as part of a bulk approval.
“In light of the outstanding reviews from the other six commission members, the mayor is once again on the losing end,” City Attorney Shawn Smith told the Keys Weekly on Nov. 2, the morning after the meeting.
