Yowza. Last week’s city commission meeting devolved into a shouting match with the very first vote — on a seemingly inconsequential matter. Commissioners Clayton Lopez and Sam Kaufman hurled accusations and insults while an exasperated Mayor Dee Dee Henriquez played referee, admonishing each man to let the other speak and to lower their voices.
It all started when the mayor wanted to replace commissioner Sam Kaufman as vice mayor and temporarily appoint outgoing commissioner Lopez as vice mayor for his final month in office. The move would enable Lopez to retire with the honorary title, which carries no additional authority other than to conduct a meeting in the mayor’s absence. Henriquez’s proposed resolution further stated that upon Lopez’s retirement after the Nov. 5 election, when a new District 6 commissioner is elected, commissioner Lissette Cuervo Carey would become vice mayor.
Sounds innocuous enough, right? Not so much. Rather than approve the item with numerous other, non-controversial items, Kaufman flagged it for discussion and made his opposition known.
“The decision to remove me is OK. This is not personal for me,” Kaufman said, acknowledging the mayor’s authority to appoint a vice mayor. “But I do question some things about why this is happening. This is the first action taken by the mayor by resolution.”
Kaufman said his removal as vice mayor followed his opposition last month to the reappointment of Bob Dean to the housing authority board. At that time, Kaufman had criticized the housing authority board for its behavior during the renaming of a public housing project and criticized the housing authority’s management and lack of communication with the city commission and what he perceives as a lack of transparency in city government.
Such were the reasons that Kaufman said he would vote against the vice mayor change.
To which Lopez responded, “Wow. We’re really dipping into the dregs of the coffee pot now. This is completely ridiculous. None of that has anything to do with this appointment. And if we want to talk about the way things are done, the way that I found out that I was no longer vice mayor was on the radio the day after the former mayor appointed the man that’s now complaining. I never complained. So let’s talk about the way things are done. There was no surprise on his part when he was appointed vice mayor, so obviously there had to be some conversation behind closed doors.”
That’s where it all fell apart.
Kaufman interrupted to refute Lopez’s implication of a Sunshine Law violation, to which Lopez slammed his fist on the dais and yelled, “I’ve got the floor right now, sir. I am NOT his child and I refuse to be talked down to by him, because he talks to everybody that way, and I’m tired of the way that he addresses the staff as well.”
Kaufman came back to deny any allegations of any backroom deals.
Henriquez then took the floor to explain her reasoning for removing Kaufman as vice mayor.
“For the record,” she said. “You’re not being removed because of Mr. Bob Dean. Your comments and your attacks toward our executive director (of the housing authority), Randy Sterling, were not appropriate and did not display unity. You were bringing up the past. Your comments only confirmed to me that I made the right decision to remove you as vice mayor. I will not allow this to divide the dais. We do not have to like each other, but we will respect each other.”
The vote finally proceeded and passed with Kaufman as the only dissenting vote.
And then….
The next item up was one proposed by commissioner Donie Lee, hoping to meet with and encourage Navy officials at the federal level to use a vacant 18 acres at Sigsbee Park to replace 166 units of housing that the Navy demolished years ago.
Before Lee could introduce his proposed and preliminary item, Kaufman commandeered the discussion, asking who the city’s point person on the matter was, asking the city manager, “Why would our housing manager not be involved in this?” and then outlining next steps “to meet with the local Navy command and find out what their latest vision is. Has anyone done that yet? I’d also like to see a point person in city management to coordinate this. We need someone in the city that I can communicate with.”
Lee’s item ultimately passed unanimously with the commission agreeing to get in touch with the Keys’ federal congressional representatives and Navy leaders in Jacksonville, where such military decisions are often made.
“The local commanding officers have all wanted housing, but they don’t make the decisions,” Lee said. “It’s made in Jacksonville, Washington and Congress. That’s the level I want to get to.”Finally, the commission also decided on Oct. 10 that they hope to choose a new city manager in mid-December, following individual interviews and a public reception for residents to meet with each of the five finalists — Brian Barroso, James Brownlee, Rod Delostrinos, Steve McAlearney and Mark Sohaney.
