Leading up to the Marathon City Council election on Tuesday, Nov. 2, Keys Weekly will check in with candidates and print their answers to questions addressing pressing issues in town. This week’s question, and the candidates’ responses, come from the candidate forum on Sept. 30. A recording of the meeting, including the candidates’ answers to 12 questions, can be found at monroe-fl.vod.castus.tv/vod. Early voting begins on Monday, Oct. 18, and the top two vote-getters will win seats on next year’s council.
This week’s question revolves around environmental concerns, and what the city can do to encourage green practices for individuals and businesses. The question: We are at ground zero for sea level rise. Do you feel like Marathon has done a good job advocating for and promoting sustainability efforts? What can the city do to incentivize or encourage businesses to lessen their carbon footprint?
TREVOR WOFSEY: I don’t know offhand what the city has done to mitigate sea level rise. We can all do our part. Big or small, we all play a role. We all bring our reusable bags to Publix, we walk and ride our bikes. It’s a small island. Everyone needs to do their part, and everything will be better.
GREG COLDIRON: I’m not convinced that the carbon footprint is the problem. The science shows that the carbon follows the warming of the earth. We live on a coral head, so obviously the water was many feet higher than it is today. To lessen your carbon footprint is very expensive. You start asking people, “Would you pay $10 more on your utility bill every month. Would you pay $100?” We’re already pretty efficient. It’s more difficult for us to get gains than it is in other places. I think people need to take a hard look at what reducing our carbon footprint really means, and what it’s going to cost us.
LYNNY DEL GAIZO: I believe that as an island, people who live here are already very aware of not making a carbon imprint. I would like to get rid of plastic bags, but that’s another story. We’ve already gotten rid of straws. The city just got involved with a cleanup of the beaches, and I know there are quite a few beach cleanups. I think our city does a lot to make sure that we aren’t polluting and leaving a carbon imprint. We do care about our water quality, our garbage influx in our neighborhoods. I see that not having cruise ships go by has cleaned up the Keys a lot.
LUIS GONZALEZ: Sea level rise is for real. It’s happening. We as a city have begun to deal with it. We’ve had issues at 39th Street, and the city dealt with it by upgrading our drainage system there. We are currently hardening all of our external features of the waste water plants, including retaining walls, and we’re currently looking at 92nd Street. We are also involved in getting the elevation for the entire city before we move forward. That way, we have a plan going into the future. That plan has to start somewhere.
