Key Colony Beach will seek to replace its third commissioner lost to resignation in less than two years as city leaders convene for their monthly session on July 17.
On June 23, Vice Mayor Raspe tendered his resignation in a short email to City Clerk Silvia Roussin. He did not state a reason for resigning.
“Thank you, all the best to everyone,” he wrote.
Raspe was originally appointed to the commission in December 2022 in the wake of former commissioner Ron Sutton’s passing that October. Before joining the commission, he had served as the city’s Code Enforcement and Planning and Zoning Board chair.
He began another term in 2024, as he went unopposed along with fellow incumbents Doug Colonell, Tom DiFransico and Tom Harding in the November general election.
Per the city’s code of ordinances, the remaining commissioners may fill Raspe’s seat by appointing a new commissioner with a majority vote within 45 days. Review of the applications received thus far is scheduled at the commission’s Thursday session, with a note that the appointment must be complete by Aug. 7.
At press time, the city had received two applications for the vacant seat – one from current Utility Board member Fred Swanson, and one from real estate investor and former U.S. Postal Service manager Kirk Diehl.
A regular for years at commission meetings and a Key Colony resident since 2007, Swanson cited work in a 40-year career in the oil industry in his application. He said the decades in engineering have provided him insights in project financial analysis as well as corporate, community and project management.
“I appreciate the time and effort required to be a commissioner, and am willing to spend that effort,” he wrote. “I have reviewed all of KCB’s commissioner meeting minutes since 2017 and financial budgets and audits on the city’s website.”
Diehl, a Key Colony resident since 2018, said he looked to “contribute to the momentum that has occurred in the last one and a half years … to ensure that we are able to complete the City Hall project in a timely manner” among other current issues.
He said he concluded a 32-year career with the U.S. Postal Service in 2012, also obtaining his general contractor certification in Maryland in 1983 and working in real estate investments and home improvement projects since then.
Thursday’s selection, if completed, will mark Key Colony’s third commission appointment in less than three years. After Raspe’s appointment in 2022, DiFransico was unanimously appointed in November 2023 to replace recently-resigned Mayor Patti Trefry. Four months later, Colonell replaced former commissioner Beth Ramsay-Vickrey after her resignation in February 2024.
A call and text to Raspe were not returned at press time.
The session gets underway at 9:30 a.m. at City Hall.
