After seven months of non-stop cheerleading, and $100,000 plus in taxpayer funds spent on outside attorneys and consultants, the Monroe County Commissioners had a most unlikely epiphany — work on the Charter Government proposal must stop immediately.
County Commissioners would never cave so easily after spending all that time and your tax dollars on it. Something (a cartoon maybe?) must have spooked them.
Monroe County Mayor Holly Raschein suggested to the other four commissioners that they “hit the pause button,” on promoting the charter government initiative at their Jan. 31 BOCC meeting. Commissioner Michelle Lincoln proposed putting the charter initiative on the “back burner” for now. “…I think the community doesn’t understand it,” she said. Commissioner David Rice argued there are “a lot of benefits” to a charter county, but “I doubt the average voter understands all of the benefits.”
There was no vote to kill the proposal. Commissioners offered no motion to formally table the measure. Instead, the charter government proposal can be revived at any time commissioners deem it advantageous to its passage. This delay, delay, delay is a common tactic Monroe County County Commissioners use when dealing with issues they want passed but their constituents oppose.
Just look at the monster Publix supermarket proposed in Tavernier. The decision to approve or deny has been delayed, delayed, delayed. As soon as the citizen anger about the unwanted mega project cools, it will suddenly return to the agenda, and likely be approved. Vocal, vigorous, and legitimate concerns of Keys residents are often ignored.
Monroe County residents must remain vigilant to ensure that efforts to expand county taxing and regulatory powers, like the charter government proposal — now lurking just out of sight — do not suddenly reappear.
Keys Accountability Project