1. Conflict
Continues on the County Commission
The
Monroe County Commission voted last week to replace
Commissioner George Neugent with Commissioner
Murray Nelson on the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary Advisory Council. Why? Apparently because
of Neugent differed with Nelson as to how state
funding for water quality improvements in the Keys
is determined.
However, it would
appear that County Commission exceeded their
authority and Neugent will retain his
position.
"I will not give up
my involvement with the sanctuary. I'm not going to
walk away. It's an issue of passion," Neugent is
quoted as saying in the Key West Citizen.
Neugent has been
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory
Council chair on many occasions and a member of the
since 1999.
County
Commissioners who voted for the Nelson resolution
received criticism from Debbie Harrison, Sanctuary
Advisory Council member and World Wildlife Fund
South Florida project coordinator. Harrison praise
Neugent and labeled the County Commission's vote a
"very disingenuous act. What they did is terribly
unproductive. Neugent was embraced by this council
because he's such a positive partner."
Duck Key resident,
Bruce Popham, currently chairs the SAC's Water
Quality Steering Committee. Commissioner Nelson is
upset because Water Quality Protection Steering
Committee, co-chaired by the Florida secretary of
the Department of Environmental Protection and the
regional director for the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency suggested that state funding for
water quality improvements in the Keys follow
recommendations made by the Project Delivery Team
of the Florida Keys Water Quality Improvement
Project and not be decided by a Committee of
Mayors.
2. Letter to
Editor
Breaking Sunshine
Laws?
It is
clear by their unanimity in attacking the Florida
Keys Aqueduct Authority that [state Rep.
Ken] Sorensen, [County Commissioners
Murray] Nelson and [Sonny] McCoy have
had extensive conversations that will impose a
heavy burden on those of us who live on Big Coppitt
and elsewhere. There is clear circumstantial
evidence that these elected officials are acting in
concert. Is it proper to ask if these
conversations, held in secret, are a violation of
the Sunshine Act.
3. Editorial in the
Upperkeys Reporter
In an editorial from
the Upper Keys Reporter , the conflict between
Commissioners is described as a wrestling match
"Commission grapples 'literally' over wastewater". The
editorial is accompanied by an unflattering cartoon of
Commissioner Neugent.
The cartoon and the
text of the opening paragraph make it apparent that
the writer's sympathies favor Nelson, McCoy, and
Spehar,
"In one
corner is the Committee of Mayors defended by
county commissioners Murray "Bulldog" Nelson, Sonny
"The Real" McCoy and Mayor Dixie "The Voice of the
South" Spehar.
In the other corner
is the Program Delivery Team (PDT), a group formed
to disburse federal money and is represented by
commissioners George "Pretty Boy" Neugent and David
"Power Hold" Rice."
