Sam Kaufman, Key West City Commissioner for District II, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been going on in the city.
The rainbow crosswalk was a discussion at the city commission recently.
Kaufman said, “The FDOT letter came out, I think, on June 30, and there was some question as how that would apply in Key West and our council says that because the crosswalks were installed consistent with the state regulations, that the city really doesn’t have a compliance issue. That’s what the city’s position is right now and because, basically the regulations have specifics on what colors can be used and the precision, and where they should be placed, and so on. Apparently the contractor that that placed those crosswalks, did that within the FDOT guidelines. It was a great evening session. We had dozens of people of some really powerful, moving stories of how people view those crosswalks, as being important to them, and it was a unanimous vote to retain the crosswalks, and to continue to monitor this, to the extent that legal analysis and review is necessary to do that.”
The commission also discussed a potential increase in the salary for the city manager.
Kaufman said, “As a city commissioner, and all city commissioners have the duty to review the budget and to represent the residents and the taxpayers and when there are significant increases in salaries, it’s our job to review them and to determine their validity and whether they should be placed in the budget. When the budget is approved, especially with salaries such as this, and after that approval process, basically, the staff and the city government has the green light to implement those salary increases. Each department head has the job to submit their budget requests. So the city manager has a department. It’s the city manager’s office. He submitted a budget request, it included a $45,000 salary increase for himself. I questioned that because especially in light of his contract, his contract states he’s not entitled to any salary increase until after a full year of service, and until he has a full performance evaluation and he shows progress towards becoming certified in municipal government. None of that has happened. He’s on the job at that point six months. So he wasn’t eligible for a salary increase. So I stated those facts. The city manager claims he did not make a request for the salary increase of $45,000. Well, I sent you the request from his office. So anyone who was interested in seeing it, please contact me, ask the city, and you’ll see what the actual request is. I don’t really understand how the issue is, whether the request was made or not. That’s in black and white.”
Is the city still in budget discussions?
Kaufman said, “I’m very active every year since the year 2015 on this. So basically, the trend is 90% to 95% of the budget gets completed during the budget workshops in July and some final things that need tweaking here and there, there are some changes, but usually it’s very few in light of the totality of the budget. So technically, the budget is not approved until the two budget hearings in September. This takes months of preparation. We have all the different departments and 550 employees, and lots to cover all the infrastructure projects, so by September, this budget will be finalized.”
So will the city manager get a salary increase?
Kaufman said, “Not unless there was an amendment or modification of his contract. Look, I think that the city manager and everyone would agree that the city should abide by its contracts. That’s the job of staff, that’s the job of the city manager, and first and foremost should be his contract. I think everyone would agree on that. I don’t think that’s controversial. How this is being positioned is unusual, I think, and I’m not sure I understand it, but I’m going to stick to the fact that we should adhere to the terms of the contract.”
Will there be a tax increase?
Kaufman said, “I’m very disappointed. I don’t think that there should be a tax increase. In fact, I think there should be tax reductions. The city is in extremely strong financial shape. The city comes into this budget cycle fully funded for reserves. That’s that tells you a lot, that already without a tax increase, they’re fully funded for about $20 million of reserves. If you add our capital and operational reserves, we’re over $50 million in reserves. So from my perspective, especially as a business person, I don’t see the need for a tax increase with the city, and I think it really sends a bad message to the public. Look at all of the other agencies. Look at the county, the county is reducing its personnel in very large measure. We should be doing the same in the city and that doesn’t mean firing anybody. That means not replacing positions through attrition, and we should be doing that over time, because most of us in the city, believe that that is necessary, and if we do that, we’ll be more responsible, and we won’t need a tax increase. There’s a lot of things we could do to avoid the tax increase. But yes, this particular commission, I was opposed to it, this commission approved the tentative millage rate of a 7.1% tax increase.”
Will there be any cutbacks in the city?
Kaufman said, “The city’s in a different category. The city doesn’t have the same issues as the county does. Understand this, the city owns so much land, so many buildings, the assets. Imagine this, the city owns $800 million, $800 million estimated in assets without any debt, our sewer system alone, would be valued at $150 million. So if you look at the income and the revenue opportunities that the city has, it doesn’t compare to what the county has. So we don’t have the same pressures and reductions that that the county is facing. But in the future, we may. So my advocacy is to be as efficient as possible, just like other governments are doing now. So we’re prepared for the future, and we’re not doing that well enough right now.”
The recall vote that was being proposed in terms of the District Four seat has been nullified by the supervisor of elections.
Kaufman said, “I’m not involved with that at all, but it’s certainly something that, of course, is connected with the grand jury report and all that has happened with all the indictments from our former city building official, a former city attorney and our former director of code enforcement. I have a feeling this is going to linger for years, and we need to do everything we can to move faster and more completely with reforms in our government, to have the highest ethical standards and that’s what we need to continue to focus on.”
How is the hospital board looking in terms of moving towards possibly a new lease?
Kaufman said, “It’s actually going fairly well, I would say. I’m optimistic. I know there are at least four different hospital operators that are interested, and there’ll probably be more, and the more, the better for us, the more competition, the more submissions of potential applicants, so that the Lower Keys Hospital District Board can make the best decision for us as a community. I have a task force that I created back in January of 2024, and I’ve been to every meeting since November of 2023, of the hospital district board. They’re making incremental progress. They’ve hired an attorney to advise them on the competitive bidding process, the RFP process, and they presented on Tuesday their timeline, which would get them, if everything goes well, would get them to selection of a new hospital operator in 2027, which would be a good time frame, because there still needs to be a transition period if there’s a new selected operator, and there has to be negotiations, a lot of negotiations, for a new contract. So all of your listeners should really pay attention to this over the next few months and year, because a lot of these decisions are going to be taking place. I love serving as a city commissioner, and anybody who has interest in contacting us, I always encourage you. Email, phone us. My cell phone is published on the city website. You can contact us and share your views and get involved. I think it’s important that everyone is involved, especially in the issues that you’re passionate about. I would say the over the last few months, most of the City Commission meetings have been very well attended. It’s really a good sign that our community members are so engaged.”