The City of Marathon has a new mayor and vice mayor following Monday night’s City Council meeting, while council members are also moving forward with plans for an audit of several city departments and permitting processes.
Former Vice Mayor Debbie Struyf was selected as the city’s new mayor, while the outgoing mayor will return to the vice mayor’s position.
City Council member and former Mayor Robyn Still explained that the leadership changes take place each November during the council’s first meeting of the month.
“Every November, the first meeting in November, the city council will nominate somebody to be mayor, and then it’s voted on by council, and then it moves to a nomination for vice mayor,” Still said during an interview on Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning.
Still said the change essentially involves the two officials switching positions on the council dais.
She also explained that the mayor’s position is not automatically reserved for the sitting vice mayor. The decision ultimately rests with the council.
“That’s basically the will of the council,” Still said.
Marathon has five City Council seats, with each member representing the municipality as a whole rather than an individual district.
Still said two council seats will be up for election in November 2027. Candidates must qualify to run, and the two candidates receiving the most votes will win the available seats.
Council members also approved moving forward with an audit of certain city operations, following concerns raised about the possible improper distribution of transferable building rights.
Still said the issue was initially brought forward during a workshop several weeks ago by then-Vice Mayor Struyf and Council Member Matlock.
“They wanted certain things audited because of information they had about what they believe will be some transferable building rights, building allocations that may or may not have been given out improperly,” Still said.
The council approved an audit, which initially was expected to focus on transferable building rights, commonly referred to as TBRs, over the past 10 years.
The Corradino Group, which conducted a recent audit in Key West, was contacted about performing the work.
However, Still said the scope of the proposed audit expanded following Monday night’s meeting, after Struyf requested additional areas be reviewed.
Those areas include matters handled by the city’s code department, including red tags and their removal, transferable building rights, demolition permits and B-passes.
Still said she supports an audit and believes the process is important for public accountability.
“I have no problem with an audit. I think an audit is a good thing. I think that that’s very transparent. It lets the public know what’s going on with the city,” she said.
Still said she hopes the review finds no improper activity, but added that any problems uncovered should be addressed.
“If nothing is found improper, that’s wonderful. I hope that’s the case. But if something has been done improperly, then we need to basically identify that, find out why that happened, and how do we keep that from happening in the future going forward?” she said.
Still said she had advocated for a broader audit from the beginning, rather than reviewing only selected areas.
“My concern was if nothing was found in certain departments, that then we would want to circle back and audit other things. Let’s just be transparent with everything across the board if we’re doing it,” she said.
The expanded scope could affect the cost of the audit. Still said the city does not yet have a contract with the Corradino Group and will need to contact the firm again to determine the cost of the additional work.
She said the city manager has authority to approve expenditures up to $35,000, but a larger amount could require additional City Council approval.
“It’s going to be a cost to our taxpayers. But that was the will of the council,” Still said.
The council also recognized two Marathon Fire Rescue employees for 20 years of service. Still congratulated the employees and praised the department’s work in the community.
“We have the most amazing fire rescue service. I would put Marathon against anyone around,” she said. “We are very blessed to have those men and women working for the city of Marathon, taking care of us.”
Still also encouraged residents to participate in upcoming community activities.
A car wash benefiting Champions for Change, a program involving students at Marathon High School, is scheduled for Saturday at Keys Federal Credit Union.
Movies Under the Stars have also returned to Community Park, with another movie scheduled for Saturday evening.
The Marathon Community Theatre production of “Annie” is continuing through the end of the month. Still said she planned to attend Friday night’s performance and had heard positive reviews.
The Marathon Fire Department Benevolent Association’s Wahoo Tournament has been rescheduled for Nov. 21 because of unsafe weather conditions on the original date. Registration remains available.
Still also encouraged residents to explore the city’s newly launched website, which debuted Friday.
The website provides information about community events, City Council meetings, agendas and ongoing municipal projects.
“It’s easy to find our meetings, the agendas, and all the projects that are going on in the city,” Still said. “All of that’s pretty easy to find now.”
She encouraged residents to visit the website and report any problems as the city works through potential issues with the new system.
The website can be found at ci.marathon.fl.us.