Monroe County Commissioner Craig Cates joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been happening in the county.
The Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride will be coming to the Keys tomorrow. It starts at the Key Largo VFW.
Cates said, “I think they start out with a breakfast there. They ride for a while, then they’ll end up coming down the Keys through Marathon. I believe they have lunch there, and then they come across the Seven Mile Bridge, and they’ll come down to the Keys, I think they’ll stop at Veterans Park, and then they’ll bring them in the bus down to Boca Chica. That evening, this is Friday evening, we have a dinner for them at Trumbo with music. We will have a Cuban dinner for them. Myself and Commissioner Lincoln is going to be there, and we pass out challenge coins to all of the wounded warriors, and get to meet every one of them. It’s a very nice event that night. Then Saturday morning, they will ride from Boca Chica to Key West at Veterans Memorial Park, at Bayview Park. They will have a ceremony there, some lunch for them and then they’ll do a ride through Key West after that, which a lot of the citizens will ride along with them and make donations to the foundation. This is the 20th year for them riding in the Keys, and the organization’s only been around for 21 years. So Monroe County has been a big part of this and helped the veteran for many years. I’m very proud of how our community, the whole part of the Keys these turns out and supports our veterans.”
Michael Stapleford of KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM noted, “We want to thank Cathy Crane, Veterans Affairs Director for the county, also a proud combat veteran, and her husband the same. They work very hard to bring this to our community, so that our community can thank our wounded warriors.”
The ROGO issue continues to be a topic of discussion.
Cates said, “It’s complicated in a way that some parts of the Keys want more, and a large percentage of which, I believe is the majority of the citizens do not want more. They want the minimal amount, our survey has shown that, just to cover the takings cases. What the county asked for, along with Marathon, Islamorada and Key West, to move it to 26 hours evacuation instead of the 24 increased it by 3,500. I don’t know our state representative is not supportive of that. He thinks that would be the wrong move to ask for that, especially because of all the benefits we get as a area critical concern, protecting the environment, the $20 million every year the Stewardship Fund, the $5 million that we get to purchase property, to take it off so it won’t be built on and then at the same breath, ask for 3,500 units to build out all the eligible properties in in the Monroe County. So it’s complicated. I’m not sure where he’s going to go with that. Personally, I hope he supports a minimal amount. I’m not a supporter of the 3,500 obviously I voted against that, but the majority of the commission voted for it, so that is our policy of Monroe County, and we move forward with that. So we’ll see where it all goes, but it’s definitely up to our legislators right now.”
So Representative Mooney may not support the full 3,500.
Cates said, “He has indicated that. He has to sponsor a bill, and then our Senator has to sponsor a bill. They have to match at the end of the day, and then they have to convince the legislators to support that bill and pass it, and then the governor’s office to sign off on it. The governor is not in favor of it. He’s indicated that through the Commerce Department. So there’s a lot of pushback going on here, and we’re going to see where it ends up at the end of the day. We’re doing our job, we’re representing the people, and we’ll see how it ends up at the end of the day.”
Has Representative Mooney indicated what number he would support?
Cates said, “He has indicated he would support 500 units, 220 that the state has, that the governor’s office has, it already falls in to the 24 hour evacuation model and then 280 more, which would give 500, which, if we manage it properly, we could have 10 more years of ROGO units to keep any takings cases off. Some communities have given more than they should have away, I personally feel. They may have some more issues than that, and may have to work on something to get them through, but we actually have to go there separate. The county has been very frugal on their ROGOs, very proactive, cut down the amount we’re giving away years ago so we could last through 2026 and some communities haven’t. So that’s why they want us to be separated. We’re not all one request, because we have different needs, different issues in different sectors of the county.”
Will there be another opportunity to request more ROGOs in the future if they’re needed?
Cates said, “That’s the argument some of us have is, why do we have to take them all right now, when in 10 years we could ask for it again if we get to a point where there is an issue again? Maybe there won’t be. Maybe sea level rise will eliminate a lot of lots. Who knows what happens in the future? To want to get them all right now and jeopardize our area of critical concern, all the benefits we get from that and protecting our environment, which I’m a big supporter of protecting our environment, which all our commissioners are, so that’s not the issue, but that being said, to get them all to last us 40 years, that’s kind of in my opinion, too big a bite of the apple at one time. Let’s take smaller bites as we work through this and come up with a ways to protect the environment as we move forward.”
The Boca Chica public mooring field is moving forward.
Cates said, “That was a big step. Now they can release the permit for us once we won that case. Now the DEP and the Army Corps engineers, they can all release their permit, which we’re out for permitting, and we can start that project. We have the money for that. Also we’re moving forward with the 100 units in Key West, off of Key West, which we will not need an upland facility for that mooring field, because we’re going to share with the city of Key West, their upland facility and their dinghy docks, we have the agreement on this next week’s agenda to approve that agreement to work with them, and that’s where all the facilities will be on their property, which they already have at the historic seaport and we will just help them maintain it and upgrade it if necessary.”
How does it look for other initiatives on the state’s legislative agenda?
Cates said, “The whole Florida Keys, all the agencies understand what each agency wants, what we’re requesting, and now we’ll start working forward with that. We have our lobbyists. They get support. The legislators, Rep Mooney and Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez, they only have so many bills that they can sponsor, so they have to prioritize them and everybody’s got to go to work and try to convince them that their request is the best. So that’s where we’re at now. But everybody knows each other’s requests, and maybe we can work together, because some of the requests overlap, and work together to share them.”
Don’t forget the Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride this weekend.
Cates said, “I want to ask everybody to be out and cheer on our wounded warriors. Check for the times when they’re in your area, because it’s very important to them. I heard seven of them are just getting out of the hospital and some of them have been out for a little while, but they all love this and feel really wanted when it’s over. Of course, we love them and respect them and what they have sacrificed for our freedom. So let’s get out there and show it.”