Monroe County Commissioner Holly Merrill Raschein joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the county.
Florida Keys Day was quite a success.
Raschein said, “It’s one of my favorite, personally, events of the year. And we had droves of people come up from the Keys. Anyone from, oh gosh, there was the city of Key West was present. We had Islamorada, the city of Marathon, the aqueduct. We had Habitat was there, like all three habitats, maybe, maybe just two. We had Mote Marine was in the house. Obviously a ton of county people, myself, Mayor Lincoln and Commissioner Scholl and Commissioner Cates went, our awesome administrator, Christine Hurley, who was up there in action. We had our budget director, and our legislative affairs director. We were in full force, and it was super, super productive. You’ve got the House and the Senate debating, maybe not getting along in the sandbox at the moment. And then, of course, you’ve got the governor and his priorities. So it was a very strange air, but good, all the same. Well, everyone, as usual, was so happy to see people from the Keys. We bring some good, bring some positivity.”
Does it feel like the tension in the legislature has increased over time?
Raschein said, “I think so. You can sense the frustration, folks up there that are away from their jobs, their families, they want to get down to business, they want to pass some bills and we did. We saw them in action. There’s some progress being made, but on the big item, like the budget, you’re seeing some tensions rise. Again, that’s normal. It wasn’t super surprising, but I do hope that our efforts up there, I know they didn’t go unnoticed, and we got what we needed to get accomplished, done. I think, all in all, it was so successful and so good.”
The Stewardship dollars – something Raschein was responsible for – are once again on the table for the Florida Keys.
She said, “That was number one priority to get passed, and that’s in the legislature. But it’s so rewarding to see that it’s still trudging ahead, still getting funded year after year. We were in the governor’s budget, in his recommendations that came out earlier and looking like we’re still alive in the House, first to work, and then I don’t anticipate any issue in the Senate. It’s so fun to go up there and kind of stretch my legs again and be up there. I miss it. I miss it for a hot minute, and then I’m so excited to be able to come home. So just on a personal note, we had a jam packed schedule, as we are coming off major effort from last year with our ROGOs. So we actually had a lot of check ins with Department of Commerce. We also had a really good meeting with one of the chief of staffs, with the governor’s office. We met with DEP, very important agency to us regarding land acquisition. FWC, they were actually up there having a commission meeting. So it was really cool to have the full team from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission there. Of course, we met with Senator Rodriguez and Representative Mooney. They were our gracious hosts. They’re staying busy. There was the one, personal item that I’m working hard on, is that income eligibility for the Early Learning Coalition programs. I think I’ve got that hooked up. The process is what it is and and also, they’re working hard, and we might get it done making the flamingo the state bird. It seems trivial, it seems silly, but it’s positive. It’s the right thing to do. The topics were very diverse, there was a lot of different things. Compared to last year, it’s much, much quieter. And I think that, again, our issues aren’t very controversial. They’re special, but we work on carve outs and things like that. For us, there’s that tweak to Senate Bill 180, that was a big deal. We’re working on that, making sure that that’s not going to be harmful to our growth regulations, very important. It was so neat to see everybody in action. And people kind of like, oh, why do you make the effort to go up there and, the expense and all of that. But you can just, kind of, you can kind of see us. We move around in kind of a pack, and again, the positive attitudes that we bring, we’re advocating for the Keys, we host the capital. We had a wonderful happy hour up on the 22nd floor. We had shrimp and conch fritters and some fried Mahi. We had beer from the Islamorada Brewing Company. I think that the effort is worth it, the feedback we get from the legislative leaders and the agency heads and things like that, is always positive. I think it’s noticed, the optics of us hauling all the way up there and doing our thing. So there was separate agendas. But all in all, our issues, no matter where we’re from, in the Keys, are relatively the same. It’s so worth it.”
What about the property tax reduction issue?
Raschein said, “We’ll see. Because the governor has stated that he’s going to call a special session, which I know people aren’t super excited about that. It’s an election year. People want to get home, get campaigning, see their families, stuff like that. So I don’t know. We’ll see. We shall see. Speaking of Doge, we had a wonderful meeting with our Chief Financial Officer, Blaise Ingoglia. I served with him when I was in the House, and he really was very complimentary of us. Actually another presenter was the insurance commissioner, from the Office of Insurance regulation. We had a very frank conversation with him. He was very forward with us. Everybody is knowledgeable, and really understands and our message is we’re so different, we need these carve outs. There’s nowhere on the planet that is like the Florida Keys, the diversity that we have going on, the issues, the challenges, things like that, and you really, you feel that understanding. It just warmed my heart the whole time. I’m over the moon about the success. I don’t know if everybody else feels the way I do. Maybe I’m a little biased. But again, I think it was a huge success. I think we had Alex Rickert from the Weekly was following us around, so it’ll be exciting to see what he writes about. But again, frank conversations, a lot of us had asks on the table, we made those and backed him up. I do want to compliment our legislative delegation, and Rep Mooney and Senator Rodriguez, they’re working their tails off to get these priorities done. And if you know a little bit about the legislative process or the political process, this is a precarious time. This is when issues start to either live or die. Bills live or die. Bills get heard or not. You’re going to see what the real priorities are of the presiding officers in the House and the Senate. You’re going to see people kind of draw battle lines and things like that. So I’m glad we got up there. We got our work done, and now we just kind of sit back and not just watch, obviously, we have to continue advocating and watching the process, and where everything’s going to land, but I’m glad we got up there and were able to get it done.”
They mayor of Monroe County, Michelle Lincoln holds a number of statewide posts.
Raschein said, “She’s president of the Florida Association of Counties. We’re kicking butt, and it’s such a blessing to have a commission that we’re colleagues, we’re friends. We’re genial. Obviously we don’t always agree on things. That would be weird, but we have good, honest debates and discussion, and at the end of the day, we all really do want what’s best for the Keys. Maybe the path is different, but I wouldn’t want to serve with any other four different people. They are just fantastic.”