Robyn Still, Marathon City Council Member, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
Still has filed for re-election.
She said, “I have I filed for re-election. I’ve already gotten my petitions collected and turned in, so now it is on to working on getting reelected.”
Still helped bring in more than $100,000 in non-profit grants in Marathon.
She said, “I’m very proud of that, and I should selfishly claim all the credit, but it does take the entire council. It takes one person to recommend it and to ask for it, but it takes a majority vote of the council, so while I may have brought it back, I could not have done it without our city council. So like I said, I should selfishly claim 100% of the credit, but I want to be fair to everyone, and I truly enjoy serving with the current city council and it does take us all, even if we agree on everything or don’t agree on everything, I think we’ve all worked well together, and we’ve not had a lot of maybe a bad word drama that you unfortunately see in some of the other municipalities. But we are respectful of each other, even if we are pretty passionate about our beliefs, and I think that’s important, and I just want people to know that it takes the entire council. It is a good thing to stay out of the news. It’s unfortunate, but I think some of the other places they’re going to get that worked out and unfortunately, these things do happen. It’s not just in the Keys. It happens everywhere. I retired from law enforcement, and I was used to one person would do something, and then everybody else kind of got painted with that same brush. It just took a lot of work and transparency and that’s kind of what I push for in the city, is transparency, and if something happens, get out in front of it and own it and figure out, if why it happened, and figure out, how do we improve so it doesn’t happen again? Facebook can be a wonderful thing. Social media can be absolutely amazing, but sometimes, not so much. I just urge people before you make allegations against public officials, know them, don’t lump everybody in together. Know the individuals and reach out to them. If you’ve got questions, I’m sure they would be open to talking. I would. Reach out and ask questions before you form those opinions. Don’t base your opinions on others. Learn for yourself.”
Marathon’s pickleball court was recently resurfaced and someone spray painted it.
Still said, “This is an instance where social media is being used for good. I urge people to go to the city of Marathon Facebook page. You might have to scroll down a little bit, but there is a video by our new public information officer. Apparently, there were some individuals who wanted to go to community park to the basketball courts, where we have had professionally resurfaced to include pickleball courts. I guess this group of individuals decided they wanted to make their own court, and they took spray paint and they relined it. I’m not sure what the purpose of that was, and they continued to play, and then they got into a silver pickup truck and left. So we are posting that video, or clips of that video, in an effort to help the sheriff’s office identify who these people may be. I think the more that post is shared, the bigger likelihood that somebody may recognize these individuals may recognize that vehicle. Keep in mind, it is security footage. Those aren’t always the best quality, but you may recognize them just from the way they walk, their mannerisms, or even that vehicle. So we’re asking people to go and to look, because that court is now going to have to be resurfaced. I think an estimated cost is around $2,000 and that’s taxpayer money. So we need to find who did that, and they need to be held responsible. I mean, they kept on playing. It was very blatant. People need to watch it and just share that and see if we can figure out who these folks are, and contact the sheriff’s office, who’s doing a great job.”
On Tuesday, there will be a special call meeting to talk about hurricane preparedness.
Still said, “It’s being called a special call meeting because we do have two resolutions there for adoption. They’re on consent. I don’t know if any of that will be pulled for us to talk about, but that’s why it’s called a special call meeting. It is for most intents a workshop and we are going to be talking about hurricane season. We have John Rizzo from the National Weather Service is going to be there. Our fire chief is going to be present, the sheriff’s office is going to be there. Monroe County Emergency Operations, they’re going to be there and our planning director, as well as our city attorney, I do believe are going to make a presentation. I kind of suggested this workshop because I think it’s important to every year, re-familiarize yourself with categories of hurricanes and what does it mean when they say an ordered evacuation? What happens when you leave your home? What do you expect if you don’t leave your home when it’s an ordered evacuation? I think it’s important that people know what’s the city doing while you’re gone or during the event of a storm and in the immediate aftermath, what’s the sheriff’s office doing? Let people know what all these agencies that have to stay behind are going to be doing to get things safe and everything running for you to return. Also, what should you expect if you decide to stay? For instance, if you get hurt, is there going to be an ambulance to come? If your house catches on fire, will the fire department respond? In most cases, the answer is going to be no, because it’s not going to be safe for them to do so, and you are going to accept that by staying. If you can’t attend the workshop, it will be recorded. You can watch it. If you want to watch it live, it’ll be streamed live as well, but just pay attention. The keys Weekly has a great hurricane guide. I would pick that stuff up and just kind of make plans for what you’re going to do in the event of storms. Are you going to evacuate? If so, at what category hurricane, what are you going to take for yourself with? Make sure you have prescriptions lined up. If you have pets, make sure you have plans for them and just kind of be prepped, because season is here.”
The Rotary Club of Marathon and the Key West International Airport will present USA Independence Day, the Fourth of July parade and celebration on July 4.
Still said, “It’s an amazing fun day on Sombrero Beach and we urge people to bring your family out. You can make a full day. Bring your sunscreen if you’re doing that. Rotary will be selling adult beverages, but also Cokes, water, things like that. There’ll be hamburgers for sale, so you’ll be able to eat snow cones. I do believe we’re still going to have that. We urge everybody to come out to watch that fireworks display. It’s a lot of people that are coming together to make this a great event, our parks and rec for making sure the beach is clean before, during and after. So if you see some of those folks out there, make sure you thank them. They’re working hard and just come out and be safe and enjoy.”