Key West Mayor Dee Dee Henriquez joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
City Hall will be closed December 24 and 25.
Henriquez said, “So that everyone can enjoy their families. There will be no bus service on December 25, Christmas Day, so that the drivers can spend the holiday with their families. Also the waste management will be providing regular garbage services on Christmas Day and on New Year’s Day. So the city transfer station will be closed to the public on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day as well, and then normal public access hours from 7am to 3pm at the transfer station will resume after each holiday.”
The tree lighting happened earlier in the month, and the menorah lighting is coming up.
Henriquez said, “That is going to be on Sunday, December 29, from 5 to 7 and it’s going to be at Bayview Park. So that should be a nice little celebration.”
An early bird litter pickup to keep the city clean will be held on December 27.
Henriquez said, “We’ll meet on Fleming and Duvall and Kilwin’s is going to host that early bird cleanup, so we’ll have lots of pastries, chocolates, ice cream, very early in the morning.”
Brian Barroso will be the new city manager.
Henriquez said, “We’re very excited about that. Our city manager is negotiating a contract with Brian Barroso and we should have something come before us at the commission meeting on January 7 for approval. I am looking forward to that so that way we can approve his contract and he can hit the ground running and get to work. We want to continue to move the city forward.”
Monroe County decided last week to ask the state for more than 3,000 ROGOs, as well as increasing the evacuation time period from 24 to 26 hours.
Henriquez said the time increase would “allow maximum of the 3,550 new residential permit allocations county wide. So we’ll see how our Representative and our Senator, how they take that the Tallahassee. I’m sure there will be lots of conversation between now and March 4 when the legislative session starts.”
There were more than 400 different leaders for the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Summit last week in Key West.
Henriquez said, “That was the third time that the city of Key West was able to host it. It’s wonderful to have our region down here. It was Monroe, Broward, Miami-Dade and West Palm. It was a great three-day venue, conversation and a lot of good stuff came out of it.”
What priorities could be in place for 2025?
Henriquez said, “I have lots of New Year’s resolutions for the city. I was waiting for the New Year, new commission, and new city manager. My goal here is to start taking things and moving things off of a shelf, not keeping them on a shelf. First order for our city manager is to meet with all of our directors and get their needs and wants and how we can move our city forward and open up that communication and build that trust and have that transparency throughout the city of Key West. I am looking forward to the New Year and start the new year off right, and I’m very excited about it. City Hall is, even though we’re closed, we’re still very, very busy. We’ll be preparing for next week as well. Our Director of Community Services will make sure that our streets are safe and clean and with our chief of police and our fire chief. So they have a lot of work to do between the next week and a half. I just would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, a Happy Holiday, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and to have a very, very prosperous New Year.”