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.
FDOT did remove the rainbow crosswalks on Duval and Petronia Streets.
Henriquez said, “From my understanding, just FYI, Delray Beach City Attorney, they did drop the lawsuit, from my understanding, because they felt that they would not be able to beat Tallahassee, and they did not want to spend extra money on taxpayer dollars. So they’re basically doing what we are, the city of Key West and the Business Guild Executive Director along with the board president, they met last week to collaborate and are committed to move forward, to find ways that fit within the state guidelines and celebrate the LGBTQ plus community. So the business guild will work with the community to determine a precise location and design. So I believe they’re having meetings this week, and this project represents the first step and renewed efforts to ensure visible and lasting recognition for the LGBTQ plus community here in Key West. So I was glad to hear that our city manager and other staff members and the business guild are working collaboratively to be able to see how we can move forward. Depending on what they decide, I’m sure I’ll have to go through maybe HARC and planning and the different organizations. So their goal is to have something up by December.”
The deadline for submitting an application to be a part of the holiday parade is November 21.
Henriquez said, “It’s amazing when our PIO put that out there. Dorian’s already started accepting applications. So everybody’s getting excited and gearing up for the holiday parade on December 6.”
How is the budget going?
Henriquez said, “The millage rate that was presented to the commission was the 1.9739 for fiscal year, 20252026, that was proposed, which represented 5% increase over the rollback. The city’s proposed rate is still lower than the other county and city municipalities, which are recommending an increase of 7%, so with their conversations that they had, they had a resolution or a motion to amend the ordinance to a 1.9551 millage rate and to make it a 4%. So they ended the budget at 4%. It’s not over. We still have one more meeting, September 25 at 5:05. Whether it’ll stay at 4 or there may be other options, they can always go down. It all depends on what the needs are and wants are for the commission. The city’s fiscal budget is nearly $270 million. It covers 19 departments and just about 550 city employees. We went into that meeting with 92 days of reserves, which calculates to about $218,000 a day. Then there’s some infrastructure improvement projects that are proposed in the budget as well, like the White Street pier rehabilitation, Bayview Park renovations, the Duval Street revitalization, Mallory Square, fire station, hockey rink, southern most point plaza. So there’s all kinds of projects that we are working on. We’re moving forward. The sad news is, in reference to the transit system, we are eliminating the Duval loop and cutting vacancy positions that equal about seven and a half full time positions. But by eliminating the Duval loop, that saves about $765,000. That’s very sad news in reference to the transit department, but these are some of the tough decisions that we have to make. They are also looking at maybe adding some more stops, additional stops, because the Duval loop, basically helped our tourists, which was probably 90%, 95% used by tourists. So those five or 10% that are local, they’re going to try and add some more additional stops to accommodate everyone.”
There are a number of meetings coming up.
Henriquez said, “Tuesday, the tree commission meeting starts at 5pm in the chambers. Wednesday is the Civil Service Board meeting that starts at 5:30. That will be in the commission side conference room on the first floor. So instead of going into the chambers, it’s right off to the right hand side. Thursday, we have a Planning Board Meeting starting at 5. And then also Commissioner Castillo is having his District Six quarterly meeting, and that’ll be at six o’clock at the Frederick Douglas, Bahama Village Community Center as well. Then on Friday this week’s plogging will be hosted by Mount Sinai Primary Care and Diagnostic Center, and that’s located at 2505 Flagler Avenue. Everyone will meet between Seventh Street and Flagler starting at 8 am, so there is quite a few things going on this week, so hopefully everyone will be able to participate in some of these meetings. Just continue to look at our city of Key West websites. There’s updates that are happening every single day. They’re always continuing to be transparent and get that information out there. We are working hard. We are moving forward and just preparing for our final budget meeting on September 25.”