Key West Mayor Denise Dee Dee Henriquez joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
Last week’s city commission meeting had a pretty big agenda.
Among the items approved was the naming of Fire Station No. 3 after Edwin “Eddie” Castro, a veteran firefighter who served the department for 32 years. A dedication ceremony is expected later this summer.
The southernmost buoy was also discussed
Henriquez said, “It said returning of the southernmost buoy. Actually, the southernmost buoy never left it, just got covered up, so it’s still there. But when that project will be ready, we will unveil the southernmost buoy and make sure that it goes back, and with some tweaks, hopefully having the lines on both sides, not just on one side, so that will help the traffic, so we would like to keep it there, moving the Bishop Key statue over there as well. I know the family really wanted to move that back, that’s where he sold his conch shells and the sponges and dishes, a lot of history there, very historic.”
The commission additionally approved a new live-aboard dockage lease agreement and voted to place a referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot asking voters whether the mayor’s term should be extended from two years to four years.
Henriquez said, “Either way I’m good with that. I prefer four years because it’s hard to get a lot of things done, you get the momentum going, and then it’s time to run again. So I’d like to see it change from two to four, but we’ll see what the will of the constituents are. The commission meeting did get approved from July 2, which is the day before the holiday, to July 1. So, mark your calendars, making sure that the commission meeting is on July 1, not July 2. For the most part, it was a pretty smooth meeting, and lots of conversation, which is great. And so now we’re looking forward to the next meeting.”
The proposed statewide property tax reform measure is expected to appear on the November ballot.
Henriquez said, “Changing the homestead exemption from 50,000 to 150 and then the following year to 250 then the following year after that to 500, so I guess they came to a happy medium, where let’s start with 150 and then each year increase it, so we’ll see what the will of the people in state of Florida will be. To me it’s all about educate, educate, educate, so that way when they do vote, that they’re informed, because right now, not to have to pay property taxes, that sounds great. Who would want to pay taxes? But then we’re eliminating our services as well, so we’ll have more information in the future, but like I said, educate, educate, educate.”
Meet the Mayor is today from 2 to 4 p.m.
Henriquez said, “Come on down. Last Monday we had a very busy Monday, they were all the way up until 4o’clock, so please come on down. I’d be so glad to be able to speak with you, answer any questions, get you any information that you would need, or just to have a conversation and say hi. So, please come on down two to four.”
It looks like Key West could be getting some funding from the state.
Henriquez said, “We did submit two projects, $500,000 each, for the stormwater project, and we ended up possibly receiving 750,000, so we went in for a million dollars’ ask, potentially came home wanting 11 million, and if the governor doesn’t veto anything, we should come home with $7.5 million. So I’m very, very, very excited about bringing home that money to the city of Key West.”
It’ll be a busy week with meetings.
Henriquez said, “The Sustainability Advisory Board meeting is today, and then on Wednesday, the Bight Board is going to have two meetings, so they’re going to meet first at 2:30 and that’s to go over their 2026-27 budget, and then right after that at 4o’clock will be their regular meeting, so bight board will have two meetings, one to go over the budget, the other one will be able to go over just to have the regular meeting starting at four. And yes, Thursday, Commissioner Castillo is having his District Six meeting, that’s going to start at 6pm at the Frederick Douglass Community Center. Friday, early bird cleanup, Truman Waterfront, probably it’s going to be hosted by the Eco Discovery Center. So, come on down, 8am. We have the junk in the trunk garage sale, which is going to start at 8am Saturday, and so there are a lot of things going on, so stay informed. Go to our city website and get all the information that you need.”
The budget process is also beginning.
Henriquez said, “It’s going to be here in the next couple of weeks, so we’re going to start getting our books, or by email, the whole budget. Our finance director, she’s working on that currently right now, wrapping things up, so that way she could submit it to us before we start having our meetings in July, so it’s right around the corner, and I will tell you they’re tightening everything up. The goal is to be 10% below rollback, so we’ll see how all the departments were able to manage that, and I look forward to seeing the budget this year.”
Henriquez said she remains encouraged by public participation in the city’s ongoing strategic planning process, which recently drew a strong turnout and extensive community feedback.
“It was very well attended,” she said. “Lots of engagement, lots of questions. I’m looking forward to seeing the final product.”