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.
The state legislature is still working on the budget.
Raschein said, “I know we in Monroe County and all the other 66 counties and cities are anticipating and eagerly awaiting the actions of the legislature. I know they were up there this week. I don’t think that they had met on the budget. I’m sure there was some discussions and some negotiations and getting some of the top brass, so to speak, in the same room, but I think they’re going to come back and tackle that in a couple of weeks. The new budget starts July 1. That’s a little close for the legislature to pass it, and then the governor to be able to comb through it, decide what he wants to veto, or whatever, and and then, obviously, let the agencies implement all that comes with the state budget. But I don’t think it’ll be that close. I think last year it was a little closer. It is an election year, people that are going to be candidates, or new candidates, and obviously the legislators that are up there that have terms left to fill, they want to get home.”
The Stewardship funds are still coming to Monroe County.
Raschein said, “We are so grateful for that. Again, it’s a testament to Tallahassee and their dedication to one of our main environmental needs, and that’s water quality. If we don’t have nice, pretty water, everything hurts around here, so, I haven’t heard otherwise. Fingers crossed, it stays in. It’s $20 million and an additional 5 for land acquisition. The 5 million is a little shaky, only because the funding amount for Florida Forever is low, so we may not get that chunk again, remains to be seen. It’s always subject to the appropriators. We’re looking good for 20 though.”
The 250th anniversary of America will kick off in Monroe County with a proclamation on a paddle board on Monday.
Raschein said, “I am planning on being out there in my suit. It’s so cool. What a way to kick off America’s bi-quincentennial. We are a tourism related economy, a community. Our lives and our prosperity are from the water. So it’s just really combining so many neat forces in the Keys. And I think it’s going to be awesome. Fingers crossed that the weather is going to be okay. I know that people are like, oh, do we really need to celebrate this? And my answer to that is, of course,yes, it’s a huge deal. Right now, I think we could use a little bit of unity and togetherness and celebrating our nation, and its amazing accomplishments. There’s a whole campaign, through the Department of State in Tallahassee, the governor is obviously really prioritizing this. We have our own statute there at Baia Honda, so all kinds of fun stuff. And we’re going to be having events up and down the Keys. And I’m just super, super excited. It’s all coming together. This is the opportunity for the next generation and all of us here and across the nation to have those memories and to celebrate the most amazing cause ever.”
The state has been taking a hard look at redistricting.
Raschein said, “As a lover of political science, and a student of Political Science, this is like catnip. There can be a lot of unknowns. So you’re shifting four seats. You just have to be really sensitive to changes like that, combining counties or municipalities that may have not been connected before. Voters don’t want to be disenfranchised. They want to know, obviously, where they’re voting, but who they’re voting for. And so you run the risk of putting candidates in seats where they could be unknown. We saw a state Senate seat that was lost due to that. The candidate was an incumbent House member and ran in an area that wasn’t her main district, because obviously, a Senate district is bigger than a House district, and it takes in a lot more people. And she lost. She was top funded. She Senate leadership’s priority. So many resources were put in to her race, but ultimately, the Democrat one. I don’t think it was a huge margin, but it was definitely a sound victory. There’s a little bit of a shift right now politically speaking, whether you’re on the right side or the left side, everybody is fired up. There’s a lot of action happening, not only in our nation or state, but obviously all around the world. So that’s got people energized. I hope we don’t lose good candidates and seats that get shifted around. I don’t necessarily want to be partisan on this. I understand why, the purpose and the energy behind it. But we also have that little thing, it’s actually huge, called the Fair Districts amendment, and so that sets forth a very clear process on, it’s kind of anti gerrymandering, and so you have to comply with that. So I’m sure there’s going to be a legal challenge if there hasn’t already been one filed. So it just means, our supervisors of elections have to be on their toes and implement ballots and print ballots and prepare all the materials, because qualifying is June 12. And so, early voting, they’ve got vote by mail ballots and it’s a whole process, so I hope that it’s going to be quick. The candidates have got to know well, am I going to be campaigning here or I’m going to be campaigning there? So it’s very interesting. It’s never a dull day. You’re seeing decades, centuries old processes, kind of, kind of hit a snag. But I think that that timing was consequential to the actions of the Florida legislature. It was so bizarre. It’s almost like they timed it, because, I think, but for the Louisiana move, there might have been a little more of a slow roll. There might have been a little bit of the tapping of the brakes. Again, this is just me surmising, but, very, very interesting times.”
Early voting in the primary election will be August 3 through the 15th.
Raschein said, “Just giving a shout out to my colleagues on the commission and the good work that we do. You don’t see that in a lot of governments, unfortunately, and it’s a dream to serve with them and our entire county team, our constitutional officers. We get to govern and live in the most beautiful place, I think, and respecting it and respecting each other and serving proud.”