Pricey Editor:
It’s been three weeks because the grand jury beneficial that Commissioner Lissette Carey resign. Carey instantly made clear she has no intention of doing so, regardless of the embarrassment her actions have introduced upon our group.
Carey is not only any commissioner. She can also be Key West’s vice mayor. Mayor Dee Dee Henriquez nominated Carey to this place as one in every of her first official acts final 12 months.
Though the function is just not clearly outlined in Key West’s Code of Ordinances, the vice mayor is often granted the powers of the mayor within the occasion of the mayor’s absence. As vice mayor, Carey is the second strongest member of the town fee. Her nomination was a transparent signal that Mayor Henriquez absolutely trusted Carey to guide the town if and when she herself is just not on the dais.
Does Mayor Henriquez nonetheless have that religion in Vice Mayor Carey within the wake of the grand jury’s findings? It seems that she does. There was no decision to call a brand new vice mayor on the metropolis fee assembly two weeks in the past, as many anticipated. When requested about Carey on this paper final week, Mayor Henriquez mentioned Carey’s future as a commissioner is “one thing she (Carey) must determine.”
The grand jury discovered “a pervasive tradition of negligence, nepotism, manipulation and abdication of responsibility on the highest ranges of metropolis management.” Many fear this unfavorable tradition continues, even after the arrests. The grand jury additionally concluded that “the Mayor needs to take a proactive method by initiating reforms.”
Many voters who learn the paperwork launched by the State Lawyer’s Workplace had been inspired by this constructive evaluation of the mayor. Textual content messages launched by the investigation had instructed that Mayor Henriquez and Vice Mayor Carey had been in lockstep with the town legal professional in the course of the conspiracy to terminate the previous metropolis supervisor. It was this termination that drew the state legal professional’s scrutiny within the first place.
The grand jury reviewed much more proof than did unusual residents like me. These jurors have completed an unbelievable service to our group, and I settle for their conclusion, for now, relating to the mayor and her need to provoke reforms.
However Mayor Henriquez should take concrete steps to indicate the broader public that the grand jury’s religion in her is just not misplaced. It’s usually the function of the mayor to appoint and take away his or her vice mayor, so Mayor Henriquez should take the lead. Time is working out. Eradicating Carey from the vice mayorship is low-hanging fruit that may quickly spoil.
Mayor Henriquez ought to act instantly and identify a brand new vice mayor on the particular assembly known as for June 25 at 5 p.m. It’s a small step. However we’d like many small steps to get the town again on monitor, and this ought to be an apparent place to begin.
Sincerely,
Arlo Haskell
Key West