PAGE ONE COMMENTARY: School Board Also Sued in 2007 by Whistle-Blower— Who Settled for $10,000

A WHISTLE-BLOWER POLICY WAS
IMPLEMENTED IN 2008 THEN
TWEAKED AGAIN IN 2010— WITHIN
DAYS OF THE LATEST LAWSUIT

by Rhonda
Linseman-Saunders

Kathy Reitzel, the former
finance director for the Monroe
County School District
(MCSD) is suing the district
for violating her protections
as a whistleblower. Reitzel
was the first to expose the specific
indiscretions in what has
grown into a financial scandal
involving the alleged bilking of
nearly a half million dollars by
former superintendent Randy
Acevedo’s wife, Monique, the
former coordinator of adult
education.

Reitzel was the star witness
in the trial of Randy Acevedo,
but was promptly fired
less than a week after Randy
Acevedo’s conviction on three
felony counts related to covering
up his wife’s alleged theft.
Monique Acevedo is still awaiting
trial.

Reiztel is not the first to
bring a whistleblower lawsuit
against the district. In October
of 2007, the MCSD settled a lawsuit
filed by Pedro Alvarez, a
Key West High School (KWHS)
security guard. In his lawsuit,
Alvarez accused KWHS Principal
John Welsh and Assistant
Principal Christina McPherson
of malfeasance by knowingly
allowing two employees to
commit payroll fraud and by
condoning the use of taxpayers’
money to pay selected employees
for hours they allegedly did
not work.

GOOD NEWS: Key West Art Center 50 Years Old

FOUNDED IN 1939. BIG PARTY
SUNDAY EVENING

by Dick Moody

It is not often that an organization
has been around in
Key West since 1939. There are
a few, but not many. Back in
1938, in the days of the Public
Works Administration (WPA)
set up by President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, local and nationally
known artists formed an organization
— the Key West Art
Center (KWAC). They chose
as their headquarters an old
building on Front Street near
the new aquarium.

The two-story building
was originally built in 1893 and
opened as a grocery store on
the busy waterfront. Later, the
Coast Guard used the building
as they were building the large
stone and brick building across
the street. Soon the building was
boarded up and abandoned.
WPA artists had the goal of
creating interest in Key West as
a tourist destination. The KWAC
was very successful in attracting
viewers to the arts. Visual
art performing artist and film
viewing became very popular.

Art Show, artist salons, poetry
and small plays attracted over
45,000 people to visit the Center
up until the war in 1942. Artists
worked very hard to help this
tiny government get back on
its feet. Hundreds of paintings
were created of local scenes
for display in Key West and
for traveling shows around the
country.

Calling All Candidates. First Political Forum Set for April 15

On Thursday, April 15, Key West’s Hometown! PAC
(Political Action Committee) will present declared and
potential candidates for six upcoming elections affecting
the citizens and property owners of the City of Key
West. The event will be held at Salute Restaurant, Higgs
Beach, starting with a social portion, at 5p.m. Candidates,
declared or potential, will have the opportunity to introduce
themselves and make short presentations, beginning
at 5:30p.m.

This year, up for election are three school board
seats; two seats on the Mosquito Control Board; two seats on the Monroe County Commission
(District 2-Incumbent
George Neugent; and District
4-incumbent Mario DiGenaro);
State Representative-District 120
(incumbent Ron Saunders; and
three Monroe County Circuit
Judges (Group 1-Peary Fowler;
Group 3-William Reagan Ptomey;
and Group 4-Ruth Becker). To
date, there are several declared
or interested opponents considering
running for office.

LETTER FROM BAGHDAD: Stay or Go Home?

by Ken Davis

Coming to Baghdad was
easy; adventure, change, a
learning experience that would
expand my base of knowledge
in law enforcement, administration
and management. All
the right reasons. The paid
opportunity to work with law
enforcement professionals
and intelligence experts from
agencies throughout the world
and exchange ideas was akin
to gaining my doctorates. Iraq
provided access to a new corner
of the old world for my personal
exploration, one where I would
learn something about myself;
to see how I would measure in
a war zone.

When I arrived, several
things were apparent within
weeks: I had come to the right
place to further my education,
the war didn’t bother me, and
the day you arrive you begin
counting the days before you
go home. I arrived with 359
days to go.

Eleven months later I
woke at 4:35 a.m. to the sound
of “incoming, incoming” blaring
through the loud speakers
followed by the irritating alarm
that accompanies each warning.
I rolled over and tried to go back
to sleep while listening in the
seconds to follow for that far
away thud and slight concussion.

RHONDA: www.facebook.com/ thebluepaper

by Rhonda Linseman-Saunders

This week’s column is dedicated to my brother
and the other nine people in developed nations who
are not on Facebook.

I don’t do Facebook birthday wishes, but it’s not
because I don’t want people to have great birthdays.
Rather, it feels hokey and contrived, at best. And
maybe even a little condescending.

“Hey! happy birthday! I know I haven’t wished
you such a thing in thirty years, and frankly I’m not
even totally sure how we know each other, but somehow
I’ve just started remembering your special day
because it’s really, really important to me!”

I am terrible at remembering birthdays, but I’m
certainly not going to risk insulting somebody by
pretending I suddenly know and care—as though
they aren’t fully aware that they popped up on my list
of a hundred birthday reminders for the week—the
same list they get. It’s just a little silly, from my perspective.
Now that I’ve offended ninety percent of the Facebook
population, let’s talk about something lighter:

O'BOYLE: A Drive in Never-Never Land

by Hal O'Boyle

The noise was what I noticed first. Or I should say the blend of
noises. I was behind the wheel of a microscopic blue Daihatsu, a rented
machine deep into middle age. It had four-wheel drive, five on the floor
and a device that looked like an aluminum sewing machine in the tiny
compartment where the engine would have been in a real car.

I had just pulled out into traffic in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Weeeeeeeeerrrrrrowww went the little engine as I banged it into third at
60 KPH. Chunkachunkachunkachunka 
rattttattattatatttatttaatttatatttatata  went all the loose parts behind
the door panels as we stumbled over a road that had been paved in shifts
by people who were strangers to the task. In the side mirrors I noticed
loose plastic trim fluttering in the wind.

As I sneaked a concerned peek at the loose molding we hit what I was
sure was a land mine.  WWHAAAM!!!! The car lurched as the left front
wheel disappeared and miraculously reemerged from a spectacular pothole.
My bride in the passenger’s seat uttered an astonished prayer,
“GAWWWWD,” she said.

Continue reading here.

ART: Rote Show at Wyland

Modern romanticist Adam
Rote, the newest addition to
Wyland Galleries of Key West’s
family of featured fine artists,
will debut his intriguing canvases
at Wyland’s 623 Duval
Street gallery Friday through
Sunday, March 26-28.

Rote will appear daily and
by appointment to showcase
images including a dramatic
release inspired by the Keys’
Islander Drive-In — complete
with changing sky and screen
in a colorful depiction of mid-
20th-century film images.

“When the Islander first
opened on Stock Island in February
1953, it had the largest screen
in the state of Florida,” said Rote.
“It had parking for 600 cars and
opened with ‘The Cimarron Kid’
starring Audie Murphy.”

THEATRE: BitchSlap! Opens March 30 at Playhouse

The Waterfront Playho use proudly presents
“BitchSlap!”starring Christopher
Peterson as Bette Davis, Randy
Roberts as Joan Crawford and
Vanessa McCaffrey as Hedda
Hopper. Written and directed
by Darrin Hagen, “BitchSlap!”
played to completely sold out
houses during the 2009 WFPH
run.

Now back by popular demand,
it runs for two weeks only,
March 30 to April 10 at 8 pm.
“Solares Hill” said of the 2009
production, “The three largerthan-
life stars charmingly captured
the legendary divas.” The
show is sponsored by KEY TV,
with our 70th season sponsored
by El Meson de Pepe’s, Comcast
and Digital Island Media.

“BitchSlap!”is the hilarious
(and occasionally touching)
tale of two of our greatest
film legends: Joan Crawford
and Bette Davis. Their showbiz
feud over roles, billing,
Oscars and men was legendary.

HEALTH: TB: Identifying and Treating Infection is Key to Preventing Disease

by Judy Greene, RN,
Tuberculosis Program
Manager, Monroe County
Health Department

World Tuberculosis Day,
recognized this past Wednesday,
offers the Monroe County
Health Department the chance
to raise public awareness about
Tuberculosis, TB Infection and
TB Disease.

TB is typically spread
from person to person through
the air, when a person with TB
Disease of the lungs coughs,
sneezes, laughs or sings. However,
it usually takes repeated
and or prolonged contact in
confined spaces to become
infected with the TB germ.

Monroe County averages
only five cases of TB Disease
across the Florida Keys each
year: Less than one-half percent
of Monroe County residents
may have TB Infection.
A person with TB Infection
is not sick with symptoms
of TB and cannot spread the
germ to others.

Last Call to Apply for McKee Grants

Keys artists who wish to apply for a 2010 Anne McKee
Artists Fund grant have until March 31 to complete and submit
applications. Applications are available online at http://www.mckeefund.
org. They can also be picked up at The Studios of Key
West, the Florida Keys Council of the Arts office on Simonton
Street, Blue Heaven Restaurant in Bahama Village and Sugarloaf
Lodge on Sugarloaf Key. Completed applications must be
returned by March 31, 2010. Grant recipients will be notified on
or before May 31.

The McKee fund awards 10 to 20 grants annually, in
amounts up to $1,000 apiece, to assist with project-based endeavors
by individual visual, performance and literary artists who
live in Monroe County. Grant monies are generated by a fine
art auction each January and are awarded to support the talents
of Florida Keys artists and writers. For more information about
the fund and its grant applications, visit http://www.mckeefund.org.