How Serious Are the Candidates?

Just Look At
Their Contributions Reports

WEEKLEY LEADS THE PACK WITH
MORE THAN $37,000 RAISED.
AND THE TAMPOA LAWYER HAS
PICKED HIS CANDIDATES

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

Candidates for Mayor
and City Commission have
filed their contributions and expenditures
reports for August
and, as might be expected, the
candidates for Mayor are the
big money-raisers and moneyspenders.

Incumbent Mayor Morgan
McPherson has raised
$22,400 and has spent $13,000.
But former Mayor Jimmy Weekley
wants his seat back. He has
collected $37,190 and has spent
$25,000. His contributions include
$500 from Attorney Bill
Andersen, the lawyer for the
Truman Annex Master Property
Owners Association (TAMPOA). But Weekley’s mother
only gave him $100.

Woman Under Investigation

In Assault Case Put
In Charge of Code
Enforcement—
For a Week

KWTN Team Report

Code Enforcement Inspector Cassandra Butler has been in
charge of the City’s Code Enforcement unit since Tuesday, while
her boss, Gary Addleman, is on leave. At the same time, she is
under investigation by the City Manager’s office to determine if
she should be disciplined for her involvement in an altercation
in Bahama Village last June 24.

The incident, which started with a dispute over a parking
space near Butler’s home, escalated into a near-riot, according to
police reports. Several police units were called to the scene.
According to one report, Butler punched a 42-year-old
woman in the face and her daughter, Chawana McDowell, grabbed
the woman by the hair and threw her to the ground.

Page One Commentary

Has the Planning Department Lost All Credibility?

PLANNING DIRECTOR TELLS
PLANNING BOARD THAT SHE
RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF
SOUTHERNMOST HOUSE
RESTAURANT— THEN HAS
TO ADMIT THAT SHE DID NOT
EVEN CHECK TO SEE IF PARKING
PLAN WAS LEGAL

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

At the Key West Planning
Board meeting last week,
Planning Director Gail Kenson
told the board that she and her
staff recommended approval
of Attorney Michael Halpern’s
proposal to convert the Southernmost
House from a 13-room
guesthouse to a 150-seat restaurant–
even though the owners
of the mansion were 23 parking
spaces short of the 50 spaces
required by law. “No problem,”
Kenson said, the owners of the
house were promising to substitute
100 bicycle parking spaces
for the 23 spaces for cars.

That was really what was
being proposed. And Kenson
was pretending to buy it. We
don’t make this stuff up.

SPECIAL COMMENTARY

The Chickens Hatched In
Those Secret Meetings Have
Now Come Home To Roost

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

The cartoon to the left first
appeared in the prototype issue
of Key West The Newspaper
on October 22, 1993. Then-City
Commissioner Jimmy Weekley
was the lead Commissioner in
the move to have the taxpayers
buy the Key West Bight. The
project was planned in a series
of closed-door meetings.

From the beginning, there
was widespread suspicion that,
during those secret meetings,
Weekley, a principal in Fausto’s
Food Palace, had used his influence
to undermine the continued
existence of his primary
competitor in Old Town— Buco
Pantelis’ popular Waterfront
Market, located at the Bight.

ON THE SONNY SIDE

Cuban Gunboat and Sonny

by Charles “Sonny” McCoy

This September the tenth is the twenty ninth
anniversary of my ski trip to Cuba and like all anniversaries
it brings back memories of younger years
when we thought life was all about corresponding to
challenges. This saga began when I purchased a high
horsepower boat and found that I enjoyed water skiing.
I would water-ski to the outer Islands and before long
the media would suggest that we set specific distance
goals to test endurance. Eventually it was decided I
would ski from Key West Harbor to Dry Tortugas, a
distance of seventy some miles. The media, including
a newly arrived editor of the morning paper, was
on board to record the effort which was successfully
traversed in a little over three and a half hours.

Beauty and The Snitch

by Hal O’Boyle

Always suspicious of being watched for my own protection I often wonder what everyday life in a police state
might be like. Certainly we can gather nuggets of insight on a visit to
an airport or courthouse, or enjoy a depressing civics lessons from the
Key West Building Department. But I’m talking about the details of
day-to-day life in a total surveillance state. That’s harder to
imagine.

For that experience, short of moving into public housing or going to work for the Department of Homeland Security, I recommend the movie, The Lives of Others.
(which I am going to mildly spoil for you below)  I stumbled on it in a
video rental store here in the burbs of San Jose, Costa Rica. I have
since learned that it won an Academy Award in 2006 for Best Foreign
Film. It has enjoyed nearly uniform praise from critics as diverse as
Roger Ebert and William F. Buckley. We’re not exactly on the cutting
edge of cinema here in Central America.

Taz

TAZ is at
Finnegan’s Wake
tonight and
tomorrow night,
Friday and
Saturday,
September 7-8.

RIDENOUR REPORT

by Valerie Ridenour

Carl Wagner, a.k.a. Caffeine
Carl, is one of my favorite
people. I have watched him
grow up as a person and as a
guitarist. He has two young
sons who spent the summer
with him here in Key West.

The boys have a long-time
friend who is battling cancer
up in Sarasota, so Carl used
his talent to help the family
with the mounting medical
bills. Carl took Joe Pepper and
Jeremy Gill on a six and a half
hour drive. The three played
a benefit concert for the boy,
then drove all the way home
the same night as not to cancel
a gig. The family is grateful,
and I am proud of my friend.
You’re a good man, Caffeine
Carl!

BARNES LAW: Q&A

Whistleblower Lawsuits— Part 2

by Michael Barnes

Last week, we learned a
little about “ Whistleblower”
lawsuits through an overview
of important terms and concepts.
If you missed that introductory
article, you may want
to have a look for it. This second
article, in the series, builds on
the first one.
An easy way to catch up
is to type http://www.kwtn.com into
your Web browser and follow
the links to my articles. Try
“archives.”

Briefly, we learned that
the Florida Legislature takes
a dim view of wrongdoing
by public employees which
adversely affects the health,
safety and welfare of its citizens.
Florida law, provides a way for
citizens to report a variety of
wrongful conduct and be both
protected and compensated for
reporting it.

Dave Aaron Recording Session At Sloppy Joe’s

DAVE AARON will be at
Sloppy Joe’s this afternoon,
Friday, September 7,
noon ‘til 4:45.