Smith-Gilbert Report:

Witness Testimony Backs
Up Allegations in Police
Chief Sex Scandal

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT VAGUE ON
SPECIFIC ALLEGATIONS.

LAWYER LETTER DETAILS
MAULDIN’S WALK-AWAY PACKAGE

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

Information continued to
seep out of City Hall this week
to help flesh out the sex scandal
story that resulted in the abrupt
resignation of Police Chief Bill
Mauldin last Tuesday.

A one-page investigative
report prepared by City Attorney
Shawn Smith and City Human
Resources Director Sandy
Gilbert sent to City Manager Jim
Scholl on Tuesday revealed that
Smith and Gilbert conducted
four interviews in the course
of their investigation into allegations
by Christie Phillips,
the City’s Communications
Manager, that Mauldin repeatedly
sexually harassed her.

More than one source has told
Key West The Newspaper that
Mauldin’s contact with Phillips
may have risen to the level of
sexual battery.

Political Forum

Set for Tuesday

19 ELECTIVE
OFFICES IN THE
COUNTY UP FOR
GRABS

This year, in addition to
helping elect a new president
of the United States, Monroe
County voters will help decide
who will occupy two chairs in
the U.S. House of Representatives,
one seat in the Florida
State Senate and one seat in
the Florida House of Representatives.

Nineteen County-wide
elective positions are also up
for grabs, including Sheriff,
State Attorney, three County
Commission seats, two School
Board seats, as well as Superintendent
of Schools. Three
judges are also up for reelection.

PAGE ONE COMMENTARY

Disgraced Chief Escapes Criminal Prosecution

INVESTIGATION CONCLUDED THAT MAULDIN
COMMITTED MULTIPLE INCIDENTS OF SEXUAL
HARASSMENT. OTHER SOURCES SAY THAT
ONE OR MORE OF THOSE INCIDENTS MAY HAVE
CONSTITUTED SEXUAL BATTERY

WAS CITY MANAGER COMPLICIT IN WHAT MAY BE
AN ATTEMPTED COVERUP?

by Rhonda
Linseman-Saunders

Like many, I’m angry
and disappointed because City
Manager Jim Scholl missed an
incredibly important opportunity
this week to reinstate, or
perhaps develop for the first
time, some public confidence
in his ability to manage the city
of Key West.

The city’s official sexual
harassment policy gives the
illusion that a hard line will be
taken against sexual harassment.
It even ends by emphatically
stating “Such conduct
will result in disciplinary action.”

But Scholl allowed Bill
Mauldin, the disgraced former
Key West police chief, who allegedly sexually harassed and
possibly committed acts of
criminal sexual battery against
City Communications Manager
Christie Phillips, to voluntarily
resign. Despite the fact that City
Attorney Shawn Smith and
City Human Resources Director
Sandy Gilbert concluded
that at least four of five alleged
incidents did occur, Mauldin
apparently won’t have to face
criminal charges or go to trial
or contemplate the prospect of
jail time for his alleged sexual
misconduct.

SPECIAL FEATURE

Moochie

EDITOR’S NOTE: Rhonda
Linsesman-Saunders’ column
will be back next week.
See her commentary this week
on page 1.

by Cheri Shapiro

If you had the occasion to
visit Duval Square sometime
before May 2006, you’ll probably
remember a black cat that
used to patrol the grounds and
rule the roost. That black cat,
with a white patch on his chest
and a white spot on his belly,
was Moochie. He would eat
breakfast and lunch at New
York Pizza, snooze the day
away in the restaurant (with
John’s blessing) and then flirt
with the tourists for sushi at
Origami for dinner.

My Key West journey began
with a job in Duval Square.
I noticed and fell in love with
Moochie soon after I arrived.
If he was in a decent mood he
would allow me the honor of
petting him or scratching him
under the chin – his favorite.

Info Service Gives Island

High Rating

Key West has been rated in the top 1 percent for short
commute times, compared to other places of similar size nationally.
The island also was rated in the top 1 percent for residents
who walk or bike to work compared to other places of similar
size nationally. Rating were done by CityTownInfo, a service
that compared thousands of communities in categories such
as demographics, housing, crime, education and wealth. Info:
www.citytowninfo.com.

City-Wide Cleanup

Set for Saturday

The City of Key West is hosting a citywide cleanup this
Saturday, April 5. This cleanup is sponsored by the Banyan
Resort, the Florida Keys’ first Florida Department of Environmental
Protection certified green lodging facility. Volunteers are
asked to meet at Bayview Park at 8 a.m. and spend a few hours
pickup up trash in Old Town and along the waterfront. For more
information, contact Environmental Programs Manager Annalise
Mannix at 305-809-3747.

Bus Fares Going Up

The City of Key West Department of Transportation has
announced that bus fares for all regular full-fare passengers will
increase, effective May 1. The rate increases apply to one-way
passenger trips and 7-day passes. One-way trip fees for use within
city limits will be $2 per trip, $3 for a one-way Lower Keys trip.
A seven-day pass for use within the city limits will be $8, and a
seven-day Lower Keys pass will be $16.

Reduced fares for students, senior citizens, retired military,
military dependants and people with disabilities are not affected
by the increase, but eligibility criteria must still be met.
Info: 305-809-3910 or http://www.keywestcity.com.

OPINION

We Told You So!

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

Key West The Newspaper Associate
Editor Rhonda Linseman was the first
writer in town to suggest that, just maybe,
Key West Police Chief Bill Mauldin might be
incompetent. Her commentary appeared here
last October 26. Maudlin resigned this week
amid charges of sexual harassment and, some
say, sexual battery— a criminal offense.
Ms. Linseman writes about this new development
this week in her Page One Commentary.

Former City Manager Julio Avael appointed
Mauldin Police Chief in April 2005, apparently based
on an inventive resume. Although we and others had
high hopes that Mauldin would and could come in
and clean up the Key West Police Department, it soon
became apparent that he was faking it. Yes, his resume
said that he had been Police Chief in Blacksburg,
South Carolina— but he didn’t happen to mention
that Blacksburg was a little community of only about
1800 souls occupying a land mass of less than two
square miles. And when Mauldin was there in 1996,
the town only had eight police officers!

ON THE SONNY SIDE

What’s in a Name

by Charles “Sonny” McCoy

There are many great stories about this Island
of Key West and as a kid growing up on this historical
Island and having extended family living in close
proximity, I was privy to the telling of these stories.

The ones I enjoyed most were about the colorful characters
that seemed to abound on this remote Island.
An old Conch named Donnie Williams compiled a
list of three thousand nicknames of locals here on
this Southernmost City, or as he preferred to call it
Conchtown, and I am going to mention just a few.

There were so many stories about Cuco Bobo,
whose real name was Enrique Rodriguez, that it
could fill volumes. Cuco Bobo had spent a lifetime
collecting uniforms, medals and other exotic regalia
and would don these distinctive items of clothing
to entertain the locals or baffle visiting dignitaries
with an impressive repertoire of antics.

Helen and Ron, Thanks!

by Rick Boettger

We will not have to witness the Australian
pines at Fort Zach destroyed before our eyes by our
parks department. The unyielding passion of Helen
Harrison and heroic intervention of our state representative
Ron Saunders finally prevailed against our
government gone mad.

Sadly, the parks department agreed to let the
existing pines live out their lives NOT because they
listened to the people, cared about the trees, understood
the science, or followed state laws governing
these so-called “invasive exotics.” They halted their
11-year campaign of destruction only out of fear. They
feared that Ron could get a law passed that might
set a precedent for the rest of Florida. They agreed
to stop killing our pines only so they can kill tens of
thousands of other pines elsewhere.