(Also a parent and an Islamorada resident and taxpayer.)

Election Day is tomorrow.  If you haven’t voted, please do.

Just some observations:

1.  Four contested seats, with four incumbents running for reelection

2.   One incumbent switched seats minutes before the deadline to run against another incumbent. I guess they didn’t want him to run unopposed.

3.   Four candidates have businesses and are Chamber of Commerce members

4.   Four candidates are not Chamber members

5.   Many campaign signs all seem to be bunched together – either promoting one of a group of 4 or the other. (Shame on us voters if an election is decided by who has the most signs).

6.   All eight candidates seem to have the same priorities according to their campaign materials:

·      Protecting the environment

·      Controlling taxes

·      Public Participation

So how’s a voter to know whether to trust a campaign promise?

Logically, all incumbents should have achievements from their two-year terms in office.

That should be their platform… a “look what we did” platform.

The campaign promises and/or list of accomplishments should help voters decide who is aligned with their interests. 

I submit that the incumbents should run on their record. What promises did they keep? Are they making the same ones again?

• Most of the incumbent’s promised to lower spending (taxes were increased by 15% in their tenure).

• Most promised a Strategic Plan for our Village. (none were submitted)

• Just one always voted to protect the environment, the Bay and the Everglades.

• There were promises of addressing traffic. (but traffic is worse).

• There were promises of “controlled growth.” (judge that for yourself)

Ignoring campaign promises and taking liberty with the facts is a time-honored political tradition.

The mayor even has a video bragging of his accomplishments. (yet some were put in motion by the prior council)  Our staff and several village managers were the impetus behind many of the “accomplishments.”

The mayor is taking credit for completing the disastrous stalled culvert project that has been aggravating Lower Matecumbe residents and the Sea Base for almost a year.

No status, no updates on this unfinished costly project.

Judging the new candidates is much trickier.

New candidates use promises to show what issues matter to them and how they intend to govern. Will they deliver?  Who among them has already been involved? Who do you trust?

Environment: What voter in the Keys isn’t concerned about protecting our environment? It is a no-brainer.

The environment is exactly what the Chamber promotes to help local businesses.  It is why people love the area. Of course it is a priority, even for the Chamber members while primarily advocating for business.

But, if elected, will any of the candidates go soft on environmental issues?

Check who is contributing to fund the candidates’ campaigns.

Controlling Taxes: That’s easy enough.

For incumbents, keeping the millage rate the same in their two-year term is NOT an achievement. It’s a tax increase.

REDUCING taxes for taxpayers would be an UNPRECEDENTED achievement.

Incumbents approved a 15% tax increase over the last two years.

Do the opponents have a better promise?

They promise they will cut waste and programs that have outlasted their usefulness. Not done in the Village 27-year existence. Will it ever happen?

Public Participation: That’s an easy one. 

Are you satisfied with public involvement over the last two years implemented by a majority of council?

Who allowed budget meetings at 3 pm when the residents are at work?

Who allowed 500 - 900 page agendas available to the public for just 72 hours before meetings?

Some of the incumbents insist residents don’t show up at meetings because they “are happy” with Village government.

Yet some of the candidates believe public participation is a critical concern and needs significant effort to make it better.  But will that happen?

A better way to know the priorities of the candidates: Check who is contributing to the campaigns. These folks probably did their homework before spending big dollars.

Who is getting monetary support from environmentalists and who is not?

Who is getting big checks from developers, land use lawyers, corporate interests and those who stand to gain financially from future council decisions if more growth is allowed.

Now it is up to the community to decide whether they are pleased with the direction of Council or if they’d like to see change.  

Take a good look at the candidates. Their record. Their funding.

And most importantly – their qualifications to represent you.

Elections are about vision, ideas and leadership.

It is your decision, do your homework. It is not just a popularity contest.

Tom

Who is Funding Council Campaigns (click on candidate to see donations from financial reports): Seat 1:Incumbent Anna Richards versus Joe Wischmeier Seat 2:Incumbent Steve Friedman versus Incumbent Deb Gillis; Seat 3: Corie Mcgraw-Abel versus Sue Miller Seat 4: Incumbent Don Horton versus Tom Raffanello

Click here to view the 2-hour Chamber of Commerce candidate forum that took place Oct 13, with the eight people running for a seat on the Islamorada Council. (Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney, reelected unopposed)

Last Friday, the local high school team, played nearly flawless football, beating the visiting Cocoa Beach team 42-0 in the opening round of the Sunshine State Athletic Association playoffs at the George Barley Stadium.  

With the win, Coral Shores advances its record to 8-3 on the season. The Hurricanes host the Bayside Bears (Palm Bay, FL) on Friday, Nov 6 at 7 PM. The Coral Shores team is given a 78% chance of winning next Friday according to some predictions.

Ever since the Council approved a 7% budget increase for the year beginning October 1, taxpayers have questioned if there is a way to lower the tax burden and the cost of living here. Let’s look at some of the numbers.

Freebee: First issue we noticed, the Village implemented a $2/rider fee starting in July. Typically there are 50,000 riders/year yet the 2026-2027 budget approved by council has no credit for any rides. That is $100,000 that could have impacted the millage rate approved.  Let’s keep a close watch on the fees credited each month.  Let’s improve and expand the service to further decrease taxpayers’ costs. Task Force: Last budget year, the manager appointed a Task Force to review the budget.  They did an amazing job. Many suggestions have not been implemented but still could make a difference. Why not utilize the outstanding community members in Islamorada with financial expertise on a regular basis?   Personnel costs: Is there a way to reduce staff cost without hurting existing employees? Review why personnel benefits and taxes nearly double the cost of personnel over actual salaries paid. Reduce more overtime Regularly review vacant positions that have funds allocated   eliminate unnecessary positions; identify unused funds (currently $50,000/month at Oct 1 vacancy rate) Are we paying for contracted services that could be better done in house? Personnel Numbers $24.1 million total expenditures were approved from the general fund for the year 108 employees account for 64% of all Village General Fund expenses. $8.5 million: Personnel salaries $15.4 million total cost of personnel when taxes and benefits are included $670K budgeted for overtime $601K vacant personnel positions (7) funded in the budget $13,375,331 (55.5% of general fund budget) is for Public Safety $9.54 million Fire Rescue $3.84 million Law Enforcement We created a chart to show how the personnel costs by department have increased from Oct 1, 2020 to Oct 1, 2026.   During this same period, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for South Florida has gone up 26%. What services have been added or expanded since October 2021 to make the increases so much higher than the 26% CPI?

The National Weather Service issued Coastal Flood Warnings for the entire Florida Keys last week, as high tides were from 2 to 3 feet above normal, and saltwater flooding threatened property and impacted travel.

Prolonged strong, north-northeasterly winds off the Atlantic last week, combined with the recent full moon phase tide cycle to maintain unusually high water levels. Multiple Florida cities recorded their highest non-tropical water levels in decades, excluding from hurricanes, from Key West to Miami to Cape Canaveral. Spring Tides / "King" Tides: What are Spring Tides or "King" Tides and how do they affect us? Most 'Sunny Day' flooding events in the Keys are related to Spring or "King" Tides. These are the highest of the high tides in our tidal cycle. Contrary to what the name may imply, the highest of these tides typically occur in the fall and early winter and get their name from the tide 'springing forth' rather than the season. They peak around the time of new and full moons during these months, when the Earth, sun, and moon align.

The Islamorada Library opened on Nov 6, 1966 in a reinforced concrete building that had served the community since 1938 as Matecumbe Grammar School. The Islamorada branch is celebrating 60 years with a series of Tuesday evening programs at 6:30 p.m. all month.

Schedule: Nov. 3 – Dr. Corey Malcom, lead historian at the Florida Keys History Center, on the history of the Monroe County Public Library and the Islamorada branch Nov. 10 – Florida Park Service on Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, plus a period craft Nov. 17 – Rita Troxel (former Monroe County film commissioner) & Maria Chavez (location manager) on the Netflix series Bloodline, filmed in Islamorada Nov. 24 – Dr. Jerry Lorenz, retired research director for Audubon of Florida, on wildlife conservation in the Upper Keys and “big pink birds” (flamingos & spoonbills) All programs are free and open to the public.

Also a parent and an Islamorada resident and taxpayer.

Who’s minding the store?

We hear repeatedly from both the mayor and the Village Manager that the reason few residents attend village workshops and meetings – residents are completely satisfied with the Village and the decisions made by staff and council.

I do not believe that and according to our readers neither do scores of residents.

Trust and Transparency: I do not feel residents have complete trust in the information provided by the Village.

Transparency builds trust by reducing uncertainty, it signals honesty and helps people verify that words and actions align.

When transparency is missing, trust suffers.

Some examples:

“No Tax RATE Increase” In Saunders letter to the community last Monday, he again rehashed about the budget approved weeks ago, with “no rate increase.”

That is misleading. It is not an achievement. Saunders stated that for the last two years “The current Village Council has not raised Islamorada’s millage rate despite rising costs….”

What???   It appears he is trying to help the incumbents win reelection by failing to mention the same rate resulted in a 7% tax increase this year and 9% last year.

That equals to over a 16% raise in taxes in their tenure.

The tax increase especially impacted properties without the benefit of a homestead exemption, including second homes, rental homes, businesses. The vast majority of taxpayers.

• The 2.65 mills approved in Sept 2024 generated a total property tax of $16,738,600

• The 2.65 mills approved in Sept 2025 generated a total property tax of $18,264,500 - a 9.11% tax increase over previous year.

• The 2.65 mills approved in Sept 2026 generated a total property tax of $19,527,500 – a 6.91% tax increase over previous year.

That is an increase in actual property tax of $2,788,900 in just two years, $2.8 million extra to spend without increasing the rate!

That rate claim by the manager is meant to take your eye off the ball, while the 16% tax increase is the bottom line.

REDUCING the millage rate would be an achievement.

A close look at the budget details and bills paid by the Village shows significant areas to cut spending.

I submit that an efficiency audit would expose much waste and more efficient ways to control spending in 2027.

We seem to fear an audit that is 27 years overdue.

Why?

If you want to brag, show real results, not slight of hand.

We are smarter than that.

2026-2027 Budget: When the Council approved the 2.65 millage rate on Sep 28, 2026, there was no corresponding budget for the Council and public to review before approval.

The mysteriously unseen budget was approved anyway…. virtually sight unseen, except by the finance director.

The October Council meeting was just a week later – yet still no budget was provided for review.

As of the Oct 27 writing of this letter, the mystery budget approved Sep 28

is quite a challenge to find on the Village website. It’s not under the Finance Department menu where prior budgets are.

Still don’t know if Fire Chief Abel got the 19% PAY INCREASE the council had approved earlier.

Lower Matecumbe Canal Culvert Project: The Village signed a $9 million contract for a canal improvement project on Lower Matecumbe.

Residents and the Sea Base around MM74 had already put up with a total disaster on the Bike path there for a couple years.

It got worse… for the last year residents have endured the noise, dust and dirt, garbage, staging of equipment, and destruction of the bike path.

What is the real status of this project?

The $9 million project was approved 18 months ago and since then - not a peep out of the Village to the public about the good, the bad, or the ugly.

Don’t residents have a right to be informed? What is the delay on this critical project?

The council has as one of their achievements this term, complete with photo ops, a grant to improve this area of the bike path. Yet the bike path is a public relations nightmare for those involved in oversight and has created much angst for the residents.

Council Meeting Agendas: Why can’t complex meeting agendas that are typically 500 to 900 pages long be provided to the public more than a couple days in advance.  How about agendas made public a week in advance?

Often additional pages provided to Council at the meeting are unavailable to the public.  Add-ons should be prohibited after the agenda deadline. OOPS! What deadline?

The members of council meet with the manager and senior staff members individually to be briefed before the council meetings, to assure council members understand the agenda. Those meetings sometimes last several hours each.

What is the purpose of spending extra hours of staff time for each member of council:

It appears they want to avoid the need to discuss the details in front of the public at the council meeting?

Staff explanations of the agenda should be done in public at the council meeting.

Public Comment: The mayor bragged about how many times he allowed the public to comment at a recent council meeting. Let’s remind him – public comment is required by law during a majority of council agenda items.

It’s not because of his sense of civic duty… it is because he is required to do so.

Leadership hints:

• Amend the meeting procedures so that public comment is available with every agenda item.

• Stop approving major expenditures as part of a consent agenda without discussion and individual public comment.

• Provide opportunity for council/staff response to the public.

In conclusion, I repeat, our village lacks oversight and true organizational skills.

Tom

Click here to view the 2-hour Chamber of Commerce candidate forum that took place Oct 13, with the eight people running for a seat on the Islamorada Council. (Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney, reelected unopposed)