The following statements are responses submitted in writing by the Councilmen prior to the 11/4/2020 election 

Affordable housing: 

"We need to identify the best suited properties for affordable housing; any commercial projects should be required to build an appropriate number of affordable/workforce housing units before receiving a certificate of occupancy."

Highway congestion: 

"We need to develop the best possible relationship with FDOT and other state agencies so we can work together to find solutions for our traffic issues. Tallahassee is the key to getting critical funding for infrastructure needs. Our council needs to consider decisions that impact traffic the most and not make traffic worse".

Public involvement: 

"We need to encourage more public input. The Village should do a better job of keeping the public informed of the issues being decided so they can be a part of the decision-making. Too often it appears that decisions are already made before our residents even know about the issues. The public feels their ideas fall on deaf ears. Council represents the people—the council needs to involve them with workshops, better communication, public comment process."

Water quality: 

"This is a huge issue. The water is the life blood of our community and our economy. This is the reason why our most sought after tourists come here. It is why families have endured here for generations. We must do everything possible to preserve and protect it."

Environmental protection: 

"We must stop the increased density and overdevelopment that leads to the degradation of our environment."

Tourism/residents imbalance: 

"We must work on conserving and preserving our assets and both the residents quality of life and the things that bring in the tourists. As we create horrible traffic congestion and nuisances that make residents unhappy, we will eventually drive both our remaining residents and our tourists away. High cost of living and housing is also driving fulltime residents out of the Keys… and that is not good for the future for our community—or the tourist industry either. I liked it when the people that worked here, lived here. And I think our businesses and visitors did too."

Vacation rentals:

1. "We must put a stop to illegal vacation rentals. It is a problem throughout the Keys. It is unfair to the neighbors and to the property owners who obey the laws. Probably many illegal vacation rentals are not paying the lodging tax required for rentals under 6 months. Vacation rentals increase traffic congestion. They need to be controlled."
2. We need to involve the public in addressing the issues and making improvements.
3. It has become way too lucrative to put our limited allocations (BPAS and TDR) of single family homes on commercial property and use them as new fulltime short term rentals competing with hotels/motels for tourists when we really need more housing for full time residents, not more short term rentals."

Costs of local government: 

"I would work hard to be a better steward of our tax dollars. Let’s pay better attention to projects where the benefits are far outweighed by the cost. Our budget is full of excess in every department. We have citizen for almost everything here: water quality, nearshore waters, achievable housing, parks and recreation. Why not a citizens finance committee to review the intricacies of our complex budget? We have lots of smart people who could help."

End of BPAS allocations in 2023: 

"This is a critical issue that we need to address with full understanding of the complications and the potential costs to us and how the state will help. There is still some time to reduce the impact if we look carefully —regulating and using TDRs wisely instead of driving up the price to use them for vacation rentals."

Issues to revisit: 

"Issues that have allowed increased density, overdevelopment, the TDR ordinance, the pedestrian bridge. Inappropriate zoning changes, changing property addresses."

300’ swim zone: 

"Yes, yes, yes… strictly enforce the swim zone. Get all agencies involved to work with the Village to provide the quiet enjoyment that the residents of Islamorada have a right to enjoy. Speed up the process so the neighborhood doesn’t continue suffering!"

The Fills: 

"Glad the Village is addressing it at long last but I am not satisfied with the direction. Why should residents provide a beautiful scenic park for day trippers with their tax dollars?"

The Fills by Memorial Day 2021: 

"We should work with FDOT, FWC, FDEP and any other agencies to reduce the Village costs to taxpayers for this."

Toll:

"The question of a toll has been going on for a long time. U.S. One is a Federal highway. There are so many roadblocks that need to be addressed to get a toll accomplished. I would fully support the toll but wonder whether it will be possible."

Transferring development rights from a former mobile home park as market rate: 

"Yes… we should assure allocations from mobile home parks are transferred as affordable."

Government more transparent: 

"I think the Village needs a better way to communicate. Why not develop a communication plan so residents can be better informed. Public relations/public Information employee is needed. I think all council meetings should be published and advertised, full and complete exposure, all meeting details (everything) should be posted on the Village website. The Village has reduced drastically what residents have easy access to on the website because of ADA requirements—this needs to be fixed."