Florida Keys News
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
BCCLT may be replaced
Housing Authority prepared to manage nonprofit's properties
BY MANDY MILES Citizen Staff
mmiles@keysnews.com

The Key West Housing Authority may become the property managers for rental units currently owned by the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust.

Housing Authority Executive Director Manual Castillo on Tuesday told Key West City Manager Jim Scholl that his organization is "ready, willing and able to become a property manager if the BCCLT decides to go in that direction," Scholl rep...

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Corrupt Politics

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 5:48pm
You can bet that this maneuvering has a purpose. Castillo, along with Dean and the other boys, are licking their chops. It's all about money, money and money. Poor Key West doesn't have a chance against the masters of greed and fraud.

Jimmy Weakly defends his pal Swift again

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 2:12pm
Jimmy Weakly's (yes, I am spelling it that way on purpose)attitude when he moved to postpone CityView's hearing because Shawn Smith was not present went from smarmy arrogance to stammering buffoonery when it was pointed out to him that Shawn was, in fact, present. He stammered some nonsense which fellow residents of Ed Swift's key chain, Wardlow and Lopez quickly bobble-headed to agree. Not sure what Johnston was thinking, she is usually pretty level-headed. Oh well, it will all make a jury laugh some day.

You can see those campaign contributions at work, can't you?

Submitted on Thu, 12/17/2009 - 6:00pm by *.*
Lopez, Wardlow and Weakly all profited from Swift's contributions. AND the sad thing is they're doing all they can to keep postponing so that CityView must come into the playing field for business either late in the tourist season or afterwards. This town makes me sick sometime! These Bubba politics are just nauseating.

They can't be serious.

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 12:52pm
No, wait, they probably are. The Housing Authority? You mean the First National Bank of Henry Haskins? The KWHA is the most corrupt outfit in this city's history. They would laugh Norma Jean Sawyer out of the Felons Club. Ready and willing? Of course they are-- ready and willing to abscond with another few million in taxpayer funds. FORGET THIS OPTION! Just dissolve the BCCLT and prosecute Norma Jean, her son and the Board members.

audit the Key West Housing Authority

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 11:22am
Yes, this audit is very much needed. Not just the financial side but compliance with the policy and procedural side as well. This has to be another snake pit that operates with impunity to authority and laws.

Model for Failure:

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 10:34am

....good intentions matter more than results...

BCCLT

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 10:18am by M
What Norman Jean has done is disgraceful. But remember, the finance dept at the city approved all these invoices. Maybe it is time Danny Kolhage took over the cities finances. Just like the school board, remove the boss who approved these invoices. Didn't he know he was paying them twice?????????. The city also needs to check and see which houses that Norma Jean put in her sons name. Sure the housing authority wants to take the properties over, but how HONEST are they??? They need to be audited also. It is all "who you know" to get into housing there. Mr. Bethels family should be the first ones that need checking into. Lets see, now how many of his kids and family live in low income housing? One works at the water company and pays the very minimum for housing.

BCCLT

Submitted on Thu, 12/17/2009 - 12:41am by cantankerousoldtrout
In one of the numerous articles mentioning the double billing of the 102K, it came out that the second billing was done 7 years later. This seems odd to me; why the huge time gap? If this time gap is indeed correct, a lot of people changed places - new commissioners, new city officials, etc. A lot can get forgotten after seven years. Having said that, there are a lot of very patient people out there... It is curious, to say the least.

Cell tower

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 10:11am by M
Lets see: 82 people opposed it, but what about the petition FOR IT? and only 30 seconds to deny it. I wonder how many seconds it will be when Pritam wants approval for his cell tower on top of the BB&T building? The commissioners had already privately talked about not voting for the cell tower on Roosevelt Blvd. It looks like Pritam still has pull with the city after all. Look what he did to the Truman Annex. What a mess.

Tax Revolt

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 10:02am
Wonder what it would take to start a tax revolt ? I suggest if the city is doing a 50 % job maybe we should put 50 % of our taxes in an escrow account and have it released when they perform. Just as if you hire a contractor and give a deposit till work completed to agreed terms? Any one interested ? Makes one think !!!!!

Rearranging the deck chairs on the on Key West's Titanic

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 9:25am

The Housing Authority hands out pension and health and welfare and subsidised housing to relitives and the connected, while parking valuable property off the tax roles until a bubba developer is ready to develop the land. They are no better suited to manage property than is the BCCLT - surely the Housing Authority's top heavy administration's track record speaks volumes for itself

These concerns about BCCLT management, though rumbling in the background for years, surface only now because the BCCLT seeks to launch an ambitious development project on 6 acres of public property at the Truman Waterfront.

This is all about which bubbas will control the 99 year lease on the Truman Waterfront

The City, the Commissioners and the City manager have have deliberately always all turned a blind eye towards ANY credible accountability in the Bahama Village Land Trust - until the land lease came up

The Housing Authority is just another group of self-serving thieves feeding at the public trough - they are Key West's primer slumlord

The Key West Housing Authority is quite simply the worst housing in the city of Key West

Worse still the Bahama Village tax money is turned back over to the BCCLT and the rest of the island has to make up for what they've squandered and stolen over the years - will those taxes now go to the Housing Authority???

It's time for Key West to get out of the real estate business not time to expand the Housing Authority. The County and the School District should follow suit

Or we could just dissolve the BCCLT

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 3:22am

We could put the taxes from the district back into the city treasury so the rest of the island doesn't have to pay their share and the proceeds from the sale of the property could also go a long way to making up the city's deficit and the property sold would return to the tax rolls further reducing the tax burden for the rest of the island

Maybe it's time for the City to get out of the real estate business altogether - clearly they don't do it well

Not a bad idea for the county and the school board too

No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size.

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 10:23am

Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth!

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.

Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem.

Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

...... Inspirational words from the greatest President of the 20th Century: Ronald Reagan

Your greatest president

Submitted on Thu, 12/17/2009 - 12:14am by Ed
Your greatest president began the deregulation that has gotten us this recession and moved all power to big business. I assume you do not use any Government Services. You would not call the fire department or police, you do not drive on our roads or bridges, you will pass on Medicare. Yeah..

Greatest President

Submitted on Fri, 12/18/2009 - 10:39am by Conch Harbor
Reagan AND Bush messed up the whole thing. It had to be them and I don't care what goes wrong, they did it!!!! I DO use fire and police service and roads and bridges etc. But I PAY for them.. Just growing weary of paying for the freeloaders who don't pay, they just take.

who controls the waterfront property when the Housing Authority

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 3:08am

takes over?

That's all any of this is about

are we to believe the saints at the Housing Authority are going to be a more honest hand on the tiller?

Exactly. It is already

Submitted on Thu, 12/17/2009 - 12:16am by Ed
Exactly. It is already decided. Open admirals cut and make the waterfront a continuation of cruise ship central.

Pot calling Kettle

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 2:50am

Now who's going to audit the Key West Housing Authority? There's another third rail of Key West corruption

The Housing Authority is another tax payer jobs program for connected adults with wonderful salaries, Health and Pension plans which the citizens actually pay for TWICE

Not only does the City lose rateable property tax on property which it owns - the citizens pay the portion which would otherwise have been collected + plus the cost (principle and interest) of the property + the cost of all of the City employees who maintain the property and the Housing Authority's TOP HEAVY ADMINISTRATION

So the city doesn't collect tax on all of the considerable property held by the Housing Authority and hires a workforce to maintain some of the worst housing on the island - all property parked off the tax rolls until some bubba developer would like to buy it up

Want affordable housing in Key West?

Get the City out of the real estate business - dissolve the Housing Authority and sell off all of the property to pay down the outrageous city debt and begin to collect taxes on all of the property

Everyone's taxes would go down with more property on the tax rolls, there would be more affordable housing for rental and purchase available in the realty market and the City could trim its budget (and staff) and fill its coffers at the same time

But then the bubbas would lose control of the property and the patronage jobs

Top Heavy Adminstration? Really?

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 10:49am by Captain Keysey
And you are basing this on your day to day interaction with this department and understanding their workload? Or sitting on your pale white a.. making absurd claims about something you know very little about? Please share some actual facts about Housing Properties you've been involved with....

Ahh! A Bubba Key West City Employee posts!

Submitted on Sat, 12/19/2009 - 10:51am by *.*
You think we don't know where these types of posts come from?

The bitter posts from City employees, bashing taxpayers (THEIR employers) pretty much explains why none of us want to do business with the lazy City employees. They have and keep their jobs because they're related to 'someone' - not because they DO anything but have extended lunches and gossip sessions. Hey, try to get anything at the Revenue Dept or the Licensing department between the hours of 10:30 and 2:30. It's just one big covered-dish lunch and they'll ignore anyone for a turkey leg.

Housing Authority is no different than the rest.

You Make Too Much $en$e

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 10:03am

This is Key West and it's all about what's best for bubba not what's best for the city

The city exists to feed bubba

You hit the nail on the head

Submitted on Sat, 12/19/2009 - 10:52am by *.*
I'd like to see a nepotism report on City and County jobs. That would be eye-opening, wouldn't it?

Good Point

Submitted on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 9:38am
except for one thing. Who do you think will buy these properties? The Real Estate Bubbas. Who will then either throw out the tenants and sell the properties to other investors, or throw out the tenants and raise the rent.
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