With the final members of the Code Board appointed at Tuesday night's general Marathon City Council meeting, the focus shifted to the Planning Commission.

An ordinance nearly identical to the one recently enacted to allow council members to each fill a code board seat was given its second reading. While council members Pete Worthington and Richard Keating raised objections, the 3-2 vote to pass the ordinance means the city's planning board will also be appointed by members of the council.

Mayor Ginger Snead made her new pick for the code board, David Grego, on Tuesday after she and Councilman Dick Ramsay had both chosen William Mathews at the previous meeting. The council then filled out ballots to select the final two members of the seven member board. Tapped were Steve Pierson and Veto Geiglio.

The Planning Commission, with only five seats, will now be dissolved and reconstituted by the one-for-one appointment process. Council members will make their selections at the next meeting on March 23.

Members of the Planning Commission -- reviewing the appointment ordinance at their last meeting because it would be part of the Land Development Regulations under the commission's purview -- had suggested they be replaced by the new system as their terms expired, but the council rejected that change.

But two council members raised their own objections anew at Tuesday night's meeting, mostly concerning the removal of planning commission members. The ordinance states that members can be removed by a vote of the majority of the city council, rather than by a super majority (at least 4 to 1 in a five-person quorum, or 2-1 in a three-person quorum) as had been required previously.

"Theoretically, two council members could remove anybody's choice," said Keating. "I have a problem with that.

"We want them to be an independent authority. But we're telling them that if they make a decision and they don't satisfy a majority of the council they can be taken off at any time."

Vice Mayor Mike Cinque disagreed with Keating's logic.

"In reality, if the council took off my appointment, I'd immediately reappoint him at the next meeting," Cinque said. He also related the appointees to the council members themselves. "We serve at the pleasure of the majority, not a super majority."

Keating remained unconvinced. "I see this as a big problem down the road," he said. "I don't know what's wrong with a four fifths majority. Can someone tell me how this is better?"

"It's consistent," Mayor Ginger Snead said. "It goes with the other one for the code board."

"I didn't vote for that one," Keating retorted.

"That's not the point," Snead shot back.

To Cinque, the matter came down to council members being trusted to make responsible decisions. "We all face the electorate. If we do stupid things up here, we're all out of a job," he said. "I've never seen anybody removed from a board."

Worthington concurred with Keating, however.

"I think we'll be the only board in south Florida that (allows for removal by majority vote)," he said. "Just because the code board has the exact same language doesn't make it right."

Snead moved, in the absence of new discussion, for the members to vote. The ordinance passed, 3-2.

In other news:

• Cinque raised the issue of windstorm insurance, and new rules that would prohibit Citizen's Property Insurance, the insurer of last resort commonly used in the Florida Keys, from insuring unoccupied mobile homes.

"This is going to cause great stress to the landlords," Cinque said.

Further, Cinque said Citizen's would no longer insure strutures built over water, such as Dockside Bar and Grill or Porky's restaurant.

Cinque said the grass-roots group Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe was working on the issue, but asked City Manager Roger Hernstadt to discuss it with Marathon's lobbyist in Tallahassee. Hernstadt said he would.

• The council will again hold an executive session to discuss settlement options with Key RV after voting to end settlement discussions at the last executive session Feb. 23.

Councilman Dick Ramsay said some new items had been discussed with him as possible solutions. The session will be held at 8 p.m. March 23, after -- or possibly interrupting -- the general council meeting.

• Hernstadt reported that discussions with businesses along 53rd Street convinced him that the loss of 14 spaces to accommodate a sidewalk on the east side of that road was unacceptable. He recommended building the sidewalk on the west side of the road, despite higher costs.

The project is budgeted not to exceed $50,000, and Hernstadt said he will bring back plans for the council to review at the next meeting.

• Requests for qualifications for contracted city departments have gone out and are starting to be returned. There was only one responder for the financial department, the city's current contractor Bishop Rosasco and Co. There were four respondents for the Information Technology department, and staff will review those and make a recommendation. Legal department qualifications are due March 26.

mphelps@keysnews.com