We hear that the audit of the County Court Reporter time sheets and other records by Court Clerk Danny Kolhage has finally been completed and forwarded to Chief Judge Mark Jones. Kolhage launched the audit last September after Key West The Newspaper broke the story about alleged double-dipping by the chief court reporter. The findings have also been sent to State Attorney Kirk Zuelch for action. But while Zuelch is supposedly investigating those allegations, we hear that he may also be paying the court reporter in question to do reporting for attorneys in his office.
Government Day, once a popular civic youth tradition in Key West is being revived. Next Wednesday, high school students will play the roles of mayor, city commissioners and city department heads, including making the rounds with the real officials. To make the experience realistic, we assume the kids will also be mentored in the art of cutting the back room deal, as well as how to violate the Sunshine Law— and then convincingly plead that they didn't "knowingly" do it.
There is a new "sidewalk" committee within our City government working to clear the town's sidewalks of benches, newsboxes and other obstructions. While we don't necessarily disagree with the objectives of this committee, we wonder about it's priorities. What about sidewalk repairs? There is a sidewalk in the 900 block of Southard that is so uneven that "people fall every night," said a nearby resident. Yet City officials refuse to fix it. And they won't allow the resident to fix it!
A reader called to tell us about a pornographic message that at been drawn into wet cement near Horace O'Bryant School on Virginia at Pearl. Kids walk by it every day. City officials won't fix it. On Southard near Duval, about five feet of a curb has been crushed. City officials won't fix it— but crews did try to repaint the broken area yellow.
When Sheila Mullins was mayor, she pushed hard for citywide sidewalk repairs. But there was no money, she was told. Yet City Manager Julio Avael seems to find thousands of dollars a year to pay consultant Paul Clayton to conduct eyewash seminars. Fix the sidewalks, Julio!