Cates dives right in, asks right questions

The new mayor is correct in wanting to revisit need for new city hall

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Posted - Saturday, October 24, 2009 11:07 AM EDT

Key West Mayor Craig Cates surprised his critics and even some of his supporters this week as he convened his first City Commission meeting.

While admitting he's still reading up on Robert's Rules of Order, Cates didn't get flustered running the Tuesday meeting and showed he's no pushover.

At one point, when some commissioners engaged in a lengthy back and forth during the city manager's report, Cates reminded his colleagues they were getting off topic and brought them back on track.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night came near the end of the meeting, when Cates announced he wants to revisit plans to build a new city hall.

Like many Key West residents, Cates thought the cost estimates -- $18 million to $23 million -- triggered a "Whoa, what are we thinking here?" moment.

Add to that concerns over knocking down the existing city hall -- which has mold and other problems -- and fire station and relocating to temporary quarters during construction. How long will that take and what are the added costs?

And recently, more questions were raised about the height proposed for the city hall structure and parking garage.

In Wednesday's Keynoter, former city Planner Ty Symroski pointed to the maximum height in the Angela Street neighborhood, which is 25 feet, and noted the city's design would put some parts of city hall and the garage above 33 feet, up to 41 feet.

Symroski says that needs to go to public referendum, to ask voters whether the city's height limit can be exceeded.

Planning Director Amy Kimball-Murley says those upper levels would not be habitable space and could be approved through a variance, no referendum required. That's sure to get a long and detailed legal review before the public knows if they get to weigh in or not.

Given the long and tortured history of the city's search for a replacement city hall, it's best to call a time-out, which is essentially what Cates called for Tuesday night.

Why not look at alternatives with all the vacant commercial space available, the new mayor asks, or even get a cost estimate of a total redo for the existing city hall?

In November of last year, with the Keys economy in a severe slump, we editorialized on the need to slow down this juggernaut for building a new -- and very expensive -- city hall.

What we said back then still makes sense: "Hard times can mean getting a good deal and generous terms on a commercial property that would be cheaper than building new."

With three new faces on the commission since the October election, it's appropriate to halt this $23 million juggernaut until other less-expensive and less-disruptive alternatives have been fully explored.