Amid turmoil, Key West land trust lays off Executive Director Norma Jean Sawyer

Reasons cited are money woes, city battles

E-Mail this story
Print this story

tool name

close

tool goes here

By SEAN KINNEY

skinney@keynoter.com

Posted - Wednesday, November 04, 2009 10:58 AM EST

Amid a bleak financial outlook, the board of the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust has laid off Executive Director Norma Jean Sawyer.

Land Trust President Cecil Bain said the decision, made at an emergency meeting on Oct. 24, wasn't easy but it was necessary.

"We understand the organization would not have existed without Ms. Sawyer," he said. "She put her heart and soul into it. We were reluctant to do this but thought the situation demanded it."

Specifically, "We thought that given the circumstances of [an ongoing city audit of the organization's finances], to try to maintain the viability of the organization, that our executive director didn't remain our executive director. It involves the long-term animosity that existed between our executive and various members of the [City] Commission."

Sawyer has long battled with Commissioner Clayton Lopez over Land Trust use of city money, and also clashed with Morgan McPherson when he was mayor. She once said, "The mayor and Commissioner Lopez have unjustly maligned my name."

Sawyer, who didn't return calls for comment, has a week to clean out her office at Land Trust headquarters on Julia Street, Bain said.

The layoff not only illustrates the financial problems of the Land Trust, but also puts in serious doubt its plans to develop a significant portion of the Truman Waterfront.

The Land Trust purchases homes in Bahama Village, rehabs the properties, deed restricts them as affordable and then rents or leases them to income-qualified families and individuals.

Its major funding source is the city-controlled Tax Increment Fund, for which the city collects a special property tax in District 6 that is, in turn, reinvested in public projects in that area.

The layoff came as city officials continue to conduct an extensive financial audit of the trust that has so far revealed an insolvent organization.

The decision to audit the Land Trust was made after City Attorney Shawn Smith discovered in late April that the city had reimbursed the Land Trust twice for the same $102,000 housing renovation project.

The trust has also allowed wind and flood insurance policies to lapse on at least six of its properties.

"The layoff became necessary," board member Bob Kelly wrote in an e-mail to the Keynoter, "when the organization's deteriorating financial condition could not be resolved through the immediate sale of properties or any other means, jeopardizing the continued tenancy of 41 families living in BCCLT rental properties."

When they met last on Oct. 20, city commissioners expressed concern that if the Land Trust fails, its tenants would be out of luck and possibly even on the street as the holidays approach.

"The last thing we want to do is see some become homeless," Bain said, "but we have an obligation to be sound fiscal managers."

Basically, if a tenant can't pay rent, the Land Trust would try to get them into a less-expensive unit, but eventually could move to evict.

Plans at the Truman Waterfront, approved by voter referendum in 2006, include allowing the city to lease the Land Trust 6.6 acres on the waterfront for 99 years at $1 per year. The group hopes to build about eight one- and two-bedroom affordable apartments, plus retail space, community gardens and a Bahamian cultural center.

The Land Trust hasn't given up on the waterfront, Bain said. He says the board is weighing options, ranging from declaring bankruptcy to partnering with other housing organizations.