City Commission Snubs Vernis & Bowling Attorney
Harden appointed interim City Attorney; Commission rejects audit of other building permits of the Ramsingh era
The Key West City Commission managed to kick two cans down the road again.
First, they hired an unqualified, neophyte lawyer as the interim City Attorney while also voting against transparency by not adopting a resolution sponsored by Commissioner Sam Kaufman to audit several years of building permits issued by Chief Building Officer Raj Ramsingh to determine what remedial action should be taken if more fraudulent paperwork were discovered.
The Commission had the opportunity to hire veteran board-certified municipal attorney Dirk Smits and the firm of Vernis & Bowling—leading, certified specialists in municipal law—to help guide the City through the interim period while hiring a full-time City Attorney.
However, instead of voting for the most qualified candidate, the four Conchs on the dais decided to go with the hometown favorite Kendal Harden, who was first admitted to the Florida Bar in 2018.
Harden has expressed interest in applying for the permanent position.
Mayor DeeDee Henriquez, Vice Mayor Lissette Carey, and newbie Commissioner Donie Lee — who could all be facing indictments for violations of Florida’s Sunshine law for their involvement in a conspiracy to get rid of City Manager Al Childress — voted against Dirk Smits/Vernis & Bowling along with another new Commissioner, Aaron Castillo.
The Commission next voted to name Harden the interim CA despite lacking the requirements outlined in the most recent job description. The most glaring requirement is 10 years of experience in municipal law. Harden would not be able to be certified with that much experience until 2028.
But Lee, former KWPD Chief, had the answer.
Just re-write the job description.
Readers might remember how well that worked out for the School District when they rewrote the Vocational Education Department head’s job description.
Commissioners also rejected the idea of conducting an independent audit of building permits for several years when
felony-indicted Chief Building Officer Raj Ramsingh illegally issued permits as outlined in the Corradino Report.
Commissioner Kaufman sponsored the audit resolution, but no other dais member would second the motion for discussion.
“It is just strange that nobody wants to look at these other permits or has any interest in knowing if there are more than seven out there,” said Kaufman. “I would want to know, and I would want to know what we can do about them.”
According to Kaufman, the rest of the commission's lack of interest in finding out if there are more permits and what to do about them is disheartening at best.
However, the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office sources said that if the City didn’t conduct an audit, they might take it upon themselves.
“We are still working closely with the FBI; the more people we talk to, the more things pop up. So if they don’t want to do it, we will,” said the source.
More indictments are expected, but it is unclear whether they will be additional charges for the Bubba Bozo Trio of Ramsingh, his brother, disgraced CA Ron, and now-retired Director of Code Enforcement Jim Young or extend to sitting and former commissioners.
Realistically, Young may have the most to lose.
If convicted of the one charge against him, he may forfeit his retirement from the City and Broward County, which he has been collecting since his retirement there in 2003.
This is a developing story. Watch this space for more updates.
As a reminder, all suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law by a jury of their peers.
Very discouraging on both accounts. Thank you for honest reporting.