College of the Florida Keys Board Rejects Humane Gate for Trapped Key Deer, Fires President
Trustees deny wildlife group’s free “soft gate” offer, terminate widely praised president in 6-0 vote at contentious Key Largo meeting. Save Our Key Deer to be allowed to attempt release.
BIG PINE KEY — The College of the Florida Keys Board of Trustees rejected a proposal to immediately install a humane wildlife gate at a college-leased property where a small herd of endangered Key deer — including a nursing fawn — has been trapped since at least mid-March, sparking community outrage and raising questions about potential federal Endangered Species Act violations.
At its July 20 meeting in Key Largo, the board declined Save Our Key Deer, President Valerie Preziosi’s offer to install an in-and-out “soft gate” at 450 Key Deer Blvd. at no cost to the college. The gate would have allowed the trapped deer to exit peacefully while restoring access for local deer to the 10.5-acre habitat and a critical water source.
“The board missed an opportunity to do the right thing last night by approving Save Our Key Deer to install the proposed soft wildlife passage immediately,” Preziosi said. “Their unfortunate denial let down the community and also the innocent Key deer.”
Instead, the board will permit Save Our Key Deer to attempt to manually release the trapped deer — a task the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have previously attempted and failed to accomplish. The college stipulated that no deer from outside the property may enter during the release.
BACKGROUND
Preziosi said neighborhood deer want access to the property, making that condition difficult to meet. She expressed concern she may be unable to lure the nursing fawn off the property, risking the forced separation of mother and fawn, and is urging the college to keep the gate open under security camera surveillance indefinitely if efforts to coax the fawn out prove unsuccessful.
The college has acknowledged sealing the base of the perimeter of its illegally installed fence with rocks, raising serious concerns about ongoing violations under Section 9(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. § 1538). The act defines “take” as to “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.”
Keeping the deer penned up in the former prison sight could be considered a “take” under ESA regulations and knowingly taking an endangered species can result in civil penalties of up to $61,982 per violation. Criminal convictions can bring fines up to $200,000 per violation for organizations and risk the loss of facility leases.
The decision drew swift condemnation.
“Shame on that board,” said Michele Birdwell. “It appears that they already had their agenda and weren’t going to listen to anything from the public and the people who live here. It is really just sad that they can get away with this animal cruelty. They need to be held accountable.”
“These are Federal Violations,” said Mia Shawn, who identified the college, Monroe County and the State of Florida as responsible parties under the ESA. “I will be an Interested Party in Enforcement of these Federal Violations.”
Christine Cook, who attended the meeting, said public comment was held after the board’s vote — an arrangement she called unprecedented in her experience.
“I had the distinct impression that the College added our item with the intention of supporting their termination of the College President,” Cook said. “The promise to put forth a motion for a soft gate to connect the wildlife corridor was not realized. I doubt that it was even a consideration.”
Cook said the college appears to be moving forward with plans for a commercial driver’s license training and tactical site on the Big Pine Key property, noting it continues to pursue an $8 million Economic Development Administration grant with $2 million in matching funds and a separate $2 million HUD grant.
“Imagine 18-wheelers in a residential neighborhood in the National Key Deer Refuge,” Cook said. “Traffic fatalities are the leading cause of death from human-deer interaction.”
The Key deer is an endangered subspecies found only in the Florida Keys and is considered an umbrella species whose protection safeguards the broader biodiversity of the habitat. Monroe County allowed its Habitat Conservation Plan to expire without requesting an Incidental Take Permit for the endangered species.
“If we do not fight and advocate for our environment, it will be destroyed by those who find another type of value in our natural resources,” Cook said.
Gueverra Ousted in 6-0 Vote
At the same meeting, the board voted 6-0 to terminate college President Dr. Jonathan Gueverra effective immediately, saying it had lost confidence in his leadership and accusing him of insubordination. Board member Susan Raffanello was absent.
Gueverra did not attend.
The motion was made by Peter Batty, Jr., chairman and co-founder of Gulf Atlantic Bank and a lifelong Keys resident who attended remotely, and seconded by Andrew Dulcey.
“Clearly Dr. G has lost the confidence of the board,” said DeSantis-appointed trustee and politically active MAGA Republican Michael Downer.
Board Chair Alexandria Suarez said recent evaluations supported the decision. She also said Gueverra was unable to secure state appropriations for the college and refused to explain why his three-year contract was renewed a year early by the previous board. Suarez was selected to hire an attorney to draft the termination letter. Upon receipt, Gueverra will have 15 days to request an administrative hearing.
BACKGROUND
CFK Trustees to Meet Monday on Trapped Key deer, President’s contract
KEY LARGO, Fla. — The College of the Florida Keys District Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting Monday, July 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Upper Keys Center in Key Largo to discuss the college’s B…
Gueverra will seek such a hearing, according to his attorney, Wayne LaRue Smith, who spoke during public comment. Smith described the special meeting as faulty in several respects, alleging the board called the meeting in violation of the reasonable notice statute, presented an agenda that lacked specification and failed to notify Gueverra in advance as required by his statutory role as corporate secretary.
The college posted information about the special meeting after 5 p.m. Friday and made available to the public a one-page agenda Monday featuring two items and no backup material.
The board voted unanimously to name CFK Executive Vice President and CFO Brittany Snyder as interim president. Snyder had previously fought efforts to release the trapped deer from the property, which formerly housed a state road prison.
While some community members linked Gueverra’s ouster to the Key deer controversy — negative community response to the CDL workforce project on Big Pine Key was cited as one basis for his termination — the move appears more closely aligned with a pattern of political upheaval at Florida higher education institutions driven by DeSantis-appointed boards.
With the exception of Suarez, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023, the board’s six remaining trustees were all appointed this year by the governor.
Gueverra, who is of Bahamian descent, is widely regarded as the most impactful president in the college’s history. Similar board-driven shakeups have played out at New College of Florida, Florida Atlantic University and the University of Florida in Gainesville, where DeSantis-appointed trustees have pushed out leaders in what critics characterize as ideologically driven anti-DEI campaigns.
The board’s stated rationale — that Gueverra failed to secure state funding — was directly undercut during public comment by Christina Teasley, who noted that DeSantis himself vetoed the funding the Legislature had appropriated for the college. As his appointees, Teasley said, the board should take that matter up with the governor, not with Gueverra.