Key West Commission to Weigh Targeted Audit of Building Permits Following Grand Jury Findings
Resolution seeks focused review of 2020–2025 permits tied to alleged favoritism, record tampering, and safety violations
The Key West City Commission on Thursday will consider a resolution authorizing a targeted review of building permits issued between January 2020 and April 2025, in direct response to grand jury calls for greater transparency and accountability within City Hall’s Building Department.
The measure, sponsored by Commissioner Monica Haskell, narrows what was once envisioned as a full audit into a more manageable — and less costly — sample. It follows the 2025 Spring Term Grand Jury Report, which alleged “misconduct and a lack of enforcement and application of local, state, and federal laws” in the city’s permitting process and accused officials of altering or overlooking key records.
“Back in June, we directed the city manager to procure an independent planning and engineering firm to review all permits issued between 2020 and 2025,” Haskell said. “Shortly thereafter, a memo was provided by the procurement manager detailing the projected costs. A second memo revised those estimates, and an item was placed on the August agenda to implement a review — but it was later withdrawn.”
Haskell said testimony before the grand jury indicates data within the city’s permitting system was altered by the former Chief Building Official.
“Staff is conducting a limited review now,” she said, “but I believe we should directly investigate permits that were issued after data was altered by the CBO — or anyone — without claiming authorship. This resolution gives clear direction to the city manager to secure assistance from outside the city to start a review of those specific records, as well as permits involving life-safety issues or issued to contractors who had a ‘special’ relationship with the CBO, as documented in the grand jury testimony.”
The grand jury remains empaneled, and a joint investigation between the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office and the FBI into corruption at City Hall is ongoing.
Under the pending resolution, the City Manager would retain an independent planning and engineering firm to examine a targeted subset of permits, rather than every permit issued during the five-year span originally ordered by the commission in June.
The scaled-back review would focus on three areas:
Records altered in eTrakit, the city’s digital permitting system, where a user changed data entered by another person;
Contractors identified by the grand jury as having received favoritism from the former Chief Building Official; and
Life-safety permits, including electrical, structural, and fire-protection work.
Officials say the audit will go over, with a fine-tooth comb, permits and records linked to the widening criminal investigation that has already produced 21 felony indictments — and counting — against former City Attorney Ron Ramsingh, his brother and former Chief Building Official Raj Ramsingh, and longtime Code Enforcement Director Jim Young.
City leaders acknowledged that the original plan — a comprehensive audit of all permits from 2020 through 2025 — would be cost-prohibitive, requiring months of file review, on-site inspections, and record reconciliation. The narrowed approach aims to identify “potentially falsely issued or improperly inspected” permits while keeping expenses in check.
If approved, the City Manager will implement the parameters and select the independent firm to conduct the review later this fall.
AT A GLANCE
What: Resolution authorizing targeted review of building permits (2020 – April 2025)
Why: Response to grand jury’s call for transparency and findings of misconduct
Focus: eTrakit record changes, favoritism toward contractors, and life-safety permits
Criminal Context: Audit tied to an ongoing probe that has produced 21 felony indictments involving former city officials
Sponsor: Commissioner Monica Haskell
Next Step: Commission vote scheduled for Oct. 9, 2025
What the Grand Jury Found
The 2025 Spring Term Monroe County Grand Jury issued a blistering report alleging deep-rooted problems within the City of Key West’s Building Department. Its findings triggered Thursday’s proposed resolution calling for a targeted permit review.
Among the Grand Jury’s key allegations:
Favoritism and influence: Certain contractors allegedly received preferential treatment from the city’s then–chief building official, including expedited approvals and relaxed inspections.
Improper permit changes: Investigators cited evidence of altered records in the city’s eTrakit database — entries modified after submission or edited by someone other than the original reviewer.
Lax enforcement: The report accused staff of failing to enforce local, state, and federal building codes, leading to unsafe or incomplete inspections.
Questionable oversight: Supervisory reviews were described as “sporadic or nonexistent,” allowing falsified or incomplete permit files to move forward.
Life-safety risks: Several cases involved electrical, structural, and fire-protection work that did not meet code or lacked proper inspection documentation.
The grand jury recommended an independent, outside audit of all permits issued from 2020 through early 2025 to identify potentially fraudulent or improperly issued approvals.
Faced with the prohibitive cost of a full five-year audit, commissioners are now considering a targeted review — a scaled-down version that still aims to expose systemic issues inside City Hall’s permitting process.
The Key West City Commission meets at 9 a.m. and again at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, at City Hall, 1300 White Street.
Agenda Item 39 will be discussed during the morning session — meaning concerned citizens may need to miss work to participate. The meeting will also be streamed live on the city’s website.
So who is the man that’s standing in the picture along side of Raj? Should we know who that is?