Anti-Social

He's Running for Congress - Ken Russell

July 16, 2022 Tony Winton & Thom Mozloom Season 5 Episode 12
Anti-Social
He's Running for Congress - Ken Russell
Show Notes Transcript

KEN RUSSELL, a sitting city commissioner in Miami, wants to be the member of Congress repping Miami and Key Biscayne. But those two cities haven't gotten along in recent years.

We ask him about those issues, and why Democrats should pick him in the Aug. 23 primary.
Ballots are going out by mail on July 21st! Click here if you need to register to vote.






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Tony Winton:

Live from Key Biscayne, Florida. This is antisocial, the program where we go through the crazy themes on social media and try to make sense of them. At least some of the time. I'm Tony Winton.

Thom Mozloom:

I'm Th om Mozloom. Tony, I thought I was the crazy theme. No, I'm I'm trying to make sense of it. That's a bad fit.

Tony Winton:

Well, you know, if we didn't have work to do, we'd be a very short program.

Thom Mozloom:

O h, now it's work.

Tony Winton:

It's work. It's friday.

Thom Mozloom:

Oh boy.

Tony Winton:

It's quitting time. That comes later. That's the last segment of the show

Thom Mozloom:

(crosstalk) I'll be pouring my drink then. So we've got a pretty big shudders lot going on. We're, we're, you know, hedging closer to primary day on August 23. We've been bringing in a bunch of candidates. And that series continues.

Tony Winton:

Indeed, it's been a number of different races here. Our primary date is August 23. In Florida, and really that's just an people It sounds like well, it's in the middle of summer, but it's even closer than that because the mail ballots are going out in just six days. They're going on the 21st. And we know in our neck of the woods Key Biscayne about a third of the voters here in Key Biscayne have signed up for mail ballots. So when is the election starting? It's starting in about six days. That's when it's starting.

Thom Mozloom:

Yeah, you're right on top of it. And one of the races that we're watching is for our congressional district district 27. That's a a heated and topsy turvy sort of race this year with candidates popping in and dropping out. And I'm running. I'm not running. Maybe I'm running. I could be running. Perhaps I'm running. Hey, Tony, I have an announcement to make.

Tony Winton:

Oh, no, not that one. Again. Not that one.

Thom Mozloom:

No. All right. Any more Oh, but we

Tony Winton:

We actually have an actual candidate in district 27 here in the room. .

Thom Mozloom:

Exactly, exactly. Commissioner Ken Russell joins us, who is Miami City Commissioner and is also running for district 27. Commissioner. Thanks for coming. Yes,

Ken Russell:

I'm running about everybody else, but I'm definitely running. How are y'all doing? Thanks for having me. Well,

Thom Mozloom:

great. Well, let me get it right out of the way. I mean, you are running, but you weren't running. You were running for senator. And then you hopped out of that. And now you're running for Congress? Why the switch?

Ken Russell:

Yes. So for those who don't know, I've been a city of Miami Commissioner for the last seven years, I'm just finishing my second and final term, we have term limits in the city of Miami. And I want it to be where I could be most effective. And I found that the missing link of everything I've tried to accomplish over this last two terms really is the federal government and their role they could be playing. The biggest thing is the Clean Water Act and the lack of enforcement by the EPA, it's all been ceded to the state of Florida, which is completely compromised by agriculture in big sugar. The real help we need is at the federal level. And whether that's in the US Senate or in the Congress, things need to change so that the EPA is taking control of the Clean Water Act again and holding Florida accountable. So where I want to be is at the most effective place. And if it's at the US Senate, while I was going after Marco Rubio, when I realized there was no way that I could beat Val Demings. She was raising 3 million a month and she was going to be the champion for the party. I absolutely decided to step out of that race after traveling 37 counties mostly on water quality issues around the state. I dropped out of that race endorse Val Demings and I entered our local congressional race here in district 27, where I was born and had been elected twice.

Thom Mozloom:

So the the tension on Key Biscayne is going to be that you're a city of Miami Commissioner. And as a key rat, you probably know that the city's relationship with Key Biscayne hasn't always been the greatest and there are a lot of issues that have raised like lots of tension between the two. We'll ask you about some of those issues. But let's start off with the overall relationship. How is it that those of the voters on the key should look at a city of Miami commission and go yeah, he's our guy. He's going to represent us.

Ken Russell:

Sure the city of Miami is a rough and tumble place and it doesn't play well with others often. I like to think that I'm the anomaly to that, that I'm always trying to be the mediator, the Peacekeeper and move forward with good relationships between vertical layers of government and neighboring cities. And that includes the village. As you said, I'm a key rat. I'm from here. And I know the issues here. And I've had a great relationship with Mayor Davey and even mayor's before him. When the issues of the boat show and ultra came through, I was always making sure that Key Biscayne is at the table and their quality of life issues and traffic issues are being dealt with. But for me, number one, and most important is water quality. And we're all allies on that.

Tony Winton:

Let's talk about it's not exactly water quality, but they're certainly certainly related. And that involves the Rickenbacker causeway. That's something that's actively now your your Commission is considering what kind of role plan Z, is that coming back? What should come back? We went through this entire process with the county that has now been terminated. Today, Mayor Levine cava was asked at her budget presentation, what's happening with that there's a lot of money in this budget for replacement that preliminary work of a replacement of the bare cut bridge. But that's of course connected to the larger issue of what happens in part of that is, you know resiliency, how does Key Biscayne protect itself as a barrier island from having its only way in and out of the island? What's happening there?

Ken Russell:

Sure. Well, plan z is a county related issue. It has very little to do with the city of Miami other than the connection points that we have, it goes through Virginia Key which is city of Miami jurisdiction, but as a county right of way. And so the city of Miami has not been directly and predominantly involved with the planning of that.

Tony Winton:

Well, there's all the commercial aspects of Virginia Key.

Ken Russell:

Absolutely. So we're a stakeholder just like Key Biscayne. But we're we're probably in as much the driver's seat as Key Biscayne as well. This is being driven by the county, and so that that will decide its fate. But we're all here watching and weighing in, obviously, for us, and the whole reason for plan z is really to increase cycle mobility in a safe way. And we know we need that the Rickenbacker has been a notorious place for accidents, and way too many deaths for cyclists. But these ideas of large infrastructure projects, they're they're often quite complicated, both politically financially and from a logistic perspective. So I certainly want to see the improvements come. we've got a lot of great ideas for Virginia Key that really still maintain its its elegance as a natural preserve, but still brings better amenities. And that's the goal. So we need safe access to all of that.

Thom Mozloom:

Speaking of Virginia Key What about these large events like Ultra and the like that the city has profited off, but have really wreaked havoc on the Key Biscayne community, as well as the Rickenbacker causeway putting so much undue stress and pressure is that part of the plan?

Ken Russell:

So the you know, the the boat show was when I first came into office that was in the works, and that's when the city prior to my coming to office had put together this what they call a flex Park, right, they invested millions in taking the marine stadium parking lot, and making it suitable for the large tents and the generators, etc. But it was really for the boat show that was the primary goal. And everyone really thought it was going to be the worst case scenario. But I think and hope at the end of the day, it was an enjoyable experience for people who to go to from Key Biscayne. And we certainly enjoyed it. And we tried to make it as logistically as good as possible to get to in terms of flow, but it's not there anymore. So it has moved on. And now we are going to be looking at what other sorts of appropriate you know, things could come to that venue. The ultimate goal is that the marine stadium comes back to life in its original form. And so we're currently in the physical part of that renovation. We're actually working on the pilots actually, this year, all the engineering is done, we've got the special obligation bond, complete the we're ready to work on and revitalize the marine stadium. But the part that keeps gain is going to want to be well involved in is who that operator is when that RFP goes out and what sorts of concerts or shows and traffic that's going to generate.

Tony Winton:

Last question before we get into the more the bigger reasons of running for district 27 and actually touches on that, which is you know, whether or not you have any endorsements from Key Biscayne and and you might be looking towards for support here.

Ken Russell:

Got it? Well, I've been talking a lot with the Key Biscayne dems. I've appeared with them several times. I'm very close with with Mayor Davey from the perspective of working on municipal issues. The big things we've been trying to tackle and solve our Sargassum seaweed through a composting project. I'm working on solving the lack of sporting fields for youth.

Tony Winton:

Playing fields

Ken Russell:

And Virginia Key is going to be a big solution for that. We've got not only the 116 acres coming online, but we found a few additional acres that were already in talks with Key Biscayne management and, and Mayor to make get those online as quickly as possible and do a cooperative effort.

Thom Mozloom:

As you know, there's three candidates running for mayor in Key Biscayne. Have you endorsed any of them?

Ken Russell:

I have not. I'm here as a candidate myself. And the the best thing to do with when you're a candidate is to be friends with everybody, right? But no, I've, I've enjoyed I actually started a program with the Florida Democratic Party called municipal victory program. They never had it before, where the Democratic Party would actually build its bench statewide, for future elected who would want to run for state or federal office. And it certainly had no vehicle to help people get into local office. And so I started this program after I got elected without any help. I said, I want others to have resources. So I became a Board of Trustees member at the state party. And then I started building a network and I got to probably about four or 500 mayors and commissioners around the state that happen to be Democrats, sharing ideas and working with each other. And Mayor Davey is a big part of that as well. He would join me on my monthly zooms with mayors and commissioners from around the state. And so we built a great relationship on issues, less around campaigning and more on actually solving problems. But no, I have not delved into the races of Key Biscayne at this moment.

Thom Mozloom:

You're a smart man,

Tony Winton:

I have to ask you because because on another radio program, one candidate said he had been endorsed by several Miami Dade County Commissioners he didn't couldn't share their names. But it's a robust and interesting way of announcing an endorsement but he said he'd had the support of I should say the support God and not necessarily an endorsement to support him. Of that.

Ken Russell:

I've got about 15 endorsements of elected officials around the state, mostly mayors and commissioners at the municipal level from having worked on and built this project. So you've got Mayor Daley up in Tallahassee, Mayor Kreisman over in St. Pete, Mayor Trent Dallas and Fort Lauderdale, some some current, some former, but I'm getting a lot of support from people who know what it's like to be a municipal elected official in a nonpartisan position just to get things done and be less a part of a tribal fight. And they know that's what I've been working on for the last seven eight years and so they're they're here with me and support have also got the support of six labor unions. Around the area from hospitality workers to all of the county firefighters, including Key Biscayne firefighters, through their, through their council through their regional council have endorsed me for district 27. So if you've got any Key Biscayne firefighters out there, hopefully there'll be out and helping with the campaign.

Tony Winton:

All right, well, we have a now we're gonna pivot to the national issues because obviously, you're running for federal office, but before we do that, we'll take a little bit of a break. And our guest is Ken Russell city of Miami keister who is running in the Democratic primary for Congress district 27. That includes keep his game and again, the primary day is August 23. The mail ballots are going out in just a few days, six days so the election is really right around the corner. We will be back in just a minute.

Thom Mozloom:

And we're back to Antisocial. I'm Thomaz lume. At the Morgan County, Tennessee studios. Live at the Key Biscayne Studios is Tony Winton with our special guests Commissioner Ken Russell, who's running for district 27th congressional seat with the primaries looming on August 23. And mail in ballots coming over the next couple of days. So start looking for him. Commissioner Russell, thanks again for joining us in the studio. I appreciate you being

Ken Russell:

Thank you for having me. And for those who here. don't know I did grow up on the key back in the 70s. And it was a great time to be a kid on the key. And for anyone who's into Key Biscayne history and trivia. They may know the yo yo house on mash the island it's the first house on the right after you cross the bridge. It was built with wood from the Philippines where they make the axles of yo Yos and my father, who had one of the original patents on mass producing yo Yos built that house with yo yo money and he met my mother who was the yo yo champion of Japan who also lived there with him and raised my brother and I I later became a yo yo champion myself went to over 50 countries learn five languages and sold 20 million yo Yos. That's my Key Biscayne story

Tony Winton:

And you skateboarded down, in the in the parade, and during during the fourth of July was that was a

Ken Russell:

great time I all my bones are intact. Yes, that was a success.

Thom Mozloom:

You're a better man that I no doubt just getting on a skateboard scares me. So let's talk about the district 27 congressional seat, and how sitting in that seat you specifically can help keep us gain. Or you could refer back to the Rickenbacker infrastructure dollars, the health of Biscayne Bay, which I know you're passionate about, what's the direct connection?

Ken Russell:

Well, you know, the things that we really want solved at the kitchen table are less so about these tribal fights and wars between the parties. If you really give that people the option of what they'd like solved, it's going to be the things that affect their everyday lives. And for us, yes, water quality has got to be at the top of the list with a with a, an ageing, sewage plants on Virginia Key with septic to sewer conversion issues with nutrients in the water, fish kills seagrass die off, coral die off, the runoff from storms, all these things have to be dealt with. And it's a combination of infrastructure, and Clean Water Act enforcement. And over the last eight years, the whole The reason I got into politics in the first place, I was a kite surfing instructor on Key Biscayne for years hair down to my shoulders, enjoying the good life. And then there was a contaminated park in front of my house. So I was dragged into local politics because I organized my neighborhood and we took on the city and got our park cleaned up appropriately. There were six more contaminated parks in the city of Miami, I decided to run for office. So it's always been about the environment and clean water and access to that for our kids. And I've been able to do that at the local level, but always missing that federal help. We need to have partnerships at the higher levels to help us achieve these big goals and it doesn't get any bigger than infrastructure problems for storm surge and sea level rise.

Tony Winton:

Alright, so you're obviously infrastructure is is huge. We're looking at some very big issues, where some of the funding apparently not that strong for the state of Florida transportation funding, the governor has complained about Florida being shortchanged. What would you do different than how would you say your potential opponent, Ms. Salazar would be different from you? Are you different from her? Well,

Ken Russell:

Maria Elvira Salazar has been completely absent on on these issues, as well as with the community, even as a city commissioner in the district that she serves. I haven't seen her in the community meetings, I haven't seen her fighting for the issues that we want. I see her a lot on TV working on international issues of what she what she's against, and what she believes in, it usually has to do with regimes and dictators. And yes, we share those sentiments. But we need people that are fighting for us here locally to get the resources that we need. And that's all very, very possible in the city of Miami, we passed a $400 million general obligation bond called Miami forever. No help from the federal government did not raise$1 of taxes. But we were able to come up with $200 million for storm surge and sea level rise$100 million for affordable housing, and then another 100 for a cultural and safety. This was not easy to get on the ballot and pass and I campaigned for it to make sure my residents understood it. But imagine if I can leverage that money now with federal dollars, instead of spending it all and having it be gone in eight years or so on minor or medium sized projects. What if we could take on the big issues of resilience that we need to we need partners at the federal level who are watching and looking out for Florida when you hear about the infrastructure bill passing. But you don't hear Florida cities names like Miami and Key Biscayne being mentioned. That's not good. That means we're not at the table because we don't have a champion. That's what I want to be

Tony Winton:

In terms of economics, you know, gas prices, inflation, double digits here in South Florida. Pocketbook issues, you know that what is the adage, t's the economy stupid. And it looks by every polling indication Democrats are going to have a really hard time you're trying to unseat an incumbent. How do you do it?

Ken Russell:

Well, this is considered nationwide as the most vulnerable flip seat for Republicans that way they that they will that they can lose. This is a freshman Republican with little accomplishment, who's getting primaried from the right. Her own Party is calling her a socialist, and we know she's anything but. So it's all relative these days, but she is vulnerable. Yes, the economy is on on everyone's mind. But gas prices, you know, should not be a partisan issue when you see an entire globe going through an economic inflation and downturn and we've got prices going up everywhere in the world. So there's a perfect storm of issues that are leaving leading us to our economic situation right now. We need to work together on solutions on where we go from here. So the rent is too damn high but the the the wages and salaries are too low. So I've really been an advocate on make I'm sure people can live in this area and not have to commute two hours to get here.

Thom Mozloom:

How do you plan on doing that when we are largely a tourist based economy in Miami, we've got some tech coming in. A lot of the jobs that are being held are tend to be on the lower end of the scale. How do you get those? How do you get private businesses and incentivize them to raise salaries so that people can afford to live in this city? Isn't it easier to bring down the prices of things like rent,

Ken Russell:

you got to work at it from both ends, you've got to make sure employees have good jobs, that their bosses and the bosses landlords all have good economic situations to work from. And then of course, yes, you want to try to make as much attainable housing as possible, and help people stay in their homes. Affordable housing doesn't always mean building new towers or something like that. It is sometimes you know, people who are have a mortgage, but need, you know, may need help, whether it's, you know, new roofs and things like this people that did you can help them stay in their homes. But the goal here is that the whole system flows without artificial fingers on the scale. Right. And you're actually seeing a writing of this right now, in that it's not about trying to incentivize a restaurant to pay more, you've got employees who are refusing to accept less. And in Coconut Grove, the average waitstaff or kitchen staff is well over $20 already. And so hopefully there become some equilibrium here, where where prices and what's affordable and what people are earning, doesn't doesn't hurt as much in the pocketbook, these things tend to be cyclical, but we need to be proactive.

Tony Winton:

This move to some of the social issues, abortion, very controversial decision, precedent, you know, being reversed by the US Supreme Court, here in Florida litigation already about the privacy right, that's already in the Florida constitution and whether or not a newly adopted state law will have any impact or not that's being litigated. What should if you get elected to Congress, what should be the Congressional role?

Ken Russell:

Bottom line, the judicial branch has failed us the executive is doing the best they can and not even enough this, this falls into Congress. The reason the Supreme Court is taking the positions it's taking it's going to hurt a lot of things over the coming years is because Congress has not codified some of these rights. And we're looking to the interpretation of the Supreme Court, we can't do that anymore. We must codify these rights. And it's scary if people are really, really concerned about their privacy rights, their health care rights and reproductive rights, and far beyond so wrote Roe versus Wade is just the start of opinions that we may see coming down the line similar to this. And so we need, we need a congress in place we need we need representatives and senators who are willing to recognize and stand up for the majority of this country, not the special interest or smaller groups or religious sects. The majority of this country believes that abortion is healthcare, that a woman's right to privacy is sacred. And it's kind of being flipped on us. Because what what what we want as Democrats and what beyond that what most people who care about reproductive rights want is for there to be a blanket law nationwide. So it's not state versus state, when it comes to the basic civil rights of our country. Same thing with voting, it shouldn't be different from state to state as to who has access to the ballot box or some things that make us American that should be blanketed across the country. And that's codified by the Congress. And that's my goal.

Thom Mozloom:

While many will believe that the repeal of Roe v Wade is bad for women's health rights and bad for their privacy rights, does it ultimately become something good for both the Supreme Court and the Congress? It removes the endless array of interpretation by Supreme Court and endless challenges and allows the Congress to be congressional to write actual policy. Is that isn't that a good thing?

Ken Russell:

Aren't you an optimist? I love that. The silver lining to this dark dark cloud.

Thom Mozloom:

Totally. I am an eternally optimistic guy.

Ken Russell:

It's it's unfortunate how dysfunctional Congress is. And it's one of the most it has one of the lowest approval ratings of any body in the country. And it's earned it because it is very difficult to get a functioning Congress to pass good laws. And so for the Supreme Court to throw up its hands is is not a good thing in my mind, unless we were to have a functioning Congress and we don't it's gamesmanship, its partisanship. It's not about solutions. It's not about compromise. It's it's not about the will of the people. It's party versus party and total gridlock. So no, I really wish that the Supreme Court were there as the referee on these major, major issues as the conscience of this country.

Tony Winton:

Speaking of disorder, how

Thom Mozloom:

How should you change that?

Tony Winton:

Sorry, go ahead thom.

Thom Mozloom:

Well, I mean, so I step on your sorry.

Ken Russell:

What we're learning now is elections have consequences and we're feeling that The ripple effect of of elections even from just four years ago, six years ago. And so we need to have a string of good elections where we have good Supreme Court nominees putting put in place Good, good members of Congress in the numbers needed to move the needle and good executives to bring those laws across the line.

Tony Winton:

My question was about parties. This is a partisan election you're running in. There was and there are some people have questioned the role of parties is changing. Should there be a third party? Here in Key Biscayne, if there was a political party that had the most votes would be NPAs. I mean, and none of them were going to be voting in your election. We have a January 6 investigation going on in Congress, where there are questions now about members of Congress possibly even, you know, contributing or or somehow being involved in this armed assault on the Capitol. You know, I guess the question really is, is it too far gone?

Ken Russell:

You know, you know, you have to hit rock bottom. And I hope we have, the partisanship is so visceral, it's so ugly, that the average person is identifying less with their party and more with the issues that they care about. So for example, if you're an abortion rights activist, it becomes less about party and more about that issue, you become a single issue voter and you may be an independent, you may be a Republican, but if you see your health care rights being taken away, you don't look at it as a partisan issue, and you start voting for that issue. That issue may have to do with a number of things. And you find your champions for that. And you stand with them as you vote. What what I'm worried about, as I'm seeing a lot of people get really discouraged right now about voting. They said, Listen, we showed up, we voted we got the president and that we wanted or we got the congressman, we want it and still the things aren't happening or they're actually moving backwards. You can't give up at this point. And we can't throw in the towel, because that's how democracy works that pendulum swings and sways. But you got to stay in the game.

Tony Winton:

All right, Ken Russell, candidate for Congress, we're coming to the end of our time. And we do this with every candidate, you have 90 seconds to make a closing and our

Thom Mozloom:

closing arguments,

Tony Winton:

closing argument. I hope you've rehearsed this. So this is your this is your chance

Ken Russell:

Is this the part where I play yo-yo? You know, we're on your 90 seconds. Listen, I know everybody's frustrated. I grew up in Key Biscayne. And I've been a city of Miami Commissioner now for eight years. I know what's needed at the federal level. And I you know, I've I've been doing this now enough to know exactly where our gridlock falls and how to get around that. I've passed more legislation in the last eight years on police oversight on infrastructure on sea level rise and storm surge, the strongest water quality laws in the state, I've passed the strongest climate change laws I've passed, not I fought for not I believe in, I sponsored them and I found the votes even while I'm in the minority, I can do this, I can help us get through some of this gridlock and get good legislation passed. I just need to get in there with your help. So if you guys want to go to Ken Russell for florida.com, you can learn more about me you can support the campaign. And please make sure you're registered to vote before July 25. So that you can participate in this election how did I do.

Tony Winton:

I that was I think it was admirable use of the 90 seconds. Thank you. I'm not some candidates go along, and some people have some timed fairly well. So thank you for that. And our guests again, reminded you and I'll remind our listeners one more time that we have the election coming up on August 23 at primary. NPA meaning if you're not registered as a partisan member, you will party member you won't be voting in this election. But you will be voting on a lot of other important elections, particularly here in Key Biscayne there is a mayor's election. There's a school board election, a lot of important things. Ken Russell, thank you for being our guest on Anti-Social.

Ken Russell:

Thanks for having me.

Tony Winton:

And we are back live on antisocial coming to you from Key Biscayne, Florida as Ken Russell exits our studio here an interview about the upcoming race for congressional district 27 Tom Wish you were here but you're up in the Tennessee and I hope you're feeling better. I know you've been under the weather a bit.

Thom Mozloom:

I have I've been on great meds and now I'm weaning myself off of them. So fortunately I'm vertical today

Tony Winton:

that's an important word I want to remind focus yes vertical is

Thom Mozloom:

rather vertical if your vertical in the morning that's a good thing. That beats being flat on your back like I was earlier in the week. We have another big thing coming up in what two weeks Tony August 9 to a live debate right there at crossbridge church,

Tony Winton:

August 9, we'll be in front of a studio audience, we'll be having the three mayoral candidates appear. We'll be announcing more details of that. It'll be at 6pm. It should run about an hour, an hour and a half or so. And we'll really try to also include community engagement in that with questions from the audience. I haven't decided exactly how we're going to do that yet. But it's, it's your chance to see these candidates interact. And we're looking forward to that.

Thom Mozloom:

Maybe we should set up an email address where people would write their questions into us so we could vet them and make sure that we're getting everybody included.

Tony Winton:

sounds like to me,

Thom Mozloom:

we'll call Gary. Yes, Gary. Gary is our webmaster. Gary is our wisdom professor on Gilligan's Island,

Tony Winton:

we should point out actually that hopefully, we're making some technical changes on the Key Biscayne independent website. If you read our stories there, hopefully you'll be reading them much more quickly than before. So the kinds of speed tricks that you use on the Internet to have fast websites where we're trying to make an investment there, so you can read our stories even faster than you said seen them before.

Thom Mozloom:

Well says what else you're working on at the independent? Well, the story the county budget just came out. That's a huge story.

Tony Winton:

Yeah, that is here. And we have we have some Facebook stream. So for the listeners who've seen this on Facebook, this is the summary the county budget. We were at the news conference this morning with Mayor Levine cava, we mentioned it in our segment with Commissioner Russell. And the the mayor has announced her budget for the upcoming fiscal year, a 10 billion with a B budget that is covering a lot of important priorities. And we'll be writing

Thom Mozloom:

where we were. Where's the sounder music on that? Oh, you

Tony Winton:

want the you mean? You mean this? This outer? Yeah, we could use that one. It's not quite the same as dollar million dollars. Yeah, well, you know, this happens every year we get in these big. This has happened to keep this game we'll be covering that budget process as well. This one is the county budget. And it's exceedingly complex. And one of the if I can rant a little bit as a reporter, we were there and the news conference. And this document was not even shared with us until after the news conference had basically started. So there was no intelligent way to ask detailed questions.

Thom Mozloom:

Right, how big is the document?

Tony Winton:

Well, the full budget is got three separate volumes, and it runs hundreds of pages, because obviously, it's getting into line item by line item of, you know, specific expenditures and revenue sources. That's what a budget is. And, you know, what we got instead was kind of a, you know, kind of a summary that didn't really get into the details like, we're going to spend $3.6 billion on capital. Okay, good. What are you spending it on? That's what we that was not provided. So that is a bit of a frustration. And for the reporters in the room who we're trying to, we have a limited time with. The mayor is there, the finances, all the department heads are there. And hopefully, we'll get that information quickly. So we can pass it on to our readers and our listeners, but just venting a little bit. It's not always easy, especially with a complex document, like a county budget, that's 10 $10.3 billion to get all the information as quickly as we'd like to.

Thom Mozloom:

And how many reporters were asking questions, Tony?

Tony Winton:

Well, and we've talked about this on the show, there were four reporters asking questions. We had a large number of TV stations there, but there were just four reporters asking questions. So

Thom Mozloom:

So do you think that that lack of information available to the reporters is based on the showing? Like have we just gotten into an era where government bodies make presentations, nobody's there to really ask hard questions, and we'll delve into it later. In this I'm not sure where the indictment comes. This isn't an indictment on government foisting information on the public, or the lack of resources behind news to cover the story appropriately.

Tony Winton:

That's chicken in the egg. You know, the. The fact is, is that a document really of any imminent, Miami is a very large top 10 city. It's an extremely complicated document. There's multiple funding sources. And obviously, there's only a certain level of detail you can get into it a general news conference. I think everyone kind of goes in with that understanding. The difficulty was though, is that we weren't even given a chance To prep for it. So if the time is going to be short, it would have been helpful to have a little bit of a time to, you know, understand the information and be able to get the detailed information. And I would point out that I was speaking with our with the district seven shouldn't say our district seven county commissioner Raquel Regalado last night and she had not seen the document, it was not provided to the county commission as well. So they may have seen it about the same time as we did.

Thom Mozloom:

Wow. Wow. That's crazy.

Tony Winton:

Well, there's going to be a big picture political will be reporting about that, you know, and obviously, the other media, you know, I can commend the work of of Doug Hanks and at the Miami Herald and, and a Peter partner, putting it at the Michael Putney. Right, yeah. You know, trying to cover it in the visual medium. It is a lot to get in the big. The big issue, of course, is this tension between rising property values, which are up hugely in 10%, and keep us going and even more countywide inflation, which is also double digits, and people feeling the need that they're they're being pressed against the wall, but government has to keep operating. So what do you cut? Right? This is a problem. Yes, everyone wants to see if we don't have to raise the budget to keep in line with inflation. The mayor is decided to reduce the millage rate by about one percentage point. But even with that, that's still a substantial tax increase for some people. Other people who are covered by the homestead exemption will have their taxes only affected 3%. So this is this kind of tricky story to write. And the impacts are different for different people. And we'll do our best to not only cover that, but also the specific impacts were proposed impact to keep his game.

Thom Mozloom:

And I will caution our listeners. And when you hear these things coming out, buckle in and prepare for the marketing effort that comes behind it. What you're going to hear is that your taxes are going down. We are cutting the millage and the tax rate is being reduced so that we could take financial pressure off you folks. That's not true. The millage rate is going down and the rate is going down. But the amount of dollars is going up.

Tony Winton:

Right. And maybe maybe maybe I should use this little again soapbox moment, because I get this question from people, including Friends of the show, about the way that we define tax increases and everything else we really the millage rate is not something that really matters to anybody what matters is are my is my tax bill bigger this year than it was last year. If it's going up. It's a tax increase. If it's going down, it's a tax cut. The military calculate big is that check exactly. And because you're this property tax is by definition, a form of a wealth tax. And you are not in necessarily in control that much about what happens to the value of your property. Yeah, sure. You could have remodeled and but maybe the appraiser will capture that and probably not. So so the answer is is that these macro economic forces are determining whether or not your taxes are going up or not, because it's a wealth tax, and the county that your municipality, whether it's the village of Key Biscayne or the school district or the county in this case, they make the decision on the millage rate and it's really the ultimate number is how much money do I need to collect from everybody? And we focus on that what is is that going up? Or is that going down? So you may hear this evening, the mayor referring to this as tax relief, or a tax reduction, it's not your taxes are going up? That's that's what's happening.

Thom Mozloom:

Yes, the millage is down, but the size of the check you will be riding is going to be larger than last year. Correct. That's the point. So no, I just little marketing 101 for y'all just sharing my knowledge. I see you on the rundown. You have something on crime. Tony, what's going on every time you write that on our rundown? I get scared,

Tony Winton:

right? Oh, no, we just story we posted just just a short while ago, we're following for Key Biscayne a big, big criminal matter. We had a number of people arrested in what police said was an armed robbery at the beginning of the year, and we've been tracking, not just of course, the arrest had happened. We also track the cases to see what's what's happened. And we have a story about one of the second defendant now pleading guilty the juvenile defendant. We don't use his name. That's our policy. We don't unless the state charges you as an adult. We don't we don't publish a defendants name, but he entered a plea deal in court and we put the details as much as we can in that report. And we'll be following the other cases as they move along. We have a two other juvenile defendants and an adult defendant. And we're just going to keep keep track with that and other other cases and Key Biscayne that are also in the system. So that's, I'm just telling folks we, that is something that we we invest time in to not just cover the flash, we follow through and see what actually happened and what is the process of that case and the effect it had, in that particular case. It has led already to increase street lighting in East Enid drive. Residents. Were concerned about that. And more generally, it's in the current proposed the proposed Key Biscayne budget for next year, adding additional video cameras around the island for better police that is a fairly significant increase in spending being proposed to increase the ability for surveillance in the village.

Thom Mozloom:

Yeah, and the last thing that I have written down here is Fausto gate.

Tony Winton:

Okay. We're not gonna do that. All right.

Thom Mozloom:

No, I mean, listen, we're not on the air on 94.5, the Blink FM because, you know, Manny said, the interview with Fausto

Tony Winton:

he didn't like it

Thom Mozloom:

was caustic,

Tony Winton:

but that, that that's a reversal from what he said right after it was over, because he said it was great radio, which

Thom Mozloom:

he said it was great radio. Yeah. And then and then. Well, I mean, he told both of us that. Do I get to say her name? Because I know she's gonna flip out if I just say you're

Tony Winton:

We put a statment on, on it's on our website. And I mean, I'm content to stay with the statement of what happened.

Thom Mozloom:

So it's a he said, she said, one person said, Ms. Conway, the president of Emerald Bay complained and that's why he took us off the air. And she said she never complained or never made a formal complaint or whatever. But we're still off the air. So there you go.

Tony Winton:

But we're streaming.

Ken Russell:

of died down though. And it's

Tony Winton:

and we will, we will

Thom Mozloom:

know, nobody's missed the show. Right. Like, there. It's not like we had a ton of live listeners on 94.5 The blink. I imagined wherever we end up next. We'll have more listeners. But we'll see. Anyway. I'm ready for a drink. Tony, can you play the sounder?

Tony Winton:

Boy, can we get the happy hour? Do I don't know if I have the drink sounder? I don't think so. I mean, I could do a real trick. Boy, you know, I don't know I'm looking at the Sounders Tom, I'm sorry, I just don't have that one. You know, give you something else. Maybe. All right. Would you like this one? Okay.

Thom Mozloom:

What's on your social media feeds? Tony, what's burning up your?

Tony Winton:

Well, you know, we have some very heavy ones. But the one, the one that I kind of surprised me was this all of a sudden, and this happened just a couple of days ago, I started seeing pictures of German Shepherds all over my social media feeds, and I realized they were the President's dog, Major Biden. And then I of course, connected what was happening, because they were references to the first pooch set the right term. I don't know. I don't know if he was first at the Secret Service. It's one point and I guess there was some some training issues or tension issues or whatever where it is, but people were applauding the posting pictures of major Biden the President's German Shepherds saying, well, now we know why he was biting Secret Service agents and referring to this testimony involving Miss Hutchinson on the January 6 committee and an investigation later to get all of the text messages from January 5 and January 6, and the text messages of the Secret Service apparently have been deleted. Even though they had been asked not to delete them. So that's, that's the connection to the meme.

Thom Mozloom:

Maybe the dog ate them.

Tony Winton:

The dog eats homework. I don't know.

Thom Mozloom:

I I've used that. Yes. Well, I've been I've been on vacation Tony up in Tennessee at our little little farm here. So I've been avoiding social media. It's been calm. It's been peaceful. I haven't thought about any of this stuff for about a week and I might I might take another break. I might lay off social media for a little while longer.

Tony Winton:

Yeah, there's no like, country social media like Tennessee social media. All about grandma, or something. No,

Thom Mozloom:

no, no. Nope. My nearest neighbor is no two miles away. He came over and sat on the porch for a little while, told some fantastic stories. Got the got the political lay down of what's going on and in this little small community. Surprisingly,

Tony Winton:

it is The big issue in the little little town that you're in,

Thom Mozloom:

well, like keep us gain. It's election season and similar to keep this gain, you know, signs being put out in yards and public places to support candidates for things like county clerk, and, you know, property manager and all of that stuff are a big deal. And there is a community center in the town about 30 minutes from here called Wartburg. And that community center has has is hot in the news because some of the candidates signs are being vandalized.

Tony Winton:

Believe that that mean at the community center, the signs are at the community center.

Thom Mozloom:

Yeah, so like you guys stand out on your on that little swale coming into the village and wave to people. So they place all their signs out there and the candidate show up then, you know, wave and interact with people who are coming around the community center, but when they're not there, their signs are planted in the lawn? Well, some of the signs have been vandalized, written on, taken out all together and that that has made the Morgan county news, the local newspaper here the version of the keepers game independent here.

Tony Winton:

Okay, interesting. Well, we'll see. That's how sounds like hopefully, that's the only problem they have in Morgan County data. That's pretty good for elections.

Thom Mozloom:

Well, if you want the hard news story, there is a there is an unsolved murder that happened about about three or four weeks ago. And that murder is still on the loose. You have to remember though, in Morgan County, the largest crime problem is drugs. Its opioid addiction and methamphetamine. So that usually leads to something more violent eventually.

Tony Winton:

Right? Well, I'm glad though, that there's a media at least covering that in the county that you have so much of the country today, our news deserts and some of these things aren't being covered. So that's, that's refreshing.

Thom Mozloom:

There are actually two newspapers in this little community. The Morgan county news and Morgan County today. How about that? Interesting. I don't know if you could support my I actually get the Morgan county news delivered to my house because I like the physical newspaper. It's kind of fun. It's still that kind of society. But I'm looking forward to get back. It'll be fun to to come back to Miami and get back into it won't

Tony Winton:

be a pointy

Thom Mozloom:

elbowed political world,

Tony Winton:

having been myself in Wisconsin last week, and enjoying almost non existent humidity and cooler temperatures. I wish I was extended my stages. Two bids. I will confess to you. That was

Thom Mozloom:

mine. We're glad you're back, because who would have sat in on the budget presentation today and been able to ask questions for the good folks at Key Biscayne. Which brings me to the idea that, you know, this type of reporting is unique for communities like keep his game, there's not always a reporter in the room. There's not always somebody who's going to do the FOIA request. There's not people who are trained to ask the right questions in the right situations. And so the service that the Key Biscayne independent, provides to its community is important. This is oftentimes the only place you're going to get that information, interviews with all of the candidates, and giving them the breadth and depth of time to answer real questions from a real reporter. And some questions from me as well. That's important. And now we have another reporter on staff who's also covering the community. That's not cheap, and it's not free. It takes a lot of work. So if it's as valuable to our listeners as it is to the community as a whole, we would appreciate you going on to the k be independent.org KBINDPND and t.org. And hit the donate now button. The funds will go to gathering and disseminating real news covered by real journalists that is important to your community. You got that's my pitch, Tony.

Tony Winton:

I think that was a fine pitch. Well done. Well, that brings us to the end of our program for today. Antisocial for my host, Thom Mozloom from Morgan County, Tennessee. I hope you'll be back soon.

Thom Mozloom:

I'll see you next week. Be safe everyone.