Election Could Displace County's Gang of Three

The Citizen

Ever since Mario Di Gennaro's opponents dropped out of the 2006 District 4 County Commission race, enabling him to step onto the dais uncontested, he has shown the people of Monroe County that they should never think things couldn't get worse.

Di Gennaro's arrogant disdain for public process and hubristic intolerance of contrasting views have set a new high — or should we say low — for inept leadership on the County Commission. And he is just getting started, with over 30 months remaining in his term.

What the commissioner lacks in his comprehension of representative government, he more than compensates for with a single-minded focus on advancing his personal agenda, and those of his friends. During his relentless 14-month charge through the china closet of local government, he has sought to help one friend build a hotel on county airport property without having to adhere to development regulations; tried to help another keep a lucrative cell phone contract with the county; disregarded state open-government laws; tried to divert bed-tax funds to general fund expenditures; and supported one of the most expensive buyouts (Tom Willi) in commission history.

After he failed to get Monroe County Tourist Development Council support for diverting bed-tax money, he led a political coup to take over the organization's board of directors, and now sits as chairman. His appetite for revenge unsated, he and Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson have set out to unseat TDC Director Harold Wheeler for his opposition to the county's use of bed-tax funds for the sinking of an artificial reef — a pet project of Di Gennaro, who is a diving enthusiast.

As he further solidifies his control of the TDC, he has disregarded the recommendation of the Islamorada business community and announced plans to appointment his friend and former Cay Clubs executive Frank Rego to the District 4 seat on the TDC board.

Then there was the County Commission's approval of eleventh-hour changes to a land-use plan amendment intended to preserve the county's working waterfront. The changes, drafted by attorney Jerry Coleman (he represents a marina owner who hopes to redevelop his property) were handed out to the commissioners without public or staff review, minutes before the commission approved them — over the objections of the planning director and minority Commissioners George Neugent and Sylvia Murphy. When asked how he could approve something he hadn't even read, Di Gennaro told Neugent that Coleman's presentation was sufficient. The action was an embarrassing charade, and clearly had been choreographed prior to the meeting.

This unelected commissioner's behavior has been so astonishing — and contrary to the public's best interests — it is hard to imagine what will come next. There is one glimmer of hope, though.

Three commission seats come up for election in November, and two of those seats are held by commissioners who have been in lock step with Di Gennaro — Dixie Spehar and Sonny McCoy. The Gang of Three may finally lose its powerful political grip.

It is clear from Di Gennaro's track record that the interests he looks out for are not those of the general public. He repeatedly has ignored his constituency, the business community, the environmental community. And he has misrepresented the county's issues to state officials.

Since there is no mechanism for recalling the commissioner, we can only hope the fall elections will render him a politically impotent voice on the commission dais, and that he will finish out his term playing solitaire on his laptop during County Commission meetings.

— The Key West Citizen