Kevin Woodland in his own words
Keynoter Questionnaire Response:

Kevin C. Woodland, businessman, 37 years in Marathon.
 
 What’s the first issue you plan to tackle if elected or reelected to the City Council, and why? We need a viable work force, and they need an affordable place to live.
 
 Redevelopment is accelerating quickly in the city. What is your stance on protecting trailer parks and other historical sources of affordable housing from disappearing? Redevelopment appears to have moved forward at an unacceptable rate. We must slow down and take into consideration the issues of affordable housing, which, of course, include trailer parks.
 
 How do you think the council has handled large infrastructure projects, such as the placement of a city hall, creation of the events field, and recent discussion of a pool costing $3.5 million and potentially more than $350,000 a year to maintain? It is my opinion that the City has poorly handled its real estate purchases. The city’s purchases are small and spread out, and a lack of foresight appears to be the problem. On the pool issue, I believe our citizens should have a voice in the form of a binding referendum to determine whether the majority wants or does not want a pool.
 
 Since becoming its own sewer authority, how has the council handled the planning and spending on a central wastewater system? How can the cost of hookup fees (pre equivalent dwelling unit) be minimized for property owners? The City Council has not attempted to seek the advice and input from the League of Florida Cities, nor attempted to get information from the state as to what wastewater system would be the most cost efficient and effective for our city. A good example of this is when we were offered total help and assistance from the City of St. Lucie, and did not take advantage of this offer. We have relied solely on input from hired engineering firms, which is not always the correct answer. This approach may have limited our options.
 
 The council has been focused on the creation of land development regulations, which guide development and growth. Among consideration are rules allowing apartments over commercial structures and transferable development rights. Are these the right steps for the City, and why or why not? The City missed an opportunity to encourage development of affordable homes over commercial structures. The City Council should have offered incentives to businesses to move forward with this concept. If I am elected, I will push for this idea to become a reality. TDR’s are a very complex issue. I feel my knowledge is limited, but whatever will help to solve the low income housing problem is a step in the right direction.
 
 Looking back at the City’s first six years, what would you identify as the single biggest missed opportunity or failure by earlier councils? I believe the City of Marathon, as I encouraged them to do, should have purchased the Buccaneer property. This purchase would have accomplished two very important things: (1) It would have prevented the City from purchasing small parcels of property all over town; and (2) by acquiring this large parcels of property we could have had our City Hall, another marina, sports facilities, etc. all located on one beautiful piece of property.
 
 Personal comment: In the future, I would like to work closer with the County for the benefit of everyone. By doing this we can improve our city and achieve cooperation for the mutual benefit of all.

Bob Miller in his own words
Free Press format:

Name: Robert Kenneth Miller.
Present Age: fifty-seven years.
Telephone Numbers: 743-0226 (residence); 743-9428 (work).
Marathon Residency: twenty-three years.

Family Information: I have been married to my wife, Carol Miller, for almost twenty years. Carol is a Certified Public Accountant and is currently employed by Cunningham, Miller, Kyle & Williams, P.A. as Office Manager. I have four children: Nicole Patterson, age 33; Ryan Miller age 31; Heidi Miller, Age 27; and Brendon Miller, who attends Stanley Switlik Elementary School.

Education and Employment: I am currently the Managing Member of the Law Offices of Cunningham, Miller, Kyle & Williams, P.A., and practice area is Estate Planning and Administration. I earned my Bachelor’s Degree and Masters Degree in Secondary Education at the State University of New York College at Buffalo, and my Juris Doctorate at the State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Law. I also hold permanent certification in Secondary Education by the State of New York.

I have never derived income from development in Marathon. I formerly owned a residential property in which I resided for thirteen years. I sold that home when I purchased my current residence at 2490 Harbor Drive, Marathon, Florida. I also have a partial ownership interest in a commercial building which has been occupied by our Law Office for fifty-three years.

1. Vision. As a twenty-three year resident of Marathon I share a concern over the potential loss of our community character as redevelopment moves forward. The goal for Marathon should be to make our City a better place to live, and not to seek change for the sake of change. The redevelopment of our commercial corridor affords us a great opportunity to solve many of the challenges which face our community, including the development of affordable residential rental housing above businesses as our aging commercial structures are redeveloped. The improvements within the commercial corridor will also enable the City to further reduce the tax burdens which are currently borne by our residents, and should spur the further beautification of our roadsides. Although nobody can predict such things, I believe that, through thoughtful planning, the Marathon of the future will be a balanced and more visually appealing community.
2. Development.  We should strive to allow individuals to use their property to its maximum potential; however, with that benefit each of us a responsibility not to intrude upon our neighbor’s right to the quiet enjoyment of his or her property. To this end, new development, or redevelopment, should not be permitted to intrude into our residential neighborhoods in a manner inconsistent with current uses. Every effort needs to be made to preserve our existing community work-force housing within the mobile home parks; however, opportunities must be also provided for the mixed-use redevelopment of our aging mobile home parks in order to preserve and provide safer community work-force housing.                                  
3. Critical State Concern. Area of Critical State Concern designation was imposed upon the unincorporated areas of Monroe County due to its failure to deal with numerous environmental; and development issues. By imposing this designation, the State of Florida, through the DCA and predecessor agencies, assumed regulatory oversight in dealing with numerous Florida Keys issues. Although there are some benefits associated with the designation, Marathon’s decaying commercial corridor is a testament to the failure of the designation. The City has shown its willingness to aggressively address the issues which originally brought about the designation and, at some point in time, should be recognized for its efforts by being relieved of State oversight.
4. B.P.A.S. vs. R.O.G.O.  ROGO means Rate of Growth Ordinance, and the building permit allocation system initially developed under R.O.G.O. has been generically referred to as R.O.G.O .  B.P.A.S. means building permit allocation system, which is also a Rate of Growth Ordinance, so they are the same thing. The new Rate of Growth Ordinance (B.P.A.S.) proposes to allocate a portion of our annual market rate building permits to local residents and work force on a first come-first served basis, so that is good. It also creates a fairer and more balanced point system for other allocations, which is also good.
5. Wastewater. After five years of effort the Aqueduct Authority delivered a sewer bid of $180,000,000 to construct a central sewage system with an illogical design. Since taking over wastewater the City has designed a system which will save the City tens of millions of dollars, and did so within six months after taking control over the project. Additionally, within that same time frame the City has been approved for all of the financing sources which had been secured by the Aqueduct Authority, and has moved forward in seeking additional funding. Construction of Phase 1 of the project is scheduled to begin in May of this year. All of this is very good for the residents of Marathon since, other than acquiring additional grant money, the only way to bring down the cost to our individual residents is to bring down the cost of the project, which I believe we have done by our system design.
6. Boot Key Bridge. Since the Boot Key Bridge serves a very small community of interest I believe that the Boot Key property owners should bear the expense of the bridge through a special taxing district; otherwise, the bridge should be removed rather than spending multiple millions of taxpayer dollars to repair and operate the bridge.
7. Seven Mile Bridge. The Seven Mile Bridge belongs to Monroe County, and it would therefore be inappropriate to spend Marathon tax dollars for its repair; however, I voted in support of the County’s effort to secure State funding for repairs to its bridge.
8. City Marina. The City Marina and Boot Key Harbor should, and will, continue to be operated and managed by the City; however, opportunities to lease portions of the undeveloped marina property in order to upgrade existing facilities and offset staggering annual operating costs should be explored.
9. Capital Budget and Swimming Pool. Given the price tag for central sewers and necessary infrastructure projects such as a City Hall and new Marathon Fire Station, all capital projects, particularly plans for a swimming pool, need to be reconsidered as to priority. The City maintains reserves and receives FEMA funding for hurricane related expenditures.
10. Property Tax Rollbacks. The City tax rates have gone down each year since the City was incorporated. Last year, a Marathon resident with a homestead exemption actually received a reduction in his or her City property tax. Although we strive each year to achieve rollback rates, it would be irresponsible to commit to rollback without knowing what our budgetary requirements are.

Issues in Priority:

1. Disaster Planning
2. Affordable Housing / Mobile Home Park Redevelopment Restrictions
3. Highway safety
4. Sewer expenses to individual residents
5. Tourism
6. Boot Key bridge
7. Swimming Pool
8. Old Seven Mile Bridge (not ours)
9. FDOT cameras (they are already in- the State owns the highway and disregarded objections.

Education:
S.U.N.Y., College at Buffalo ( B.S. Secondary Education 1971).
S.U.N.Y., College at Buffalo (M.S. Secondary Education 1974).
S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo, College of Law (J.D. 1982).

Employment:
Cunningham, Miller, Kyle & Williams, P.A.
Position: Managing Senior Attorney
Member of Florida Bar and New York Bar.

Professional Associations:
Florida Bar Association.
New York State Bar Association.
American Bar Association
Florida Bar Grievance Committee, former Vice Chair.
Florida Academy of Trial Lawyers, former member.
Holland & Knight Florida Law Network Executive Council, member.

Business and Community Service Organizations:
Citizens Incorporate Marathon, former Treasurer and Spokesperson.
Florida Keys Children’s Shelter, former Director and Vice President.
Habitat For Humanity of the Middle Keys, Director and Vice President.
Friends of the Marathon Library, former Director and President.
The Hundred Club of Monroe County, Director and former President.
Marathon Rotary Club, current member.
Marathon Chamber of Commerce, former member.

Government:
Mayor and Councilman (2000-2002); Councilman (2004-Present) .
Florida Keys Carrying Capacity Study work group.
Monroe County, Marathon Airport Advisory Committee.
National Marine Sanctuary Near Shore Waters Advisory Committee.

Keynoter Questionnaire Response:

Robert K. Miller, Candidate
Marathon City Council - Seat 1
Occupation: Attorney
Resident: 23 years

1.   What’s the first issue you plan to tackle if elected or reelected to the City Council, and why? The first priority of the next Council is the completion of Marathon’s Land Development Regulations. Since the approval of Marathon’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan, the City has continued to redevelop to suit the needs of developers under the antiquated Monroe County Land Development Regulations which were in place at the time we became a City. In many cases, our current Land Development Regulations inadequately protect our residential neighborhoods from commercial intrusion, and unreasonably inhibit the redevelopment of our small locally owned business properties. By taking into account community input which we have received, we have an opportunity to develop simple and straightforward Land Development Regulations that will guide Marathon’s redevelopment according to the desires of our residents and will be fairly and evenly applied to everyone. 

2.   Redevelopment is accelerating quickly in the city. What is your stance on protecting trailer parks and other historical sources of affordable housing from disappearing? Although the pace of redevelopment has slowed, there is no indication that developers have lost interest in Marathon or its unprotected community housing as a source of ROGO exempt development rights with which to complete their projects. It is imperative that we adopt zoning regulations which encourage the redevelopment of our existing sub-standard housing, protect existing community housing from developers and stimulate the construction of residential rental housing above commercial buildings. We must continue to view the preservation and development of community housing as one of our top priorities, and craft our new Land Development Regulations and Zoning Districts in order to achieve a fair and balanced housing strategy for our community. 

3.   How do you think the council has handled large infrastructure projects, such as the placement of a city hall, creation of the events field, and recent discussion of a pool costing $3.5 million and potentially more than $350,000 a year to maintain? The Council has re-prioritized its capital spending plan and, other than sewer expenditures, has not begun any new projects during the past two (2) years. Projects currently under construction or recently completed, such as the Events Field and Phase II of the Community Park, were moved forward by the prior Council. In order of priority, the new projects which must come forward during the next two years should be: Marathon Central Wastewater; the new Marathon Fire Station to replace our storm destroyed facility; and City Hall. All of these projects have been in our capital plan for almost six years. A pool is a luxury that the City cannot afford at this time. Our residents are recovering from a devastating storm and flood. With the expense of sewer connection fees on the horizon, following rising windstorm and flood insurance rates, the last thing the Marathon taxpayer needs is the  burden of a swimming pool with substantial operating losses.

4.   Since becoming its own sewer authority, how has the council handled the planning and spending on a central wastewater system? How can the cost of hookup fees (pre equivalent dwelling unit) be minimized for property owners? After five years of delay, during two years of which the prior City Council made no advancement at all, and after millions of dollars in added construction costs, the City has taken control over the design, construction, operation and ownership of Marathon’s planned sewage facility. The City has already secured the same sewer funding sources and rates as had been available to the former project developer, and the City continues to explore all funding options. The Council has adopted a master design for the various components of the system, which focuses upon separate service areas rather than  one central system. This design promises to reduce the cost of the $180,000,000.00 project proposal offered by the former project developer by multiple millions of dollars. Ultimately, individual connection costs can only be controlled by designing a good system, reducing development costs and securing additional funding from State and Federal Governments and their Agencies, which we strive to accomplish. 

5.   The council has been focused on the creation of land development regulations, which guide development and growth. Among consideration are rules allowing apartments over commercial structures and transferable development rights. Are these the right steps for the City, and why or why not? The greatest housing need in this community is affordable rental units. Considering the cost of land, the only workable solution to our work force rental crisis is to do as many other resort communities have done, formulate a plan to promote the development of rental housing above new or existing commercial units. By offering ROGO Units, tax incentives and financial incentives to local businesses who wish to redevelop on a voluntary basis, we can accomplish two planning objectives: the development of new rental employee housing; and the voluntary redevelopment of our aging commercial corridor. With limited development rights there is a need to acquire ROGO allocations for such purposes, and the voluntary transfer of excess density from over-dense and/or existing sub-standard housing sites may provide a partial solution. We must take care, however, to be thoughtful in our consideration of allowing the transfer of building rights from one property to another, for an ill conceived ordinance could just as easily exacerbate the loss of affordable housing. 

6.   Looking back at the City’s first six years, what would you identify as the single biggest missed opportunity or failure by earlier councils? Upon incorporation, Marathon was provided an opportunity to guide its redevelopment by writing a new Land Use Plan and Land Development Regulations to encourage redevelopment while protecting our community character. The first Council hired a renowned consultant to perform a community visioning study which, through broad citizen participation, was intended to guide future development. With no regard for the opinions of hundreds of Marathon residents, the next Council elected to abandon the visioning study and opted, instead, to draft a Master Plan for redevelopment including the use of CRA’s to lure outside developers. Because of infighting among members of the prior Council, the Master Plan was never adopted, the Land Use Plan was delayed for two years, and our Land Development Regulations and Zoning Districts are still being drafted. As a result, our community housing stock is being depleted at an alarming rate, and development has proceeded without regard for community preference. It’s time to take another look at our residents’ opinions as to how we should redevelop, and to implement them before our residents have all left.

RE-ELECT
ROBERT K. “BOB” MILLER
MARATHON CITY COUNCIL - SEAT #1

Dear Fellow Resident:

Much has been accomplished during the past two years; however, we face many challenges as we attempt to balance our desire to revitalize our aging commercial corridor against the need to protect our residential neighborhoods. Your City Council has made significant gains during my term in office, some of which include:

• Completion and approval of Marathon’s new Comprehensive Land Use Plan;

• Adoption of a Future Land Use Map which preserves existing densities and uses while protecting the character of our neighborhoods;

• Adoption of a Marina Siting plan which requires public access to and from our waterways as a part of new development agreements;

• Installation of new dinghy docks at the City Marina in response to the crisis created by the extinguishment of private facilities;

• Adoption of a policy which requires new developments to provide a number of affordable housing units equal to 20% of the new units proposed to be developed;

• Adoption of a Commercial R.O.G.O. Ordinance ending a twenty year moratorium on new commercial development within the City of Marathon;

• Secured approval to increase Marathon’s annual residential R.O.G.O. allocations;

• Adoption of the Hotel Redevelopment Ordinance which allows local owners of Marathon’s aging hotels to redevelop on a fair and balanced basis;

• Reduction of Marathon’s Municipal Tax Millage Rate during each budget cycle;

• Limiting new capital expenditures by re-prioritizing capital projects and not bringing forward any new capital projects during the past two-years; and

• Taking control of Marathon’s central wastewater project after being presented with a $180,000,000.00 system development proposal following five years of delay, and moving forward with the design and construction of a modified system projected to save Marathon taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

I have supported each of the foregoing measures, and I look forward to serving our community for the next two years as we craft Land Development Regulations which will reflect the wishes of our residents and the needs of our community, both substance and application.

Sincerely,
Bob Miller

Bob Miller believes that our City Council Should:

Preserve our community character through the adoption of reasonable
Zoning and Land Development Regulations which will protect our
residential neighborhoods from commercial intrusion or other inconsistent
uses;

Encourage voluntary revitalization of our commercial corridor by providing
local business owners with tax and financial incentives to expand and
redevelop their aging structures in order to achieve the City’s planning goals;

Protect community work-force housing within commercially operated mobile
home parks by adopting Zoning and Land Development Regulations which
limit redevelopment opportunities and provide incentives to improve sub-
standard community work-force housing;

Limit new capital expenditures to essential projects such as the Marathon Fire
Station, Marathon City Hall, sewage and storm-water, and the installation of
the Boot Key Harbor mooring buoys;

Relieve our affordable rental housing crisis by providing tax and financial
incentives to develop residential rental housing units above commercial
structures;

Continue to work toward a balanced community through the completion of our
Land Development Regulations and the adoption of a fair housing strategy;

Always attempt to resolve the reasonable concerns of our residents when
considering land development regulations, zoning changes and conditional uses
which may adversely impact them.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT WHERE BOB MILLER STANDS
ON ANY ISSUE, DON’T COUNT ON HIS OPPONENT TO TELL YOU.
CALL HIM AT 743-9428

• Further Develop Strong Working Relationships At the State & Federal Level
• Stop Talking About It and Make Workforce Housing a Reality
• Complete Our Wastewater System On Time and at the Lowest Cost to Our Residents
• Wrap-up and Enact the City’s Land Development Regulations (LDRs)
• Forge Ahead with a Marina That Works for Everyone

What has been done...
City Council accomplishments during Chris’ tenure:

• Passed the City’s Comprehensive Plan with exhaustive input from the community

• Passage of ordinance to require at least a 20% affordable housing component for every redevelopment project

• Took over as wastewater authority and created more economical and logical plan for Marathon’s sewer system.

• Passed the Marina Siting Plan

• Improved the park system by building Phase II of the Community Park and the development of a community events field.

• Strengthened relationships on the State and Federal level that led to further cooperation and funding of projects as well as development of new financial sources.

• Governor Bush and DCA rewarded Marathon with 65 additional units of Affordable Housing for making substantial progress towards the state goals established by the Area of Critical State Concern.

• Reduced the city’s portion of the property tax millage from 2.4931 to 2.05. 

What we need to do... 
Q. What can actually be done about affordable workforce housing?
R. There is no one thing to be done. Incentives for the private sector must be free of red tape. We must explore building over commercial structures, ease density restrictions, acquire land, and demand affordable housing components for all new development agreements.

Q. How can the cost of wastewater hookup fees be minimized for the property owner?
R. We must pursue aggressively State and Federal funding. Because we are our own wastewater authority, we will have ownership over a smart design, a phased approach, and an equitable distribution of the costs.

Q. What will it take to finalize and enact the City’s Land Development Regulations?
R. The Land Development Regulations will impact everybody. We will challenge staff to complete the process quickly with much needed community input.

Q. What must the City do to keep taxes low?
R. The marina needs to be self-funding. We also must take fiscally responsible positions with regards to a Community Pool and other capital projects.

Q. How do we balance community character with continuing redevelopment?
R. While redevelopment is necessary to improve sub-standard properties, we need to continue representing all resident’s interests when approving new development agreements.