Islamorada

With Memorial Day and the Fourth of July on the horizon, the Village Council this week will consider stronger regulations to control boat parties that form at the Whale Harbor sandbar over those holiday weekends.

The proposal would limit the size and number of vessels that could be moored together at the sandbar for holidays and special events — such as the former Bartenders Week at Holiday Isle — capping them at 26 feet and three lashed to each other. The rules are designed to make it easier for law enforcement officials to maneuver between vessels to control crowds.

Since the sandbar is in water that's under the county's jurisdiction, a council resolution would not be binding. But with Islamorada being the most affected by the rowdy weekends, the statement could influence the Monroe County Commission to approve its recommendation.

Whale Harbor sandbar parties have made headlines for their fights and nudity, as well as drug use and excessive drinking. In a particularly bizarre incident in 2004, a handful of young adults made the sandbar the setting for a new fad: impaling and hoisting themselves on meat hooks.

Islamorada's nearshore water regulations committee developed the proposal and refined it at a public workshop last summer.

"While this committee does not view this as a morality issue, many citizens do," Chairman Jim Trice wrote in a letter to local officials. "We view our recommendation strictly as a safety, environment and image issue."


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Gary Word might not be too nice to be in Islamorada after all. Four out of five Village Council members on Thursday told the village manager they don't want him to resign — six weeks after he did so at the vice mayor's urging. Word's resignation, effective April 6, prompted community activist Van Cadenhead, in a line that has become something of a catch phrase, to ask, "What's a nice guy like him doing in Islamorada? You've got to be mean to be here."

Word resigned Jan. 11, during the height of public outcry over the problem-plagued Plantation Key Colony central sewer system. His most surprising source of support at a Village Council meeting Thursday came from Vice Mayor Michael Reckwerdt, who at a Jan. 9 community forum said he'd call for his termination if he didn't resign. "You have jumped into gear and taken a lot of action," Reckwerdt said of Word's work since then. "I will support whatever decision you make either way."

Mayor Chris Sante and councilmen Don Achenberg and Dave Boerner told Word they still support him. Councilwoman Cathi Hill did not express support or disapproval. "When you resigned, I was one of the ones that didn't want to accept it," Boerner said. "I want to allow that room for improvement and I'm seeing improvement." Word was noncommittal. This week, he is scheduled to be in the west coast Florida town of Treasure Island, where he is one of four finalists in a city manager search.

On Thursday, he urged the council to have a meeting to discuss the qualities it is looking for in its next manager, and he advised the council to keep an April 5 appointment with manager search consultants from the Florida City and County Management Association. "There has been some damage that quite frankly has been done, whether that can be replaced or not, I am not sure," he said.

In written job reviews last year, council members criticized Word's performance over his first 11 months on the job. At a public discussion about the reviews in December, Hill called for his firing, but the board decided to give Word six months to improve his performance. Since then, the council has limited its search for a replacement to a handful of advertisements in trade publications and the local press.

"I want to stay," Word said. "But I want to make sure it is the right thing for all of us, and that's where I'm at."

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