The Bahama Conch Community Blog

BCCLT Status Report

2011-02-12T12:14:00.000-05:00

The BCCLT now has an agreement in place with the Key West Housing Authority, for KWHA to buy BCCLT's properties. Appraisals have been made. The purchase price will be enough to pay all liabilities, and there should be a substantial amount left to carry out repairs and rehabs where needed. KWHA has now assumed responsibility for rental management and maintenance services.

In the end, all bills will be paid, all tenants will be protected in their homes, and the Housing Authority will have an already-existing pool of low-income housing to manage.

And the land trust as it was will be no more.

It's too bad. BCCLT was responsible for many good things in Bahama Village. It struggled for its existence for many years. It always tried to do too much with too little. Eventually it came down to a decision -- merge, sell, or go bankrupt.

The Board of Directors deserve much credit for bringing things to a successful conclusion.

National Community Land Trust Network Report

2010-02-19T02:24:00.000-05:00

National CLT Network Assessment for:
BAHAMA CONCH Community Land Trust
Submitted By: John E. Davis – Burlington Associates and
Joseph E. Gray – JEG Urban Planning Associates
1/18/2010

Final Report - Recommendations for Disposition of BCCLT Properties

BACKGROUND
When the National Community Land Trust Network became aware of mounting problems at the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust (BCCLT), the Network offered to assist the BCCLT’s board in weighing its options for either rebuilding the organization or transferring its assets to another organization better able to manage BCCLT’s troubled portfolio of land and housing.

The National CLT Network contracted with Burlington Associates in Community Development, LLC and JEG Urban Planning Associates, Inc. to conduct an objective, third-party assessment of the BCCLT. The twin goals of this assessment were (1) to evaluate the BCCLT’s organizational capacity and community support and (2) to identify paths the organization might pursue in resolving its many problems.

The evaluation was conducted in three phases. A preliminary site visit, conducted on November 17–20, 2009, identified and engaged the BCCLT’s leaders and community stakeholders in order to sort out relevant issues and opportunities. A second site visit, conducted on December 14– 18, 2009, assessed the organizations’ financial condition, operational capacity, and community support. A third site visit, conducted on January 6–8, 2010, reviewed our initial findings and the City’s audit report with the BCCLT board and key community stakeholders. We also met with possible future organizational partners and/or successors to the BCCLT, evaluating alternative options and scenarios for the organization.

This report is intended to provide a summary of our observations and findings from the three site visits, and to identify potential work-out options for the organization and the community. Our recommendations are advisory. We have described the pros and cons of alternative courses of action in order to aid BCCLT board members who have diligently stayed at their posts through the current crisis, searching for a way out of the woods. The BCCLT board retains the sole authority to decide which path to pursue.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

The following observations and findings are based upon reviews of various organizational documents and media reports concerning the BCCLT, tours of the BCCLT’s properties, and interviews with members of the BCCLT’s Board of Directors, elected officials and administrative staff of the City of Key West, community stakeholders, and leaders of several organizations providing affordable housing in the lower Keys.

1. The BCCLT is in a state of extreme financial distress

A. The primary source of funding for the organization comes from monthly receipts from its rental properties; however, the board is unclear as to the status of many of its properties with regard to occupancy rates, capital needs, utility bills, and maintenance costs.

B. Tax Increment Finance (TIF) funding from the City of Key West, previously pledged to the BCCLT for operating and property maintenance expenses, has been reallocated to other projects in the district for the current fiscal year. City leaders have stated unequivocally that no additional TIF funding will be made available to the organization in the near future.

C. The organization is faced with possible claims for the recovery of public funds granted by the City, County, and State in the past because of poor documentation by the BCCLT, reimbursement for ineligible costs, or the BCCLT’s violation of various grant conditions. The organization is heavily in arrears in payments that are owed to a number of private vendors as well.

2. Several of the BCCLT’s properties require major repairs to meet City code standards.

A. One of the organization’s signature properties was recently condemned by the City due to health and safety code violations, forcing the eviction of all tenants.

B. A capital needs assessment of the other properties will need to be conducted to determine repair needs and costs. None of these properties meets housing quality standards.

C. Current rents fall short of meeting the buildings’ operating costs.
D. Rental properties are no longer covered by insurance.

3.The organization currently has no paid staff, and no permanent office space.

A. A current board member with property management experience has been handling day-to-day operations, including coordinating rent collections and repairs.

B. The organization’s offices are located in a residential property that was improperly converted for office use with grant funds that were awarded to the BCCLT for the development of affordable housing. The BCCLT is presently moving out of this space in order to bring it back into residential use in accordance with grant requirements.

4. The City’s financial support for the organization has been discontinued based upon the findings a City-commissioned “forensic audit.”

A. The audit report included numerous negative findings regarding the organization’s management practices, record keeping, reporting, and project management.

B. The Mayor and City Commissioners who were interviewed by us all indicated strong support for the CLT concept, but indicated it would be impossible for them to continue to support the BCCLT as a result of the audit and public’s poor perception of the organization.

C. The City Commission has voted unanimously not to enter into a 99-year lease with the BCCLT for 6.6 acres on the Key West waterfront that had been reserved for development by the BCCLT. This opportunity is gone.

5. The BCCLT has suffered extensive damage to its reputation and has lost much community support as a result of recent negative publicity and ongoing disputes with the City.

A. Recent newspaper articles chronicling the organization’s conflicts with the City and the recent release of the City’s forensic audit have been hot topics of conversation throughout Key West, casting the BCCLT in a poor light.

B. The organization is currently suffering from a crisis in leadership, in spite of the best efforts by existing board members to get control of the situation.

C. Several members of the board have resigned in recent months, casting doubt on the organization’s stability and ability to survive.

D. The Executive Director’s abrupt termination has helped to widen existing divisions within the community.

E. A majority of the BCCLT’s current board members were not on the board when most of the reported negative activities occurred, but they continue to be blamed for the organization’s failures.

F. There is only one leaseholder currently serving on the board. The organization does not have an active and well-established corporate membership that might provide constituent support.

G. In spite of all of the organization’s real and perceived problems, the general consensus among stakeholders throughout Key West was that the work of the organization was important, especially within Bahama Village. Several members of the community expressed strong support for the organization and vowed to becomemore involved in the future, should the BCCLT find a way to survive – perhaps taking on a different mission than the development of affordable housing.

PROPERTY DISPOSITION OPTIONS

PRIORITIES

Our own decision making about which courses of action to recommend – and which to reject – has been guided by three priorities. By our lights, any work-out plan for salvaging BCCLT’s properties that does not fulfill these inter-related priorities should be deemed unacceptable.

Priority #1: Protect BCCLT’s Residents
BCCLT owns and oversees both rental housing and owner-occupied homes on leased land. The highest priority for any work-out plan must be to prevent the displacement of current residents or, if necessary, to provide replacement housing of equal affordability and better quality than the BCCLT housing they presently occupy.

Priority #2: Stabilize BCCLT’s Buildings
Much of BCCLT’s rental housing is in poor repair, and may not meet the federal government’s Housing Quality Standards or the city’s building and occupancy codes. Utility bills are in ar- rears and most insurance coverage has been canceled. Any work-out plan must prevent the further deterioration of this housing stock.

Priority #3: Preserve a Permanent Portfolio of Affordable Housing
Part of BCCLT’s mission was to provide a bulwark against gentrification, preserving the rem- nant of a culturally and historically significant community by permanently removing a portion of the neighborhood’s residential property from the marketplace. The public agencies that supported BCCLT in the past are likely not willing to grant or to loan any more funds to BCCLT at the current time. However, by all indications, they remain supportive of the mission espoused by BCCLT. They seem to be less concerned with recapturing the funds previously invested in BCCLT’s properties than in preserving the affordable housing those funds helped to create. Any work-out plan must ensure that a stock of affordably priced rental housing and resale-restricted homeowner housing continues to exist for lower-income households who have long called Bahama Village their home.

PATHS NOT TAKEN

Although CLTs across the United States have compiled an enviable 40-year record of survival and success, especially when compared to most other nonprofit and for-profit developers of affordable housing, the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust is hardly the first CLT to sail into troubled waters. Other CLTs have had to find a way to right themselves in the face of fierce organizational, financial, or legal winds. When that has happened, CLTs have adopted several alternative strategies for saving their clients, their assets, and themselves. The most common of these work-out strategies have been the following:

1. They have stepped back from the brink of disaster, sometimes with the help of a “blue ribbon panel” or consultants like us, and reconstituted the board, refinanced their properties, rebuilt their staff, and repaired their damaged organization.

2. They have distributed their assets to another nonprofit or public-sector organization, eventually dissolving the CLT.

3. They have merged with another nonprofit, combining their boards and assets into a new entity that was still structured and operated as a CLT.

4. They have contracted with another nonprofit corporation to manage the CLT’s assets and to administer the CLT’s operations for a three-to-five-year period while the CLT board pulled itself together, eventually resuming control over its own assets and operations.

5. They have contracted with a public housing authority to manage the CLT’s assets and to administer the CLT’s operations for a three-to-five-year period while the CLT board pulled itself together, eventually resuming control over its own assets and operations.

We considered all five of these strategies (and a few others besides) in evaluating the work- out options for BCCLT. Before discussing those options that seem to us to hold the most promise in the present situation in Key West, let us describe four courses of action that we reluctantly rejected – while explaining why we came to that conclusion.

Rejected Path #1: Convene a Blue Ribbon Panel

Were it not for the size and severity of the problems afflicting BCCLT’s portfolio of rental housing, we would probably have recommended the creation of a blue ribbon panel of housing professionals and community leaders to develop a master plan for salvaging BCCLT’s portfolio and, perhaps, for saving the BCCLT. We ended up rejecting that course of action for three reasons:

(a) the actual liabilities documented by the City’s “forensic audit” of BCCLT, although nowhere near the “$1.7 million in debt” repeatedly and irresponsibly reported by the local press, are still substantial enough to scare off many leading citizens who might have otherwise been inclined to serve on such a panel;

(b) the effectiveness of such a panel would depend on adequate staffing to convene the panel’s meetings and to conduct the legal, financial, and title research that will be necessary before any decision can be made about selling, transferring, or repairing and retaining BCCLT’s troubled portfolio; and

(c) the level of deterioration, the lack of insurance, and the unpaid bills on many of BCCLT’s rental properties demand urgent intervention, allowing little time for a blue ribbon panel to calmly deliberate over several months while looking for a comprehensive solution to BCCLT’s problems.

Nevertheless, we believe there may be a role for some sort of blue ribbon panel to play down the road. After the BCCLT board has transferred key properties to another organization that is better suited to stabilizing them and managing them, there may be merit in convening a group of community leaders to consider the question of whether the BCCLT should be dissolved, re- placed, or re-purposed and re-structured to perform a different mission than the development and stewardship of affordable housing.

Rejected Path #2: Resuscitate BCCLT as a Housing Developer
Over the last 40 years, there have been a number of CLTs that fell on hard times, but later rose from the ashes to recover their footing as an active developer of affordable housing. These were organizations, however, where the hole was less deep and the board less weary than is currently the case with the BCCLT. These were also organizations that retained the backing of local government and other public and private funders, who remained willing to invest more money in helping the CLT to survive. The BCCLT has none of these advantages. It has, instead, a troubled portfolio and neither the professional staff nor financial resources to take care of its current holdings. None of the organization’s funders that have supported BCCLT in the past appear willing to invest another dollar in these older properties as long as the BCCLT remains the owner. Neither are they willing to invest in helping BCCLT to acquire new properties. The City’s recent decision, moreover, not to lease 6.6 acres of waterfront land to BCCLT has removed the last major opportunity for the BCCLT to be a substantive developer in the near future. We cannot see any path that BCCLT might take that would allow its survival and revival as a developer and steward of affordable housing in the foreseeable future.

Rejected Path #3: Contract with Another Entity
We came to Key West with the hope that some sort of multi-year “receivership” might be possible, where the BCCLT would remain the owner of the land and housing assembled over the past 14 years, while contracting with the Key West Housing Authority or another entity to staff the BCCLT and to manage its portfolio. Three years or five years down the road, after retiring its liabilities and rebuilding its board, the BCCLT might regain control over its own organization and assets. This has been a path to recovery for several CLTs in the past. We were unable to recommend this course of action, however, simply because no organizational entity, public or private, could be found that was willing to take over management of BCCLT’s troubled portfolio without assuming actual ownership of that portfolio. No public funder could be found, moreover, that was willing invest any money in repairing and salvaging that portfolio as long as the BCCLT remains the owner.

Rejected Path #4: Divide BCCLT’s Properties Among Several Entities
Among the organizational entities that are possible recipients of the BCCLT’s properties, there is a range of experience and expertise. Some have specialized in the development and management of rental housing. Some have specialized in the development and stewardship of re-sale-restricted, owner-occupied housing. It might be argued, therefore, that the best plan for salvaging the BCCLT’s portfolio would be for the BCCLT board to transfer its renter-occupied housing to one entity and its owner-occupied housing to another. We rejected that course of action because we believe that the BCCLT does not have the time, resources, or staff to develop a fully researched, carefully considered plan for determining which properties should go to which recipient. Nor do we believe that prospective recipients of the BCCLT’s portfolio will consent to accepting all the liabilities associated with the BCCLT’s properties without having all of the assets. It is a wiser and faster course of action to transfer the entire portfolio to a single entity, allowing that White Knight to decide which properties should be retained, which (if any) should be sold, and which (if any) should be transferred to another not-for-profit organization.

PATHS WORTH CONSIDERATION
The only reasonable and sustainable paths that remain, we regret to say, lead straight to the transfer of the BCCLT’s land and housing to another organization – as quickly as possible.

This is the only course of action with a realistic prospect of protecting the tenants, stabilizing the buildings, and preserving a stock of permanently affordable housing in Bahama Village.

These priorities trump all other concerns, including any lingering desire to “save” the BCCLT.

The urgent matter facing the BCCLT board is deciding which organization should receive the BCCLT’s assets. There are, we believe, four viable options that should be seriously consid- ered. To assist the BCCLT in making its decision, we have attempted to describe the principal pros and cons of each.

Option #1: Transfer All Properties to the Key West Housing Authority
Key West is fortunate to have a well-run, well-respected housing authority with a long history
of managing rental housing in Bahama Village. A due diligence review of BCCLT’s portfolio
would need to be performed by the housing authority’s staff before a recommendation could be brought to the housing authority’s board to accept BCCLT’s land and housing. The director of the Key West Housing Authority has suggested that such a review could be completed within 30 days. Depending on the findings and his board’s approval, he has indicated his openness to taking over the ownership and management of this troubled portfolio.

PROs
• As the preferred option of the City’s leaders, this particular destination for the BCCLT’s portfolio is most likely to attract the public investment – especially TIF funding from the City – that will be needed to stabilize and upgrade rental properties that are presently in poor repair.
• The housing authority has the staff, systems, and expertise to do a superior job of manag- ing the BCCLT’s portfolio of rental housing.
• The BCCLT’s low-income tenants will have a better chance of receiving rental assistance once they become tenants of the housing authority and once their buildings meet Housing Quality Standards. In BCCLT buildings where meeting HQS proves to be impossible and where tenants must be relocated, tenants are more likely to be assigned a higher place on the waiting list for replacement housing or rental assistance if their building is owned by the housing authority.
• The housing authority shares the BCCLT’s commitment to permanently affordable housing – and is open to including and expanding resale-restricted owner-occupied housing within its holdings.
• The Monroe County Land Authority is no longer willing to convey the title to land to non- profit organizations, due in part to its negative experience with BCCLT. It will now give land only to public entities – of which the Key West Housing Authority is one. In the near future, a housing authority acting like a CLT may be the best chance for expanding leased-land, resale-restricted, owner-occupied housing in Key West.

CONs
• Although the Key West Housing Authority is clearly held in higher regard than most PHAs around the country, the housing authority brings a hefty amount of political baggage to the deal. There are members of the community and some tenants of the BCCLT who would be vocally opposed to any move to transfer the BCCLT’s portfolio to the housing authority. The BCCLT’s homeowners, in particular, may express concern about the land under their homes being owned by a governmental entity instead of a nonprofit organization, which may make their homes harder to sell in the future.
• The housing authority may be an experienced developer and manager of rental housing, but the same cannot be said about homeowner housing. It has had no experience with the development and stewardship of owner-occupied housing on leased land – the model of tenure pioneered by the BCCLT.
• Unlike a CLT, the governing board of the housing authority does not reserve a significant block of seats for representatives of the tenants who occupy its housing.

Option #2: Transfer All Properties to Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity for Key West and the Lower Florida Keys has offices in Key West and Big Pine Key. The organization has developed 53 resale-restricted, owner-occupied homes, 42 of them on leased land. The affordability of the remaining 11 homes is secured through a deed covenant. These properties will be converted to a ground lease arrangement when they resell, since Habitat deems a CLT-type ground lease to be a more effective and sustainable vehicle for protecting affordability. Three years ago, Habitat started developing small-scale rental housing as well. After the hurricane of 2005, Habitat did approximately 160 repairs of damaged homes, a lot of them in Bahama Village. Amidst the current downturn, Habitat has become the most active homebuilder in Monroe County, with 30 building permits in hand.

PROs

• This Habitat chapter has an excellent track record, an experienced staff, and a diversified base of funding, drawing on individual donations, church contributions, governmental grants and loans, and various resources available from Habitat International.
• Its track record is likely to attract the public funding that will be needed to stabilize and upgrade BCCLT rental property that is presently in poor repair.
• It has experience with both the construction of new housing and the rehabilitation of older housing, especially units with historic features that can be difficult to rehabilitate. About 60% of its housing has been new construction; 40% has been rehab.
• Although not technically a community land trust, lacking as it does both the place-based membership and the three-part board of the “classic” CLT, this Habitat chapter comes very close to looking and operating like a CLT. In the way that it structures the leasing of land and the ownership of owner-occupied housing and in its commitment to the permanent af- fordability of its homes, Habitat for Humanity for Key West and the Lower Keys has em- braced a mission and model that puts it squarely within the CLT camp.

CONs

• Habitat is an experienced developer of owner-occupied housing, but its experience as a developer and manager of rental housing is more recent and limited.
• Habitat has served a clientele that is, on average, better off financially than the tenant households served by the BCCLT.
• Unlike the housing authority, Habitat has no presence in Bahama Village. There is no bur- den of political baggage, but it also lacks deep familiarity with this disadvantaged commu- nity.
• Unlike a CLT, the governing board of this Habitat chapter does not reserve a significant block of seats for representatives of the lower-income homeowners who occupy its housing.

Option #3: Transfer All Properties to the Middle Keys CLT
The Middle Keys Community Land Trust (MKCLT), headquartered in Marathon, was founded in 2000. It is the developer and steward of 24 resale-restricted, owner-occupied homes on leased land and the developer and manager for 16 affordably priced, renter-occupied apart- ments. It also owns several undeveloped parcels of land.

PROs
• This organization is a community land trust. It structures the ownership and operation of residential property in the same way as the BCCLT. It also has the three-part board of the “classic” CLT, with equal representation from people living in its housing, people living in the neighborhoods surrounding its housing, and people serving the “public interest.”
Were the BCCLT’s properties to be absorbed into MKCLT, the latter’s executive director has expressed a willingness to add one Key West resident to each of the three categories on his board.
• The Middle Keys CLT has developed and managed resale-restricted, owner-occupied hous- ing on leased land and affordably priced rental housing, serving roughly the same income- eligible population as the BCCLT.
• With the exception of the City of Key West, the same public agencies that have funded the BCCLT in the past – and that must be approached right away to address the problems created and the liabilities incurred by the BCCLT – have funded the MKCLT. The latter would be well positioned to negotiate the resolution of the BCCLT’s outstanding issues with these public funders.
• The MKCLT’s executive director has already recruited a team of people who could conduct the sort of document review and title research that will be needed by the BCCLT board in deciding whether the BCCLT’s portfolio can be transferred (or sold).

CONs
• The Middle Keys CLT has an experienced director and a strong board, but it is thinly staffed, compared to either the Key West Housing Authority or Habitat for Humanity.
• The MKCLT’s headquarters is located 50 miles away. This organization does not have a physical presence in Key West or Bahama Village. As a result, the MKCLT is unknown to the community and the city government of Key West. It would take time to build the necessary relationships that could translate into financial support and political support within Key West.
• All of the MKCLT’s residential projects have been new construction. It has no experience with the rehabilitation of older, historic structures like those in Bahama Village.
• The Middle Keys CLT is a stable, successful nonprofit organization. Its hard-won stability could be undermined by introducing a troubled portfolio into its midst.

Option #4: Transfer All Properties to an LLC Run by Two or More Entities
The final option that is worthy of consideration is to create a Limited Liability Company for re- ceiving all of the BCCLT’s assets and liabilities. This LLC would be managed by one of the three organizational entities identified above. Representatives from one or both of the other entities, representatives from the City of Key West, and one or two BCCLT board members, might be given seats on the new LLC’s board, lending their voices and expertise to the process of planning for the future disposition of the BCCLT’s portfolio. Depending on the outcome of the LLC’s overall plan for the eventual use and disposition of this portfolio, a re-constituted BCCLT might resume control over a property or properties that would allow the BCCLT to carry out a very different program of community service than the BCCLT’s original focus on affordable housing. (Alternatively, the BCCLT might decide to retain ownership of one or more properties, when transferring the rest of its portfolio to the LLC.)

PROs

• This arrangement would shield the managing partner of the LLC, as well as the other lim- ited partners and organizations represented on the LLC’s board, from liabilities attached to the BCCLT’s portfolio.
• The managing partner could move quickly to stabilize the worst properties in the BCCLT’s portfolio, while buying more time and including more partners in moving carefully and de- liberately toward a plan for the rest of the properties.
• The BCCLT, if given a seat or two on the LLC’s board, would retain a voice in guiding the use and disposition of the assets it once owned. If the BCCLT were to be a limited (non- managing) partner in the LLC, it would retain an ownership stake in this portfolio.

CONs
• There is no guarantee that any of the prospective recipients of the BCCLT’s portfolio would agree to serve as the LLC’s managing partner, if they were not able to add these assets to their own balance sheet immediately.
• Conflicting interests and parochial loyalties on the part of the representatives from multiple organizations on the LLC’s board could slow the process of deciding what to do with the BCCLT’s troubled portfolio.
• It is not clear how the legal costs of setting up the LLC and transferring property would be covered.
• Allowing the BCCLT even a minority voice or minority stake in the LLC might make the City, County, or State think twice about investing public dollars in stabilizing and expanding the LLC’s residential portfolio.

PROCESS FOR GOING FORWARD
The board of the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust must weigh these options and move
quickly to decide which organization – or organizations – are best-suited to receiving, repair-
ing, and managing the BCCLT’s properties. As part of these deliberations, the board should also decide what conditions it will place on the transfer of properties. These conditions should focus not on setting a price for the BCCLT’s portfolio, but on protecting the security of tenure for the BCCLT’s tenants and homeowners, stabilizing (and insuring) the BCCLT’s buildings, and perpetuating the affordability of the BCCLT’s housing. Some consideration might also be given to assuring a voice for Bahama Village’s residents in the governance of any organization(s) designated to receive the BCCLT’s properties. The poor condition of much of the BCCLT’s portfolio and the extensive liabilities that would accompany the conveyance of these assets strongly argue that, except for the possible sale of a property or two on the open market to cover immediate debts, the BCCLT board should not expect the housing authority, Habitat, or the Middle Keys CLT to make an upfront payment for the acquisition of the BCCLT’s portfolio. Any equity distributions to the BCCLT should be determined after the total value of the properties has been assessed, relative to outstanding liabilities and long-term maintenance costs.

Regardless of which organizational option is eventually chosen by the BCCLT board, close attention should be paid to the process for making and announcing this decision. There are half-a-dozen touchstones that should not be overlooked as the board moves forward with its work-out plan.

1. Document review by BCCLT. Before any properties can be sold on the market or transferred to another not-for-profit entity, there will need to be an examination of grant agreements, deed covenants, and title documents pertaining to every property in the BCCLT’s portfolio.

2. Due diligence review by prospective recipients of BCCLT properties. None of the organizations that are candidates to receive BCCLT properties is going to be able or willing to make a decision about taking over these properties without doing their own assessment of the condition of the portfolio and the liabilities that would accompany the transfer of these assets. The BCCLT board will need to open its properties and its books to the scrutiny of these prospective recipients.

3. Consultation with City officials. The City of Key West has been a major investor in the BCCLT in the past. Funds administered by the City, especially TIF proceeds that are targeted to Bahama Village, are likely to be a major factor in stabilizing and improving the BCCLT’s properties in the future, after the properties are transferred to another organizational entity. On both counts, it is incumbent upon the BCCLT board to involve the Mayor, the City Manager, and the City Commissioner who represents the district in which BCCLT’s properties are located in the process of weighing its options and making its decision about moving forward. The disposition of the BCCLT’s properties is a decision that belongs to the board alone, but the preservation and improvement of that portfolio is going to depend on the City’s support.

4. Consultation with other creditors and funders. Before and after the transfer of the BCCLT’s properties to another organizational entity, all of the liabilities identified in the “forensic audit” commissioned by the City will need to be addressed. Fortunately, most of these liabilities are not what the local press has incorrectly characterized as “debts” that must be repaid. Most of these liabilities involve public investment that may be allowed to remain in the properties as long as they are managed in compliance with the program’s guidelines. Some of these liabilities simply do not exist. Nevertheless, there is a need for speed in beginning the process of correcting the serious contractual violations and negotiating payment of the outstanding bills revealed by the City’s audit. Every public funder and every private lender with a stake in the BCCLT’s properties should be consulted before any plan is proposed for transferring these properties to another owner.

5. Consultation with the BCCLT’s tenants and homeowners. Another group of stakeholders must be kept informed of any proposed plan for the BCCLT’s portfolio: the people who live in this housing. Their anxiety has grown with every rumor and report of the BCCLT’s troubles. Since they are the ones most personally affected by the BCCLT’s problems and most directly concerned with what will happen to the BCCLT’s buildings and lands, they deserve to receive current and accurate information at every step in the process.

6. Coordination with Partners in Announcing a Work-out Plan. Members of the BCCLT board have endured months of bad press and public criticism, even though a majority of them were not on the board when many of the problems revealed by the City’s “forensic audit” occurred. A similar degree of scrutiny and condemnation has not been directed, so far, at the city, county, and state agencies that funded the BCCLT and failed to correct these problems before they became so severe. It may be only a matter of time, however, before the search for culprits is expanded and the opportunity to proclaim a more positive message is lost. The BCCLT and its partners must move quickly – and jointly – to adopt a plan that all parties can endorse and that all parties can announce as the best way to put a troubled history to rest and to secure a better future for the tenants, homeowners, and properties that have been a part of the BCCLT.

ABOLITION SUNDAY - AUGUST 23

2009-08-15T09:07:00.002-04:00

ABOLITION DAY- SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2009

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE REMEMBRANCE OF THE SLAVE TRADE AND ITS ABOLITION

Why was August 23rd chosen as the date of the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition? Because it commemorates the uprising of enslaved Africans in Bois Caiman, in the north of the then French colony of Santo Domingo, on the nights of August 22-23, 1791. This uprising played a critical role in the abolition of slavery.

Key West, Florida 1860 African Memorial Site Progress

As a part of the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its abolition, and the involvement of the U.S. Coast Guard stationed here in Key West, FL in 1860 that intercepted over 1400 captured Africans in the Atlantic Ocean near Cuba and brought them to safety in Key West, Ms. Norma Jean Sawyer, Member of the Volunteer Committee for the 1860 African Memorial Site Project, Prof. Gene Tinnie, Lead Concept Artist for the Project, and Johnson Odibi, Nigerian born artist and contributor to the concept design for the project will gather members of the Diaspora Arts Coalition of Miami, FL, drummers from the local community, and residents of Monroe County to give a stirring educational presentation of the significance of this historic site to International history and the plans to introduce the site and its story to UNESCO for consideration as a potential World Heritage Site.

From the Diaspora Arts Coalition of Miami, FL, storyteller Madafo will give us a broad overview of Africans that were forced into slavery and its effect on Africans in the Diaspora. Madafo is also an acclaimed writer, public radio show host, as well as a featured Storyteller at festivals throughout the USA, Africa, and Europe.

Lead Artist Gene Tinnie, will share the story of how the Adinkra symbols on each of the columns at the site were chosen, while others from the community are invited to read the meaning of each of the symbol.

Artist Johnson Odibi will described aspects of other art work at the site and its significance to the story of the Africans that are buried at the site, while Ms. Sawyer will speak to the involvement of the citizens of Key West in 1860 and today that came together to protect and care for the Africans in life and now, in preserving the story of their untimely demise during the horrendous Trans Atlantic Slave Trade.

We humbly invite the public to come be a part of this International Day of Remembrance as we reach out to the children in our community. Please bring your children, grandchildren, history class, and Sunday school classes to learn of this important history, to appreciate the part that the people of Key West played in this International event, and to learn how they can continue its preservation for future generations. The program will begin promptly at 6:00 p.m. at the site on Higgs Beach.

For more Information contact Norma Jean Sawyer at 305-294-0884 or email inquiring to njsawyer@bahamaconchclt.org.

Waterfront Defense

2009-05-09T16:27:00.003-04:00

We let this blog go quiet for a while, in fact, for quite a while, last October 25 to be exact.

In view of the current brouhaha about the erroneous overpayment and allegations of fraud, duplicity and other potentially unethical or criminal behavior, it's time to set the record straight. We began doing that with a press conference on Thursday, May 7th, that is now showing up in the Key West Citizen and the Keynoter

Readers are invited to read the articles and the comments attached to them, and to then return here to ask any questions they may have. Thoughtful and polite comments will be accepted anonymously, but we encourage readers, especially Bahama Village readers, to give their names and to become involved in the defense of the waterfront, including the Bahama Conch Village. Questions raised by readers will be answered as expeditiously as possible and in this forum.

Any one who wants to meet with a board member, for any reason, can call the BCCLT office, (305) 294-0884, and ask for an appointment or a call back

Robert Kelly
BCCLT Board Member

Radio Interview

2008-10-25T15:49:00.002-04:00

Guy DeBoer of Manley-DeBoer Lumber Co. broadcasts a weekly radio program called On The Waterfront each Saturday morning at 10:00 AM on WIIS, Island Radio 107.1 FM. As the blog name implies, deBoer's focus is the waterside of Key West.

This past August (21st) deBoer's guests for the entire one-hour program were Norma Jean Sawyer-Atanda, BCCLT's Executive Director, and her deputy, Wheeler Winstead. I hadn't heard the interview before now, but discovered that deBoer has a web site where his weekly programs are archived and can be played or downloaded. I thought that the interview with Norma-Jean and Wheeler was very effective in describing the mission, the history, and the current state of affairs at the BCCLT.

The interview can be found here; Scroll down to August 21 and click on the link there.

BCCLT ANNUAL MEETING

2008-10-24T16:18:00.002-04:00

The Bahama Conch Community Land Trust is hosting a special, one-time showing of a film, The Journey, on Wednesday, October 29 at the Tropic Cinema on Eaton Street. The film is being screened as a benefit and fundraiser for a new BCCLT initiative called the Tennessee Aquatic Program. It documents the year-long journey of a group of African-American young people from Tennessee who undertake to discover and learn to value themselves and their heritage, and to learn valuable life and workplace skills along the way. The money raised here in Key West is to be used to bring that same opportunity to local youth.

The film will be shown at 6:00 PM on the 29th. Tickets are $10 for students and teens, and $25 for adults and are limited to the seating capacity of the Tropic’s theater. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Tropic Cinema web site, or at the box office.

Immediately following the film showing, BCCLT will hold its annual meeting at Top of La Concha. The annual meeting is open and the public is invited to attend. For those wanting to eat there will be a full buffet available at a cost of $35 per plate.

On Friday, October 31, BCCLT caps off its annual meeting week by conducting escorted tours of BCCLT properties and the Truman Waterfront location of Bahama Conch Village. On that day there will also be an outdoor luncheon served at the rear of BCCLT’s new offices located at 305 Julia Street.

We hope to see many Bahama Villagers and other Key Westers there as can make it to either or both events.
--

The Deputy Director's "Citizen Column" #3

2008-08-24T08:00:00.004-04:00

From today's Sunday Key West Citizen...

The voices of this community’s past could be a compass to our future

The streets and buildings of Bahama Village speak to me. I was told by a friend that the spirits around the cemetery are more active after midnight, and that I should go there then and the ancestors will speak to me. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that I hear the voices of the streets and buildings speaking out and their voices are louder in certain places.
My recent work with the historic institutions of Bahama Village has made me aware of the buried and interesting — but ever-present — past that surrounds Bahama Village. And if I’m attentive with my eyes and ears, I can hear and see the voices and visions of the past speaking out, sometimes shouting.
When I walk past Cornish Memorial AME Zion, I hear the voice of Sandy Cornish, a former slave who mutilated himself to reduce his value to his slave owner, shouting “don’t give up, stand up for your people, God has not forsaken us.” And they, former slaves, built with their own hands in 1864, one year after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, a church at the corner of Angela and Whitehead streets. They built the rafters and other parts of the church’s interior using wood from the slave ships that brought African slaves here.
Maybe that’s why the church was the location of choice for Douglass High School (which was displaced when the Navy took the land that it sat on), a health clinic, AA and NA meetings, Cub Scout, Girls Scout and Boys Scout groups. Maybe that’s what Mrs. Ruby Bain was hearing that pushed her to keep those snotty-nosed Boys Scouts together. And Girls Scouts.
That makes sense, too. That’s why we have so many leaders from that era, because they were taught to memorize and practice the Scouts’ oath and laws. You know, like duty to God and country; helping others; staying physically and mentally strong, morally straight, trustworthy, loyal, helpful, reverent, etc. Hats off to Mrs. Bain! May her tribe increase.
Maybe that’s why the church is packed and everyone so enthralled when Roosevelt Sands Jr. recites the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech.

Maybe that’s what drew the Rev. James Thornton to come to such a remote location to a then-struggling church — even though he has earned master’s degrees in clinical psychology, mathematics and sacred theology.
Maybe that is what pushed Mr. Charles Major Sr., the oldest living member of Cornish and president of the NAACP, to push through on the integration of the Navy yard bathrooms and Monroe County schools.
Walking down past Petronia Street, I turn the corner onto Emma and I heard another voice saying: “No one is free until we all are free.” I look up and I am standing in front of the William Weech Post No. 168, the American Legion hall built in 1952. Maybe that’s what Mr. Weech thought when he went to serve his country during World War I; even though, as a black American, he did not have the same rights as his fellow soldiers. He knew that we are all one with a linked destiny.

This voice of a linked destiny drew the founding fathers together. Samuel Donzel Leggett, Charles Major Sr., John B. Knowles Sr. and Alfred Allen, elder statesmen of our community, labored together with others to get the building completed. Mr. Allen was a carpenter and supervisor of the job. Mr. Knowles was a carpenter and mason. Others heard and responded to that voice, like architect C.B. Harvey, who provided free services for the building. He was mayor at that time.
With 10,000 Navy personnel, and few places for blacks to go outside of the churches, the VFW was the place to go, with over 100 members. Their walls echo with sounds and voices of the past. The great black performers such as James Brown and BB King all played there because blacks could not go to anyplace else in Key West at that time.
I believe that voice of a linked destiny drove the members to donate to local churches, offer the hall to families who fell victim to fires and to sponsor Scouting troops.
That’s it. Now I know the source of the voices I hear when I approach the areas of Southard, Angela, Emma, and Thomas streets, now a part of Truman Annex. I hear the voices of the children who used to attend Douglass Junior and High School there prior to their demolition. That area used to be a part of La Africana, the predecessor to Bahama Village and the first place settled by liberated African slaves, Bahamian settlers, and Cuban exiles.
Let’s listen and learn from the voices and our history. Let’s get our kids back to Scouting. Let’s stand up and not give up. Let’s remember that we are not free until all are free, and God has not forgotten us.

Wheeler Winstead is a community development specialist and deputy director of the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust. His column appears here every other Sunday. Contact him at wwinstead@bahamaconchclt.org

Radio BCCLT

2008-08-13T08:00:00.002-04:00

This Friday morning (August 15), BCCLT Deputy Director Wheeler Winstead will be interviewed on the US1 Radio (104.1 on the FM dial) show Morning Magazine. Wheeler's timeslot in the show is expected to be soon after the 8am news segment (though that's subject to change).

If you won't be near a Monroe County radio at that time, you can listen on the web using this link: http://www.us1radio.com/us1radio.asx
That should open up in your Media player. If it doesn't work for you, try the "listen live" link on US1 Radio's website: HERE

If you miss the live broadcast, later in the day on Friday it will be archived and can be replayed from the "FRIDAY" link on the Morning Magazine webpage . That link will work for the week following the show (until the following Friday show replaces it).

The Deputy Director's "Citizen Column" #2

2008-08-10T07:00:00.004-04:00

From today's Sunday Key West Citizen...

Key West residents should band together to improve Bahama Village

The idea of a harmonious village of diverse peoples from various cultures living together is the dream, vision and desire of many in Key West and America. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described it in his “I Have a Dream” speech.
But today I call it Bahama Village and today I call it forth. I call forth a village working together, taking care of one another, enjoying the diversity of cultures. Enjoying and celebrating the food, music, art, language, smells and sites.
One can see glimpses of it throughout the community, glimpses of how a community can take care of, support and protect itself. Bahama Village, come forth.
I see it being born and rising ever so slowly. I see it coming forth in Ms. Millie, sewing and chatting with all who come through her open door. I smell it coming forth in the great ribs Kenny serves up every Saturday in front of the Coral City Elks Lodge and Venda’s conch fritters being cooked outside on her porch and Gena’s wonderful cakes, which she makes just for the asking.
Recently, I saw a wonderful manifestation of it rising on Geraldine Street. There was a small fire outside a building at the 100 block of Geraldine Street. The resident accused an acquaintance, to whom I’ll refer as Mr. X. I was there investigating and decided to go to the corner store for some water for the firemen to cool off. While there, I heard the owner, Mr. Acosta, talking to Mr. X. He explained that he was being blamed for the fire and urged him to go there and straighten it out. Mr. Acosta then offered to go with him.
They both walked back to the scene together and Mr. X went to the police, who were now there investigating the incident. Mr. Acosta stayed there the entire time. That’s neighbor taking care of neighbor. Bahama Village is coming forth.
And then there was the incident when in front of Mr. Acosta’s store I was looking for a Sunday paper. Mr. Acosta was talking with one of the young men from the Major family. I thought he was the state wrestling champion and congratulated him on his accomplishments. He corrected me and said it was another family member and he was a bouncer at Rick’s Bar. He had a Sunday paper.
Mr. Acosta and the young Major were talking about young people these days. And Mr. Acosta was giving him counsel on how he would have handled a certain situation that the young Major encountered at the bar. I joined right in. We all talked for a minute before I resumed my search for a paper. I checked the two paper machines near the store and they were empty. Coming back to the store, young Mr. Major saw me empty-handed and simply offered his paper to me. Bahama Village is coming forth.
Bahama Village rises in the strangest place among apparent unsuspecting persons. Take, for example, the recent reggae concert at the Southernmost Hotel. There I saw Rick Rossi seated at the VIP table with Ms. Barbara Sands and a guest.
Or better yet, my chance encounter there with Mayor Morgan McPherson. I happened to be smoking a cigar when we ran into one another. We had a very friendly greeting and he commented on my cigar. He said that he had one that was really nice, a CAO Mx2. He pulled it out of his shirt pocket and immediately offered to me. Seeing that this was his last, I refused to take it. He insisted.
I took it only with the commitment that I could return the favor someday and buy him a drink. He agreed. I brought him a drink and sat down to enjoy the rest of the concert. By the way, that was an excellent cigar. Thanks, Mayor. Don’t forget about your promise.
No birth happens without some pain and struggle. No rose comes without thorns. No great triumph without a great battle. This dream for Bahama Village will not come forth without struggle, pain and hardship. I see the thorns and pain, too. But I see more, much more.
I call all men, women and children of Key West and beyond to join with me and the others in calling Bahama Village forth — to fight against our own fears, prejudices, misconceptions and those who want to destroy our unity and peace.
Bahama Village is coming forth. On Petronia Street again I see...

Wheeler Winstead is a community development specialist and deputy director of the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust. His column appears here every other Sunday.

The Deputy Director's "Citizen Column" #1

2008-07-27T07:00:00.016-04:00

From today's Sunday Key West Citizen...

Bahama Village — discovering a familiar character and sweetness

Citizen Editor’s note: The Citizen today welcomes Wheeler Winstead to this page. Winstead is deputy director of the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust. He has three decades of experience in community development, and is former director of the Faith-Based Community Economic Development Program of the National Congress of Community Economic Development. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. His column will run every other Sunday.
I saw trees very different from my home town of Pittsburgh or my recent home of Washington, D.C. I also saw housing projects just like the ones I came from with people sitting outside. I saw a familiar site: an older woman with a young girl sitting in her lap with a frown on her face as the older woman pulled on the young girl’s hair while she talks to another woman sitting next to her and barely acknowledging her wincing victim. There was a character, a sweetness and familiarity that I felt in these streets similar to what I remember feeling in the “jects” where I grew up or my grandfather’s North Carolina farm community.
I saw older men and women old enough to be my grandparents riding bicycles. Not the slick 12- or 18-gear bicycles that the hip D.C. young people rode, but singlespeed, plain ordinary bicycles. And people nodded their head to acknowledge my presence, or spoke to me as if they knew me. That was it. I was not going to buy a car first, but a bicycle just like the first one my dad bought me when I was about 4 or 5.
Then I came down Petronia Street. I saw the arch announcing the entrance into Bahama Village, and then down to the corner of Petronia and Thomas. Now that is one interesting corner. There’s a wall painted by an artist, the conch shop across from Blue Heaven , the Lemonade Stand Art Studio, and then you have … Johnson’s Store. Now this is where I’ve been trying to take you.
So Johnson’s Store is painted all blue with No Loitering signs all around. And the door is not a door but heavy strips of plastic, the same kind you find in front of a freezer. So what do you think I saw on the inside? (I know you won’t believe me, so go inside like I did.) I entered the hallowed opening for the first time and am so shocked I have to stop. You know what I was expecting. I was expecting to see what I have seen many times in urban black neighborhoods. If you haven’t been in one, ask a friend who has.
First, the floors were spotless. The shelves were full, clean, meticulously arranged with all the products pulled to the front. Every product was in its place, all sodas, water and household items. Even the candy was carefully and meticulously arranged. There was no bullet-proof glass cage protecting the owner from the potential thief-robberlowlife-heathen-shoppers.
Today when I went in, there was Mr. Johnson ironing some shirts and his daughter waiting on their clients. Yesterday, Mr. Johnson was reading the Bible. So I inquired if Mr. Johnson was ready to iron my shirt. He promptly responded that I would have to get in line. Now I believed him because on a wall behind him were several shirts already ironed, and he didn’t look like he was planning on stopping anytime soon. This was especially true since he had his well trained, well mannered, all business-like daughter handling the customers like a seasoned veteran. I had been trying to convince Mr. Johnson to get involved with my community development work, but he says that he is too busy with church and family. But he said he would think about it. Actually he said he would pray about it. I believed he will.
So here we are, in one of the oases of Bahama Village. I feel that way not because of what I saw, but because of what I expected to see. Everything around me triggered images that were contrary to the reality inside Mr. Johnson’s store. They triggered prejudices, fears and negativity that set up a scenario that was just the opposite of the reality inside. I was surprised at some of things that I had to confront in myself. I prided myself on being a forward thinking, progressive kind of person; one who could see the potential greatness in most any thing, person or situation. But by confronting these things it freed me to see even greater possibilities. So why don’t you take this trip and tell me what you see — but before you do let me tell you what I now see when I walk down Petronia street. I see...

Wheeler Winstead is a community development specialist and deputy director of the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust.

Marine Bank's generous donation to BCCLT

2008-07-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

How does a "Land Trust" work?

2008-07-18T12:00:00.005-04:00

We hear comments from time to time that show that plenty of people just aren't familiar with what a "Land Trust" is. Once they find out, they see how important organizations like the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust is to the well-being of a commnity.

There are places, like Hawaii's island of Oahu, that have been using them for a long time. But here in Florida, the BCCLT was actually the first Community Land Trust.

To find out more about how they work, check out this article on the ROOFLINES blog:

What Foreclosure Crisis? Community
Land Trusts Offer Secure Homeownership

Letter to the Editor (KW Citizen)

2008-07-16T07:00:00.003-04:00

Today's Citizen newspaper ran a letter by Sloan Bashinsky, which can also be found on one of his own blogs. It's reproduced here for your convenience....

BCCLT a good model
for local governments

[A July 8] Key West Citizen
editorial was about Conch
Community Land Trust
(BCCLT). If you did not get to
read this excellent editorial,
you can do so by going to bcclt.
blogspot.com.
I have met Norma Jean
Sawyer and other dedicated
BCCLT members. They are
fighting tooth-and-nail to
restore Bahama Village inch
by inch, and wish to extend
that vision and progress to the
Navy land allocated to Bahama
Village in the larger conveyance
from the Navy to the city
of Key West.
I have written before that
Key West should use BCCLT’s
vision and progress as a model
for the entire city, and today I
extend that recommendation
to Monroe County. The way
to start doing that is to meet
with Norma Jean Sawyer and
other BCCLT members. Go to
BCCLT meetings. Look at their
plans. View some of what they
have already accomplished in
Bahama Village.
After doing that, you might
wonder, as I did, why it has
been such hard going for
BCCLT with the Key West City
Commission, which often
seems to lean over backwards
to approve development and
redevelopment projects that do
not seem to have any concern
for Key West, but only seem to
have concern for fattening the
pocketbooks of developers and
redevelopers.
You might also wonder about
what I once was told by a black
Bahama Village native I know
pretty well. Bahama Village
blacks are not Conchs. Only
white people born in Key West
are Conchs, he said. Say what?
He said it again. Native whites
do not view native blacks as
Conchs.
I have had native whites
dispute that, but my Bahama
Village friend’s words rung
true as well. Which leaves me
wondering if Bahama Conch
Community Land Trust would
have had smoother sailing if it
had left Conch out of its name.
Norma Jean Sawyer can be
reached at normajeansawyer@
bellsouth.net.
Sloan Bashinsky
Key West

Key West Citizen Editorial

2008-07-08T07:00:00.029-04:00

In today's edition of the Key West Citizen, the following editorial was run.

Bahama Village should
benefit from waterfront
Key West Mayor
Morgan McPherson
recently came out
with harsh criticism of the
Bahama Conch Community
Land Trust and its plans to
develop a portion of the
Truman Waterfront. In place
of the BCCLT proposal,
McPherson offered the idea of
a water park on the Truman
Waterfront property.
As any nonprofit, the
BCCLT has at times struggled
financially. And as other nonprofits,
it has wrestled with
growing pains. The organization’s
matriarch, Norma Jean
Sawyer, should be commended
for her dedication to the
organization over the years.
It is important to note that,
rumor and innuendo aside,
the BCCLT has been audited
every year since its inception,
and each time it has
received a clean bill of health.
Additionally, the organization
has a new deputy executive
director, Wheeler Winstead.
Winstead brings with him a
master of business administration
and a background
in real estate development.
McPherson acknowledged
that hiring Winstead would
help carry the BCCLT to the
next level.
The BCCLT’s proposed
development received strong
support during the last
election — the referendum
passed overwhelmingly. The
proposal also is integral to
the conveyance agreement
between the Navy and the
city, as laid out in economic
conveyance documents. For
the sake of clarity, here are
objectives outlined in the
executive summary of the
conveyance:
• Enhancing the economic
health and long-term viability
of the city’s tourism-dependent
business base;
• Developing and protecting
a vibrant multiuse port
facility;
• Creating and retaining
high-quality employment
opportunities for Key West
citizens, and in particular for
residents of Bahama Village,
the city’s historic African-
American neighborhood
located adjacent to the site;
• Preserving and enhancing
the economic foundation of
Bahama Village;
• Providing needed affordable
commercial sites for
resident entrepreneurs and
existing businesses in order
to allow them to compete for

Editorial

a share of Key West’s increasingly
competitive retail/service
trade; and
• Expanding economic
opportunities and training
for Key West’s homeless and
needy residents to help break
the cycle of poverty.
As these goals clearly show,
it was the intent of both
the Navy and the city for a
large part of the transferred
property to directly benefit
Bahama Village, its residents
and others in our community
who are struggling.
In thinking about water
parks in general, we question
the mayor’s rationale, and
are curious to see the results
of the study he says is being
conducted to gauge the merits
of such an attraction in Key
West. A brief Internet search
shows the top 10 water parks
in America are in landlocked
cities, with very few water
parks located on the coast.
We also question the simple
matter of having enough land
to support a successful water
park. Most major water parks
cover upward of 50 acres
— Key West has a fraction of
that available. There is also
the question of water supply
and use. Water parks have
enormous water demands,
and with the city facing permanent
water restrictions, we
must ask if this is the best use
of resources.
Some residents have sug
gested — in jest — that the
mayor’s water park concept
be merged with an idea
fielded awhile back by County
Commission candidate
Sloan Bashinsky — a clothing-
optional pirate-themed
park on Wisteria Island. If the
city built a nude water park
on Wisteria Island, it surely
would have the only one of
its kind and easily attract
national attention and a
niche market.
Seriously, though, it’s time
to make some progress on the
Truman Waterfront property
and follow the plans that have
been in place for many years
now — plans that were established
through years of study
and negotiation, and that
have been publicly vetted.
We urge the city to assist the
BCCLT in moving its project
forward so the entire community
can all reap the benefits
for years to come.

— The Citizen

Art & Music Festival

2008-07-01T12:00:00.013-04:00

Saturday, July 5th, the First Annual Bahama Village SUMMER Art & Music Festival will take place on Higgs Beach! It will last from 10:30 am to SUNSET on the beach between the White Street Pier and the Martello.

Local Musicians performing will be Junkanoos, Caffeine Carl and the Buzz featuring Pauly Walterson of The Bubba System, Caribe, and the Key West Caribbean All-Stars.

There will be local artists along with local authors under the big tent. Beverages are provided by Pepsi.

This is a family event on the beach celebrating our nation’s independence, our community’s local color and talent while supporting your local Land Trust.

This is a benefit for the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust.

This event is sponsored by:

Tender Loving Care Gardens
Marine Bank
Virgilio’s
Coco Palms Jamaican Me Hungry
Pepsi
Manley DeBoer
Coral City Elks
William Weech Post 168 American Legion
Castillo and Thurston Key West Mortuary
David Service Landscaping

For more information or to participate and display, please call 294-0884 or email info@bahamaconchclt.org.

Commission okays release of long-delayed reimbursement funds

2008-06-17T22:00:00.003-04:00

At tonight's Key West City Commission meeting, the Commission -- in their role as the BAHAMA VILLAGE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY (“CRA”) -- took under consideration a reimbursement request by the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust. The BCCLT had formally requested that a long-overdue disbursement from the dedicated "Tax Increment Financing" ("TIF") funds be issued to cover 7 years of unreimbursed expenses. From the agenda:

RESOLUTION:

(a) Authorizing an expenditure of tax increment financing monies to the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust (BCCLT) in the amount of $102,306.00 for “Unreimbursed Allowable Acquisition and Rehabilitation Expenditures” and $353,418.00 for “Developer Fees Associated with or attributed
to Property Development Activities” (Total amount of $455,724.00). (Commissioner Lopez)

The Commission chambers were filled with residents and friends of Bahama Village and the BCCLT, including residents of the BCCLT-managed properties, community leaders, life-long community residents and others interested in seeing the BCCLT's mission continue unabated.

When the agenda reached this item, BCCLT Board of Directors President Jim Marquardt opened the public comments discussion by introducing the Board members who were present, as well as the BCCLT staff and the current and past auditors of BCCLT financials. He was followed by BCCLT Deputy Director Wheeler Winstead who provided the background rationale behind the request.

At this point a steady parade of Bahama Village and other Key West citizenry stepped up to the podium to express their support for the BCCLT and the work it has done for the community. Everyone in the room, or watching on TV, had to be moved by the stirring testimonials. Some of the speakers cited the local and state legislation directives that support the request. All of the speakers made it clear that they felt that the reimbursements were both necessary and urgent. Finally BCCLT Executive Director Norma Jean Sawyer closed out the public input period with a historical perspective of the issues involved.

After the public input the Commissioners spent over an hour dissecting the request, analyzing many factors both pertinent and superfluous to the issue at hand. Wheeler and Norma Jean returned to the podium several times to answer questions and clarify some of the points being raised. Though the questioning became contentious at times, the directors kept their cool and answered all questions -- but corrected any erroneous conclusions or opinions expressed by the commissioners.

The BCCLT directors agreed that the 1995 and 1998 plans and agreements between the CRA and the BCCLT needed to be updated and supported plans by the City to begin the process of doing so. They also made it clear that the BCCLT considers the City to be partners in their mission and urged that any contentiousness be muted.

In the end, after about 2 hours, the Commissioners (acting as the CRA) approved the reimbursement unanimously.

KeyNoter article about BCCLT

2008-05-24T12:00:00.010-04:00

In today's KeyNoter newspaper, reporter Kyle Teal reported on how the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust provides affordable housing to the citizens of our city. The article can be found on-line, or for convenience is reproduced here....

For some, Land Trust is essential
By Kyle Teal, Photo by Kyle Teal, Posted-Friday, May 23, 2008 7:23 PM EDT

Affordable units make Keys possible

Bahama Village resident Laetryce Smith found an unconventional Christmas gift for her 14-year-old daughter this past holiday season: A new place to live.

Smith, a mother of three, packs up her work materials each night at Avis Car Rental at Key West International Airport and hops on her blue moped, back to a home she never thought she could afford.

Smith was staying with her sister before December, where the living situation was a little cramped. When she contacted the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust, the nonprofit made it possible for her to have a place to call her own.

“I was born and raised in Key West, but I ran into some difficulties,” she said. “I went to [the Land Trust] and filled out an application, and [Executive Director Norma Jean Sawyer] got me in a nice, roomy place.”

Smith pays $585 a month, and doesn't think it would be possible to live in the Key West if it weren't for the Land Trust subsidizing part of her housing cost.

Smith said the Land Trust will charge her according to her salary. If she makes more, her rent increases.

According to the guidelines of the nonprofit's agreement with the city, Land Trust tenants shouldn't pay more the 30 percent of their income not including utilities, which sometimes presents a quandary, according to Deputy Director Wheeler Winstead.

Tenants who start to make more money don't want to be evicted and the Land Trust doesn't want to do the evicting.

And what about the people who make very little money, if any?

“How can we can exist when we are charging less than our cost to operate?” Winstead said. “If we want to operate like a good business, we can't run it at a loss.”

Tenants cannot make more than 100 percent of the area median income; the 2007 median for a family of four in Monroe County was $61,000, and $42,958 for individuals renter or buying.

The group's bookkeeping is under scrutiny by Mayor Morgan McPherson and other city officials. Information from last year showed 13 tenants were out of compliance with renting regulations and that 12 units were vacant, pending renovation and other delays.

Sawyer said the figures are outdated and that new information will show most all of the units are filled.

Land Trust members say those critical of its actions should see their accomplishments in preserving the character of Key West and making affordable housing available to low-income residents.

“We could not live here without the BCCLT,” homeowner Jim Marquardt said. He shares a 1,000-square-foot home at 204 Olivia St. with his partner of seven years and Land Trust board member Norman Laurendeau.

Marquardt is concierge at Simonton Court and the president of the trust board. He bought his home with a 15-year fixed mortgage rate from Wachovia bank in 2001 for $96,000. The couple pays about $1,700 a month with insurance and should have it paid off “in just few years.”

Their carpentry skills came in handy, as the home wasn't much when they started out.

“It was basically just a house on dirt,” the Arizona native said. “We installed the deck, fencing, landscaping, and interior lighting.”

Knowing their deed-restricted house will stay affordable for 99 years is a comfortable feeling for the couple.

Jethons Williams, a 32-year-old TV specialist for Monroe County, pays $895 a month to rent his two-bedroom apartment. His cost of rent, originally $630, rose steadily with his salary.

He made sure he had a unit secured with the Land Trust before he moved to Key West from upstate New York.

Our Bi-Annual Report

2008-05-22T15:00:00.000-04:00

The Bahama Conch Community Land Trust is proud to present our 2007-2008 Bi-Annual Report. The report is made available in a 2MB "pdf" file, which can be printed on virtually any computer. Just click the picture of the report on the right to view the full report.....

While viewing the report, you can also "save a copy" on your own computer if you wish to refer to it again while off-line.

(Like all "pdf" files, you'll need to have the Adobe viewer on your system. Most all newer systems have this installed already. If you don't have it on your system, you can install the viewer from: HERE. )

We are excited about our accomplishments since our last report, and are looking forward to great things to come.

BCCLT Valentine Cake Sale

2008-02-07T10:45:00.000-05:00

VALENTINE CAKE AUCTION
“Bid on Sweets
For your Sweetheart”
Feb. 9th at 3pm
A fundraiser for Oyotunji African Village Black History Program

Sponsored by:
The Restaurant Store
1111 Eaton St.
And
The Art of Baking by Henrietta
At the Resturant Store
Featuring:
Exotic Cakes (i.e. Vanilla Wafer Cake and Banana Pudding Cake)
Created by our own Henrietta of the Food Network Fame!

So come, bring your honey and let’s raise some money!
The Resturant Store 1111 Eaton St. on Feb. 9th at 3pm

It's Your Vote

2007-10-05T12:00:00.000-04:00

Now that the Key West City Commission has approved the conduct of a referendum at the November 6 run-off municipal election, BCCLT is mashalling its resources to ensure that the referendum, which grants a long-term lease on 6.6 acres of the Truman Waterfront for the construction of its long-dreamed Bahama Conch Village at the foot of Petronia Street.

Voters approved a similar lease for the Assisted Care Living Facility (ACLF) being planned by the Florida Keys Assisted Care Coalition. The FKACC referendum passed by a better than two-to-one margin, following a very effective lobbying campaign by the FKACC. If the BCCLT referendum is approved, it will make neighbors of two unique facilities at the edges of what is destined to become the jewel of Key West parks. The ACLF will allow Key West senior citizens to age in place in the Southernmost City instead of having to leave the homes that sustained them in their lives. The Bahama Conch VIllage puts a mixed-use village of small retail shops, educational facilities, recreational facilities, and 60-70 units of affordable housing on land that integrates the legacy of Bahama Village within the property that was seized from their ancestors, and that provided good jobs to its residents through the years of the two World Wars and much of the Cold War.

FKACC provides some affordable housing as a part of their development proposal. All of the residential units in Bahama Conch VIllage will fall into that category. BCCLT's proposal includes elements of economic opportunity to small-business entrepreneurs, job training programs for the youth of Key West, programs and facilities for artists, and recreational programs for all of the children of the city.

Even with these two projects, up to 80% of the property will still be park land, green space for all citizens to enjoy and a showcase for tourists of a significant element of the culture of this place.

Time grows short. The referendum will appear on the November 6 ballot. It requires only a majority vote of the electorate to be approved.

Bahama Conch Village

2007-09-19T09:21:00.002-04:00

The Bahama Conch Community Land Trust set off on a path last night that will determine whether or not the 10-year old community organization can reach a new level in its effort to preserve, protect and defend the historic Bahama Village neighborhood of Key West. Bahama Village became a target for development in the early years of this decade because of its strategic location at the nascent Truman Waterfront Park, and because families with a long heritage in the neighborhood are succumbing to the lure of money and the siren song of the mainland, bigger houses, better-paying jobs and a more affluent life than here, in this tropical paradise.

The Key West City Commission last night approved in second reading the holding of a referendum that will allow the City to negotiate the long-term lease of 6.6 acres of the Truman Waterfront for the development of what is known as Bahama Conch Village (on page 6) by the land trust. In 2002, the BCCLT received a grant from the prestigious MacArthur Foundation to produce a conceptual plan for an extension of Bahama Village back onto land that was taken from the City of Key West by the United States government before or during World War II. Parts of the acreage of the Navy Base were sold off to a private developer in the mid-1970s and became what is known today as Truman Annex. In 2000 the Navy withdrew 17 acres of what was supposed to be a 50-acre parcel in order to accommodate the headquarters of Joint Interagency Task Force South and some Navy housing located at the real Southernmost point of the United States. The remaining 33 acres became city property in 2002 as a no-cost economic development conveyance. The terms of the conveyance included restrictions on how the land can be used. It also requires a demonstration of the economic benefit to the community at large, and specifically to the residents of Bahama Village. The memorandum of understanding for the conveyance also speaks of cultural preservation and the restoration of the land to the community from which it was taken.

The citywide referendum will be held either at a November run-off municipal election, should one be required, or at the first election to be held thereafter. Here is the language of the referendum question as approved by the Commission last night:

Shall the Naval Properties Local Redevelopment Authority of the City of Key West ("LRA") be authorized to lease real property of approximately 6.6 acres at the Truman Waterfront to the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust for a period of 99 years at the rate of one dollar per year, the final terms of which must be apporved by the LRA, for uses including approximately 60-70 affordable housing units, a cultural arts center, small business retail spaces, and a youth development and/or convention center?

The BCCLT Board of Directors has assembled a team of experienced development consultants who will help Executive Director Norma Jean Sawyer-Atanda to secure funding for the project and select the needed development partners to carry the project through to completion over the next two years. If approved by voters, development will go forward in an open process with the advice and support of the entire community of Key West. Conceptual plans developed by the Center for Urban Development and Education (CURE) of Florida Atlantic University are the basis for the development.

This blog and BCCLT's own web site will be among the means by which the development team will keep the rest of the community aware and involved in what is taking place. Anyone desiring more information may contact Executive Director Sawyer-Atanda at normajeansawyer@bellsouth.net, or by calling the offices of the CLT at (305) 294-0884.

BCCLT News

2007-08-15T08:29:00.001-04:00

The Keynoter and the Key West Citizen each gave nice coverage to BCCLT's renovation project on Julia Street.

This note is from Adrian Poitier, BCCLTs Project Manager:

"NOW YOU ALL GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE WHY I'VE BEEN TOO BUSY FOR MOST OF YOU. IT IS A BLESSING TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR YOUR EFFORTS. I NEVER THOUGHT THE PAPER WOULD PRINT A STORY ABOUT WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO HERE IN KEY WEST BUT THEY DID. I WANTED TO SHARE MY EXCITEMENT AND GRATITUDE WITH YOU ALL, THE PEOPLE I LOVE AND ADORE. BE BLESSED, YOU ARE ALL IN MY PRAYERS ALTHOUGH YOU MAY NOT SEE OR TALK WITH ME REGULARLY...."

ONE PERFECT LOVE,
ADRIAN

Julia Street Project

2007-08-08T23:10:00.000-04:00

The BCCLT will celebrate tomorrow afternoon the completion of its project to rehabilitate two buildings on Julia Street that had fallen into disrepair. The buildings will provide low income housing for homeless individuals and families or those at risk of becoming homeless. In addition, a portion of one of the buildings will become the permanent offices of BCCLT, offering residents a neighborhood-based source of information about housing programs that can benefit homeowners and renters.
The Julia Street project was completed with assistance received from the State of Florida through the Southernmost Homeless Assistance League (SHAL). The event will be from 2-3 PM at 307 and 307-1/2 Julia Street.

For more information call the BCCLT office at 292-9692.

Shutters for low income home owners

2007-08-08T23:04:00.000-04:00

[The] Monroe County Hazard Mitigation Group was notified of a grant
program to install shutters for low income home owners. [They are] trying to
determine if there is a substantial need for this project (which a
non-profit organization would run) to determine where it may rank in our
needs list.

If you know of anyone/any family who meets all of the criteria below -
please let me know:

1. Owns & resides in a Key West home,homesteaded in their name;
2. The family income is less than $45,760;
3. Is insured for less than $500,000;
4. The home is site built detached home (not multi-family);
5. The home is not a trailer;
6. The home was built before March, 2001;
7. has an assessed value(property appraiser value) of less than
$300,000; and
8. The home is not a condo.

Responses should be made to:

Annalise Mannix, P.E.
City Stormwater Engineer
Stormwater Utility
City of Key West
627 Palm Avenue
Key West, FL 33040
(305) 809 3747 office
(305) 292 8244 fax
(305) 797-0463 phone
email: amannix@keywestcity.com
website: keywestcity.com

Ocean View Park

2007-05-18T09:27:00.001-04:00

From This Day in History at the Key West Citizen:

1955

The Navy announced plans to build 83 housing units on the Naval Station at the end of United Street on land leased to Monroe County and used as Ocean View Park, a segregated beach for African-Americans.

IMPORTANT MEETING ABOUT TRUMAN WATERFRONT PARK

2007-05-15T12:00:00.001-04:00

The Key West City Commission holds a workshop meeting on Wednesday, May 16 at 6:00 PM to take public input on the development of the Truman Waterfront Park. The workshop is open to the public and is designed to allow the City Commission to take public input on how the 33 acres of the Truman Waterfront will be used.

Despite there having been insufficient public notice of this meeting and its location on the other side of the island, it is important -- vital -- that as many residents of the City, and especially of Bahama Village, attend the workshop.

If you're reading this, please come and bring your family, friends and neighbors.

AGENDA
NAVAL PROPERTIES LOCAL REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY WORKSHOP

DOUBLE TREE GRAND KEY RESORT
3990 S. ROOSEVELT BLVD.
MANGROVE ROOM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2007, 6:00 P.M.

1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER

2. ROLL CALL

3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

4. INTRODUCTION

5. BACKGROUND OF TRUMAN WATERFRONT PROPERTY

(a) Mechanism of Transfer-Economic Development Conveyance (EDC)
(b) Transfer conditions/restrictions (MOA, MOU, Deed, Environmental)
(c) City’s Comprehensive Plan dealing with Truman Waterfront
(d) Development of Master Site Plan

6. BCCLT PLAN

7. MASTER SITE PLAN PRESENTATION

8. COMMISSIONERS’ COMMENTS/DIRECTION

9. ADJOURNMENT

A Current Project

2007-04-29T14:24:00.000-04:00

These pictures are from 307 Julia Street, a BCCLT project currently underway in conjunction with a grant from the Southernmost Homeless Assistance League (SHAL). When finished, the house will provide affordable living quarters for eight residents who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Bahama Conch Community Land Trust

2007-04-27T06:52:00.001-04:00

Who are we? What do we do? Where are we headed?

We'll attempt to answer these three questions, and any others that might arise, in posts to this blog.

For those unfamiliar with this new medium known as web logging -- or blogging, we can accept comments. Iniitally, those comments will be moderated, that is, reviewed before we'll allow them to appear. We'll try not to censor ideas, only offensive expression of those ideas and what has become known as comment spam.

The blog is a reflection of the philosophies and the beliefs of the board of BCCLT, nine residents of the community, many of them residents of the Bahama Village neighborhood which has been the primary focus of our efforts over the past ten years.

So, the short answers to the three questions are:

The BCCLT is the first land trust founded in the State of Florida. In 1996 a group of city residents recognized a community need and set out to fill it. It's been a rocky road at times, but there have been successes along the way. We hope to be able to highlight this story in coming posts.

What we do primarily is to create and maintain affordable housing, or as it is being called these days, workforce housing, for 42 families throughout Bahama Village. In addition, several families have purchased homes acquired by the Land Trust and restored them to habitable condition.

Where we are going involves the entire community of Key West. The no-cost conveyance of the Truman Waterfront to the City of Key West was based in large measure on the opporutnities and benefits that it would bestow on residents of the land that was taken from the City of Key West and of historic Bahama Village residents by the U.S. goverment for military purposes. The use of the land must must create economic opportunity for residents or the government can reclaim the land from the City.

There will be much to report on in the coming days as the Key West City Commission considersplans by BCCLT and other organizations for using the thirty-three acres. Those decisions will affect the City for decades to come and must be carried out carefully, thoughtfully, and with a delicate touch. Time is passing. The clock runs out in 2012.

Well begun is half-done.