SHERIFF SHOCKED BY ABUSE OF HURRICANE REENTRY DECALS
A REENTRY STICKER IS NO LONGER ADEQUATE MEANS TO GET THROUGH THE CHECKPOINT
Monroe County Sheriff, Rick Ramsay, announced this morning that he was “shocked” by the abuse he was seeing of the hurricane re-entry decal program. He sent a photo to Monroe County’s Director of Emergency Management, Shanon Weiner, County Mayor Heather Carruthers, and County Administrator Roman Gastesi showing a bag full of Upper Keys reentry stickers. He has asked Emergency Management officials to coordinate an end to the issuance of reentry stickers.
Sheriff Ramsay, April 6, 2020 Emergency Management Zoom meeting, to MC Emergency Management Director, Shannon Weiner:
“I sent a picture to you this morning – I think to you, Roman and the Mayor. And later on we should talk about it a little bit more but you saw a whole bag of upper keys reentry stickers, half of which were counterfeit, the other half were on vehicles where people were lay workers, did not live here, did not have residence, had no nexus to the Keys. As we asked people – where obviously how a bunch were fake – they bought from Miami. The other half that we were getting off cars for the most part were people that said they got them from a friend, they got them from this person, someone gave them to them, some said they got them at the Fire Stations where people were picking up mass amounts… I was shocked to see that picture of how many stickers so far came off cars of people that had nothing to do with the Keys.”
“Right now we are just flagging people in… I recommend that at this time we stop issuing any more hurricane reentry stickers since we can’t validate the program. We’re just having to flag them in anyway. If it’s got a yellow sticker we still got to wave them in.”
“More than 200 reentry stickers were confiscated,” said Kristen Livengood in an afternoon press release.
All residential reentry sticker distribution has now been suspended in Monroe County, including at Monroe County Fire Rescue stations and the Monroe County Tax Collector’s offices.
Deputies will continue seizing all counterfeit stickers.
Residents will now need further documented proof of residency other than the reentry sticker to enter the Florida Keys. “A reentry sticker alone is no longer adequate means to get through the checkpoint alone,” said Livengood.
I don’t see why the Sheriff should be shocked. The County government has continued to show it’s lack of leadership and at times incompetence in the face of this crisis. I have complained over the past two weeks about the number of our of state vehicles appearing in our sub-division. Many of whom we know to be neither property owners or residents. I was told by my district commissioner that the Keys were closed to tourism on March 20. I then asked how or why all of these non-residents are here and got no response. I guess we know why. I think the County government should wake up and call for all non-existent to leave. It’s time to protect the residents.