Bartus gets two-year contract

The Key Colony Beach City Commission has approved a two-year employment contract with John Bartus, a 14-year Marathon city council member, to serve as part-time city administrator.

The position requires at least 25 hours of work each week and provides a base salary of $75,000, with a severance equal to three weeks of salary in the event of termination.

Bartus will report to Mayor Joey Raspe and carry out commission directives. Department heads will continue to report directly to the commission.

The commission voted unanimously in July to negotiate an employment agreement with Bartus over another applicant, James LaConti, who had public works and contracting experience in New Jersey and the Florida Keys. Each was able to make a statement, which then was followed by commissioner questions and comments.

LaConti emphasized he wanted Key Colony Beach to be peaceful again and his background in general contracting would help in dealing with construction, as well as with attorneys and the public. “It doesn’t have to be ugly,” he said.

The small Middle Keys community last year experienced months of political tumult over a controversial and costly plan to rebuild city hall, which was ultimately abandoned after resident opposition and a legal challenge, and a reshaping of leadership with the resignations of then-Mayor Patti Trefry and commissioner Beth Ramsay-Vickrey and the firing of City Administrator Dave Turner.

Bartus emphasized his “longstanding history of diplomacy” and conflict resolution through the years, and attached six letters of recommendation from noted public officials such as Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay and county Mayor Holly Raschein.