The Last Race Standing: Wayne Garcia Makes His Case

As Key West’s final City Commission race this cycle nears its conclusion, I checked in with Wayne Garcia, who finished second in August’s District IV primary, and advanced to a runoff against Sarah Compton.

The winner will succeed Commissioner Lissette Carey, who chose not to seek a second term after four years on the dais that included an unsuccessful recall effort.

Below is a lightly edited conversation with Garcia, who described himself as very positive ahead of tomorrow’s decision.

What do voters still misunderstand about the choice between you and your opponent?

We've had, I think altogether six or seven forums or semi-debates during the primary time. And I think the voters got a good idea of what Sarah, what she stands for, and what she would like to see Key West. And then they understood what I have. So I don't know. This has been a pretty open campaign and we've gotten on the record about where our stances are. So I think that's been resolved. I don't think there is that big of a question of the difference between her and I.

What do you think at this point your opponent fundamentally misunderstands about Key West or this job?

She's done her homework. She has a good record of attending the meetings and looking up with stuff that has to do with the running of city hall and how things get done and what the priorities are and what the agenda is. As far as the island of Key West and the people who live here, of course I'm going to have a better grasp on that. I've been here 66 years, but that the citizens of Key West don't necessarily all the time vote for a local full fledged. They're smart voters and they'll see what the best choice is and they make good decisions. I think the past elections have proven that.

What changes the most about this city commission depending on which of you occupies this seventh seat on the dais? What's the most fundamental change that will come about from your race?

Let me see. I would say that again, both of us I believe have a true love for this island and want the absolute best for Key West. And I know that I'll vote with the will of District Four when it has to do with District Four and I'll always have the voters in mind when making a decision so that sometimes I'll vote with the mayor and sometimes I'll vote against what maybe the mayor wants to do something that I don't agree with. Again, I would say that Sarah will do the same. She'll vote with her heart and with the knowledge and especially with the voters of District Four in mind. We're pretty close on what type of agenda we want to see go forward.

Is there anything about your opponent or even this race that you've been too polite to say publicly until now?

Not at all. Not at all. I didn't know Sarah before she joined the planning board. Her and I served, I think for over a year on the city planning board. And from the beginning I could see she was very well-spoken, very intelligent. And then during the campaign, we've run a clean race. We decided that before we said we're going to do this. We don't have to do any mud slinging or anything. So I don't know of her personal life, but her public persona and who she has been during this campaign is just very nice and knowledgeable. She's been a good opponent too.

Have you been in touch with the third place primary finisher, Juan Llera, during this runoff? And if you have, what have those conversations been like?

I saw Juan at the Home Depot about a week or so, maybe a couple weeks after the election. We spoke about family and how everything was going. We didn't get into a conversation about whether he was going to endorse me or Sarah. I didn't press it and it didn't come about. We were cordial, we shook hands, and he wished me the best of luck.

If you lose tomorrow, what do you think will be the biggest reason?

The absolute biggest reason if I lose tomorrow, absolute biggest reason is if it rains all day long. We're not going to get many voters. So then it might go either way. If we get a good turnout, I think I have a good shot at this. But yeah, if it just storms tomorrow all day, then it's going to make me a little nervous.

As a lifelong Key Wester, how do you rate these rains we've been getting since October the 1st? Are they like, it's bad, but it's not the worst you've seen or is it pretty bad for what you've seen during your lifetime?

Key West has a rainy season, but back in probably 1978, 79, somewhere along in there, maybe '80, it rained. In three days, it rained 26 inches, flooded the whole island. I remember they even made t-shirts saying I survived 26 inches, something like that. It was just torrential. It was probably 1980 now that I'm thinking about it. But Key West weather's always going to be, it's a tropical island. You're going to have rainstorms. That's why we have beautiful fruit trees and foliage everywhere because of the rains. We have to accept it. It's part of living on an island.

If you do win tomorrow, what do you think voters would have been telling your opponent?

The message would probably be that they wanted to elect someone who has an institutional knowledge of Key West, a lifelong knowledge. And I know how things work on the island of Key West. I've seen the good and the bad over the last, let's say, 45 years since I've been an adult. I think the voters would say Sarah's great and someday she will make a great city commissioner. But right now it was Wayne Garcia's turn, so that would be probably something that they would be thinking.