Retiring Code Official No Stranger to Hot Water

Key West’s Young was previously fired and then reinstated by the City in 2009

Indicted long-time Code Enforcement Director Jim Young is no stranger to hot water.

After being accused of overstepping his bounds in the enforcement of transient vacation rentals at the Galleon Resort and Marina in 2006, Young was fired shortly after former City Commissioner Harry Bethel likened him to a “Gestapo” officer in his pursuit of code cases during a commission meeting.

Young eventually hired Morgan & Hendrick to represent him, and former Federal Magistrate Hugh Morgan filed a whistleblower suit on his behalf.

The suit was eventually settled out of court and Young was reinstated in 2009. The City reimbursed his retirement contributions to the tune of about $44k to make up for time lost.

Before coming to the City of Key West, Young was a long-time detective with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, retiring in 2003 after 21 years on the force and receiving several commendations from the FBI — the same organization that is now investigating the Bubba Bozo Trio.

Since then, Young collecting one retirement from Broward while working towards retirement—which he filed for on Friday—in Key West.

But if convicted on his indictment by a Monroe County grand jury, all of those years of work could be forfeited—and it is not clear if the charges will stop at just one.

Young was also implicated in a string of text messages between disgraced City Attorney Ron Ramsingh and his brother Raj and several current commissioners in a plot to run former City Manager Al Childress out of Key West after less than a year on the job.

In this instance, Young has retained Cara Higgins and Jerry Bolloratto to lead his defense.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.