The Bully of Keystone Heights
The Bully of Keystone Heights
Clay County's smallest city provides the largest amount of drama
This article was originally published on the Clay County Beacon in February 2022. Minor edits have been made for grammar and clarity
Keystone Heights is a bit of an oddity. Sitting at the far southern end of the county, separated from the main parts of the county by long stretches of forest, a state park, and Camp Blanding, it is easy to forget about Keystone.
Known chiefly for its lakes that have been dying for years, Keystone is most often frequented by the folks who live there. It is not a place that gets much attention. And that is precisely why a scandal brewing for months has gone unnoticed.
Keystone Heights is a large area, but this story is happening in Keystone and centers on the City Council. The council is comprised of five members. The board members rotate through the titles of mayor and vice mayor. Per the city’s documents, the mayor and vice mayor are responsible for running the city council meetings. The offices do not hold any traditional mayoral powers or responsibilities.
The current mayor of Keystone Heights is Karen Lake. Lake is a long-time resident of Keystone and works as a Student Affairs Specialist at Santa Fe College. Steve Hart is the current vice mayor. A lawyer by trade, Hart is also a long-time resident. The three other city council members are Tony Brown, Marion Kelly, and Bobby Brown.
Another key player in Keystone Heights is Lynn Rutkowski. Lynn serves as the city manager and is an employee of Keystone Heights, not an elected official. Lynn is widely perceived as an excellent city manager and an advocate for Keystone Heights. Scott Kornegay, a well-known figure in county politics and government, preceded Lynn.
The first signs of the drama swirling in Keystone emerged a few months ago. During the Sept. 13, 2021, city council meeting, Mayor Karen Lake was accused of sending abusive and inappropriate text messages to the city manager. At the same meeting, Lake attempted to create a new position in the city to ‘assist’ the county manager but report directly to the board.
On the surface, the situation in Keystone Heights between the mayor and the city manager didn’t make much sense. After many conversations and quite a bit of time spent watching old city council meetings, I have been able to piece together a story that spans the course of a few years.
Karen Lake has been involved in politics in Clay County and Keystone Heights since 2006. Ms. Lake has served in the following capacity since that time:
Appointed to the 2005-2006 lay County Charter Review Commission
Member of the 2005-2006 Keystone Heights Charter Review Commission
Member of the 2009-2010 Keystone Heights Charter Review Commission
Member of the Growth Management Committee for the City of Keystone Heights
Member of the Planning and Zoning Committee for the City of Keystone Heights
In short, it would appear on paper that Lake should have a working knowledge of the government’s structure and function in Keystone Heights.
The problems in Keystone arise from the fact that Lake’s actions seem off base with the amount of knowledge and experience she possesses. As far back as 2018, Mayor Lake has habitually overstepped her authority in the role of mayor. The behavior started with the management of city employees.
In Keystone, the employees report to the city manager. The city manager reports to the council. Control of the employees is supposed to be handled by the city manager with no direct input from individual council members. It is important to remember that the mayor's office, while technically an elected position, is procedural and holds no extra authority outside of the typical responsibilities of a council member. The position of Vice Mayor is rotated through the remaining council members.
But Lake does not operate that way. Since being elected, she has gone around the city manager to issue edicts and tasks directly to city employees. The city manager at the time Lake was first elected was Scott Kornegay. Kornegay is a well-known entity in Clay County politics. Kornegay used his relationships and connections throughout the county to run the city of Keystone Heights in a universally successful way.
From the start, Kornegay and Lake bumped heads. Lake seemed to lock onto Kornegay and often questioned his city management. There was palpable tension between the two, ultimately leading to Kornegay leaving the position of city manager. Lynn Rutkowski was Kornegay’s assistant at the time of his departure. The city council tapped Rutkowski to replace Kornegay as manager. At this point, according to multiple people close to the situation, Mayor Lake shifted her attention to the new city manager.
Multiple sources involved in the situation detailed a long line of abusive treatment by Mayor Lake toward Rutkowski. Lake has accused Rutkowski of ‘incompetence’ on several occasions. She has also waged a private campaign to rally people to her view of Rutkowski. Lake aims to paint the manager as a poor communicator incapable of running the city's infrastructure.
All the tensions and behind-the-scenes campaigning came to a head in September of 2021. At the Sept.13 Keystone Heights City Council Meeting. During the public comment section of the meeting, Scott Fryar spoke in support of Rutkowski. Fryar, a Keystone Airport board of directors member, urged the council to support Rutkowski in her role. He also referenced the abusive treatment and text messages that multiple sources have corroborated.
At the end of the Sept. 13 meeting, the council discusses whether a performance evaluation is needed for the city manager. During this discussion, Lake suggests adding a new employee to the city payroll to assist Rutkowski. Lake wants the new employee because what she thought was a “competence issue” might result from Rutkowski being overworked.
This new employee would report directly to the city council instead of the city manager. Rutkowski, when asked for her input, stated that she would not favor the new position as she would not want anyone else subjected to the abusive treatment from the council, namely Mayor Lake.
Only Lake expressed a negative view of Rutkowski’s job performance during the meeting. Every person who spoke out about this story expressed a positive view of Rutkowski.
Vice Mayor Steve Hart goes as far as to say that “the job is being done.” Hart also expresses his appreciation for the supportive comments regarding Rutkowski and points out that the city council, not the mayor, is responsible for evaluating city employees. Hart is interrupted by Lake, who states, “I don’t need a lecture.”
Hart then clarifies via the city attorney that any text messages sent to city employees from council members are a matter of public record and should not be destroyed.
The meeting ends shortly after, and this is when the Clay County Beacon was made aware of the tumult down in Keystone. The research and interviews conducted over the past five months paint a picture of abusive and inappropriate behavior by Karen Lake that spills outside the bounds of her role as mayor.
Lake is employed by Santa Fe Community, where she works as a ‘student affairs specialist.’ Part of this role deals with the dual enrollment program Santa Fe College offers students at Keystone Heights High School. Lake is also active in the Keystone Heights Rotarians Club.
Multiple sources inside the dual enrollment program and the Rotary have alleged similar abusive behavior from Lake. The behavior has risen to such a level that some families and students have opted not to participate in the Dual Enrollment Program for the main reason of not wanting to deal with Karen Lake.
In the Rotary Club, Lake is known for her ‘wine o’clock’ text messages. While some sources laughed off Lake’s behavior as whimsical personality quirks, others painted a darker picture. Several sources recalled a story where Lake was displeased with an action taken by a fellow Rotarian and sent an inappropriate message to them, making a lewd reference to their spouse. When pressed on her behavior, Lake is reported to have challenged people to come and face her in person if they were “man enough to handle it.”
Additionally, people have alleged that Lake harasses family members of people she is at odds with on social media. Lake has also been accused of harassing county and state officials with abusive text messages.
What’s clear from all these stories is this: Lake has a penchant for acting aggressively towards her colleagues and city employees. When challenged, Lake appears to double down on her behavior and continue her aggressive tactics.
Lake’s behavior has continued into the present day. In the most recent city council meeting, Lake expressed her displeasure with her fellow council members regarding selecting members for Keystone’s charter review commission. Lake also brought a packet of documents related to her grievances with Rutkowski. The other council members once again admonished Lake for her treatment of city employees.
The meeting quickly became a shouting match between Lake and her fellow council members, culminating in city manager Rutkowski calling out Lake directly for her continued abusive behavior. Rutkowski also threatened to resign due to Lake’s behavior.
The council members outside of Lake expressed they would not want Rutkowski to leave her position. After much discussion, Councilman Tony Brown and Vice Mayor Steve Hart called for Lake’s resignation.
Keep in mind that Keystone Heights, as nice as it is, is not a major metropolis. There are approximately 1,350 people in the city. Seeing so much drama and intrigue come from such a small and far-removed portion of the county is wild.
The Beacon called and emailed Lake but has not heard back from her.