Last Stand Annual Meeting
Schedule
Tue, 03 Feb, 2026 at 06:00 pm
UTC-05:00Location
Williams Hall, Key West | Key West, FL
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If you care about the future of the Florida Keys - whether you’ve lived here for decades or arrived more recently - this is a conversation you belong in. We’ll reflect what has always made the Keys so special, and trace the decisions that have shaped the Keys we know today. Most importantly, we’ll turn to what’s often missing from public conversation: a positive, sustainable vision for the future of the Keys, and how we can get there.
Free and open to the public.
RSVP required.
- Program -
Featured Conversation: P
We'll connect the dots between land use, environmental protection, civic engagement, and local decision-making. It will focus on what still works, what needs to change, and where residents can have real influence.
- Featured Discussion with Katie Halloran & Arlo Haskell -
- Lessons from the Past, a Vision for the Future. -
Bringing the a unique blend of professional expertise, first-hand insights, and practical experience experience, our panelists will:
- Reflect on what has historically made the Keys so special - and what’s changed
- Examine how planning and policy decisions influence the Keys’ past, present, and future,
- Explore how local decision-making can support a resilient, and community-centered future
- Demonstrated how organized community advocacy can achieve meaningful change.
The discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A, creating space for us to think together, as a community, about the future we want and how to move toward it.
Have a question for our panel? Submit a question in advance when you RSVP.
- Featured Speaker: Captain Steve Friedman -
When you can drive for hours and still be in Monroe County — and when 87% of the County’s landmass lies within the Everglades — it’s easy to lose sight of the regional forces shaping life in the Florida Keys. Captain Steve Friedman will help ground us in that bigger picture. An Islamorada Councilman, longtime backcountry guide, and founding member of Florida Bay Forever, Captain Friedman brings a rare combination of lived experience and policy leadership. He will offer insight into the environmental and governance issues that connect our communities and ecosystems, from Islamorada to Florida Bay,
-- About the Speakers --
Katie Halloran is an experienced urban and regional planner, including a highly respected tenure as Key West City Planner. She brings rare clarity and first-hand experience into how planning decisions shape community character and long-term resilience. Katie also has a personal connection to Last Stand as the daughter of one of its early leaders, former City Commissioner George Halloran.
Arlo Haskell is a founding organizer of Safer Cleaner Ships and a respected advocate whose work has translated community concerns into meaningful policy change. An award-winning writer, publisher, and literary organizer, Arlo’s work is rooted in the literary and social history of Key West, offering both historical perspective and practical insight into how sustained civic engagement shapes outcomes.
Capt. Steve Friedman
Capt. Steve Friedman is a backcountry fishing guide in Islamorada, founding board member of Florida Bay Forever, current Islamorada City Councilman, the former Commodore of the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association, former FKNMS Advisory Council member of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Steve is a dedicated and experienced advocate for the lifeblood of the Florida Keys: our waters.
Jordan Mannix-Lachner, Moderator
Jordan is Executive Director of Last Stand and a former planner at the City of Key West, where she developed land use policy, managed development review, and led efforts to promote resilience, affordable housing, and sustainable growth. Jordan holds an M.S. from the University of Florida where she studied planning and natural resource management, and B.S. in political science from Barnard College at Columbia University
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Where is it happening?
Williams Hall, Key West, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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