Chopper contract up in the air

Chopper contract up in the air



DOUGLAS JORDAN
Special to The Record
Publication Date: 08/10/07


The first half of Thursday's Anastasia Mosquito Control District meeting was smooth and orderly.

In fact, it might have been downright ho-hum save for the lone cockroach that crashed the event and toured the entire room before sending the stenographer running away from her computer, while the district's director and chief entomologist, Dr. Rui-De Xue, chased the pest.

The roach got away.

After the recess, things got hot.

As expected, two critical issues that were the subject of much debate were purchasing policy and the rights of the public to speak at the meetings.

Mosquito Control commissioner John Sundeman led the charge on both of those issues, intent on answering public criticism that the District has been cavalier with its spending.

Examples that have been cited most often are the recent contract to buy a $1.8 million helicopter and the expenditure of $1.25 million for land for a new central office without an appraisal.

Sundeman brought forth two motions. The first was that the board work with the director to rewrite the purchasing policy. It passed unanimously. The second, which was for the board to ask its attorney, Carolyn Ansay, to look into getting out of the helicopter contract, was deadlocked at 2-2. Commissioner Emily Hummel, who had been present for the first half of the meeting, left at the recess and was not present for the vote.

The spending policy issue was tied closely to the agenda item relating to rules of order, since much of the public commentary has been about what some have called "irrational" expenditure.

At the July 10 meeting, some board members became upset during a budget review as audience members repeatedly attempted to continue speaking. St. Johns County Sheriff's Office deputies and St. Augustine Beach police were called, but no one was arrested or ejected.

The helicopter was the biggest bone of contention during that exchange when Don Girvan, a retired U.S. Army colonel and veteran pilot, told commissioners that they could have purchased a helicopter, made specifically for mosquito control, for $350,000 instead of $1.8 million.

Sundeman said he felt the public speakers were being silenced by Chairman Barbara Bosanko for pointing out an embarrassing error that could end up costing the taxpayers an extra $1,450,000.

Girvan was present at Thursday's as well and also pointed out that a helicopter exactly like the one the District planned to buy recently sold, brand-new, on eBay for $600,000 less.

Sundeman also said he felt certain members of the public were being allowed to speak as long as they liked, while others were limited to stricter time limits.

"It's been my experience that, if the commissioners like what someone is saying, the clock is off," Sundeman said. "But when it's the opposite, it's ticking away quickly."

A regular face at the meetings, activist Ed Slavin, confronted the commissioners, as well as Ansay, about a proposed resolution for the rules of order.

"This policy emerged because you wanted to shut the public down, and stop us from talking about the helicopter and stop us from talking about the waste of government funds," Slavin said. "The wolf is at the door.

"If you don't get rid of the helicopter, if you don't get rid of the attitude, if you don't rid of the waste and the fraud and the abuse, the county is going to take you over."

After much heated debate, the board decided to hold a workshop to refine its rules of order for conducting public meetings on Oct. 11.

In other decisions:


The board voted against changing its name from Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County to simply St. Johns County Mosquito Control District.

Sundeman in particular was against the idea, saying that it was unnecessary and would cost taxpayers extra money to make changes on things like stationary, uniforms, trucks and legal documents.


The commissioners voted to create an audit review committee composed of Sundeman, Bosanko, Commissioner Jeanne Moeller and a staff accountant.


The board passed approval of a joint Department of Environmental Protection and AMCD grant for the hiring of a biological scientist 4-1. Sundeman voted against it.


They also decided to table the issue of renting property in Ponte Vedra Beach to St. Johns County until it could be decided whether or not the board had the authority to rent property, and also passed off on deciding about the purchase of a generator for the District's North Station.


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