Saturday, December 08, 2007
ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE AGAIN?: -- ST. AUGUSTINE'S ILLEGAL DUMPING IN LINCOLNVILLE & OLD CITY RESERVOIR Community Meeting 12/13
ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE AGAIN?:
ST. AUGUSTINE CITY GOVERNMENT'S TOXIC DUMPING IN LINCOLNVILLE AND OLD CITY RESERVOIR --
PUBLIC MEETING 6:30 PM, Thursday, December 13, 85 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd, St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church
Florida Department of Environmental Protection regulators and the City of St. Augustine have -- without public hearings -- made a deal to return 35,000 cubic yards of contaminants including thallium, arsenic and volatile organic comoounds (VOCs) -- back to Lincolnville, where the city illegally dumped (South end of Riberia Street). Ask questions. Demand answers.
The waste disposal of the City of St. Augustine long resembled that of Houston, Texas -- PIBBY -- Put in Blacks' Back Yards. Enough.
ST. AUGUSTINE CITY GOVERNMENT'S TOXIC DUMPING IN LINCOLNVILLE AND OLD CITY RESERVOIR --
PUBLIC MEETING 6:30 PM, Thursday, December 13, 85 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd, St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church
Florida Department of Environmental Protection regulators and the City of St. Augustine have -- without public hearings -- made a deal to return 35,000 cubic yards of contaminants including thallium, arsenic and volatile organic comoounds (VOCs) -- back to Lincolnville, where the city illegally dumped (South end of Riberia Street). Ask questions. Demand answers.
The waste disposal of the City of St. Augustine long resembled that of Houston, Texas -- PIBBY -- Put in Blacks' Back Yards. Enough.
Letter: Return public comment to start of city meeting
Letter: Return public comment to start of city meeting
Patricia Lowe-Parets
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 12/07/07
Editor: The St. Augustine City Commission recently voted 3-2 to discontinue the practice of allowing the public to speak at the beginning of each regular commission meeting, citing violation of the three-minute time allotment per speaker as the reason. The problem is not with the speakers but with the chair (mayor) who is responsible for controlling the meetings to assure the 30 minutes allotted for public discourse is not exceeded.
Their "solution" is to only allow the public to speak at the end of the regular agenda, which may make sense if you are a commissioner and you have already made up your mind and do not want to be confused by your constituents. But if the commissioners truly want to represent the people, they will welcome public discourse before taking action, even if it is an item that does not require public hearing.
Example: You read in Monday morning's St. Augustine Record that the commissioners will be voting on an issue that same afternoon, an issue about which you have some pertinent knowledge and/or concern. You can attend the meeting, but unless it is an advertised public hearing you cannot speak until the meeting's conclusion and the vote has already been taken.
A better solution? At regular business meetings the mayor should select the first seven or eight people who sign up to speak or select only one speaker per topic and then enforce the three-minute rule. Three minutes is enough time to state your case. If you want to elaborate, stay until the end of the meeting. At least, the commissioners will be aware of your concern prior to voting. By their votes, Commissioners Don Crichlow and George Gardner indicated they want to hear you. Hopefully the commission will reconsider this bad decision.
Patricia Lowe-Parets
St. Augustine
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/120707/opinions_news1_B3.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Patricia Lowe-Parets
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 12/07/07
Editor: The St. Augustine City Commission recently voted 3-2 to discontinue the practice of allowing the public to speak at the beginning of each regular commission meeting, citing violation of the three-minute time allotment per speaker as the reason. The problem is not with the speakers but with the chair (mayor) who is responsible for controlling the meetings to assure the 30 minutes allotted for public discourse is not exceeded.
Their "solution" is to only allow the public to speak at the end of the regular agenda, which may make sense if you are a commissioner and you have already made up your mind and do not want to be confused by your constituents. But if the commissioners truly want to represent the people, they will welcome public discourse before taking action, even if it is an item that does not require public hearing.
Example: You read in Monday morning's St. Augustine Record that the commissioners will be voting on an issue that same afternoon, an issue about which you have some pertinent knowledge and/or concern. You can attend the meeting, but unless it is an advertised public hearing you cannot speak until the meeting's conclusion and the vote has already been taken.
A better solution? At regular business meetings the mayor should select the first seven or eight people who sign up to speak or select only one speaker per topic and then enforce the three-minute rule. Three minutes is enough time to state your case. If you want to elaborate, stay until the end of the meeting. At least, the commissioners will be aware of your concern prior to voting. By their votes, Commissioners Don Crichlow and George Gardner indicated they want to hear you. Hopefully the commission will reconsider this bad decision.
Patricia Lowe-Parets
St. Augustine
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/120707/opinions_news1_B3.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Editorial: Open Government Bill of Rights is best for all
Editorial: Open Government Bill of Rights is best for all
Publication Date: 12/07/07
In his first year in office, Gov. Charlie Crist's track record on open government attests to his belief, "the people of Florida are the boss."
The first day Crist was in office last January, he created the Office of Open Government within the governor's office.
All who work in his office and those in agencies within his purview have to make their offices fully accessible under Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine (open meetings) and Public Records laws and Article 1, Section 24, of the state's constitution.
Within months, Crist issued another executive order creating the Commission on Open Government. That commission is holding meetings statewide to hear concerns from the public about access. The commission meetings are not just for news media complaints. They are for all the public.
The commission is expected to make recommendations to Crist by the end of 2008 on any changes to the state's open meetings and records laws. Access laws also provide for exemptions throughout state government to protect certain documents and meetings from public scrutiny.
That's understandable to a degree but those laws require that the exemptions be cited in writing if the requester asks for a written explanation. It's always best to get turndowns in writing.
Less than a month ago, Crist put forth a new executive order creating an Open Government Bill of Rights. This one grew out of the hearings before the Commission on Open Government.
Crist's Bill of Rights requires that all state agencies under his purview, such as the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Children and Families, adopt a bill of rights.
His executive order spells out what the bill of rights must say. For example, an agency shall post a statement on its Web site and in its agency headquarters that says "the public is entitled to be treated with respect, courtesy and professionalism." That's the first of several requirements.
The others cited in the order focus on smoother access to public records by the public.
It's all about the culture, Crist said recently. "By creating a culture that fosters public trust and confidence, we become a government truly operating in the sunshine."
Florida's Open Government Bill of Rights does not extend to any of our local governments but it should. Our local governments should move forward in that direction.
We the people decide who sits in those big government chairs anyway.
We should know as much as we can about all of our governments from the inside out.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/120707/opinions_news1_033.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Publication Date: 12/07/07
In his first year in office, Gov. Charlie Crist's track record on open government attests to his belief, "the people of Florida are the boss."
The first day Crist was in office last January, he created the Office of Open Government within the governor's office.
All who work in his office and those in agencies within his purview have to make their offices fully accessible under Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine (open meetings) and Public Records laws and Article 1, Section 24, of the state's constitution.
Within months, Crist issued another executive order creating the Commission on Open Government. That commission is holding meetings statewide to hear concerns from the public about access. The commission meetings are not just for news media complaints. They are for all the public.
The commission is expected to make recommendations to Crist by the end of 2008 on any changes to the state's open meetings and records laws. Access laws also provide for exemptions throughout state government to protect certain documents and meetings from public scrutiny.
That's understandable to a degree but those laws require that the exemptions be cited in writing if the requester asks for a written explanation. It's always best to get turndowns in writing.
Less than a month ago, Crist put forth a new executive order creating an Open Government Bill of Rights. This one grew out of the hearings before the Commission on Open Government.
Crist's Bill of Rights requires that all state agencies under his purview, such as the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Children and Families, adopt a bill of rights.
His executive order spells out what the bill of rights must say. For example, an agency shall post a statement on its Web site and in its agency headquarters that says "the public is entitled to be treated with respect, courtesy and professionalism." That's the first of several requirements.
The others cited in the order focus on smoother access to public records by the public.
It's all about the culture, Crist said recently. "By creating a culture that fosters public trust and confidence, we become a government truly operating in the sunshine."
Florida's Open Government Bill of Rights does not extend to any of our local governments but it should. Our local governments should move forward in that direction.
We the people decide who sits in those big government chairs anyway.
We should know as much as we can about all of our governments from the inside out.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/120707/opinions_news1_033.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Sunday, December 02, 2007
VIEW NOVEMBER 13 CITY COMMISSION ON CABLE TV MONDAY, DECEMBER 3 AT 7 PM on GOVERNMENT TV (CHANNEL 3)
Charles Dickens' Ebenezeer Scrooge, unlike St. Augustine City Commissioners, had his epiphany. Our St. Augustine City Commissioners have not repented yet.
For a look at what your City is doing to you, sit in front of a cable TV Monday night, December 3 from 7-10:45 PM and watch what our City did at 8 AM on November 13th. They thought you'd never get the chance. Sorry -- I did not take no for an answer and the tape is being shown tomorrow night, Monday, December 3 at 7 PM.
Watch Commissioner BURK skewer MAYOR JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, JR. for privatizing the Nights of Lights and tree-lighting celebration for his own political agenda.
Watch Commissioners kick the artists out of the Plaza de la Consttucion, breaking their previous promises by city government.
Watch Commissioners (only three left) rubberstamp a controversial settlement with the Florida DEP on illegal dumping, denying the public the right to speak after the City's Chief Operating Office, John Regan, told St. Augustine Record Opinion Editor Margo Pope that the public would be welcome to speak on the settlement.
As TV programs go, it's not as warm as the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, which airs opposite. But you need to watch to see the screwy, skeweed, discouraging Scrooge mentality that has our city of St. Augustine in a death group.
Just say no to governmental groupthink and mediocrity.
City Manager WILLIAM HARRISS must resign for his environmental crimes, including dumping the contents of our old city dump into the Old City Reservoir and blaming his subordinates. It's time for him to go.
Environmental Justice, Injustice and Racism in St. Augustine, Florida, Nation's Oldest (European-Founded) City
Imagine dumping in a minority community illegally for decades, then finally removing the dump without required permits and secretly putting 30,000,000 pounds of contaminants in the Old City Reservoir, an open sore going straight down to the qauifer and groundwater according to former EPA Region 4 Regional Administrator John Henry Hankinson.
Our City of St. Augustine city government must have influence with the State of FLorida.
Anyone else would be in jail. Our City of St. Augustine has been slapped with a small fine and is being allowed to put the contaminants back by the ill-advised power of the State of Florida.
Priceless.
Enough environmental racism and environmental injustice.
We need just environmental stewards, not polluters, in city government.
See below.
Our City of St. Augustine city government must have influence with the State of FLorida.
Anyone else would be in jail. Our City of St. Augustine has been slapped with a small fine and is being allowed to put the contaminants back by the ill-advised power of the State of Florida.
Priceless.
Enough environmental racism and environmental injustice.
We need just environmental stewards, not polluters, in city government.
See below.
Guest Column: Lincolnville deserves better treatment from city
Guest Column: Lincolnville deserves better treatment from city
By Anthony Seraphin
St. Augustine
Posted: Sunday, December 2, 2007
Updated: 8:31 AM on Sunday, December 2, 2007
I want to thank the John Regan, chief of operations for St. Augustine, for meeting with myself and others on Nov. 13 about the illegal dumping and the heavy repercussions in West St. Augustine that followed.
I have been discussing this issue with residents of Lincolnville. The impact on Lincolnville is obvious from the growth in membership in our Neighborhood Association.
Let's remedy this breach of trust and confidence in our local government by the following. The true costs and there will be overruns, are already more than $1 million and growing.
We request:
1. City Commissioners and City Manager Bill Harriss to attend an open public hearing in Lincolnville to discuss the plans to bring 20,000 cubic yards of contaminants back into our neighborhood.
2. Publication of all documents and data on the illegal dumping on the city Web site for the public to see.
3. Independent epidemiological studies on the health of Lincolnville residents and possible health effects from the dumping and other pollution sources.
4. Alternative plans for the disposal of the contaminates.
5. Discussion on environmental racism stemming from the illegal dumping.
6. Public involvement to monitor the cleanup, including a fairly balanced advisory committee to oversee this major project that will impact Lincolnville the most, as well as the entire taxpaying public of the city.
7. Installing real-time Internet Web cams at the Holmes Boulevard and Lincolnville sites to assure full compliance and total quality management.
8. Global positioning systems in all trucks involved in the cleanup to monitor locations of said trucks to be viewed on Web site.
9. Reparations to Lincolnville neighborhood due to decades of illegal dumping.
10. The true costs of the cleanup, which is already more than $1 million, including the initial $200,000 spent on the illegal dumping, the $33,000-plus state fine, continuing legal and engineering fees and for sure the cost overruns on the cleanup.
While I was moved by his (Regan's) offer to put me in charge of a committee to build a park at the proposed dump site, I cannot accept this unauthorized offer, unless we meet the needs of the residents and protect their health.
If indeed we, as a neighborhood, can overcome the vast differences imposed arbitrarily on Lincolnville, I would be more than happy to assist in the reallocation of the $3.6 million made by the city on the sale of city property (Sebastian Inland Harbor) to design and build the park and sculpture garden you and I were so enthusiastic about.
If indeed Lincolnville is going to be dumped on again (as is the history of the city's dealings with our neighborhood for more than 140 years) and the state condones it, then a grand jury must investigate the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and irresponsible city officials.
Wrong doers must be indicted or at the least removed from office.
Otherwise, the largest voting segment in the city will not forget the gross treatment meted out by these officials on Lincolnville.
While we are on the subject of Lincolnville, I constantly hear about:
1. The inequality of city spending on Lincolnville vs. other neighborhoods.
2. Equalizing city spending, investments and employment opportunities.
3. No one in City Hall listens to or cares what happens to or in Lincolnville, other than at election time when the "glad-handing hypocrites come through."
4. Flagler College growing their business at the expense of the taxpayers.
5. Boarded-up speculators' shacks that attract drug dealers and derision from visitors.
Anthony Seraphin is a businessman who has lived in St. Augustine in Lincolnville for the past 2 years. He is a member of the Lincolnville Neighborhood Association.
By Anthony Seraphin
St. Augustine
Posted: Sunday, December 2, 2007
Updated: 8:31 AM on Sunday, December 2, 2007
I want to thank the John Regan, chief of operations for St. Augustine, for meeting with myself and others on Nov. 13 about the illegal dumping and the heavy repercussions in West St. Augustine that followed.
I have been discussing this issue with residents of Lincolnville. The impact on Lincolnville is obvious from the growth in membership in our Neighborhood Association.
Let's remedy this breach of trust and confidence in our local government by the following. The true costs and there will be overruns, are already more than $1 million and growing.
We request:
1. City Commissioners and City Manager Bill Harriss to attend an open public hearing in Lincolnville to discuss the plans to bring 20,000 cubic yards of contaminants back into our neighborhood.
2. Publication of all documents and data on the illegal dumping on the city Web site for the public to see.
3. Independent epidemiological studies on the health of Lincolnville residents and possible health effects from the dumping and other pollution sources.
4. Alternative plans for the disposal of the contaminates.
5. Discussion on environmental racism stemming from the illegal dumping.
6. Public involvement to monitor the cleanup, including a fairly balanced advisory committee to oversee this major project that will impact Lincolnville the most, as well as the entire taxpaying public of the city.
7. Installing real-time Internet Web cams at the Holmes Boulevard and Lincolnville sites to assure full compliance and total quality management.
8. Global positioning systems in all trucks involved in the cleanup to monitor locations of said trucks to be viewed on Web site.
9. Reparations to Lincolnville neighborhood due to decades of illegal dumping.
10. The true costs of the cleanup, which is already more than $1 million, including the initial $200,000 spent on the illegal dumping, the $33,000-plus state fine, continuing legal and engineering fees and for sure the cost overruns on the cleanup.
While I was moved by his (Regan's) offer to put me in charge of a committee to build a park at the proposed dump site, I cannot accept this unauthorized offer, unless we meet the needs of the residents and protect their health.
If indeed we, as a neighborhood, can overcome the vast differences imposed arbitrarily on Lincolnville, I would be more than happy to assist in the reallocation of the $3.6 million made by the city on the sale of city property (Sebastian Inland Harbor) to design and build the park and sculpture garden you and I were so enthusiastic about.
If indeed Lincolnville is going to be dumped on again (as is the history of the city's dealings with our neighborhood for more than 140 years) and the state condones it, then a grand jury must investigate the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and irresponsible city officials.
Wrong doers must be indicted or at the least removed from office.
Otherwise, the largest voting segment in the city will not forget the gross treatment meted out by these officials on Lincolnville.
While we are on the subject of Lincolnville, I constantly hear about:
1. The inequality of city spending on Lincolnville vs. other neighborhoods.
2. Equalizing city spending, investments and employment opportunities.
3. No one in City Hall listens to or cares what happens to or in Lincolnville, other than at election time when the "glad-handing hypocrites come through."
4. Flagler College growing their business at the expense of the taxpayers.
5. Boarded-up speculators' shacks that attract drug dealers and derision from visitors.
Anthony Seraphin is a businessman who has lived in St. Augustine in Lincolnville for the past 2 years. He is a member of the Lincolnville Neighborhood Association.
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