Errol Jones seeks to complete projects, help historical infrastructure
By KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 10/18/08
Errol Jones wants to keep his seat in the City Commission and says his opponent is not "working for the best interest of the city."
Jones is running for Seat 1, a four-year term, against Judith Seraphin, a resident of the historical St. Augustine neighborhood Lincolnville who says the public can't trust city government.
Jones feels he's "done a good job" for the city and feels Seraphin spends too much time criticizing instead of finding productive ways to do good for residents.
"We need to bring our community together as one toward a common cause," he said. "Government is not a ghost out there doing something evil to (the public). I welcome (Seraphin) to spend a day with government and see who these people really are."
Jones has been a commissioner for six years and says his record proves he tries to do what is right for residents. He said there have been many times when he has voted against the other commissioners on issues because he thought there was a better way.
"It shows that I'm independent and I'm not in anybody's pocket," he said. "I listen to people and I've been man enough to step up and say, 'OK, let's do it differently.'"
Jones grew up in St. Augustine, and worked in the public and private sector for 40 years, including in New York and Hawaii. In June, he retired as dean of students at St. Augustine High School.
He hopes to be re-elected so he can get several projects completed that started during his tenure, including the Bridge of Lions rehabilitation project and the San Sebastian Harbor condominium and hotel development.
He has also been an advocate for more of the city budget to be dedicated to St. Augustine's historical and aging infrastructure. He believes the city should craft a 10-year plan of how to tackle this problem during such tight times in the economy.
Jones' and Seraphin's disagreements stem from an incident in 2005.
Judith and Tony Seraphin took center stage during a conflict with the city over illegally dumped landfill material. In 2005, the city took dirt from an old landfill site on Riberia Street, near the Seraphins' home, and dumped it into a water-filled borrow pit on Holmes Boulevard. The state Department of Environmental Protection fined the city and told staff to remove the waste.
The city planned to return the material to the Riberia site, but the Seraphins said no.
They filed a petition with Environmental Protection against the city's plan. The city has since changed its plan and is now taking the material to a landfill in Nassau County.
Jones said he is tired of the Seraphins holding on to the incident.
"We've not been perfect in all our decision making. ... (The dumping) was not done with malice," he said. "We've corrected that. We've righted that ship. We learned from it. Let's move on with things."
Jones said he has served his constituency well and he wants "to continue to work for them and represent them."
"It's not an easy job," he said. "Unfortunately, we can't satisfy people all the time. ... (But) I think we do a pretty good job."
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