Memo to JPMorgan Chase Bank, The Bank of New York, SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI), Wachovia Bank, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), General Electric Capit

Memo to Morris Communications' creditors regarding the St. Augustine Record:

TO: JPMorgan Chase Bank; The Bank of New York; SunTrust Banks Inc.); Wachovia Bank; Bank of America; General Electric Capital Corp.; Allied Irish Banks; RBS Citizens' Comerica Bank; US Bank, National Association; First Tennessee Bank, National Association; Webster Bank, National Association; Keybank National Association; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.; and Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd.

Now that we've got your attention, there's a few things you need to know:

1. The St. Augustine Record and Florida Times-Union generate some 34% of MORRIS COMMUNICATIONS' profits worldwide.

2. News is not being reported here -- we get handouts and coverups, including those concerning serious environmental crimes and First Amendment violations by our City of St. Augustine. There are only three (3) reporters for a county of 181,000 (one of the reporters is pregnant). The Record is becoming a joke and people don't respect its coverage.

3. The Record will and can make money -- BUT it needs to report news. NEWS.

4. So long as the Record is perceived to be in the hip pocket of government officials, developers and their cronies, the "WRecKord" as it is known will not be respected. It will decline in readership and advertising. Worshiping the likes of Ann Coulter and other hate speech spewers reminds me of what President Obama said about ex-VP CHeney's autobiography: "How to shoot friends and interrogate people." The Record has been directed not to cover arrests of artists and other outrages due to pressure from local businesses.

5. Too often, the Record has "killed the messenger," again and again -- threatening reporters with firing for doing their jobs too well, refusing to cover news stories, disrespecting activists, even firing a political cartoonist (Ed Hall) for a a political cartoon approved by management, one criticizing Florida school officials for self-serving actions while cutting classroom instruction. In that instance, the Record was pressured by our local School Superintendent, JOSEPH JOYNER, and his friends PHIL McDANIEL, et al). One synecdoche: in 1994, the Record had a front page headline on its 100th anniversary, stating, "100 Years of Pubic (sic) Service."

6. Too often, the Record has missed the boat on journalism prizes, refusing to investigate environmental crimes and corruption adequately here in St. Johns County, where our Republican County Commission Chairman, THOMAS MANUEL, was indicted for bribery and is awaiting trial.

7. Too often, the Record's staff is forbidden or not allowed to use their God-given talents to report news, too often abusing their talents to distort and give the views of City of St. Augustine and other officials like Rep. JOHN MICA (and other unaccountable government officials and corporations).

8. The Record's failure to report the news is a breach of fiduciary duty to you, whom the Record is unable to repay loans that are due on May 28th.

9. JPMorgan Chase Bank; The Bank of New York; SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI); Wachovia Bank; Bank of America (NYSE: BAC); General Electric Capital Corp.; Allied Irish Banks; RBS Citizens; Comerica Bank; US Bank, National Association; First Tennessee Bank, National Association; Webster Bank, National Association; Keybank National Association; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.; and Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. you need to tell the MORRIS COMMUNICATIONS group to start covering the news, without fear or favor. That is what sells newspapers -- not sellouts who insult readers' intelligence (and insult and threaten activists).

10. If JPMorgan Chase Bank; The Bank of New York; SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI); Wachovia Bank; Bank of America (NYSE: BAC); General Electric Capital Corp.; Allied Irish Banks; RBS Citizens; Comerica Bank; US Bank, National Association; First Tennessee Bank, National Association; Webster Bank, National Association; Keybank National Association; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.; and Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. do not get suitable responses from MORRIS COMMUNICATIONS in the next five days, will you please: (a) call your loans and (b) sell the St. Augustine Record newspaper to people who will cover the news without fear or favor -- whether local residents or the New York Times.

With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed
Ed Slavin
www.staugustgreen.com
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
P.O. box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-3877 (direct)
904-471-9918 (fax)

Atlanta Business Chronicle: Morris Publishing faces payment deadline o

hursday, May 14, 2009, 3:46pm EDT | Modified: Thursday, May 14, 2009, 4:02pm
Morris Publishing faces payment deadline
Atlanta Business Chronicle - by J. Scott Trubey Staff Writer

Morris Publishing Group LLC faces an important deadline within two weeks to pay off a long-delayed interest payment, but doubts remain if the Augusta, Ga.-based newspaper company can continue as a going concern.

Morris Publishing must make a $9.7 million interest payment by May 28. If it can’t or is unable to buy time, creditors could force Morris Publishing, or its guarantor Morris Communications, to repay the balance of bonds, interest and a revolving line of credit totaling $419 million, according to a Thursday Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

“Several factors relating to the Company’s outstanding debt raise significant uncertainty about its liquidity and ability to continue as a going concern,” Morris Publishing said in its first quarter earnings statement. “Specifically, the Company’s debt far exceeds the current value of its assets, and the Company’s creditors may have the right to accelerate the maturity of the debt before the end of May 2009.”

The company had about $171 million in assets at the end of the first quarter.

Morris Publishing spent $2.8 million on advisers in the first quarter March 31 seeking to refinance its debt, according to the SEC filing.

Slumping advertising revenues caused by the recession and changing media appetites have hurt Morris Publishing and other newspaper companies throughout the United States.

In the first quarter ended March 31, Morris Publishing lost $12.6 million compared to a $5.6 million profit in the first quarter of 2008, according to the SEC filing. Quarterly revenues plummeted 22.4 percent year-over-year from $82.7 million to $64.2 million. Advertising revenue fell 29.2 percent for the quarter.

Morris Publishing said in the filing given the volatile credit markets and economic conditions, the company is likely to be “dependent on the ability of Morris Communications or its guarantor subsidiaries” to refinance its senior debut, raise capital to purchase the loans from existing creditors or raise capital “to refinance the senior debt with a new loan.”

Even if the company is able to make the May 28 interest payment, Morris Publishing said it is at risk of being in non-compliance with financial covenants, which have been relaxed by the creditors. The company is also “unlikely to meet the financial covenants under the Credit Agreement when the Company and Morris Communications deliver their consolidated financial statements for the second quarter of 2009, no later than August 29, 2009,” when its relaxed financial covenants terminate.

If the company cannot amend or refinance the debt before then, Morris Publishing would be prevented from borrowing on its revolving credit line and “may be required to prepay the entire principal due under the Credit Agreement” at that time.

Morris Publishing’s lenders are JPMorgan Chase Bank, The Bank of New York, SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI), Wachovia Bank, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), General Electric Capital Corp., Allied Irish Banks, RBS Citizens, Comerica Bank, US Bank, National Association, First Tennessee Bank, National Association, Webster Bank, National Association, Keybank National Association, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd.

Morris Publishing, is the parent of 13 daily newspapers including The Augusta Chronicle and The Athens Banner-Herald. The company also owns numerous non-dailies, city magazines and free publications.


All contents of this sit

Editor & Publisher Magazine: St. Augustine Record & Florida Times-Union' Parent Posts Q1 Loss, Still a 'Going Concern'?

Florida Times-Union' Parent Posts Q1 Loss, Still a 'Going Concern'?

By Mark Fitzgerald

Published: May 14, 2009 5:30 PM ET

CHICAGO In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late Thursday, Augusta, Ga.-based Morris Publishing Group reported a first-quarter loss of $12.6 million -- and warned its debt burden threatens its future as a "going concern."

"Several factors relating to the company's outstanding debt raise significant uncertainty about its liquidity and ability to continue as a going concern," Morris Publishing said in the filing. "Specifically, the company's debt far exceeds the current value of its assets, and the company's creditors may have the right to accelerate the maturity of the debt before the end of May 2009."

Morris listed total debt of $419.5 million, and assets of about $171 million.

Morris also noted it faces a critical deadline on May 28. Five times, Morris' senior creditors, led by JPMorgan Chase bank, have allowed the parent of the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville and a dozen other dailies to postpone a $9.7 million interest payment that was due Feb. 1.

If Morris cannot make the payment by May 28, and the lenders do not agree to another "forbearance" period, it could be forced to repay its entire debt.

But even if Morris is able to make the interest payment, the company filing said, it is "unlikely" to meet the financial covenants of its credit agreement when it reports second-quarter results in late August. Violating those covenants could also force Morris to repay the entire $419 million in debt.

More details on the debt situation are reported on E&P's business-oriented Fitz & Jen blog.

Morris' first-quarter loss of $12.6 million compares with a profit of $5.6 million in the same period a year ago. It said total revenues fell 22.4% to $64.2 million. Ad revenue was off 29.2% in the quarter, Morris said.


Mark Fitzgerald (mfitzgerald@editorandpublisher.com) is E&P's editor-at-large.

REP. JOHN LUIGI MICA gets "worser" person in the world rating from Keith Olberman!

http://planetrevolution.blogspot.com/2009/05/john-mica-makes-msnbcs-olbermann-worser.html



Why? For taking credit for parts of President Barack Obama's stimulus package, which MICA voted AGAINST! (Sharing the "worser" was Rep. Don Young of Alaska, who is undoubtedly the intellectual equal of Reprobate JOHN LUIGI MICA).

REP. JOHN LUIGI MICA Trash-talks "Critics" of Billion Dollar Boondoggle, With 100% Cost Overruns

See below, where U.S. REP. JOHN LUIGI MICA trash-talks "critics" of cost overruns for the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, saying in haec verba: "The critics who complained about the size and cost of the CVC have been proven wrong," said Rep. John Mica of Florida, top Republican on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. With the 1 millionth visitor, he said, "this facility has alrady [sic] demonstrated its worth."

The Center was originally budgeted for $285 million.

The Center cost $621 million and was three years late.

Kudos to U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz (D-Florida) for exposing the waste, fraud and abuse. Cast asparagus at REP. JOHN LUIGI MICA for defending the waste, fraud and abuse associated with these vast cost overruns.

So much for JOHN LUIGI MICA's approach to mismanagement in our government. JOHN LUIGI MICA loves waste, fraud and abuse when it benefits his campaign contributors. JOHN LUIGI MICA is all for waste, fraud and abuse when it's proposed by REP. TOM DELAY and other Republicans.

That's why JOHN LUIGI MICA was rated "porker of the month" by Citizens Against Government Waste.

It's time to teach this porker a lesson and send him packing -- that's why we need Faye Armitage in Congress.

What do you reckon?

AP: New visitor center greets 1 millionth guest

New visitor center greets 1 millionth guest

16 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Capitol Visitor Center, criticized when it opened last December for costing more than double the original estimates, on Thursday greeted its 1 millionth guest, doubling the past pace of visits to the Capitol.

Terrie S. Rouse, CEO for Visitor Services at the center, said the 1 million visitors who have passed through the three-story underground facility since it opened on Dec. 2 compares to 467,800 who toured the Capitol during the same five-month period a year ago.

The center, costing more than $600 million and taking more than eight years to build after the 2000 groundbreaking, is now the first stop for tourists, offering exhibits, artifacts, movies, gift shops and restaurants before people begin tours of the connected Capitol building.

Previously, visitors had to wait outside in lines for tours to the Capitol, with limited access to food, shelter and restrooms.

Rouse said the peak day was April 20, when 19,500 visited the Capitol. She said that in past years that could have resulted in a four-hour wait outside, while currently visitors wait an average six to 10 minutes to enter the Visitor Center.

"The critics who complained about the size and cost of the CVC have been proven wrong," said Rep. John Mica of Florida, top Republican on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. With the 1 millionth visitor, he said, "this facility has alrady demonstrated its worth."

The scope and cost of the project expanded after the Sept. 11 attacks as lawmakers demanded that the center be used to improve the security of the Capitol.
On the Net:

* Capitol Visitor Center: http://www.visitthecapitol.gov

ORBITZ CEO Is Wrong About U.S. Rep. JOHN LUIGI MICA

REP. JOHN LUIGI MICA with pal and list of Top Ten bars/restaurants where he has "meals with constituents" paid for by hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds


REP. JOHN LUIGI MICA HEAD-BUTTS ABC NEWS CAMERAMAN COVERING LOUCHE LOBBYIST EVENT


ORBITZ CEO JEFF CLARKE's mash note to Rep. JOHN LUIGI MICA claims, Fortunately for Orlando, U.S. Rep. John Mica, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is a determined advocate for the travel and tourism industry that is so important to this region, the state of Florida and the nation.


This uninformed statement is untrue.

If MICA cared about tourism in his District, he'd introduce the St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Coastal Parkway Act of 2009.

See links at right for www.staugustgreen.com

People in Orlando (and St. Augustine) can think for themselves without propaganda from JEFF CLARKE, the CEO of Orbitz

What do you reckon?

Orbitz CEO's Propaganda Supporting Rep. JOHN LUIGII MICA Is A Figment of HIs Imagination -- See Quote in Context Below

orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/views/edp-jeff-clarke-travel-act-051409,0,6727394.story
OrlandoSentinel.com
Online Exclusive
Jeff Clarke: Travel Promotion Act would give tourism a needed boost

By Jeff Clarke

Special to the Sentinel

Anyone who has traveled in the past six months has noticed that airport terminals and hotel lobbies aren't as crowded as they used to be. Even with the capacity reductions made by the airlines, many airplanes are flying with empty seats. It shows in the travel and tourism statistics for leading business and leisure destinations like Orlando.

Attendance at conventions and trade shows was down more than 21 percent during the first three months of 2009, according to the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Occupancy rates for business and convention lodging were down more than 17 percent during the same period to 65 percent, and the number of overnight visitors for conventions and meetings is expected to decline 16 percent this year to 3.1 million.

The number of domestic and international travelers flying into Orlando International Airport declined 17 percent during the first quarter of 2009 compared with the first quarter of 2008, according to data from travel-agent bookings. This is a slight acceleration from a nearly 12 percent year-over-year decline in the fourth quarter of 2008. And Orlando isn't alone. The same story is repeated in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, Boston, Atlanta and many other cities. We're in the midst of the worst travel recession since 9-11 and the longest downturn in many years. Yet the loudest voices in Washington have been those raising questions about the legitimacy of business travel, one of the engines of Orlando's economy.

What's missing in many parts of Washington today is an understanding of the significant role that travel and tourism play in the U.S. economy. Total travel and tourism-related output was more than $1.3 trillion in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce -- nearly 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Travel-related employment totaled 8.6 million. Business travel alone generates $240 billion annually in spending, 2.4 million jobs and $39 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue, according to the U.S. Travel Association.

Fortunately for Orlando, U.S. Rep. John Mica, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is a determined advocate for the travel and tourism industry that is so important to this region, the state of Florida and the nation.

We're also seeing signs of progress in Washington. After meeting with travel and tourism industry executives, President Barack Obama stressed the importance of a strong tourism industry and said he would encourage people to travel. And U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, refused to restrict business and incentive travel in a bill designed to put limits on executive compensation at companies receiving federal bailout funds.

But we should be doing a lot more to encourage international travelers to visit America. According to U.S. Travel, international travelers spend an average of $4,400 each per trip -- the kind of economic stimulus that can benefit Orlando and a lot of other communities. The U.S., however, is one of the only developed nations without a national organization to promote travel and tourism -- and it shows in the decline of overseas travel to America since 9-11.

We don't have to wait for economic recovery to begin to reverse this troubling trend. We can pass the Travel Promotion Act, which was approved by the U.S. House last year but did not come to a vote in the Senate. This legislation would create a public-private partnership to promote travel to the United States and communicate U.S. security and entry policies. It would be funded through private-sector contributions and a fee on travelers from countries whose citizens do not need a visa to enter the U.S.

The economy will eventually recover, but we need investments like the Travel Promotion Act to make sure that the travel and tourism economy comes back strong in Orlando and around the nation. Just like investments in infrastructure and energy independence, the more we do today, the better off we'll be in the future.

Jeff Clarke is CEO of Travelport and chairman of Orbitz Worldwide.

Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel

ORBITZ CEO Propagandizes foi U.S. Rep. JOHN LUIGI MICA

ORBITZ CEO JEFF CLARKE's mash note to Rep. JOHN LUIGI MICA claims, Fortunately for Orlando, U.S. Rep. John Mica, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is a determined advocate for the travel and tourism industry that is so important to this region, the state of Florida and the nation.


This uninformed statement is untrue.

If MICA cared about tourism in his District, he'd introduce the St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Coastal Parkway Act of 2009.

See links at right for www.staugustgreen.com

People in Orlando (and St. Augustine) can think for themselves without propaganda from JEFF CLARKE, the CEO of ORBITZ. See below.

JEFF CLARKE is a known Republican who dances and drinks in public with other known Republicans, and who has written checks to RUDOLPH GIULIANI's Presidential campaign and the NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE.

People in Orlando (and St. Augustine and elsewhere in our 7th Congressional District) can think for ourselves.

We're unpersuaded by Republican propaganda from JEFF CLARKE, the CEO of Orbitz, a known Republican who dances and drinks in public with other known Republicans, a campaign contributor who last year wrote thousands of dollars of checks to RUDOLPH GIULIANI's Presidential campaign and to the NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE.

U.S. Rep. JOHN LUIGI MICA is no friend of tourism. JOHN LUIGI MICA has for several years refused to introduce the proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Coastal Parkway Act of 2009, or explain his position. MICA lacks interest and leadership.

Florida's future requires thoughtful Orlando Sentinel readers (and other people) who will elect thoughtful leaders -- a "Green Congress."

We need a congressperson who will promote environmental and historic tourism, honoring Florida's 500th anniversary (and St. Augustine's 450th) in 2013 and 2015 by preserving our precious environmental and cultural heritage. Faye Armitage has the "right stuff" to promote eco-tourism, not just "executive tourism."

See background and need for St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Parkway legislation (and more) on www.staugustgreen.com

What do you reckon?

JAX Business Journal: 'Substantial doubt' about Morris Publishing, owner of the St. Augustine Record and Florida Times-Union

Thursday, May 14, 2009, 3:21pm EDT | Modified: Thursday, May 14, 2009, 4:11pm
'Substantial doubt' about Morris Publishing
Jacksonville Business Journal

The parent company for the Florida Times-Union has expressed “substantial doubt” that it can continue operations, according to its first quarter reports released Thursday.

Augusta, Ga.-based Morris Publishing Group LLC reported a net loss of nearly $12.6 million in the first quarter compared with net income of $5.6 million the same time last year. The first quarter earnings loss included a $2.9 million expense for debt restructuring costs.

The company had a nearly $10 million in interest payments deferred by its lenders three times this year now due May 28. More than 80 percent of its noteholders also extended the grace period for the same time so the company would not cross-default on its debt to both the lenders and noteholders.

“Several factors relating to the Company’s outstanding debt raise significant uncertainty about its liquidity and ability to continue as a going concern,” the report stated. “Specifically, the Company’s debt far exceeds the current value of its assets, and the Company’s creditors may have the right to accelerate the maturity of the debt before the end of May 2009.”

The interest due is from a $278.5 million in senior subordinated notes due 2013. Overall, Morris had $419.5 million in long-term debt in the first quarter. The company had about $170.1 million in assets. The results are unaudited.

“There is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” it stated.

Morris did manage to increase its cash 196 percent from almost $4.8 million in fourth quarter 2008 to $14.1 million in the first quarter. Net operating revenues from core streams including advertising and circulation declined 22 percent to $64.2 million in the first quarter compared with the same time last year.


All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

Mosquito Board, GTM to fund study

Mosquito Board, GTM to fund study



By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 05/15/09

ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH -- Anastasia Mosquito Control District board members Thursday voted 4-1 to join the Guana Reserve in paying for a biologist who would coordinate mosquito research and pesticide impacts on the environment.

Mike Shirley, Ph. D, manager of the 64,487-acre Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, said the study could reduce "nontarget impacts," meaning the effects of pesticides on animals other than the mosquito.

"We'll be able to help prevent health effects on animals in the reserve while also preventing health effects from mosquitoes on humans," Shirley said.

Board member Jeanne Moeller said few state or federal agencies have teamed up with mosquito control districts.

"We'd be one of the few in the nation," she said.

The one-year contract between the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation and the district begins July 1.

Its terms say GTM Reserve will pay 70 percent of the biologist's $43,751 salary while the district pays 30 percent plus a full packet of benefits worth $13,450.

Dr. Rui-De Xue, district director and entomologist, said he "strongly recommended" the board approve the contract.

According to district documents, the joint effort would map mosquito breeding sites to reduce "the potential nuisance and public health concerns in the Ponte Vedra area" while also treating hatching sites with a chemical that affects only mosquito larvae.

District biological technicians Whitney A. Swan and Mike Smith released a joint letter of support for the project, saying, "Marsh restoration is very important in promoting a biologically sound environment. Working with the Guana team to restore the marsh, we can promote a healthy environment and provide insight into the restoration to reduce mosquito breeding."

Shirley said the GTM Reserve is used quite a bit by the public. One idea they've had is to set mosquito traps along the trail system to capture biting mosquitoes rather than spray them. Some mosquitoes not native to this country would be eliminated as part of invasive species control.

Moeller said, "Our applied research can really support this." She made a motion to approve the contract.

It passed 4-1 with board member John Sundeman voting against.

"We should have been doing this internally all along," he said.

Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/051509/news_051509_066.shtml

© The St. Augustine Record

Speak May 21 at 2PM Meeting of Historic Architecture Review Board -- Does This Ugly, Palatka-Style Block Belong at Cathedral Place & St. George St?

Speak May 21 at 2PM Meeting of Historic Architecture Review Board -- Does This Ugly, Palatka-Style Block Belong at Cathedral Place & St. George St?




Not one of the public hearing witnesses at the April 27, 2009 City Commission meeting thought so.

The St. Augustine Record editrial (below)agrees with 100% of the witnesses.

What do you think? Be heard on May 21st.

See below.




I have one key question for GEORGE McCLURE, which he didn't answer when he was busily committing the tort of assault and battery with his finger in my eye at a Commission meeting last month. As Matt Damon said character said to the crooked corporate lawyer in the movie, "The Rainmaker": "Do you even remember when you first sold out?" (Of course, if GEORGE McCLURE never had any ideals, then he would have to object to the question as assuming facts not in evidence, the poor dear).

FBI on public corruption and Operation Tennessee Waltz

TENNESSEE WALTZ
The Dance is Over
05/02/08

One of the subjects in the Tennesee Waltz case (right) making a deal with our undercover agent

Bribery. Bagmen. Crooked politicians. Ethical lapses.

All ugly terms that were part of an FBI public corruption case that began nearly six years ago and recently came to a successful close.

Last month, the undercover sting known as "Tennessee Waltz" (coincidentally, also the official state song), ended where it started: a contractor working in Shelby County Juvenile Court Clerk's Office was sentenced for his role in a corrupt invoice scam, accepting money for work never performed.

He was the 12th and final subject brought to justice in the case.

Tennessee Waltz was a landmark investigation: it not only led to the convictions or guilty pleas of a dozen state and local public officials—including several state senators, a state representative, two county commissioners, and two school board members—but also to new state ethics laws and the creation of an independent ethics commission in Tennessee.

It began in May 2002, when our Memphis office opened an investigation into reports of fraud and corruption in the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office. One of the individuals we questioned—a well-known lobbyist who was consulting for that office— admitted to wrongdoing and agreed to cooperate and wear a wire to record conversations with suspects.

It wasn't long before our lobbyist was approached by an employee in the office who claimed to be a close acquaintance of several state legislators. The employee advised the lobbyist that he was a "bagman" for these politicians—and that, in exchange for money, these lawmakers would vote on legislation that would benefit the lobbyist's clients.

So our corruption investigation expanded—from local government to the state legislature. In the fall of 2003, we launched an undercover operation to address what appeared to be a widespread public corruption problem.

This man was one of 12 individuals who was convicted or pled guilty in the case.
One of the 12 subjects in the case

As part of the operation, we set up a fictitious company that recycled surplus electronic equipment to third world countries. We let it be known that we wanted legislation that would benefit our company, and we wanted exclusive contracts with local governments. Our undercover agents offered bribes to individuals who—based on information we had—we believed would take them...and they did. And then they told their colleagues, who in some instances took bribes as well.

Some of the corrupt politicians even introduced legislation that we drafted (but no legislation was ever passed). All told, we paid out more than $150,000 in bribe money by the time the undercover portion of Tennessee Waltz ended in 2005.

The case, worked with the help of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, is one of our most successful examples to date of how we use lawful sensitive techniques like undercover operations to investigate allegations of systemic corruption.

For the FBI, public corruption continues to be our top criminal priority. Right now, we have more than 2,500 pending cases—an increase of 50 percent from 2003. And during the past two years alone, our work with our partners has led to the conviction of more than 1,800 government officials.

Tumbleweeds are not native to Florida, but reminiscent of City's busted, boastful Sebastian Inland Harbor Project

See below. When then-Mayor GEORGE GARDNER sought re-election as a City Commissioner in 2006, he said, to oversee "projects" like the SEBASTIAN INLAND HARBOR PROJECT, which developers euchred the CIty into supporting after they bought the land for a song.

Now Vice Mayor and Commissioner ERROL JONES says he wants the City to buy the land back (it's in foreclosure).

Now it's time for accountability for our City selling properties for a song, then letting developers make any changes they want in their plans, not asking for documents (not even a copy of a supposed document from RADISSON HOTELS).

GEORGE McCLURE's clients' unfair & deceptive trade practices bordering in fraud? Check out four-year old false claims on www.sebastianinlandharbor.com

http://www.sebastianinlandharbor.com/next.htm

HOODWINKED? This is what the moribund Sebastian Inland Harbor project's website says:

In the Fall of 2005, The Auchter Company (General Contractor) will begin the construction phase. Excavation of the Marina Basin and installation of the Bulkhead will initiate the groundbreaking and is expected to take 120 to 150 days to complete. In addition, the horizontal construction will overlap the creation of the Marina/Bulkhead and help to expedite total construction time. While the entire project is intended to be developed in One Phase the necessity for a staging area will allow us the begin construction on King Street and migrate backwards with the Condominiums coming second, then the Hotel/Spa, the Loft/Retail Lorida Building and finally the Parking Deck.

The San Sebastian Winery is the only existing structure on the future site of the Sebastian Inland Harbor. The Winery is a favorite stop for the sightseeing trolleys and offers wine tastings daily. Everyone is invited to visit the Winery's rooftop bar with live music on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday evenings. For the next 2 years this is the best vantage point to view the progress of the Sebastian Inland Harbor Development. For more information on the Winery visit:

www.sansebastianwinery.com

The Retail Building on King Street will have approximately 17,000 square feet of leaseable space. The space next to the Sebastian River is expected to be utilized by an upscale national restaurant tenant. The remaining spaces will be high end boutiques and specialty shops.

The Condominium's will consist of 96 exceptional units in three separate buildings. The majority of units will be 3 bedroom and 3 bath units of approximately 2,400 +/- square feet. There will be a limited number of 2 bedroom and 2 bath units, and some executive condo units developed in association with the Hotel.
The Loft/Retail building, located at the eastern end of the project, will contain approximately 8,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor and 15 residential/office units/flats on the top 3 floors. The residential/office flats will range from 1,500 square to 2,250 square feet.

The Hotel is intended to be developed as a "four diamond" 82-room boutique hotel. Combined with an 8,500 square foot banquet facility and a world class Spa, the Hotel will cater equally to Tourist and Business Groups.


Condominiums

Loft/Retail

Retail on King Street


Click on the pictures for more information.

Diversionary tactic or discrimination? We're not in Kansas.

Diversionary tactic or discrimination?

When our City of St. Augustine city government is found guilty of violating visual artists' First Amendment rights by a federal judge and an injunction is issued, what's the response of local journalists?

Do they run a reaction story (or stories) with interviews of visual artists, law professors and average citizens? Nope. That would be too inflammatory.

When our City of St. Augustine's city government is forced of necessity to dip into reserve funds for $1.7 million that would have come from a state grant but for "documented environmental violations," what's the response of local journalists?

Do they run a reaction story (or stories) with interviews of environmental justice advocates, Lincolnville and West Augustine residents, ministers, state officials law professors and other citizens? Not on your life. That would be too informative.

What's the preferred means of diverting public attention from our City of St. Augustine's city government scandals, since they're not getting the caliber of reportage that they deserve?

Evidently this morning's diversionary tactic is a sensationalistic front page news story in which named and unnamed people kvetch, whine and complain subjectively -- a story published six days after a Snoop Dogg concert (held at Francis Field last Friday night).

For an uninformative and inflammatory story (one bordering dangerously on racism) and for a good laugh at the MORRIS COMMUNICATIONS' gang's double, triple and quadruple standards and racism, you've got to read and see the print edition of this morning's St. Augustine Record.

Bear in mind that there is no African-American or Hispanic reporter at the St. Augustine Record and that that MORRIS COMMUNICATIONS has very few African-American employees and a history of race discrimination complaints.


Thus, the article by PETER GUINTA (below), raises serious questions:

1. The City's scientifically-based noise ordinance (upheld against "Stogies" cigar bar in circa 1998 by Judge Peggy Reedy) bans sounds that are some 75 or more decibels at the property line. Was this ordinance violated? Was anyone cited for noise? Presumably the SAPD was measuring decibels, since there was a strong, well-organized police presence, resulting in few arrests and no violence (contrary to pre-concert fears and hysteria).

2. If the noise ordinance was NOT exceeded and there is NO quotable measurement of the decibels, then why the sensationalistic front page headline about "noise?" Noise can be measured scientifically. Can PETER GUINTA spell "decibels?" Or is he "safe from science?"

3. If the music was allegedly "obscene," as the article claims, which song(s) was/were allegedly obscene, and by what court's standards? Please tell us what you're talking about. Then we all can go look it up and make our own decision.

4. The claim of "obscenity" is in the eyes of the beholder, and without a videotape or the lyrics or even the song titles, this could be just a case of privileged, prejudiced people "jus' whistlin' Dixie," e.g., about African-American musicians whose ardent, paying fans include white and black young people.

5. I am at a loss to understand a demagogic, babytalkin' article with a too-big headline, one where PETER GUINTA is too big for his britches – reporting as "facts" what are unsupported opinions. GUINTA does not use either scientific measurement (decibels) or textual analysis (the words in quo) to support lay peoples' claim that (in a big scary hysterical headline) -- "Residents: Concert was "too loud, obscene."

6. This sounds like another case of privileged and prejudiced people picking on diversity. Remember the prejudiced comments of tatterdemalion ex-Commissioner SUSAN BURK about the patrons o0f Reggae Sunday at Conch House: "the wrong kind of people?" (BURK is the ex-girlfriend of ROBERT MICHAEL GRAUBARD – that's the kind of tree-killing speculator I call the "wrong kind of people.')

7. Not covered was the fact that a St. Johns County (SJC) employee (Ryan Dettra) stood up at Monday night's meeting and urged City Commissioners to adopt an ordinance punishing dirty words. This is a state and federal law question, not a local affair, and one covered by the First Amendment. Cool your jets, SJC/Ryan – you are exceeding your authority and your pay grade – you need to talk to the County Attorney before you appear in public as a county attorney, sounding like a 99-year old bluenoser calling for violating others' civil liberties. This is corrupt town where our city and county governments have repeatedly violated civil and constitutional rights. We don't need county employees speaking for censorship, going off half-cocked. In sharp and marked contrast, City Public Affairs Director Paul Williamson got it right – "we're content neutral," he said below, and can't discriminate against musicians. (Three cheers for Paul Williamson – he gets it. So does Mayor Boles, who notes that no one complained to City Commission and that there are generational differences).

8. PETER GUINTA writes like an old fogey, and not one musician or concert-goer was quoted -- that's biased reporting. (We've heard that there were inadequate bathroom facilities and a two-tier structure of which tickets got to use which bathrooms.)

9. In Houston, I once remarked to a friend that the refinery smell in an upper-crusty neighborhood (River Oaks) was overpowering. He sniffed the air and said, "smells like money to me."

10. In the midst of a recession, you'd think the burghers of Vilano Beach would have the class and common sense to say (for one night), "it sounds like money to me." Without more details than supplied in GUINTA's story, it smells (and sounds) like prejudice to me.

11. As Mayor Boles notes, we're inviting the world here to celebrate our State's and City's 500th/450th birthdays -- is there a problem with visitors to a beach resort town being a little noisy as long as they're spending money and having a good time? Friday was not a school night. Who was hurt in any way? People were entertained and had a good time. That was the story reported by the Record several days ago.

12. We're not in Kansas. If Vilano Beach were a small farming town, we'd understand. It's a seaside resort -- if one night's noise is all you've got to complain about, life is good.

Residents: Concert too loud, obscene

Residents: Concert too loud, obscene



By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 05/14/09

Marla Hilliard, who lives two blocks from Francis Field, believes the city dropped the ball by allowing rapper Snoop Dogg's "vulgar and disgusting" lyrics to be played at the Ancient City Crawfish Boil last weekend.

"I could hear it through my walls," Hilliard said Wednesday. "If I wanted to go to a concert, I'll purchase a ticket. It was extremely inappropriate for a residential area."

A score of city and county residents joined Hilliard and also sent their complaints about the volume and profanity to St. Johns County and St. Augustine administrative offices.

Many, however, added compliments about the event's organization and the St. Augustine Police Department's watchful eye.

Friday night, when Snoop Dogg took the stage, about 4,000 fans filled the air with applause

His lyrics contained many words not allowed in polite company.

And that drew particular irritation from residents, perhaps because children were exposed to them, or perhaps because of the Los Angeles rapper's extensive rap sheet, his acquittal in a murder trial and his celebrated reputation for self-medication via illegal herbs.

City resident Carol Lopez-Bradshaw wrote in an e-mail to the city, "Snoop Dogg is not permitted to perform in Jacksonville or Daytona, and I understand why."

Kevin Munger wrote, "If you people want this garbage in this city, that's fine. But don't have it in a place where people have no choice but to listen to it."

Kim Bradley of Water Street wrote, "That kind of concert has no business downtown. I had a headache and the windows were closed."

Both the profanity and the volume problems were brought up by both the St. Augustine City Commission on Monday and the St. Johns County Commission's workshop on Tuesday.

Paul Williamson said the city is "content neutral" and cannot censor artists.

Troy Blevins said every performer's contract prohibits vulgarity on stage or their pay will be withheld. However, in practice, they are paid no matter how much profanity they use because doing otherwise would discourage other acts from coming.

"We're going to have to look at how to manage that," he said.

According to officials, the Saturday concert drew 9,000 fans for G.Love & Special Sauce, Presidents of the United States of America, CandleBox and 3 Doors Down. Many noise complaints arose on Saturday as those rock bands let loose.

Blevins, director of the county's Parks and Recreation Department, which planned the concert with city officials, said he got eight complaints. The city got a dozen or so, and other county offices got about 20.

"I was surprised to learn that most of the (noise) complaints I got were from Vilano Beach," Blevins said. "The water must have amplified the sound in that direction."

Williamson, public affairs director for St. Augustine, said he'd like to see a moratorium on events on four-acre Francis Field to prevent it from becoming a dust bowl.

"We must determine how we want Francis Field to be used," he said.

Police Chief Loran Leuders said his officers have "become efficient at emptying downtown as quickly as possible after an event. It's one basic plan tailored to each occasion."

Public Safety Officers worked traffic lights to allow vehicles on side streets to empty onto U.S. 1. Leuders said the plan was designed by Special Events Corporal Mike Etheridge and Commander Barry Fox and "worked perfectly."

Officers made two arrests. On Friday, a juvenile male was arrested for a narcotics violation. On Saturday, a man was charged with theft after he tried to flee with a sausage he didn't buy.

The Crawfish Boil series began in Birmingham, Ala., in 1991, and they are held around the country. The largest crowd at any boil was in Birmingham in 2007, where 45,000 attended.

Proceeds from the series go to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Blevins said, "People were there to have a good time, and they did. We're trying to determine what the economic impact of the concert was to the area."

The numbers are trickling in. St. Augustine received $3,000 from the county for use of the field.

Bottom line, the county could gain or lose about $10,000, Blevins said.

But, he added, 81 percent of the people at the concert were from out of St. Johns County. That's more than the average of 70 percent at St. Augustine Amphitheatre events. In addition, more people in town meant twice the number of paid vehicle admissions to St. Augustine Beach.

Blevins said, "Our goal was to break even and build a name for this event."

Mayor Joe Boles said the city must always test its infrastructure.

"The profanity comes from generational differences," he said. "We didn't have one person at the City Commission speak against it. But we're going to be having events (for the city's 450th birthday in 2015) that will have to handle 40,000 or 50,000 people in multiple venues."

Have concerns?

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People are Watching the City Commission

(From City's website)

City Commission Meetings

St. Augustine City Commission

St. Augustine City Commission meets at 5:00pm the second and fourth Monday in The Alcazar Room on the first floor of City Hall, 75 King Street. The meetings are aired live on Government Television (Comcast Channel 3) and are replayed the following Monday at 9:00am.

Agendas are posted the Friday preceding the Monday meeting. Minutes are posted after approval by the commission. Inquires regarding draft versions of minutes should be directed to the City Clerk's office at 904.825.1007.

Some dates (noted with an asterisk) may change due to conflicts with holiday schedules. You may confirm any meeting date with the City Clerk's office at 904.825.1007.

Commissioner Calls for Discussion of Buying Back Sebastian Inland Harbor Project

On May 11, 2009, at the City Commission meeting, Commissioner ERROL JONES called for discussion of buying back the Sebastian Inland Harbor Project, which is in foreclosure.

EPA, our City and Atlanta Gas Light (which owned the plant) worked to clean up the former coal-to-gas plant site. Then our City of St. Augustine sold the project to a developer, who did not build the promised hotel. The project remains an eyesore.

The developer was the DEVLIN GROUP, successor to the problem-plagued original developer of the moribund Sebastian Inner Harbor site, whose lawyer GEORGE MCCLURE once publicly claims there is a "letter of intent" for a WESTIN HOTEL, sans any evidence or testimony presented at the August 13, 2007 public hearing on modifications to the Sebastian Inner Harbor Project.

When I asked MAYOR JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, Jr. to ask for a copy of the letter, he demurred. BOLES and McCLURE are big buddies. BOLES is now kicking himself that he did not do his due diligence on behalf of the City of St. Augustine.

The one main legacy of the project: illegal dumping of 40,000 cubic yards of solid waste into our Old City Reservoir, which exposed the racial fault lines, environmental racism and pollution on the part of our City of St. Augustine, resulting in fines and denial of stae and federal grants and earmarks for "documented environmental violations."

Due to the supposed urgency of starting the Sebastian Inland Harbor Project in 2005, our City Manager, WILLIAM B. HARRISS (a/k/a WILL HARASS) was in a hurry to construct artificial wetlands as "mitigation." He broke the law, illegally ordering solid waste to be moved illegally so that the artificial wetlands could be created.

Draft Resolution for City and County Commissioners and Local Groups regarding St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore

Draft Resolution for City and County Commissioners and Local Groups regarding St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and Scenic Coastal Parkway

BE IT RESOLVED, that we recognize that the National Park Service is uniquely qualified to preserve and protect our City's and our First Coast's history; and

BE IT RESOLVED, that we respectfully petition our President and 111th Congress of the United States to enact the "St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and Scenic Coastal Parkway" (SANHPSSCP) Act (SANHPSSCPA), preserving history and nature located in and around the Nation's Oldest (European-founded) City of our area's 11,000 year history of human settlements; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we respectfully petition our Congress to hold field hearings here in St. Augustine during the first session of the 111th Congress regarding the scope and details of SANHPSSCP and SANHPSSCPA, with emphasis on suitably:
1. Honoring the Nation's Oldest city's natural and human history, including our rich diversity and Native American, African-American, Spanish, Minorcan, English, Civil War, Reconnstruction, Flagler Era, Civil Rights, environmental, economic, social, religious, naval, military, agricultural, culinary, architectural histories; after
2. Understanding and planning for the current and prospective state of archaeological, historic and environmental protection, preservation and education, including recommendations of a recent panel of experts;
3. Adopting an integrated statutory approach to funding and operating SANHPSA parks, archaeology and history investigations and research, while
4. Restoring St. Augustine's historic 1928 trolley car system into an integrated public transportation system serving the VIC/Parking Garage, Downtown, Uptown, Lincolnville, West Augustine, Davis Shores/Anastasia Island, with possible future expansion to Vilano Beach, St. Augustine Beach, Crescent Beach,Marineland, Ponte Vedra, and Palatka, and
5. Creating an "emerald necklace of parks" operated by the National Park Service in and around our Nation's Oldest City, with boundaries to be determined.

Guest Column: St. Augustine should have a national historical park

Guest Column: St. Augustine should have a national historical park



ED SLAVIN
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 03/26/07


Real estate speculators (some foreign-funded) continue to destroy our local wildlife, habitat, nature and history. Roads are clogged. Noise abounds. Our way of life is being destroyed. Unfeeling, uncaring Philistines are turning St. Johns County into an uglier, unreasonable facsimile of South Florida. Unjust county government stewards allowed an asphalt plant near homes. Another plant reportedly emits 50 tons/year of volatile organic compounds into residents' and workers' lungs and brains.

Speculators are even trying to build homes on top of unremediated septic tanks/fields, while vacationing boaters pollute our Bay front with untreated sewage (the only boat-pumpout-station is at Conch House Marina). Our Bay front (which lacks a harbormaster) had an oil spill Jan. 15. Developers demand to build docks over city-owned State Road 312 area marshes for boat-owners' pleasure. Enough.

Let's invite environmental tourism by preserving an "emerald necklace of parks," including the city-owned marsh.

Ask Congress to hold hearings to map our "St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore" (SANHPNS), using 1928-style trolleycars to save gasoline, uniting the Castillo and Fort Matanzas National Monuments, "slave market park," downtown streets, Government House, Red House Bluff indigenous village (next to historical society), marshes, forests, National Cemetery, GTM NERR, Anastasia State Park, Fort Mose and other city, county, state and St. Johns River Water Management District lands.

Let's cancel future shock/schlock/sprawl/ugliness/skyscrapers and eliminate temptations to abuse/neglect/misuse state parks and historic buildings for golf courses and rote, rube commercialism.

In December, State Sen. Jim King suggested Florida donate "deed and title" of state buildings to our city. I suggested that we deed them to the National Park Service (NPS), with St. George Street visitor center in restored buildings, saving millions (as in the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park).

St. Augustine needs a national civil rights and indigenous history museum, celebrating local residents and national leaders, whose courage helped win passage of 1964's Civil Rights Act. Why not put the museum in the old Woolworth's building, restored to its former glory, with wood floors, lunch-counter and exhibits on the civil rights struggles that changed history (well- documented in Jeremy Dean's documentary, "Dare Not Walk Alone"), with "footsoldiers monument" across the street ?

Why not (finally) implement the 2003 National Trust for Historic Preservation and Flagler College study on how to protect our history? Let's tax tourists more to fund historic preservation, as in Charleston/elsewhere.

Let's preserve/protect the quality of our lives and visitors' experience (and property values) by preserving forever what speculators haven't destroyed (yet).

Let's adopt a three-year moratorium on growth, while we work to adopt truly comprehensive plans worthy of the name.

Colonial National Historical Park (NHP), Philadelphia's Independence NHP and NHPs in Boston, New Bedford, Valley Forge, San Francisco and Saratoga.

There's a Martin Luther King historical site in Atlanta, NHPs for "Rosie the Riveter" (California) and the "War in the Pacific" (Guam), and new parks slated for ten Japanese internment camps.

Florida hosts Everglades, Dry Tortugas and Biscayne National Parks and Canaveral National Seashore. Let's add St. Augustine to the list.

From sea to shining sea, America's coastal areas enjoy national parks. Where's ours?

Let's make parts of State Road A1A a National Parkway and hiking/biking trail, like the Colonial National Historical Parkway and the Baltimore Washington, George Washington, Rock Creek and John D. Rockefeller (Wyoming) Parkways and the Appalachian Trial and C&O Canal.

Let's add St. Augustine to the list of our nation's most beloved national parks, joining Zion, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and the Great Smoky Mountains.

Florida's 500th and St. Augustine's 450th anniversaries are only six and eight years away (2013 and 2015). Enacting a national park and seashore will forever preserve the treasures that we love. It will halt the sprawl we hate, increase tourism and reduce local taxes, paying speculators to stop.

Mayor Joe Boles' mother graciously thanked me for speaking out on these issues after the Jan. 22 City Commission meeting -- issues that Mrs. Boles has been outspoken about for "30 years." Let's honor/heed Mrs. Boles' wisdom -- and those who proposed a national park before World War II. Let's save St. Augustine and our environment forever.



Ed Slavin lives in St. Augustine.


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Support for National Park: Gift ideas few for city's big 4-5-0 -5-0

Support for National Park: Gift ideas few for city's big 4-5-0

From Staff
Publication Date: 10/06/07

Gift ideas few for city's big 4-5-0

We asked readers last week to suggest the best gift for the city of St. Augustine's 450th birthday in 2015.

We got a few.

Perhaps most people don't think there's any gift to be had when you reach 450.

Here's what readers told us:

Editor: Our Minorcan family has lived here for some 230 years. For our 450th, to save St. Augustine, our city needs a national historical park, seashore and scenic coastal highway to showcase to the world and to preserve forever our precious cultural, environmental and wildlife heritage.

Drayton Manucy

St. Augustine

Editor: I support Ed Slavin's Nov. 13, 2006 proposal for a St. Augustine National Historic Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Coastal Highway. This beautiful historic place must be preserved forever (or else our history and heritage and beauty will be destroyed forever). Congress must act swiftly.

David Brian Wallace

St. Augustine

Editor: The newly formed Theatre Saint Augustine has planned a meeting for all members of the community to develop thoughts on how the artistic and historic community can work together towards events for the 450th celebration. The possible development of a revised Cross and Sword, Florida's state play, will be a focus of discussion at the St. Johns County Main Public Library, 1960 N. Ponce de Leon Blvd., for Oct. 22, at 6 p.m., For additional information visit www.theatresaintaugustine.com

Kiki Tovey

Theatre Saint Augustine

St. Augustine

Those are some good ideas.

We'd add, too, that perhaps city officials should visit Kansas City, Mo., where beautiful fountains and bronze statues of all sizes delight visitors and residents alike.

Some commemorate events, others people. We've got some statues and fountains already but nothing like you will find in KCMO.

The city is proof, you can never have too many fountains or statues.


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Letter: City needs greater protection of resources

Letter: City needs greater protection of resources



Judith Seraphin
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 02/11/07

Editor: Let's adopt a moratorium on development of our local St. Augustine area and the history, wetlands, forests, seashores and wildlife, at least until our 110th Congress holds hearings about preservation.

The alternative is developers who propose to develop housing on arsenic-contaminated lands, sewage-polluted lands and pesticide-contaminated lands that is undisclosed to buyers. The alternative to what should be a National Seashore, is daily turned into a "national sacrifice area" for developers, who systematically destroy all the reasons so many of us chose to move here in the first place.

The "alternative" is rubberstamping the short-sighted plans of those who are euchred to sell their generations-old birthright to foreign developers, destroying our region's nature for short-term profits, while refusing to disclose the owners of the sell-out organizations.

Let's follow the examples of my native Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park, and of the Cape Cod National Seashore, and our nation's other national parks and national seashores.

Let's just say "no" to the secretive, other-directed, undisclosed, environmentally-insensitive (and foreign-funded) developers and investors who have no respect for our history, culture, wildlife and experience.

What's good enough for Boston, Philadelphia, New Bedford, Cape Cod, Washington, D.C., Guam, San Francisco and other national parklands is good enough for St. Augustine, Florida. Working with city, county and state elected representatives, the people of St. Augustine and St. Johns County must work to preserve our local/regional history and wildlife habitats inviolate, forever. I strongly support Ed Slavin's proposal for a "St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore," now.

Who among us could possibly disagree?

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CITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE'S POLLUTION ("DOCUMENTED ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATIONS") RESULTS IN STATE AND FEDERAL DENIAL OF GRANTS, EARMARKS

WILLIAM B. HARRISS
Photo credit: J.D. Pleasant

JOHN REGAN, left next to "pipe", right

St. Augustine City Hall -- you can too "Fight City Hall"


"We do things a little differently in Florida," Governor CHARLES CRIST recently stated. At times that is pronounced Flori-DUH!

Case in point: here in St. Augustine, our Nation's Oldest European-founded City, with the Oddest Government, City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS, Republican Lord of All He Surveys, Best Friend of Treekillers and Wetland-Fillers (and CIty Manager for Life) secretly put 40,000 cubic yards of solid waste in the Old City Reservoir. HARRISS was caught. Our City was fined. HARRISS wasn't fired. HARRISS wasn't hauled in front of a grand jury. HARRISS wasn't prosecuted. (Not yet).

Then HARRISS secretly put semi-treated sewage effluent in our saltwater marsh, for years, with the secret approval of City Commissioners. The saltwater marsh is at the confluence of the confluence of two rivers (Matanzas and San Sebastian). The City was allowed to work of its fine by encouraging restaurants not to deposit grease in sewers. HARRISS wasn't fired. HARRISS wasn't hauled in front of a grand jury. HARRISS wasn't prosecuted. (Not yet).

Then HARRISS and our City of St. Augustine applied for state and federal grants and earmarks. The City has been told it is ineligible because of its environmental violations, unjust stewardship of our environment and wasteful spending.

A $1.75 million sewer plant aeration and motor control center upgrade would have been eligible for state grants, but won't get them because of "documented environmental violations." The City of St. Augustine will take the money from its reserve fund of approximately $4 million. See May 4, 2009 memo to HARRISS from Public Works Department, in notebook for May 11, 2009 CIty Commission meeting (Consent Agenda item No. 5).

As the Ancient City of St. Augustine approaches its 450th anniversary and our State of Florida approaches its 500th anniversary, we need new leadership.

No more dull Republicans. No more government pollution. No more crooks. No more schnooks. No more HARRISS' dirty looks.

And the next time City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS, henchman TIMOTHY BURCHFIELD or henchman JOHN REGAN thinks it's cute to dump illegally or destroy wetlands and wildlife habitat, remember: "the whole world is watching!"

What do you reckon?

NY Times: May 13, 2009 News Analysis Restless in Tallahassee, or With Eye on 2012, Governor Rolls Dice

May 13, 2009
News Analysis
Restless in Tallahassee, or With Eye on 2012, Governor Rolls Dice
By DAMIEN CAVE and GARY FINEOUT

MIAMI — Gov. Charlie Crist officially announced Tuesday that he would run for the United States Senate, trading a likely second term in Tallahassee for the chance to serve in Washington — as a junior senator, in a minority party that has often wanted little or nothing to do with moderates like him.

So why would he do it?

Mr. Crist has always been a restless politician, moving from one job to the next, and many here suspect that he harbors presidential ambitions while fearing that term limits would push him into obscurity if he won a second and final four years as governor.

It is clearly a gamble. In Florida, Mr. Crist is betting that he can sustain his popularity even as he starts a campaign during the state’s worst recession in decades. And in Washington, he is betting that Republican conservatives will not banish him to a cloakroom for his support of President Obama’s stimulus measure.

Mr. Crist, 52, seems fully aware of the risks. On Tuesday, his announcement arrived by e-mail before 9:30 a.m. with little fanfare, stressing that “as governor, each day I will continue to focus on fighting for all Floridians” and that he would like to “take that fight” to Congress.

To emphasize his on-the-job campaign, Mr. Crist answered questions about his decision at a news conference in Tallahassee that was called to announce emergency management appointments. After saying repeatedly that he could “serve the people best” in the Senate, he brushed aside criticism that he was not conservative enough for Washington.

“We do things a little bit differently here in Florida,” Mr. Crist said. “I think, regardless of party, we have to work together to get things done.”

Jim Greer, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said Mr. Crist had come to the conclusion that in the current age of activist government, Washington offered more opportunities for having a direct impact on Floridians’ daily lives.

“Usually when Washington makes a decision, you don’t see the result of those decisions for a long time,” he said. “That’s not the case today. The decisions they make today, we may see by this afternoon.”

Susan A. MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida, said Mr. Crist might be angling for the White House after being passed over for the vice-presidential nomination last year by Senator John McCain.

“In the past, people always talked about how the best path to the presidency is thought to be the governor’s office,” Ms. MacManus said. “But with all the globalization and international issues, the Obama victory may be the start of a time when the path is more through Congress.”

Mr. Crist has a well-earned reputation for restlessness. Always energetic and often very tan, he has served in five positions since entering politics in 1992 as a state senator from St. Petersburg. He will be the state’s first sitting governor in decades not to run for re-election, and since 2000 he has been elected to three jobs, bouncing from commissioner of education to attorney general to governor.

His job-hopping has already become the Democrats’ main line of attack. In an e-mail message sent to supporters on Tuesday, the party declared, “After just 30 months as governor, Charlie Crist is leaving his job, avoiding responsibility and leaving the hard work of facing Florida’s problems to the next governor.”

State Senator Dan Gelber, a Democrat from Miami Beach who is also running for the Senate seat held by Mel Martinez, a Republican who decided not to seek re-election, said Mr. Crist was “going to have to explain why he’s making the jump” when the state’s unemployment rate hovers around 10 percent and foreclosures continue to flood the market.

“The truth is,” Mr. Gelber said, “it’s going to be hard to make the case that what Florida needs is a junior senator in a decidedly minority party.”

Some Republicans are also unhappy. Even before Mr. Crist announced his candidacy, several groups, including the Florida Conservative Reform Caucus, posted an online petition for people who want the governor to “stay on the job.”

Another wild card is how he will fare with the national party. On Tuesday, Mr. Crist received a warm official welcome: Senator John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, endorsed him before noon.

But Mr. Crist’s appearance in February beside Mr. Obama at a rally for the economic stimulus effort continues to rankle the party’s Washington establishment and could hurt his ability to stand out in Congress.

By Tuesday evening, conservatives were demanding that Mr. Cornyn resign for backing Mr. Crist and not State Representative Marco Rubio, 37, a conservative Hispanic and former speaker of the Florida House who has promised to make the Senate race a competition for the soul of the Republican Party.

One blogger even called for a “fire Cornyn” rally outside the senator’s office — a proposal Mr. Rubio might support.

On Fox News on Tuesday, in a preview of what is likely to come, Mr. Rubio lashed out at Mr. Crist and other moderates for retreating from true Republican values.

“One wing of the party — I don’t believe it is the majority wing of the party — believes that if you can’t beat them, join them,” Mr. Rubio said.

Damien Cave reported from Miami, and Gary Fineout from Tallahassee, Fla.

Los Angeles Times Crist's Senate bid represents ideological struggle for GOP -- Florida is once again a political battleground ...

Los Angeles Times
Crist's Senate bid represents ideological struggle for GOP
Florida is once again a political battleground -- this time for the Republican Party's future -- as its moderate governor faces a conservative in the primary.
By Peter Wallsten

May 13, 2009

Reporting from Washington — It is a heated debate in the struggling Republican Party: whether to broaden its ideology or follow the advice of Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and others who argue against deviating from core conservative principles.

Now, the GOP has a chance to see whether a moderate can become a model for Republican resurgence, with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announcing Tuesday that he will run for the U.S. Senate in that politically important state.

Crist, who has bucked the GOP's conservative wing on voting rights, global warming and other issues, enjoys high approval ratings. But with the governor facing a conservative in the primary, Republican leaders across the country have seized on Florida as a battleground in the larger philosophical war over the party's future.

Crist won instant endorsements from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the GOP Senate campaign committee. The two see him as the best hope for keeping a Senate seat in GOP hands as the party tries to avoid falling below the crucial number of senators needed to block legislation, an outcome that many political analysts see as likely.

Crist's main primary challenger, former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, went on the attack Tuesday, releasing a video showing the governor with President Obama and criticizing Crist's support of the Democrats' "reckless" economic stimulus spending.

"Our primary will offer Republicans a front-row seat to a debate about the future of the Republican Party here in Florida and across the nation," Rubio said. "My campaign will offer GOP voters a clear alternative to the direction some want to take our party."

Rubio, 37, is little-known outside of Miami and is given steep odds of taking down Crist.

The Florida announcement comes as GOP infighting has intensified following moderate Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's defection to the Democrats and a spate of recent surveys that show only about one-fifth of American voters consider themselves Republicans.

Last year's elections almost wiped Republicans off the map in the Northeast and Southwest. The party won only a fraction of Latinos and other minorities that once were seen as building blocks of a new, long-lasting majority.

Several GOP leaders -- including Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- late last month announced the formation of the National Council for a New America to open a policy-focused discussion designed to help rebuild the party.

But the group has been ridiculed by leading conservatives, who complained that the rollout touched on economic and national security issues but not on social concerns such as abortion, gay marriage and guns.

Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee wrote a derisive column on the Fox News website poking fun at the GOP leaders for needing a "listening tour" to understand the American psyche. In it, he accused the council of treating "values voters as if they were embarrassing distant cousins who are allowed to come to the family gatherings a couple of times a year, but aren't expected to be seen beyond that."

Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, chided the group for kicking off its campaign "devoid of the values that once caused voters to identify with the party."

In a television interview over the weekend, former Vice President Cheney said he would "go with Rush Limbaugh" as a true Republican over former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, a moderate who last year endorsed Obama's candidacy.

Limbaugh, the conservative talk show host, also has been critical of Republicans who do not adhere to core conservatism, saying recently that when Specter left the party he should have taken 2008 presidential nominee John McCain with him.

Complicating the GOP's challenge in presenting itself as a unified party is the presence of the powerful pro-business Club for Growth, which helped push Specter out of the GOP and has been harshly critical of Crist.

Republican strategists said Tuesday that the party needed to be more concerned about picking candidates who could win than with limiting itself to pure conservatives, particularly with the GOP at risk of losing Senate seats in Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky and New Hampshire.

Already, the Specter defection has put the party's Senate roster right at the crucial number of 40 -- and if Democrat Al Franken is declared the winner of last year's Minnesota Senate race, then the majority party (with the help of two independents) will have the 60 votes needed to override Republican filibuster attempts.

Grover Norquist, who as head of Americans for Tax Reform is a key leader of the conservative movement, said he had a pragmatic desire to elect "the most Reaganite Republican that can win in any given district or state." That means, he said, that he supports electing moderates in Maine but not necessarily in Texas -- and that in Florida, where Obama won last year, Crist may well be the best candidate.

Cornyn, a conservative, signaled months ago that he would take a pragmatic view on the question of ideological purity versus winning elections. Addressing a conservative conference in February, Cornyn said he would recruit moderate candidates if they matched the politics of their states, and that "a circular firing squad is no solution" to the party's problems.

The Texas senator described Rubio, a Cuban American, as having a "very bright future," but added that Crist was the "best candidate in 2010."

Crist, 52, is expected to present himself as an answer to the Republican Party's image troubles -- a nonideological figure with a can-do, friendly demeanor.

He rose to prominence as a tough-on-crime Florida state lawmaker by supporting chain gangs for prisoners. As attorney general and governor, he aggressively courted Latino and black voters. Early in his term, he pushed a rule to speed the restoration of voting rights for ex-felons -- a deeply unpopular move with many Republican politicians.

In February, after Obama's stimulus plan was rejected by every House Republican and all but three Republican senators, Crist irked conservatives by joining the Democratic president at a campaign-style rally in hard-hit Fort Myers, Fla., to extol the need for the bill.

Tom Slade, a former chairman of the Florida GOP, said popularity always trumps ideology, and he predicted Crist easily would win the Republican nomination.

That, he added, that might be good for the party as a whole.

"There are not enough blue-eyed, white, blond guys and girls who go to church three times on Sunday and once on Wednesday to make up a majority for the Republican Party almost anywhere," Slade said. "If we don't broaden the party, there won't be much of a party left."

peter.wallsten@latimes.com

"Outrage," New Documentary, Exposes Phony, Closeted Republican Politicians Who Vote Anti-Gay

Featuring Florida GOVERNOR CHARLES CRIST, the documentary focuses on the hypocrisy of Gay politicians campaigning and voting anti-Gay on the issues.

---------------
thehill.com

Print
As ‘Outrage’ documentary debuts, outing is deflating
By Kris Kitto
Posted: 04/22/09 07:38 PM [ET]
A new documentary is reviving debate about outing closeted gay and lesbian politicians — a practice that has felled big names in the past and raised questions on where public officials’ rights to privacy end.

“Outrage,” a film premiering Friday at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival and coming to Washington on May 8, turns to already-out Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) for insight in its examination of the politicizing of someone’s sexual orientation.

But though the ethical concerns of outing haven’t changed much since the practice began, some members of the gay community and other experts wonder whether it is still the political bludgeon it once was.

“It’s increasingly the case that being out doesn’t have the same weight that it used to,” said Larry Gross, a University of Southern California professor and author of Contested Closets: The Politics and Ethics of Outing.

Gross, who makes an appearance in the movie, pointed to a 2005 outing-by-proxy, when an online gay publication exposed the sexual orientation of Robert Traynham, a spokesman for then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), because of his boss’s opposition to gay rights.

“When Rick Santorum’s African-American gay press spokesman was outed, the senator just shrugged,” Gross said in a phone interview.

Traynham noted that to his family and friends he was “already ‘out’ for many years prior to some website commenting on my personal life.”

He also told The Hill he didn’t want to discuss specifics of the documentary, but he did say “it’s sad for anyone to use hate and bullying tactics as a weapon to out anyone.”

But Gross and other experts said the Internet has changed how closely closeted politicians can keep their sexual orientation a secret, with anyone now able to spread personal information about someone else via the Web. And they note people today are also voluntarily living their lives more openly — thanks in part to social-networking websites — and are more comfortable with homosexuality — two factors that introduce both an inevitability and a “So what?” factor into the outing of gay politicians.

These days, outing is more about what its proponents say is hypocrisy.

“It’s not just a gay issue,” said Wayne Besen, a former Human Rights Campaign spokesman who published photographs of a self-proclaimed “ex-gay” employee of the conservative Christian organization Focus on the Family exiting a Washington gay bar in 2000.

“If someone is on the Environmental Committee and is throwing Styrofoam at seagulls, they should be outed,” he said.

A recent example of “outing” in that vein, according to Besen and others, is that of former New York governor and organized-crime bulldog Eliot Spitzer (D) being driven out of office for soliciting prostitutes.

The outing of closeted politicians’ sexual orientations, they said, now fits into the larger trend toward more transparency in government.

Frank, who was elected to Congress in 1980 and came out of the closet seven years later, says in the movie that he too considers the outing of politicians more about accountability.

“There is a right to privacy, but not a right to hypocrisy,” he says.

Michael Rogers is the name behind many of the outings on Capitol Hill in the past several years. Rogers, a central figure in the documentary, is a former development director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. He started a blog in 2004 to out closeted politicians he considered to be thwarting the advancement of gay rights by day but benefiting from others’ activism by night.

In 2004 he blogged about former Rep. Ed Schrock (R-Va.) allegedly using a gay sex phone line. Schrock had co-sponsored a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and was also a vocal opponent of gays in the military. Shortly after the blog entry, Schrock dropped his reelection campaign.

Rogers also played a role in uncovering the 2007 accusations that former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) had sex with other men in the Union Station bathroom and in Idaho. Craig denied the allegations but did not run for reelection in 2008. Craig had supported a federal ban on same-sex marriage and opposed congressional efforts to outlaw anti-gay hate crimes and workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

“No community should be expected to harbor its own enemies within,” Rogers said in an interview.

But even if the potency of outing closeted gay politicians has diminished, the ethical principles behind the practice still give rise to heated debate. Some proponents, like Besen, concede that a closeted public figure should not be outed if he or she has not taken public stances against gay rights. Others still think outings of any kind are wrong.

Former Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), also in the movie, was outed in 1996 after voting against same-sex marriage.

“My position on [outing] has been consistent all along, which is that I think it’s a very bad thing to do,” he told The Hill. “I think people need to make those decisions themselves about when they come out.”

Kolbe said his outing turned out to be “a very positive thing for me,” and agreed that the practice is becoming less relevant.

“As time passes, I think it’s going to become less and less an issue,” he said. “People will be out; it’s not a matter of outing them.”

The documentary includes several clips of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), who was recently married, denying he is gay, and a clip of his former girlfriend Kelly Heyniger saying, “I think I should just keep my mouth shut. Call me in 10 years, and I’ll tell you a story.”

Crist’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The documentary reveals little about the future of outing, and perhaps the best indication that it is no longer a gay activist’s most powerful tool is Rogers’s future plan. He has thrown himself into the larger blogging community, calling himself a Web organizer and saying he provides training to burgeoning Internet writers.

“I think that what I’d like to do is take what I’ve learned online and empower other people — empower younger people, empower underrepresented people,” he said. Rogers counts the fatal shooting of a California teen last year, considered an anti-gay hate crime, and the February suicide of an 11-year-old Massachusetts boy after anti-gay bullying at school among his new causes.

“Here are gay kids being shot in the back of the head, and no one cares,” he said. “So that has to change, and I’m working on that.”

Rogers says he has even stopped using the term “outing” and now merely refers to the practice as “reporting.”

“Citizen journalism is [now] what this is about, as opposed to outing,” he says.

Standard Oil Monopoly Has Strong History in St. Augustine, Florida

As we look to establish a St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and National Scenic Coastal Parkway Act, we can anticipate that the National Park Service will tell the full story of HENRY MORRISON FLAGLER, convicted Standard Oil monopolist, who held cartel meetings and laundered his ill-gotten gains here.

Commission plans top-down overhaul of TDC

Commission plans top-down overhaul of TDC

By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 05/13/09

The 2010 Tourist Development Council budget proposed just weeks ago should be thrown out and another one developed, St. Johns County commissioners suggested at a workshop Tuesday.

This was not the first time they had mentioned the idea, but it was the first time they put it on a list of items for County Administrator Michael Wanchick to research and to come back with recommendations.

The board brainstormed, also mentioning the idea that the Visitors and Convention Bureau -- a long-time subordinate of the TDC -- should be split from it and a new marketing plan developed for it.

Commissioner Mark Miner said, "Right now, both (the TDC and VCB) are more or less one entity."

Those ideas seem like good ones, Commission Chairwoman Cyndi Stevenson said, adding, "My primary concern is to consider why we want to change."

That was the crux of the meeting: figuring out why commissioners and the public were dissatisfied with the TDC right now.

Residents had complained they didn't know what county bed tax money was buying for the county, or even how to find that information, leading to accusations of secrecy.

The subject also came to public attention when the commission began discussions on hiking the bed tax from 3 cents to 5 cents.

The county collects $5.5 million per year with the 3 cent tax. That money is spent on tourism advertising, the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, cultural events, festivals, beach restoration, fireworks and other aspects of attracting tourism.

But add two more cents, and bed tax collections could go to serious money -- $8 million.

Hoteliers don't want to charge their customers more tax unless they see it will be used to attract even more tourists.

The commission will be talking about that in other workshops, Commissioner Ken Bryan said.

Increased attention to bed tax expenditures began in earnest after the commission hired a consultant and held public discussions about a county master tourism plan. Millions of dollars will be collected in advance of St. Augustine's 450th birthday celebration. Businessmen, artists, attraction owners and tour companies, among others, wanted a say in where it will go.

Bryan organized the workshop and outlined bed tax ordinances. In 1986, voters approved a 2 cent levy, though they rejected earlier attempts in 1977, 1978 and 1981, Bryan said.

In 1991, the voters approved a third cent, but the commission at the time mistakenly, Bryan said, slotted the proceeds all toward advertising without consulting the voters.

Other suggestions the commissioners considered Tuesday included:

* Dismissal of the current TDC board of directors. That idea was later thrown out.

* Review of the Visitors and Convention Bureau contract.

* Fixing that "mistake" made by the 1991 commission.

This workshop, the second one held on the TDC, indicated that the board wanted to provide more accountability and transparency to the TDC.

Commissioner Phil Mays said the board wants to examine the overall use of bed tax money.

"It's a new day for the TDC," he said.

Vice Chairman Ron Sanchez said he didn't see any problem in raising the bed tax.

"I don't know what the damage would be. They're charging 5, 7 or 8 percent everywhere else," Sanchez said. "Right now, let the TDC function as it is.

"We're looking at a couple of months before we make any decision on this. (But) if there is something we want to change, we'll have to send it to the voters."

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