Dear Chairman Sanchez:
1. I have received no response to my April 6, 2010 Open Records request on mosquito control. I have also received no response to my April 14, 2010 request for the legal citation, if any there be, upon which Road and Bridge Department Manager JOSEPH STEPHENSON relies upon in asserting/pretending that he would violate environmental laws by removing standing water from county-owned property.
2. I must therefore empirically assume that JOSEPH STEPHENSON's self-serving claim to you and other Commissioners of a regulatory requirement not to clean out ditches was erroneous.
3. I shall assume this claim is now "inoperative," in the immortal words of Ronald Louis Zeigler, President Richard Nixon's infamous flak.
4. You are on notice that these obstructions of ditches and canals on County-owned properties and rights of way create a pestiferous public nuisance, to wit, standing water that is a breeding ground for disease-causing mosquitoes.
5. You are on notice that mosquitoes created by standing water can cause preventable diseases and deaths.
6. You are on notice of the County's apparent creation of a public nuisance and of JOSEPH STEPHENSON's apparent willful wanton recklessness in refusing to clean the ditches.
7. You are on notice that the County's actions apparently have a disparate impact upon minority and low-income communities in St. Johns County.
8. Discriminatory conduct can and will be remedied by the EPA Office of Civil Rights, responding to a Civil Rights and Environmental Justice complaint by citizens.
9. Now, will St. Johns County government remove these obstructions from its ditches and canals to protect public health?
10. Or shall I file an Environmental Justice complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency;s Office of Civil Rights, requesting that OCR investigate and that, if the complaint is sustained, St. Johns County receive no federal funds from any source until it responds to and respects Environmental Justice concerns?
May I please hear from you by close of business on April 19th?
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
Sent: Wed, Apr 14, 2010 3:01 pm
Subject: Public Nuisance, EPA OCR and SJC Refusal to Clean Ditches of Mosquito-Breeding Standing Water
Dear Chairman Sanchez:
1. Please provide: (a) any Environmental Justice policy adopted by SJCBCC; and (b) the citation to any legal authority that supports Mr. Joseph Stephenson's contention to you that environmental regulations prohibit him from directing Road and Bridge Department staff to remove obstructions from ditches that result in standing water, making vast tracts of county-owned land and right-of-ways into mosquito breed grounds, which is both a public health hazard and an indicia of possible Environmental Racism.
2. Pursuant to the Open Records law, please provide:
(a) all paper and electronic documents on AMCD's efforts to persuade Mr. Stephenson to perform his legal, moral and ethical duty to remove standing water from ditches, and SJC's response;
(b) all complaints regarding environmental racism and discrimination by SJC..
3. This is particularly a problem in low-income and minority neighborhoods.
4. This problem has persisted for multiple years, as Dr. Xue, AMCD's director and staff have attempted to persuade SJC to do its job and help AMCD in its mission to protect public health from mosquito-borne diseases. It appears that the problem is environmental racism on the part of entrenched unelected officials, particularly in the Road and Bridge Department.
5. Please be sure to include in your response any legal advice or any other documents that have persuaded Mr. Stephenson not to remove standing water from ditches.
6. If you do not respond to this E-mail with a responsive citation to a law or regulation, I must assume that Mr. Stephenson has not told you the truth or has exaggerated.
7. This request is in response to your walking up to me and stating to me at a party at the St. Augustine Rod & Gun Club on April 11, 2010 and opining (among other things) that "environmental regulations" have somehow kept Mr. Joseph Stephenson from directing his Road and Bridge Department staff for many years to clean standing water from the ditches. Failure to remove standing water from the ditches is increasing breeding grounds for mosquitosl. I am not intimidated by your gross behavior at the April 6, 2010 County Commission meeting, or your further attempt to browbeat me at the April 11, 2010 party. You should apologize to the public (and me) for your attempt to chill, coerce and discourage First Amendment protected activity on environmental racism.
8. By copy of this E-mail, I am advising the EPA Office of Civil Rights that there is a concern about environmental racism here in St. Johns County on the part of St. Johns County government.
9. If the County does not explain its actions and present a plan to clean the ditches by close of business on April 16, 2010, I shall prepare an EPA Office of Civil Rights (OCR) complaint pursuant to Title VI of the 1964 Civil RIghts Act, requesting suspension and debarment of SJC until EJ issues are favorably resolved..
10. As you know, EPA is empowered under OCR and Environmental Justice regulations to withhold all federal funds from Respondents that violate civil rights. We have a pending complaint against the City of St. Augustine and the Florida DEP over their environmental racism. We will not hesitate to file against the County if this matter is not amicably resolved. Mosquito season has begun.
Sincerely,
Ed
Ed Slavin
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
P.O. Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085
904-829-0808
904-819-5817 (fax)
From: easlavin@aol.com
To: jcameron@sjcfl.us
Sent: Wed, Apr 14, 2010 2:25 pm
Subject: Fwd: Study of Mosquito Control -- Open Records Request
Sent: Tue, Apr 6, 2010 3:22 pm
Subject: Study of Mosquito Control -- Open Records Request
Dear Mr. Wanchik:
Please place all paper and electronic documents relating to mosquito control on the County's websites, including every single full or partial draft of the consultant study and the files on disbursements, purchasing (competitive bidding, if any). Please be sure to include all marked-on copies of the drafts and E-mails between and among the staff, Commissioners and consultants. Also, can you tell me the total disbursements from St. Johns County to the consulting firm for any purpose, including bond market analysis, since 1998? Finally, please provide copies of all documents vetting the firm that did the study, including any research on past and pending litigation.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ed Slavin
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