Here, we right a wrong -- all of Riberia street will be fixed -- worst street in St. Johns County will be repaired

Last night, St. Augustine City Commissioners voted an $18 million bond issue, half of which will be spent in Lincolnville remedying historic environmental racism -- drainage and paving and flood control for Riberia Street, the worst street in St. Johns County.

Three cheers for City Manager John Regan, Mayor Joseph Boles, Vice Mayor Leeana Freeman and Commissioners Sikes-Kline, Erroll Jones and William Leary.

Once upon a time in America, St. Augustine had a City Manager (WILLIAM POMAR) "joked" about wanting to take twelve bulldozers and tear down Lincolnville.

Today, we have a fair-minded City Manager, (John Regan) who proposes to "Lift Up Lincolnville."

Activists rejected the City’s notion of fixing Riberia Street in five segments, as funding allowed, in the sweet-bye-and-bye.

We told the City that the Fourteenth Amendment requires equal government services and that ALL of Riberia Street must be fixed (or else the City could face a civil rights lawsuit in federal court).

I am proud of the growth that I have seen in our City government since April 2005, when I attended my first City Commission meeting. In playwright Tony Kushner’s words, in Angels in America, “only in politics does the miraculous occur.”