Florida Center for Investigative Reporting re: Senator Thrasher's Bill That Would Ban State College Professors from Serving in State Legislature

Blog, Government, Politics
Florida Legislature: College Professors Need Not Apply

Published on January 25, 2012. Tags: Brevard Community College, Conflict Of Interest, Dennis Jones, Florida College System, Florida Senate, John Thrasher, Mike Haridopolos, Northwest Florida State College, Ralph De La Cruz, Ray Sansom, SB 1560, St. Petersburg College, Subcommittee On Ethics And Elections

Sen. John Thrasher has proposed a bill that would prohibit college professors from serving in the state legislature. (Photo: screen capture from Senate video.)

By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting

Triangulate this story and you’ll find it falls somewhere between laughable, maddening and ironic: A bill moving forward in the Florida Senate would ban state college and university employees, such as professors, from serving in the state legislature.

Cue up the “Yeah, no need to taint the Capitol gene pool with some smart people” joke.

Although the proposal seems far from certain (SB 1560 only passed the Senate Rules Subcommittee on Ethics and Elections by a 7-6 vote on Monday), it has nevertheless passed its first legislative obstacle.

The bill, authored by Sen. John Thrasher, is supposed to prevent conflicts of interest by folks from state colleges and universities. But banning them from serving in the legislature doesn’t make sense. Because, almost by definition, every person in the state has the potential for a conflict of interest. That’s true not just for the state legislature, but every county commission, town council and water district seat.

It’s how our citizen government works. We pick people who live and work in our communities and ask them to manage the affairs of those towns and counties and the state. That’s why every governing body already has conflict-of-interest rules that forbid voting on a bill or ordinance from which you could benefit.

And if lawmakers are so concerned about conflicts of interest, why single out state college and university employees? Spend a little time going through the current Florida Senate roster and you’ll find that more than a quarter of the 40-person Florida Senate (12 lawmakers) identify themselves as lawyers or paralegals (one senator). And these are people who — wait for it — make laws. Talk about a conflict of interest. Or are they simply people with expertise and familiarity in that area? Thrasher, by the way, is on that list.

Another six see themselves as professional politicians. Four are farmers or ranchers. Another four are from the health care industry, and four more in education. Two are from real estate, two contractors, two former sheriffs, two bankers.

Which of those industries doesn’t have a vested interest in state laws?

If Thrasher’s bill keeps moving forward, it should be interesting to see how it will be received by Sen. Dennis Jones, a vice president with St. Petersburg College. Not to speak of Senate President Mike Haridopolos, who lists his occupation as a professor at Brevard Community College (remember the $152,000 he got for a 175-page double-spaced book manuscript on Florida politics?).

The other major problem with Thrasher’s bill is that it’s another law for a problem that doesn’t exist (remember the bill that would ban Sharia law and the other bill to end the ban on dwarf-tossing?). How many times has there been a serious problem with folks from state colleges and universities taking over government?

Aside from Haridopolos’ book deal, the most obvious example is the case of former state House Speaker Ray Sansom, who was hired by Northwest Florida State College after he left the legislature, and subsequently used his political power and influence to the advantage of the college, himself and a developer.

Sansom was a lot of things — depending on your view: a hired gun, a politician/lobbyist, a scalawag — but no one ever seriously identified him as a professor.

And if this is really about addressing the Sansom and Haridopolos embarrassments, wouldn’t it make more sense to propose a bill that would ban politicians from becoming college professors, rather than the other way around?

Thrasher’s bill just doesn’t make sense. Yet seven senators — supposedly our most senior, respected lawmakers — voted for it and moved it past the first legislative hurdle.

And chew on this: SB 1560 has already gotten further than a bill that would have allowed Florida voters to recall state leaders.

* * *

I won’t be updating you on the fate of SB 1560. Today’s item will be my last for the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. I’m leaving behind 28 years in journalism to write books and movies. I look forward to the opportunity to pursue that lifelong dream, but will seriously miss writing this blog and interacting with readers.

Every writer knows (or should know) that, by themselves, words are meaningless. It’s only when they’re read that they acquire any power. Thanks for giving some of mine a little juice.

I will continue to be an avid reader and fan of FCIR. If any of you feel a need to reach me, send me a line at elvientogrande@gmail.com.

Good luck, all.

St. Augustine Record Quotes Former Rep. Doug Wiles Opposing Conflicted Rep. Proctor's Eminent Domain Bill for FSDB

The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind Campus has mushroomed from five acres to more than 75 acres. It demands eminent domain despite declining enrollments. Two National Register of Historic Places neighborhoods are in danger -- Fullerwood and Nelmar Terrace. State Representative William L. Proctor is behind the scheme.


Wiles says eminent domain for FSDB would have long-term impact
Former legislator differs with Proctor on granting school eminent domain
Posted: January 27, 2012 - 12:33am
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By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com

When former state Rep. Doug Wiles, D-St. Augustine, wrote House Bill 1059 in 2004, he intended that The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind be treated as a school district or university — adding that it should cooperate with city zoning laws.

But the Senate removed the obligation to cooperate from the final bill.

Now, with House Bill 1037 submitted by state Rep. Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine, any neighborhood protection in Wiles’ bill would be gone, and FSDB would have the power of eminent domain.

Proctor worked closely with the city when he served as president of Flagler College, Wiles said.

“When things got a little rough, they worked it out,” he said. “Both sides can grow and expand when you work together. (FSDB President) Danny Hutto has tried his best to keep good neighborhood relations. I don’t think they need eminent domain, but if you have to have it, there should be part of the law that says you’ve got to work together.”

Residents living in the historic neighborhoods of Nelmar Terrace and Fullerwood are alarmed.

FSDB is bounded on the west by San Marco Avenue and on the east by the Intracoastal Waterway. Unless it decides to expand across San Marco, it can only grow north toward Fullerwood and south toward Nelmar Terrace.

Wiles’ bill said educational institutions “may have an adverse impact on the public facilities (and) services of host governments,” so its long-range plans must contain “elements of intergovernmental coordination that addresses compatibility with the surrounding community.”

He served from 1996 to 2004.

On Thursday, he said giving FSDB eminent domain “may not have an immediate impact but would certainly have a long-term impact. We can’t even imagine what that impact will be. Eminent domain powers given to a state agency may apply anywhere, even in the county.”

Today, Fullerwood and Nelmar residents say they will attempt to convince FSDB’s seven-member Board of Trustees to end their attempts to obtain eminent domain. A hearing set for 9:30 a.m. on campus is to discuss security issues relating to the historic Collins House on Nelmar Avenue, now a girls dormitory.

Wiles said H.B. 1037 would eliminate the sense of cooperation that he specifically wrote into his 2004 bill.

There’s sometimes a dramatic escalation in land cost when a state institution seeks to buy private property, so eminent domain — used for example by North Florida Regional Airport to acquire the Araquay Park properties — can be necessary for the public good, he said.

But residents note that FSDB’s enrollment is declining and ask, “Why do they want this power?”

Homeowners have the power to sue under 1995’s Bert J. Harris Property Protection Act, which says property owners could be due compensation if a government takes their property without adequate compensation.

Wiles said, “The school bought (the Collins House) knowing they couldn’t use it. Why wouldn’t they want to work more effectively with the political entity that surrounds it?”



■



FSDB to hold emergency meeting over securing alleyway by Collins House



The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind trustees are to hold an emergency meeting today to figure out how to make a campus alley safer for students.

FSDB spokeswoman Miki Gilloon said there have been some “increased incidents” since the holidays in the alleyway on the Collins House property on Nelmar Street. The alleyway is also adjacent to the president’s house at 27 Milton Street, she stated.

“Basically this meeting is to look at ways in securing the alleyway, and this is a decision that’s going to be made by the board of trustees,” Gilloon said.

The meeting is open to the public and to be conducted at 9:30 a.m. in Moore Hall, 207 N. San Marco Ave., Room 126.

Residents may also participate by conference call by dialing 866-503-4605.

When prompted, enter code number 9048272614. Then, state your name and press the # key.

Satire On Rep. Proctor's Eminent Domain Bill -- A Parody of "Baby Baby Where did our Love Go" by the Supremes

Proctor, Proctor

Bill, don't BS me
Ooh, please don't BS me
We know you’re all wrong

We got this yearning, burning
Yearning feelin' inside us
Ooh, deep inside us
And it makes us all mad

You came into our hood, Proctor Proctor
So selfishly
With HB 1037
Stinkin' like horse pee

Now we won’t surrender
Vehemently
You’ll wanna reprieve
Ooh, you’ll wanna reprieve

Ooh, Proctor, Proctor
Where will our house go?
Ooh, don't you hear me?
Don't you see me no more?
Ooh Proctor



Interlude



Proctor, Proctor
Where will our House go?
in Nelmar Terrace
and Fullerwood next door?

We got this yearning, burning
Yearning feelin' inside us
Ooh, deep inside us
And it’s our sense of place

Before you were elected
We had HB 1059
But now you forgot that
We can kiss your behind

Proctor Proctor, ooh Proctor

Proctor, Proctor don't BS me
Ooh, please don't BS me
for FSDB

Proctor, Proctor
Where will our house go?


The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind Campus has mushroomed from five acres to more than 75 acres. It demands eminent domain despite declining enrollments. Two National Register of Historic Places neighborhoods are in danger -- Fullerwood and Nelmar Terrace. State Representative William L. Proctor is behind the scheme. Proctor needs to appear before our City of St. Augustine City Commission and answer questions under oath, instead of hiding in Tallahassee. What do you reckon?

New York Times column re: Gingrich's ethnocentric Ph.D. thesis supporting Belgian colonialism

December 4, 2011
What Gingrich Didn’t Learn in Congo
By ADAM HOCHSCHILD

San Francisco

NEWT GINGRICH seldom misses a chance to note that he is a historian. He lards his speeches with references to obscure events in the American past, talks about his time teaching at West Georgia College (not one of those effete Ivies), and has declared that the more than $1.6 million in fees he earned from Freddie Mac was for his work not, heaven forbid, as a lobbyist, but as a historian. And last year he was in the news for saying President Obama exhibited “Kenyan, anticolonial behavior.”

Mr. Gingrich would be our first president with a Ph.D. since Woodrow Wilson. Does his work as a historian tell us anything about him? Or, for that matter, anything about why, despite certain events in 1776, he considers “anticolonial” an epithet? To address these questions, a good place to start is his 1971 Tulane doctoral dissertation: “Belgian Education Policy in the Congo 1945-1960.”

A curious document it is — but not in ways that Mr. Gingrich’s enemies might hope for, since the dissertation is not filled with racism or drum-beating for colonialism’s glories. At the start he asks, “Did the colonial powers perform a painful but positive function in disrupting traditional society and so paving the way for more rapid modernization? Even if they did, was the price of colonial exploitation too high?” Good questions, but he never answers them. Instead, he surveys his subject in a highly pedantic way, dutifully covering rural and urban schools, church and state schools, white and black schools, Protestant and Catholic schools, and education for men and for women. Footnotes, statistics and quotes from eminent authorities abound. The writer who emerges from the text is not the fire-breathing, slash-and-burn partisan attacker Mr. Gingrich’s critics portrayed from his time as House speaker, nor the profound, big-picture thinker Mr. Gingrich the candidate presents himself as. It’s the desk-bound policy wonk.

Part of the wonkery is the absence of any human detail. What did a colonial-era Congolese school look like? What was in the textbooks? How did the teachers treat their students? The reader never learns because Mr. Gingrich never went there — although he did go to Belgium. Perhaps he couldn’t afford a trip to Africa. He cites interviews with one American and seven Belgians — but not a single Congolese, though there were hundreds living in Europe and the United States he could have talked to.

Instead, the future legislator was interested in how educational policy in the Congo reflected tensions in Belgian political life — between Catholics and secularists, and between the French and Flemish halves of the country. Absent Congolese voices and lives, the dissertation is as dry as a stale biscuit.

Despite these limitations, however, Mr. Gingrich is clear-eyed about colonialism. “Belgium ran the Congo as a profitable business,” he writes. “This goal could be achieved only with a passive native population.” He notes that the various “civilizing” efforts the Belgians were so proud of “were commercially motivated. For example, the natives received medical care because it improved their capabilities as a work force. They received enough education to be effective workmen.”

He refers to the “paternalistic” policies of a mining company and the colonial government and to the channeling of blacks into vocational and technical training as “ ‘Uncle Tom’-ish,” though “advanced” for its time. Secondary education for girls was “appalling”; for boys, “also pretty dismal.” School financing was “woefully inadequate” and it was “pathetically unjust” that spending per pupil on the children of white settlers was nearly 10 times what it was for Congolese. He scoffs at Belgian pride in setting up two universities during the final years of colonial rule, pointing out that the students were overwhelmingly white.

Beyond education, Mr. Gingrich has a shrewd politician’s sense of how the colonial system worked. Power was held by a “triumvirate”: an all-white senior civil service, a powerful cartel of corporations and the Catholic Church. The first wanted power, the second profits, the third converts. Could this astute description reflect a hitherto unknown radical phase in Newt’s youth?

Alas, no: his beef is not that there might be anything immoral about one country’s owning and exploiting another, but that the Belgians didn’t create a class of Congolese who could keep the economy functioning efficiently — for whose profit, he never asks. “The Belgians get very low marks for their efforts to develop a political elite and much of the country’s post-independence chaos is due to this Belgian failure.”

Hmmm. If you think this sounds too anticolonial, better alert Fox News. But the bigger question is: does this thesis show an original, creative historian at work? This it does not.

Woodrow Wilson’s Ph.D. dissertation boldly asserted that the founding fathers had gotten many things wrong, and advocated for this country something like the British parliamentary system. Soon published as a book, it was argued over for decades, and even scholars who disagreed with Wilson respected him, and his openness to changing his ideas. Mr. Gingrich may succeed in being elected president, but it is hard to imagine him, like Wilson after he left the White House, being elected president of the American Historical Association.

Adam Hochschild is the author of “King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa.”

Click Here to read Ph.D. Dissertation of NEWTON LEROY GINGRICH --- What do you reckon?

How many sources are from Africa? How much solicitude can one have for a brutal European despotism? Ask NEWTON LEROY GINGRICH at tonight's Republican presidential debate in Jacksonville, FL.

St. Augustiine Record: City: Protect historical artifacts --- outrage over TV reality show sparked commission action

Posted: January 24, 2012 - 9:55pm
By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com

Outrage over TV reality show sparked commission action

Desiring to protect the city’s historic resources, St. Augustine City Commission this week passed a resolution reminding its residents that local archeological artifacts require protection from exploitation.

Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline became alarmed after a Los Angeles film company recently requested to film a reality show of city residents digging artifacts from their yards and talking about them on camera.

That project was never developed, though just weeks before, a local resident armed with an expensive metal detector boasted about finding “secret” sites and shipwrecks where he locates and removes thousands of artifacts, including gold and silver from the 16th century.

“It was a double-whammy,” Sikes-Kline said Tuesday. “So it was important to get our message out.”

She also heard that the film company planned digging on the site where Seminole Chief Osceola was captured.

In a prepared statement released Tuesday morning by the city, Sikes-Kline said, “We can all be the best stewards of our property and be sure that when it’s excavated it is not done wilfully but with professional oversight.”

Both those cases sparked an angry outcry from residents and protests from archeologists who said removal of historical artifacts from their locations removes any chance of determining their age and much of the historic value they may hold.

Artifact restoration expert John Powell of St. Augustine said Tuesday that the city’s “archeological integrity” must be maintained.

“St. Augustine has already lost innumerable archeological resources to construction and development,” he said. “Any information we can save about the city’s past we should save. (The city’s) archeological ordinance mandates that any major disruption of soil must be excavated by the city. It’s the only thing that stands between archeological information and the total destruction of those resources.”

Powell praised City Archeologist Carl Halbirt and renowned University of Florida archeologist Kathleen Deagan as world-class “treasures” who have influenced and educated thousands of local residents with their work.

Halbirt said that, by having the archeological ordinance, 600 city properties have been excavated.

“Without the ordinance and investigation, this information would have been permanently lost,” he said. “We’re helping to preserve St. Augustine’s heritage through documentation.”

Sikes-Kline admitted that the new resolution has no enforcement teeth but said it serves to remind residents they should recognize the importance of preserving the archeological significance of what they find on their land.

This can be done by contacting the city prior to any excavation, she said.

There is no telling what Halbirt will find.

For example, while excavating a wooded lot off Magnolia Street for a proposed house construction, he found post holes that led to the conclusion that this site once held a prehistoric Native American occupation that dates prior to Don Pedro Menendez.

Also on that site he found more post holes and archeological items that post-date the 1565 Menendez encampment.

Sikes-Kline said that public property in the county and city is already protected.

“But private property is private property. We can’t tell people what they can or cannot do on their property,” she said. “We just want them to call before digging. This (resolution) is an opportunity to educate people.”

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ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The St. Augustine Record or StAugustine.com. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.
mullb@slhn.org
About Time
By mullb@slhn.org | 01/25/12 - 07:32 am

FINALLY!!!!!
Finally the city did something to protect itself an its history. I'd like to thank the people responsibile for this one.History be it good or bad is ir replacable once its dug up/ plowed over /built on, or whatever method of destroying it happens.St.Sugistine can preserve its history as well as enlighten vistors who come there for its history amongst other things.Job well done an hopefully people will follow thru. As far as the gentleman who is "secretly" taking treasures an history away from others as they say every dog has its day an time will tell. bdm

B.D.Mull

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Soldado
Speaking of looters...
By Soldado | 01/25/12 - 08:35 am

...whatever happened with the entirely justifiable outcry generated a week or so by the Record's spotlight on them and Dr. Deagan's entirely correct commentary? Is *our* local/state/national heritage still being "expertly restored" for private profit, resulting in the destruction of St. Augustine's irreplaceable archaeological sites and artifacts?

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Alaric
If the city managed our
By Alaric | 01/25/12 - 09:11 am

If the city managed our resources better the Spanish quarter wouldn't be closing. There is no real danger of private archeologists. The city could benefit from more exposure. It seems that completely rejecting outside and private archologists indicates that the city wants to keep evrything to itself. The city should try and work with them and help maintain the integrity of their work rather than flat out rejecting them.

J

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Ravendriver
How many
By Ravendriver | 01/25/12 - 04:21 pm

artifacts end up in the private collections of government employees?

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hearmeroar
IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING
By hearmeroar | 01/25/12 - 05:42 pm

Ravendriver: REPORT IT.

Elsewise, STFU.

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hearmeroar
ALARIC
By hearmeroar | 01/25/12 - 05:50 pm

Confusing msg.

You're blaming the City for the collapse of the SQ? No. That was the State, which had been running it since its inception, never putting money into it.

The City took over the SQ and buildings in good faith, not realizing the depth of the lack of commitment by the State for DECADES.

The City has a STAFF archaeologist, which does NOT preclude other archaeologists or contract companies from working in St. Augustine.

The reality show woman (Mandelbaum) is a self-admitted "digger" for "treasure." She is NOT an archaeologist.

The metal-detecting Bob Spratley leads his friends from Georgia and elsewhere to archaeologoical sites on government and private property to LOOT -- and just for good measure, he sends his friends back to their home states with cultural material they have STOLEN from us.

St. Augustine Record: City to oppose eminent domain -- Resident: FSDB is committing 'neighborhood homicide'

Posted: January 23, 2012 - 11:15pm
By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com

Resident: FSDB is committing ‘neighborhood homicide’

A simmering, decade-long zoning dispute between the city and The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind reached a low boil Monday night as residents of the historic Nelmar Terrace neighborhood strongly protested a proposed compromise agreement hammered out with the school.

Nelmar resident Melinda Rakoncy told the City Commission that if the school’s attempts to achieve eminent domain power succeed, “that is war on the city of St. Augustine. It would strip the city forever of its ability to control its own growth.”

Rakoncay explained that, with that power, FSDB could force the purchase of any piece of land in the city.

House bill 1037, filed by state Rep. Bill Proctor, R,St. Augustine, would not only give the school eminent domain power but make the school’s zoning violations permanent after July 1.

Senate Bill 1348 was filed as a companion bill to Proctor’s. Both would delete the present requirement that FSDB cooperate with local authorities in the restoration of school facilities.

On a motion by Vice Mayor Leanna Freeman, the commission voted 5-0 to approve a resolution opposing that legislation.

Proctor — who is term limited — did not attend Monday, but has said he wants FSDB to have eminent domain power before he leaves office.

Rakoncay said, “He’s not representing his district or the city. He’s representing the school.”

St. Augustine activist Ed Slavin said Proctor has had a “close and intimate relationship” with FSDB as a board member and chairman of the board for years.

“This as a conflict of interest for him,” Slavin said. “Let him be here under oath and not hiding in Tallahassee.”

Former Nelmar neighborhood Lisa Lloyd said she loved the school and its mission, but added that its administrators have “used children’s disabilities to hide their misbehavior. If you let those (zoning) violations go, why would anyone else in the city follow the law? It’s frightening. Taking people’s homes away form them is completely reprehensible.”

FSDB officials have said several times that they have no plans to use eminent domain. They just want to be protected from gouging when they want to purchase a piece of land, they said.

But it’s doubtful whether any member of the City Commission or any Nelmar Terrace resident believes that.

Multiple residents said they were “disappointed” at the terms of a mediated agreement worked out between the city and FSDB giving the school permanent control over a city alleyway. For that parcel, the public would get access to two strips of land — one along Nelmar Avenue and the other along the Intracoastal, though they would not have access to the water.

City Attorney Ron Brown laid out the city’s choices:

■ If the mediation proposal is rejected, things stay as they are until new proposals can be worked out. If the eminent domain bills pass, however, the city has no recourse and the school has no incentive to negotiate.

■ If the mediation proposal is approved, the city at least gets something. So if the eminent domain bills pass, the mediation provisions remain in effect.

The major issues include the usage and fencing of the Collins House on Nelmar, the future use of the vacant eastern half of the Genoply Tract, the possession and use of an alley between Milton and Nelmar streets that has been public since 1912, and of course, eminent domain.

Brown said the mediation proposals are “the best we think we can do at this time. (If the bills pass), the Legislature will have the effect of legalizing what the school has done on that property.”

One of the primary concerns the neighborhood has with the Collins House is reducing its eight-foot institutional security fence to six feet, he said.

Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline, who as one of the mediators spent 16 grueling hours working on the agreement, said she wasn’t happy with the result.

“But it’s here. We can modify it,” she said, adding that she was not able to recommend the agreement. “I wanted to close this wound that has been festering for so many years. This was the best we could do.”

Alfred Street resident Jessica Misterly said she was disappointed with the proposal, which she felt was “skewed toward FSDB. The city gets little or nothing.”

Nelmar resident Jeanette Booth said FSDB is not governed by publicly elected officials and said she opposed the bills.

“We want to be good neighbors, but we want (FSDB) to follow the laws,” Booth said.

James Register, of 15 Genoply St., the only resident on that street that hadn’t sold to FSDB, said the school offered him $80,000 for his house, then $125,000 and then $140,000.

“I’ve lived here since 1967,” he said. “(After eminent domain takes my house) what are you going to do with me? I’m waiting for someone to knock on my door and say, ‘Mr. Register, congratulations! You’re now part of the FSDB campus’”

James Carr called the school “an 800-pound gorilla, above the law, above reproach. They can do what they want.”

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ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The St. Augustine Record or StAugustine.com. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.
yathink
expand the campus outside of the congested city ,, nelmar
By yathink | 01/24/12 - 07:32 am

terrace residents have a right to enjoy their property without being harassed by f.s.d.b. and it's eminent domain ideas... proctor should butt out and cease using his relationship with the school to enable them to STEAL property... buses can transport the kids between campuses,, if managed properly, they won't have to bus them at all !!!>>>yathink

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Jazyddrums
Ed Slavin = yathink
By Jazyddrums | 01/24/12 - 07:41 am

Ed Slavin = yathink

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Ravendriver
Proctor
By Ravendriver | 01/24/12 - 09:13 am

you should be ashamed of yourself. Follow the $$$$.

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peanut
local control?
By peanut | 01/24/12 - 06:31 pm

If Proctor had his way, Flagler College would have eminent domain. Under his leadership, the college would buy property, tear down historic houses and then build a fake historical building. The college has a master plan but somehow the city is never given access to their plans. They are produced piecemeal so that no one can examine the whole plan. This is also his plan for D&B. He doesn't care that he is destroying one of the nicest areas of this city.. Due to the water all around, our neighborhoods are small and expanding the school is destroying the quality of life there. The campus used to be a safe place for neighbors to ride bicycles and fish. a.. that has already been destroyed. The abuse on the campus was not from visitors, it was from employees.