St. Johns County Commission Chairman Jay Morris and Commissioners Cindi Stevenson, Ronad Sanchez and Priscilla (Rachael) Bennett showed contempt and disrespect for Sunshine and Open Records on September 17, 2013 (yesterday) by amending their agenda only yesterday morning, sneakily voting without public notice under Sunshine and Open Records laws to approve:
(a) a Legislative Agenda that includes advocacy for more Open Records Act exemptions, and
(b) a $21, 000 raise to the County Administrator, Michael Wanchick.
This is an outrage.
Only one member of the public, Ms. B.J. Kalaidi, was present to see it.
Kudos to Ms. Kalaidi for attending meeting and raising concerns.
County Commissioners "bear watchin'."
Enough secrecy, snarkiness and sneakiness.
Our St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners must treat the law and the people with dignity, respect and consideration.
We hired Mr. Wancick to end St. Johns County corruption, flummery, dupery, nincompoopery, waste, fraud, abuse, misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance.
Seveal years ago, in the wake of illegal campaign promises to fire Wanchick, then-Commissioners voted Mr. Wanchick a $500,000 golden parachute in the event he is fired without cause -- what Commissioner Sanchez admits is a "poison pill."
In exchange for his raise (to which he was contractually entitled and which he had rejected for years during non-union countyemployee furloughs and pay freezes), why not end the "poison pill," which could no longer be legal under current Florida law, which limits severance pay?
Why not let the public discuss that option?
Why silence the people by Stealth?
The worst "poison" here is BCC's poisoning of the waters of democracy -- the notion that under one-party rule, Commissioners can stick anything on the agenda the morning of a meeting and pass it without public comment.
What lugubrious gooberisness. What errant nonsense. This is contrary to the genius of a free people.
Commissioners: kindly vote to reconsider your actions at your next meeting, giving any interested citizens the chance to comment on the Legislative Agenda and Mr. Wanchick's evaluation and raise, treating us like grownups in a democracy (instead of the children of a tyrannical, patronizing, paternalistic dictator).
You may fear the Tea Partiers and want to silence them.
You may not want the public debating new Open Records exemptions.
But we have a right to speak -- all of us -- not just the one citizen who attended BCC's meeting the afternoon of September 17, 2013.
We shall overcome.
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