I fell in love with St. Augustine, Florida in August 1992, visiting here on the way to and from South Florida after the trial of Varnadore v. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, discussed in an eloquent New York Times obituary back in August.
We moved here on November 5, 1999 -- fourteen (14) years ago yesterday.
During that time (25% of my life), there has been a great deal of progress here in St. Augustine, our Nation's Oldest City -- progress on Environmental Justice, Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, Economic Development and Diversity -- progress documented on this blog since 2006. As I told our City Commissioners at Monday's visioning workshop, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said this was the "most lawless" city in America -- that reality has changed before our eyes, particularly since 2010, when John Patrick Regan, P.E. became our City Manager.
We love this town, and are proud to be a part of preserving and protecting it.
To paraphrase the words of United States Senator Daniel Webster before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dartmouth College Case, "It's a small [town], but there are those who love it." We commemorate our 450th annversary in 2015, and the 50th anniversary of our 1964 Civil Rights Act next year.
We look forward to Congress and the President adopting a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore, to preserve and protect what we love, forever. www.staugustgreen.com
From the Mayor's mother (Mrs. Maurine Boles) to Ambassador Andrew Young to St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar (who called it a "no brainer" back in 2011), virtually everyone who appreciates our nature and beauty wants to make it happen. The idea was first proposed by Mayor Walter Fraser in 1939, supported by both of Florida's U.S. Senators and our then-Congressman -- nearly 75 years ago.
Yes we can!
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