Mayor JOSEPH LESTER BOLES,, JR. asks some 6000 voters to award him a Fifth Term as Mayor August 26th.
Unjustified?
Unprecedented?
Unnecessary?
Unearned?
Undeserved?
Unwanted?
Undignified?
Unhelpful?
St. Augustine Mayor JOSEPH LESTER BOLES, Jr. has been Mayor since December 2006.
He will have served some 1461 days by the end of his term.
Don't get me wrong.
He's a nice guy.
He's gregarious.
He has a good sense of humor.
He's done good.
He's had a "good run," as he told his family and friends.
But eight (8) years is quite enough.
In America, where we elect leaders, not monarchs for life.
Eight (8) years is a long time.
How long?
Mayor BOLES has been Mayor of St. Augustine for twice as long as the American Civil War was fought.
Mayor BOLES has been Mayor of St. Augustine for twice as long as the U.S. fought in World War II.
Mayor BOLES has been Mayor of St. Augustine for as long as U.S. ground troops fought in the Vietnam War.
Mayor BOLES has been Mayor of St. Augustine since before Barack Obama ran for President.
Mayor BOLES has been Mayor of St. Augustine for some 17% of the years since BOLES moved here as a child.
Mayor BOLES has been Mayor long enough that some younger or newer residents will remember no other Mayor.
Eight years in high elective office was good enough for Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry S Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush -- fourteen (14) Presidents.
Eight years is long enough for JOSEPH LESTER BOLES, JR. as Mayor of St. Augustine, Florida.
Mayor BOLES was endorsed for election in 2006 by thirteen (13) former Mayors, NONE of whom served as long
BOLED over, after only four years, St. Augustine's reform Mayor, George Gardner did not seek re-election.
Mayor BOLES stated in 2006 that he ran on the basis of:
(A) Those thirteen (13 ) endorsements; and
(B) His "sense of humor."
That was it. Those two things.
BOLES does not deserve to be "Mayor for Life," as the Washington, D.C. weekly City Paper once dubbed Washington's Mayor Marion Barry before his arrest.
A fifth term for Mayor BOLES -- ten years -- would not be funny.
We're not laughing.
This is our local government.
This is not a Mel Brooks comedy (like "Blazing Saddles").
We need more healing.
We need more accountability and better planning.
We need fewer cliches, fewer trite tropes.
Let's banish forever from our town Mayor BOLES' awfully trite trope, "Let's not reinvent the wheel.".
Let's reinvent government.
In James Madison's words, "Here, sir, the people govern."
Enough already!
No Fifth Term for Mayor BOLES.
Eight years is long enough!
It's time for a sea change!
For more on St. Augustine's future and her recent past, please read www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
There's no pay wall.
You can search for gnarly, revealing relevant articles dating way back to April, 2006 -- eight months before BOLES became Mayor.
Read all about it.
You decide.
Respectfully,
Ed Slavin
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
EASlavin@aol.com
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
904-377-4998
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