1. Why doesn't County Government TV (GTV) televise these annual legislative delegation meetings? They're part of our democracy -- like Lincoln's daily "public opinion baths."
2. Why doesn't the Record do what it used to do -- advance coverage, listing speakers on the agenda and encouraging public participation and attendance?
3. Why did Record's 701 word article omit ANY coverage of DOUGLAS NELSON BURNETT's latest dingbat idea -- renaming our St. Augustine Airport as "Northeast Florida Regional Airport," done without legislative approval? No marketing or branding studies. For several years, conflicted developer and Airport lawyer BURNETT has fumbled efforts at a local law approved by the legislature, violating procedural requirements. Like watching a duck make love to a football. Uncandid corporate mouthpiece had NO defenses to my critique of his scheme in public comment. Is Record covering for this secrecy? As Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "Secrecy is for losers."
4. America's Best Idea -- our National Park Service -- promises to provide some of the answer to pressing problems discussed by legislative delegation meeting witnesses, including development pressure on our history and nature (like Fish Island) and beach erosion. Once again, the Record's bored reporter ignored StAugustGreen's unrebutted testimony on the need for the proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore, first proposed by Mayor Walter Fraser in 1939.
5. 701 word story -- are y'all kidding me? Not nearly enough information for readers about the annual legislative delegation meeting
6. No video coverage by SJC GTV. Why? Ask your St. Johns County Administrator, MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK.
7. Pitiful. St. Johns County residents deserve better from SJC and SAR!!
8. Citizens are being kept in the dark by those "Billion Dollar Babies" in our local governments and the Incredible Shrinking St. Augustine Record's greedy owner-investors, GateHouse Media.
9. The ghosts of our Founding Fathers are watching us.
10. It's time for a change.
11. On affordable housing, the answers include Living Wage Ordinances for government employees, franchisee and government contractor employees; raising wages for workers; unionizing local workplaces, and requiring developers to dedicate land to affordable housing.
12. I first spoke out in favor of a local Living Wage Ordinance in 2005; those concerns fell on uncaring ears.
13. Unfortunately, the all-white, all-male, all-Republican BoCC is guilty of Housing Apartheid. County Administrator MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK is a Tinpot Napoleon who brandishes arrogant insipid insouciance to basic human needs, to which the corrupt political machine of Sheriff DAVID SHOAR barely pays lip service.
14. No Democrat has run for County Commission or any countywide office since 2006 -- 1/8 of a century ago. Why?
15. SJC BoCC has repeatedly allowed devious developers to delete affordable housing from their Planned Unit Development ordinances, at the drop of a campaign contribution, as with the recent deletion of Nocatee's 40 acres.
16. The County's affordable housing advisory committee is moribund.
17. As RFK once said, "Government belongs wherever evil needs an adversary or there are people in distress who cannot help themselves."
Affordable housing a top focus at St. Johns County Legislative Delegation meeting
State Senator Travis Hutson and state Representatives Cyndi Stevenson and Paul Renner meet with members of the public during the annual St. Johns County Legislative Delegation held in the county administration building in St. Augustine on Friday. [PETER WILLOTT/THE RECORD]
By Sheldon Gardner
Posted Dec 7, 2018 at 6:31 PM
Updated Dec 7, 2018 at 8:49 PM
Members of the St. Johns County Legislative Delegation heard from about 30 speakers on Friday morning, most of whom asked for funding or other legislative help.
The delegation — made up of state Sen. Travis Hutson and state Reps. Cyndi Stevenson and Paul Renner — met at the St. Johns County Auditorium. The forum offered local leaders and the public a chance to voice their concerns and make requests of the delegation before the upcoming legislative session, which will begin in March.
Among the most common topics Friday were affordable housing, mental health, substance abuse and natural resources.
Affordable housing
St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Shaver, while addressing the panel, said most renters in St. Johns County, including the city, are economically stressed because of how much they pay for housing.
“That’s our teachers and firefighters,” she said. “They can’t afford to live in the communities they serve.”
The vacation-rental industry has also cut down on workforce housing, she said. A lack of affordable housing makes it harder for people to get out of homelessness, she said.
“Without affordable housing, we just can’t get these folks back on their feet so they are productive members of our community,” Shaver said.
Hutson said he’d like to work with the city on ways to better regulate vacation rentals under existing laws.
Mental health, substance abuse
Leaders in behavioral health care, which includes mental health and substance abuse treatment, in the region requested more state help in providing services.
Ivan Cosimi, CEO of SMA Healthcare, a behavioral health provider in the region, asked for legislators to support the state’s investment in a community mental health system. He also asked for continued support of the Florida Assertive Community Treatment team, a group of medical professionals and case managers who serve the most profoundly mentally ill people in St. Johns and Putnam counties.
Patti Greenough, of the St. Johns County Behavioral Health Consortium, asked for the delegation’s support in getting recurring funding for the FACT team so officials wouldn’t have to continually request it. She echoed Cosimi’s request for funding for a community mental health system.
Greenough is also CEO of EPIC Behavioral Healthcare, and she said the organization’s detox center is at capacity all the time and needs funding to expand.
Hutson asked Greenough to provide an estimated cost of expanding the detox facility, adding that the delegation might be able to get a one-time capital expense in the state budget.
Natural resources
Several people supported continued investment in various parts of the county’s coastline through beach renourishment.
Lori Moffett, of the nonprofit Save Ponte Vedra Beach, asked for the delegation’s support in getting state funding for a beach renourishment in Ponte Vedra Beach. She said residents in the area have already agreed to help pay for it through added taxes on their properties.
Hutson, Renner and Stevenson said they would be willing to help Moffett with the effort.
Maureen Long, of the advocacy group Friends of Fish Island, asked for help in preserving the land overlooking the Matanzas River about southeast of the State Road 312 bridge. D.R. Horton recently attempted to rezone the land for a residential development, but St. Augustine’s Planning and Zoning Board turned down the request. The land has existing development rights.
Tom Rivers, a commissioner of the St. Augustine Port, Waterway, and Beach District, asked for support in allowing the special taxing district to expand to bring in more revenue. The district levies a millage rate of 0.0638. Hutson suggested that the district present specific funding requests to the delegation instead of expanding the taxing district.
John Pilecki, representing St. Johns County’s Democratic Environmental Caucus, supported a fracking ban at all government levels.
Jim McCarthy, president of the North Florida Land Trust, touted the benefits of land conservation such as flood prevention and the tourism draw of natural beauty. He asked for the delegation to push for land conservation funds through Amendment 1 to be used as voters intended. The amendment passed in 2014 to use a portion of tax revenue from real-estate documentary stamps for the Land Acquisition Trust Fund, but the issue of how the money should be used has been debated in court, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Comments
Edward Adelbert Slavin
1. Why doesn't County Government TV (GTV) televise these annual legislative delegation meetings? They're part of our democracy -- like Lincoln's daily "public opinion baths."
2. Why doesn't the Record do what it used to do -- advance coverage, listing speakers on the agenda and encouraging public participation and attendance?
3. Why did Record's 701 word article omit ANY coverage of DOUGLAS NELSON BURNETT's latest dingbat idea -- renaming our St. Augustine Airport as "Northeast Florida Regional Airport," done without legislative approval? No marketing or branding studies. For several years, conflicted developer and Airport lawyer BURNETT has fumbled efforts at a local law approved by the legislature, violating procedural requirements. Like watching a duck make love to a football. Uncandid corporate mouthpiece had NO defenses to my critique of his scheme in public comment. Is Record covering for this secrecy? As Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "Secrecy is for losers."
4. America's Best Idea -- our National Park Service -- promises to provide some of the answer to pressing problems discussed by legislative delegation meeting witnesses, including development pressure on our history and nature (like Fish Island) and beach erosion. Once again, the Record's bored reporter ignored StAugustGreen's unrebutted testimony on the need for the proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore, first proposed by Mayor Walter Fraser in 1939.
5. 701 word story -- are y'all kidding me? Not nearly enough information for readers about the annual legislative delegation meeting
6. No video coverage by SJC GTV. Why? Ask your St. Johns County Administrator, MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK.
7. Pitiful. St. Johns County residents deserve better from SJC and SAR!!
8. Citizens are being kept in the dark by those "Billion Dollar Babies" in our local governments and the Incredible Shrinking St. Augustine Record's greedy owner-investors, GateHouse Media.
9. The ghosts of our Founding Fathers are watching us.
10. It's time for a change.
11. On affordable housing, the answers include Living Wage Ordinances for government employees, franchisee and government contractor employees; raising wages for workers; unionizing local workplaces, and requiring developers to dedicate land to affordable housing.
12. I first spoke out in favor of a local Living Wage Ordinance in 2005; those concerns fell on uncaring ears.
13. Unfortunately, the all-white, all-male, all-Republican BoCC is guilty of Housing Apartheid. County Administrator MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK is a Tinpot Napoleon who brandishes arrogant insipid insouciance to basic human needs, to which the corrupt political machine of Sheriff DAVID SHOAR barely pays lip service.
14. No Democrat has run for County Commission or any countywide office since 2006 -- 1/8 of a century ago. Why?
15. SJC BoCC has repeatedly allowed devious developers to delete affordable housing from their Planned Unit Development ordinances, at the drop of a campaign contribution, as with the recent deletion of Nocatee's 40 acres.
16. The County's affordable housing advisory committee is moribund.
17. As RFK once said, "Government belongs wherever evil needs an adversary or there are people in distress who cannot help themselves."
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