It's an earthquake.
The veto vindicates city home rule.
The veto shows Republicans CAN protect the environment.
The veto shows that there's still some hope for Governor DeSantis, the star of faux Fox News, the racist who attacked Andrew Gillum with racist codewords, the once-seemingly vapid former captain of the Yale baseball team, a Trump supporter, and a Harvard Law School graduate who has appeared at Tea Party meetings and falsely accused the HLS faculty of being Communists.
Like the seemingly-wimpy character of Michael Corleone suddenly developing courage and ruthlessness in The Godfather, the once seemingly wimpy Ron DeSantis appears to have suddenly received a spinal and testicular implant.
Governor DeSnatis is standing up to crooked environmental pigs and fascists like State Senator TRAVIS HUTSON (R-HUTSON COMPANIES).
The veto suggests we may get a new State Senator next year. Read the veto message, TRAVIS HUTSON, and weep:
The bill banning straw bans was sponsored by State Senator TRAVIS HUTSON (R-HUTSON COMPANIES), a doormat for lobbyists.
HUTSON who has now earned a strong Democratic opponent in 2020. Democrats are only three seats away from taking the State Senate in 2020.
Like Will Rogers "I don't belong to any organized political party, I'm a Democrat." If there is any way for Flori-DUH Democrats to screw up a winnable election, they will do it, as they did in 2018, 2014, 2010 and 2006.
TRAVIS HUTSON has perhaps even earned a Republican primary. from a Theodore Roosevelt Republican who believes in environmental protection.
I've been speaking every year since 2006 to our St. Johns County Legislative Delegation about the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore, first proposed in 1939 by Mayor Walter Fraser and U.S. Senators Claude Pepper and Charles Andrews and then-Rep. Joseph Hendricks. HUTSON's company destroys wetlands, clearcuts trees and builds crappy tract home houses.
Who will rid us of this nettlesome creep?
St. Augustine City Manager John Patrick Regan, P.E. should run for State Senate. John is a lifelong registered Republican, one who until recently listed that datum on his official city biography, until I pointed this out at a city meeting as being improper. (John was embarrassed and told me the bio came from a presentation he made to a Republican group).
Running in St. Johns and Flagler Counties and part of Volusia County, John Regan could defeat TRAVIS HUTSON in the 2020 Republican Primary for State Senator.
This would then let John save face. He's been City Manager since 2010, long past his best days. He's not much of a manager, and it shows.
Running for State Senate would give John a second mountain to climb, and a second career more attuned with his skill set.
John Regan running for State Senate would clear the way for a national search of someone with actual management skills for the job of St. Augustine City Manager. John Regan is no manager, as everyone who knows him agrees.
But John is and would continue to be a natural in Tallahassee, and much more attuned to environmental issues than the pompous Philistine who now purports to represent St. Johns County in Tallahassee, TRAVIS HUTSON, who is called "Chunkstyle" by local activist Tom Reynolds, a/k/a "Who the hell is Tom Reynolds?).
From the St. Augustine Record.
Vacation rentals, plastic straws among topics for St. Johns County this legislative session
By Sheldon Gardner
Posted May 11, 2019 at 6:10 PM
Updated May 11, 2019 at 6:10 PM
St. Augustine Record
For the city of St. Augustine, one of the biggest successes of the legislative session in Tallahassee was what didn’t happen.
City officials were focused on stopping lawmakers from further limiting or stripping them of their ability to regulate vacation rentals. Some of them, including City Manager John Regan, went to Tallahassee to push against such bills.
Those bills didn’t move forward. With that, the city plans to set a date to talk about potential regulations on the industry.
“That was our No. 1 goal, was to make sure that those bills died,” Regan said.
The Legislature passed less than 200 bills this session, according to The Associated Press. Some of those have been supported by local representatives or have been in focus for local officials.
One big topic of the session were bills that aimed to put regulation of certain issues in the state’s hand instead of local government, such as the vacation rental issue.
Lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting local governments from regulating plastic straws. But Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed that measure late Friday. Sen. Travis Hutson supported the plastic straw legislation.
The city of St. Augustine Beach has been considering implementing a plastic straw ban.
State Rep. Cyndi Stevenson, who represents part of St. Johns County, said local governments need to be able to take care of issues “in a cost-efficient manner.” She said she thinks the state sometimes “overcorrects” when a local government goes too far, which then punishes local governments that are striking a good balance.
Stevenson said a number of efforts got through that she supported, including property insurance reform, increased transparency for certain retirement communities, privacy of information of 16- and 17-year-olds who pre-register to vote, and reforms to reduce the cost of health care, including prescriptions.
Among the efforts of Rep. Paul Renner, who represents part of St. Johns County, included sponsorship of a bill that in its final version raises the minimum threshold for a grand theft charge from $300 to $750. Renner didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Hutson’s work included sponsorship of a bill to make a financial literacy course a requirement for high school graduation. The bill that passed requires the course to be offered as an elective.
The following is information from The Associated Press about some major bills this session, with a note if the governor has added his signature. He still has time to sign bills.
Passed:
• A repeal of a smokable medical marijuana ban. Signed.
• Importation of prescription drugs.
• A school safety bill that expands a program that allows teachers to carry guns in classrooms. Signed.
• A new school voucher program for low-income families. Signed.
• Cancer benefits for firefighters. Signed.
• The creation of an agricultural hemp program.
• Increased penalties for
ing or seriously injuring police dogs and horses. Signed.
• Implementation of a constitutional amendment that restores felon voting rights — if they’ve paid all court-ordered financial obligations.
• A bill to encourage vocational and technical training in high schools.
• Making texting and driving a primary offense.
Failed:
• A fracking ban.
• Raising the age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21.
• Parental consent for minors to get an abortion.
• Allowing craft distillers to sell more of their product on site.
• Asking voters to repeal the Constitution Revision Commission.
• Asking voters to raise the threshold to pass a constitutional amendment from 60% to two-thirds.
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