Are you kidding me? Five white male Republicans on St. Johns County Commission want to give a boy a man's job, seeking to duke in young HUNTER S. CONRAD as Interim County Administrator.
I oppose this specious proposal. No posting, no advertising, no background check. Illegal and immoral, and smacking of corruption.
I have filed a civil rights complaint with HUD pursuant to Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
-Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin
To: ComplaintsOffice04
Cc: georgio
Sent: Thu, Dec 5, 2019 4:07 pm
Subject: HUD CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT: Does St. Johns County Administrator Ad Interim Hiring Process Violate Title VI of 1964 Civil Rights Act?
Dear Secretary Carson:
- Pursuant to Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, will you please be so kind as to initiate a HUD civil rights investigation of the Respondent St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners for pre-selecting as St. Johns County Administrator Ad Interim an underqualified young white man, HUNTER S. CONRAD, Clerk of Courts and Comptroller -- race, sex and age discrimination -- without ever posting or advertising the position?
- Respondent SJC BoCC receives HUD Community Development Block Grant assistance.
- I have lived in St. Johns County, Florida since November 5, 1999 -- more than twenty (20) years.
- I am a member of the protected class of persons raising concerns about institutional racism and maladministration here.
- I have experienced unlawful retaliation and discrimination due to First Amendment protected activity on civil rights issues here, including interference with Open Records requests filed as a journalist and citizen.
- Respondent SJC BoCC has never had a woman or minority County Administrator.
- Neither city in our County has ever had a woman or minority City Manager.
- This community has a long history of institutional racism, amply documented in federal court decisions.
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called it "the most lawless" in America,
- On November 19, 2019, Respondents rightly fired MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK, County Administrator, 2007-2019.
- However, Commissioners then egregiously erred: the interim County Administrator position was neither posted nor advertised.
- The only candidate discussed to date is one HUNTER S. CONRAD, a young white male elected official being groomed for the permanent position, it would appear.
- In violation of federal EEO law, F.S. 286 and our Florida Constitution Article I, Section 24 (Sunshine law), five elected white male Republican County Commissioners swiftly selected another white male Republican elected official, HUNTER CONRAD, for appointment to the interim County Administrator position.
- Five white men pre-selected CONRAD, a white man, arbitrarily, thoughtlessly and illegally pre-selecting him for a salary of $227,445.96 annually, plus benefits, to the exclusion of all potential women, minority or older candidates. As the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held in United States v. City of Black Jack, 508 F.2d 1179, 1186 (8th Cir. 1974), cert. denied, 422 U.S. 1042 (1975) "Effect, and not motivation, is the touchstone, in part because clever men may easily conceal their motivations, but more importantly, because* * * whatever our law was once, * * * we now firmly recognize that the arbitrary quality of thoughtlessness can be as disastrous and unfair to private rights and the public interest as the perversity of a willful scheme." Hobson v. Hansen, 269 F.Supp. 401, 497 (D.D.C.1967), aff'd sub nom. Smuck v. Hobson, 132 U.S.App.D.C. 372, 408 F.2d 175 (1969) (en banc).
- A sham special SJC BoCC meeting is set to be held at 2:30 pm on Monday, December 9, 2019 at 500 Sebastian View, St. Augustine, Florida (St. Johns County Administration Building), for the purpose of approving a proposed employment contract with CONRAD (not shared yet).
- Please direct the Atlanta HUD office to send its best investigators.
- Please examine St. Johns County's discriminatory hiring practices with a gimlet eye.
- Prior racist actions include a 1998 vote outside the ordinary course of business, redistricting, gerrymandering and decreasing the number of Commissioners from seven to five, and making them all elected County-wide, as a means of diluting minority voting strength in violation of the 15th Amendment.
- By copy of this e-mail, I invite the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners to post and advertise the vacancy for St. Johns County Administrator Ad Interim. Now.
- No legal advice on civil rights law was ever requested by Commissioners before deciding to hire CONRAD without posting or advertising. This stinks on ice, and is a stench in the nostrils of our Nation.
- The Rule of Law must at last be respected by St, Johns County, Florida, where some 1000 people were arrested illegally, demonstrating in support of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, signed into law on July 2, 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who successfully broke the Senate filibuster as a result of the courage of civil rights protesters, some of whom survive and are our friends and neighbors here in Our Nation's Oldest European-founded city.
- Let justice be done. Now.
- Let freedom ring.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-377-4998
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
www.edslavin.com
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Here's my letter to County Commissioners, reading them the proverbial "Riot Act" about their following the maladministration of MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK with a pre-selection of another white male Republican, without advertising, posting or background investigation:
-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin
To: bcc1jjohns
Cc: hconrad
Sent: Thu, Dec 5, 2019 6:45 pm
Subject: Does Hunter S. Conrad have the "right stuff" to be St. Johns County Administrator Ad Interim?
Dear Chairman Smith, Vice Chairman Blocker and. Commissioners Johns, Dean and Waldron, et al.:
- Pre-selection of one privileged young white male elected Republican officeholder as St. Johns County Administrator Ad Interim violates civil rights laws.
- Thus, today I have filed a complaint with HUD. As Thomas Jefferson said, "I have sworn upon the Altar of Almighty God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind...."
- The only candidate being considered for St. Johns County Administrator Ad Interim -- St. Johns County Clerk of Courts Hunter S. Conrad: A. misused St. Johns County Clerk of Courts and Comptroller official government letterhead for political purposes on April 12, 2018 (see enclosure), dopily defending disgraced then-Chair WILLIAM KORACH of the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee, who was charged with creating a "culture of fear" and was rightly removed by Florida Republican Party Chair Blaise Ingoglio after charges of peculation and grabbing a woman's breasts in public; and B. never apologized for misusing letterhead in support and defense of KORACH; and C. never provided any records on ethics and sexual harassment training. Mr. Conrad's secretive, hostile, subpar counsel and chief of staff, Mr. Bradley J. Bradley, Esq. mysteriously claimed two hours of search time to find them.
- Several times, the Clerk of Courts office has been guilty of holding these records hostage and demanding payment before other records are provided, when I never agreed to pay for them.
- This indecent demand was, at best, illegal and obfuscatory.
- Mr. Conrad never responded to requests for mediation.
- Efforts to speak to him in person were fruitless.
- Mr. Conrad lacks a welcoming spirit and hides from questions.
- Mr. Conrad seems to lack maturity and ability,
- It appears that he has discriminated against me in retaliation for First Amendment protected activity -- viewpoint discrimination. See, e.g. Reed v. Town of Gilbert, 135 S.Ct. 2218 (2015); Sherrill v. Knight, 569 F.2d 124 (D.C. Cir. 1977).
- Please inquire publicly as to Mr. Conrad's competence and political motivations and plans as you contemplate naming him St. Johns County Administrator Ad Interim.
- We must respect diversity and extirpate discrimination, in a place that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once called "the most lawless in America."
- Employment, Sunshine and civil rights laws must be obeyed. Lawbreaking must end. Now.
- Hunter S. Conrad has fired older employees, raising age discrimination concerns. What is the status of their cases before EEOC?
- Significantly, there was no background investigation and no meaningful opportunity for discussion. St. Johns County does not hire a meter reader without a background check. It must not name an Interim County Administrator without careful investigation.
- Does Hunter S. Conrad lack respect for our rights to honest, open, accountable government?
- Please question him about it, on the record, under oath.
- Government is a "customer service enterprise," as former St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Shaver says.
- Mr. Conrad requires investigation, coaching and counseling before you contemplate appointing him to be County Administrator Ad Interim.
- Mr. Conrad has not, to date, ever responded to my telephone messages and e-mails on this subject, including my complaints about the conduct of Mr Bradley, who seems to have a chip on his shoulder.
- His senior staff assistant, Mr. Bradley J. Bradley, attempted to block other requests on the basis that I did not pay an invoice for documents that should have been readily available and for which I should never have been asked to pay, and for which I never agreed to pay.
- "Not one cent for tribute," in the words of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, American diplomat from South Carolina.
- Does Hunter Conrad have the maturity to be County Administrator Ad Interim?
- Does he have the management skills?
- Please post and advertise the St. Johns County Administrator Ad Interim position.
- Kindly comply with EEO law, from this day forward.
- Kindly schedule a public hearing on amending our County ordinances to require compliance with Article I, Section 24 of our Florida Constitution, adopted by vote of 83% of the voters (3.8 million people. This is the controlling legal authority, along with F.S. 119.
- Public officials who stiff journalists and other citizens on records requests deserve strict scrutiny from journalists, elected officials and voters. Not no-bid promotions to $227,000+/year jobs.
- Please call me to discuss Hunter Conrad's candidacy and the need to discuss alternatives before violating Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. See my December 5, 2019 HUD civil rights complaint.
- As my grandmother would say, kindly "drop the oyster and leave the wharf."
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
904-377-4998
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
www.edslavin.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin
To: bbradley; coc ; bsimmons
Cc: dgalambos; pmccormack ; mwanchick ; mroyle ; jpwilson ; dshoar ; mcline ; cmulligan ; coc ; sjcpa ; wfusco ; voakes ; xueamcd ; ejw2607 ; taxcollector ; bfox ; hardwickra ; tmonson ; dsamora ; comrobrien ; comugeorge ; commengland ; commkostka ; bcc5hdean ; bcc1jjohns ; bcc2jsmith ; bcc3pwaldron ; bccd4 ; tburchfield ; jregan ; ilopez ; nshaver ; dmay ; tneville ; rhorvath ; nsikeskline ; lfreeman ; pgill70 ; pat.gleason ; jake.martin ; jim.sutton ; craig.richardson ; thomasfreynolds ; rvbailey ; neil ; news ; brich_se1 ; judgelitt10 ; aschindler ; sheldon.gardner ; lee.geanuleas ; dougalkirk ; mills ; hamann ; little ; rosenbury ; angelo ; flournoy ; ankersen ; tomcushman ; sheplaw ; waltbog
Sent: Wed, Dec 20, 2017 3:31 pm
Subject: Re: Request No. 2017-687 and 2017-688: Ethics and sexual harassment training by Clerk of Courts Hunter Conrad
From: Ed Slavin
To: bbradley
Cc: dgalambos
Sent: Wed, Dec 20, 2017 3:31 pm
Subject: Re: Request No. 2017-687 and 2017-688: Ethics and sexual harassment training by Clerk of Courts Hunter Conrad
Dear Messrs Conrad, Simmons and Bradley:
1. Please place those documents online this week for all of us to read.
2. Please me call to discuss.
3. Kindly agree to mediation by AAG Pat Gleason.
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
904-377-4998
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
www.edslavin.com
 | ||||
-----Original Message-----
From: Brad Bradley
To: 'easlavin@aol.com'
Sent: Wed, Dec 20, 2017 2:08 pm
Subject: Request No. 2017-687 and 2017-688
From: Brad Bradley
To: 'easlavin@aol.com'
Sent: Wed, Dec 20, 2017 2:08 pm
Subject: Request No. 2017-687 and 2017-688
Dear Mr. Slavin,
In response to question “1” of your email to Mr. Conrad, the $152.98 is not a cost estimate, it is the actual cost in employee labor that it took for the Clerk’s staff to comply with your requests. As noted in the invoice it is due prior to receipt of the records you requested. Please refer to Florida Statute 119.07 for the Clerk’s legal authority to bill you for such. As to issues 2-8 there are no records responsive to these matters.
Respectfully,
Brad Bradley, Esq.
Chief Administrative Officer/In-House Counsel
St. Johns County Clerk of Court & Comptroller
4010 Lewis Speedway, St. Augustine, FL 32084
TEL: (904) 819-3602/FAX: (904) 819-3661
EMAIL: bbradley@sjccoc.us
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