I'm Ed Slavin. Let me be your watchdog. I'd be honored to have your vote for Seat 5, Anastasia Mosquito Control Commission of St. Johns County.
Here are my answers to the St. Augustine Record questionnaire:
Office you are seeking: Seat 5, Anastasia Mosquito Control Commission of St. Johns County
Your name: Ed Slavin
Party affiliation (if applicable to your contest): Nonpartisan race
City of residence: St. Augustine
Previous elected positions: None.
Qualifications for office (200 words or less, please):
B.S., Foreign Service, Georgetown U.; J.D., Memphis. Helped persuade Mosquito Control District to terminate 2007 no-bid, $1.8 million luxury jet helicopter purchase, with full deposit refund.
Dubbed an "environmental hero" by Folio Weekly.
Endorsed by North Florida Central Labor Council.
Recommended for Pulitzer Prize by DA as Appalachian Observer editor (won Department of Energy declassification of largest mercury pollution event in world history at Union Carbide, Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Plant, Oak Ridge,
Tennessee). Former Legal Counsel for Constitutional Rights of Government Accountability Project. Represented whistleblowers and employment discrimination victims, including nine ALJs As undergraduate, worked for three U.S. Senators. Clerked for U.S. Department of Labor Chief Judge Nahum Litt and Judge Charles P. Rippey.
St. Johns County resident since 1999, publishing dozens of letters and columns and speaking in government meetings. Helped achieve numerous public interest victories. Caught City dumping 40,000 cubic yards of contaminated solid waste in Old City Reservoir, forcing cleanup. Caught City dumping semi-treated sewage effluent in saltwater marsh, forcing cleanup. Successfully called for termination of County Administrator who allegedly mistreated women employees and acted as a cat's paw for developers. Only person to speak publicly against 2020 hiring new County Administrator without any posting or advertising.
Reason for running (200 words or less, please):
The next global pandemic could be a mosquito-borne disease.
My father, Ed Slavin, Sr., contracted malaria In Sicily as a World War II 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper; I saw first-hand how a mosquito-borne disease hurt my dad's later health and quality of life.
Public health requires a strong,
independent, science-based mosquito control district that protects our health and our environment.
AMCD is now becoming an international leader on non-toxic natural pesticides AMCD must continue its good work with transparency, protecting the health and rights of both employees and residents AMCD must resist any further pressures from misguided souls who sought a St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners takeover of an independent scientific and technical organization.
Let me be your watchdog to help protect public health and our environment by continuing AMCD's work with non-toxic natural pesticides like Bti (bacteria) and
Gambusia fish to kill mosquito larvae.
Goals for upcoming term if elected (200 words or less please)
Make sound mosquito control decisions based on good science, serving as your watchdog.
The mosquito is the most dangerous animal on Earth, killing some 700,000 people annually. The next global pandemic could be a mosquito-borne disease. Our Anastasia Mosquito Control Commission of St. Johns County needs to continue reforms, including close control over contracting. Our AMCD must continue to resist efforts at a County Commission takeover.
I support AMCD's June 11, 2020 vote to withhold our local mosquito control district's sustaining member dues money from Florida Mosquito Control Association over audit and accountability issues. (Current FMCA President is a mid-Alabama resident who sells malathion to Florida mosquito control districts for FMC Corporation -- a conflict of interest).
I opposed AMCD's agreeing to arbitration clauses in construction contracts -- no government agency should ever again give up our Seventh Amendment right to civil jury trial as a condition of doing business with corporations. (I persuaded other local government agencies to reject mandatory forced arbitration clauses in local government contracts with contractors and vendors.)
It's our money. Ask questions. Demand answers. Expect democracy.
I would be honored to be your voice -- for protecting public funds, public health, and our environment at AMCD.
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
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