As Bill Clinton says, "if you're driving down the road and you see a turtle on a fencepost, you know that someone put her there." Outside the ordinary course of business, without a performance appraisal, rhea (3) other-directed County Commissioners just extended the County Administrator's contract to 2030. Wonder why? More here: https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/06/joy-andrews-contract-extended-without.html
Embattled St. Johns County administrator gets contract extension
Six months after the chair of the St. Johns County Commission tried to oust County Administrator Joy Andrews, she has now secured a longer contract with the county.
Andrews’ employment contract wasn’t set to expire until 2027, but the St. Johns County Commission approved a measure Tuesday afternoon to extend her contract by three more years.
Andrews was first elevated to the role of county administrator in 2023. Before that, she worked in various county offices and served as the county’s deputy county administrator for almost a decade. Her extended contract will carry her to 2030. Her salary is around $300,000.
County Commissioner Christian Whitehurst proposed the move. He said it was all about “stability.”
“I think when there is instability in any large organization, it can have ripple effects that are unintended. I think it can affect funding we are getting from Tallahassee, Washington. It can have an effect on staff. It can have an effect on the ability of our county employees to carry out the will of this board,” Whitehurst said. “We need stability in St. Johns County. We need to restore stability.”
The vote passed by a 3-2 vote. County Commissioners Sarah Arnold and Clay Murphy joined Whitehurst in supporting the contract extension.
County Chair Krista Joseph and County Commissioner Ann Taylor opposed the move.
Joseph said she has seen improvements in Andrews’ performance since she attempted to oust the county administrator in January, but she didn’t believe that Andrews should necessarily be rewarded so soon.
“Right now, performance is more important than stability, and stability comes with good performance,” Joseph said. “I think you should be performing for what you need to do for the future.”
When Joseph tried to remove Andrews from her post earlier this year, she blamed Andrews for the widely criticized rollout of the county’s new solid waste contractor earlier this year.
Negotiations with that company are still underway, as are a number of other initiatives that Joseph says she wants to see the results of, including stricter county rules for tree conservation and the institution of the state’s Black history museum in St. Augustine.
Joseph said she would consider supporting an extension to Andrews’ contract later this year once some of those projects are resolved.
Defending Andrews, Commissioner Sarah Arnold said it was unfair to blame Andrews for things that are out of her power. The next step for the Black history museum, for instance, is up to the state.
Outpouring of support amid attacks
The discussion about Andrews’ contract came after The Palm Beach Post reported last month that she was among the finalists to be Palm Beach County’s new county administrator.
Andrews said she submitted her application in a “moment of weakness.” She withdrew the application after news that she had applied circulated locally. Tuesday afternoon, Andrews affirmed her desire to continue leading St. Johns County.
“I made a decision that regardless of the differences of opinion about me and or my role or how I’m performing from this board, my hope is that I can at least show my commitment to my staff, my children, my community, who have shown up today that I’m here to stay however I’m wanted,” Andrews said.
More than 30 people addressed the County Commission and spoke in favor of Andrews. Speakers like former Visit Florida board member Phillip McDaniel, St. Augustine Beach Mayor Dylan Rumrell, St. Johns County Veterans Council Chairman Bill Dudley and former St. Johns County Commissioner Henry Dean all lauded Andrews for her transparency, her work in the community and her love of St. Johns County.
The outpouring of support came in the wake of her application to Palm Beach County, but also to social media posts attacking her — something Commissioner Whitehurst specifically called out.
In recent weeks, posts on social media have accused Andrews of being overpaid and in the pocket of developers.
One post accused Andrews of using her power as county administrator to hire a relative.
Speaking with Jacksonville Today, Andrews said there is no truth to that.
The individual in question goes by Carrie and works as a budget analyst for the county. Andrews says she does not supervise her, nor was she involved in her hiring.
On top of that, Andrews says the two are only distantly related — Carrie’s great-grandmother was Andrews’ grandfather’s sister.
17 comments:
The mob just gave this woman hell..so much so that she almost got a job elsewhere. Wasn't a moment of weakness only a reaction to the irrational mob of mean people.
Histrionic malarkey. Corporations, developers and other bossy authoritarians can't stand criticism. There was no martyrdom involved. No "mob." Trite trope. False narrative. For righteous reasons, there were two votes against JUNYAO ANDREWS in a 3-2 vote of "no confidence." No "mob" involved. Try tolerance.
Read more about it, here: https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/06/joy-andrews-contract-extended-without.html
Contract extended for another three (3) years, without ever allowing the current Commissioners to write performance appraisals.
Who does that?
Yeah two votes against a perfectly good person for the job... just for the hell of it basically...just to go against the grain and oppose something period to make things interesting. All at the expense of Andrews and for nothing.
No performance evaluations by any of the current Commissioners. That's a badge of fraud. Unanswered records requests. What ails you?
So the latest "Anonymouse" sadly said, "Yeah two votes against a perfectly good person for the job... just for the hell of it basically...just to go against the grain and oppose something period to make things interesting. All at the expense of Andrews and for nothing." Lacks critical thinking skills. Who are you, sweetie?
"Anonymous" the "Anonymouse" sounds bitter. SJC was one-party rule (Democrats/Dixicrats) until circa 1998. You know the story. Devious developers gerrymandered. Those same Dixiecrats became Republican, ten of twelve on the same day. My late friend Alice Compton, who moved here from NYC with her husband John, saw them in line, like lemmings, ordered to change their party registrations by then-Sheriff NEIL PERRY. Ponte Vedra was about to become a voting force, and the controlling elite wanted to remain in power.
So challenged, intellectually and ethically. So shallow. Pray for the uniformed Anonymouse. Bully, coward or victim? (In the words of the AIDS memorial quilt in honor of DONALD JOHN TRUMP's late self-hating mentor, ROY MARCUS COHN).
One--party is wrong. Prove me wrong.
Always gonna be some wrench you people try to throw in there to justify your dissatisfaction with the democratic process and its results. Wouldn't have mattered if they did so called "performance evaluations," you'd just find some other petty nonsense to try and overturn an appointment or even an election. Just because Trump pulls that stuff doesn't mean it's ok.
"You people" is pejorative.
https://www.fastslang.com/you-people
SJC is not a meritocracy. The outpouring of "business owners" at SJC BoCC in support of extending a contract without even a performance appraisal by all five Commissioners is freighted with effrontery, and spooner "Pete" supports it.
There is no "technicality" that overturns an appointment. You vote for the commissioners, they vote on things, and that's the end of it once it's done with. Carrying on about it is pointless. You don't like democracy, move to Russia.
How gauche and louche.
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