Guest column: Stetson Kennedy was a true hero, ahead of his time (Ed Slavin, St. Augustine Record column, September 3, 2011)

Heroic William Stetson Kennedy was born on October 5, 1916. Here's my 2011 St, Augustine Record Guest column.

The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, my Father, Edward Adelbert Slavin, Sr. volunteered for military service. The Navy refused to enlist him, because he was color-blind. My Father joined the 82nd Airborne Division, jumping out of perfectly good C-47 airplanes in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy. My Father helped liberate the first French town from Hitler and the Nazis on D-Day, June 6, 1944, before the sun even rose that day. 

My dad and dozens of other mentors taught me a lot about heroism and patriotism. My Father told me, as JFK's father told him, that "you have to stand up to people with power or else they walk all over you." 

One of my mentors was a St. Augustine and North Florida native, Wm. Stetson Kennedy, who successfully infiltrated and exposed the Ku Klux Klan and wrote books about it.  

In Northeast Florida, there's a four acre St. Johns County Park dedicated to the memory of 

my late friend and mentor, civil rights journalist and activist Wm. Stetson Kennedy, who infiltrated and exposed the Ku Klux Klan. https://www.visitstaugustine.com/thing-to-do/beluthahatchee-park  It's a special place where Stetson and Woodie Guthrie fought off the KKK with shotguns. (Stetson later donated one of those shotguns to Woodie Gutrie's son, Arlo Guthrie, at an event in Jacksonville.) Stetson called me a "freedom fighter" in a book inscription, and Stetson once called me "Stetson Kennedy, Jr." as we examined his unreacted FBI files about the Christmas Day, 1951 KKK murders of Harry and Harriette More in Mims, Florida. Stetson dedicated his life to working for civil rights, justice and equality. 

Stetson was so proud when President Barack Obama was elected President. But he knew the formidable forces of racism and fascism, and worked all of his life to expose them. He died on August 27, 2011, (anniversary of Ax Handle Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida in 1960, which Stetson mentioned on his deathbed).  

In Stetson's honor, we are honored to continue working to remedy injustice and organized crimes against nature and human rights, including those perpetrated by the convicted felon in the White House.

Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

Ed Slavin 

Box 3084

St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084

www.edslavin.com

http://www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com

http://www.staugustgreen.com

(904) 377-4998

Here's my column  from the St. Augustine Record September 3, 2011, after Stetson Kennedy died:

Guest column: Stetson Kennedy was a true hero, ahead of his time

Posted: September 3, 2011 - 11:49pm.  

I

By ED SLAVIN

St. Augustine

My friend and mentor, Stetson Kennedy, died last Saturday at the age of 94. Stetson was a true American hero, of whom Studs Terkel wrote:

"Stetson Kennedy, in all the delightful years I've known him, has always questioned authority -- whether it be the alderman or the president. He has always asked the question 'Why?' Whether it be waging a war based on an outrageous lie or any behavior he considers undemocratic, he has always asked the provocative question. In short, he could well be described as a ''troublemaker'' in the best sense of the word. With half a dozen Stetson Kennedys, we can transform our society into one of truth, grace and beauty."

Nearly six years ago, I was introduced to Stetson Kennedy by our mutual friend, David Thundershield Queen (now-deceased Native American advocate) at Stetson's birthday party at Beluthahatchee. Stetson impressed me with his courage, intellect and dogged determination. I enjoyed the pleasure of his company, whether talking about life or poring over FBI documents. Stetson was a kindred spirit. I was humbled and flattered when Stetson called me "Stetson Kennedy, Jr." upon our second meeting.

I had lunch with Stetson Kennedy earlier this year, at Athena (local Greek Restaurant, across from the former Slave Market, where two civil rights monuments now stand). I asked Stetson if he knew where our City Manager was that day. "I don't usually follow him," Stetson said. I told him that City Manager John Regan was visiting three Civil Rights Museums, then on his way to meeting our former UN Ambassador Andrew Young, to discuss a National Civil Rights Museum here. Upon hearing the news, Stetson Kennedy was so proud -- he almost cried. Our City of St. Augustine has come so far in such a short time, and Stetson Kennedy got to see it all. Stetson exemplified Mahatma Gandhi's precept: "Be the change you want to see in the world."

Stetson Kennedy was proud that our Nation's Oldest European-founded city will soon have a National Civil Rights Museum, thanks to the courage of the people who demonstrated here in 1964, including Ambassador Andrew Young.

Stetson Kennedy lived to see an African-American elected president of the United States and another African-American elected to be mayor of Jacksonville, Florida. That's where it all began for Stetson, as a young boy who heard about his African-American nanny raped by vicious Klansmen, retaliation for asserting her rights on a Jacksonville bus. Kennedy helped end the Klan as he knew it: the motto of his life might be "Eracism."

Stetson Kennedy's ideas live on, in the spirit of the character Tom Joad from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath: "I'll be all around in the dark -- I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look -- wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build -- I'll be there, too."

Stetson Kennedy didn't live nearly long enough to see all of his goals achieved, but he pointed the way for future generations. He was a true hero, ahead of his time. As Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Bernard Malamud wrote in The Natural, "Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don't know how far we can go."

*

Ed Slavin received a B.S. in Foreign Service, Georgetown University; a J.D. from Memphis State University, now University of Memphis, and is a leader on environmental justice issues.

ANNAL$ OF TRUMPI$TAN: Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit against Harvard on admissions (Susan Svrluga, WaPo, November 2, 2026)

From The Washington Post:

Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit against Harvard on admissions

A district court judge issued a narrow ruling in a case seeking to compel Harvard University to provide admissions data to the federal government.

November 2, 2026 at 6:02 p.m. ESTYesterday at 6:02 p.m. EST

1 min

Students walk on campus at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Reba Saldanha/Reuters)

By Susan Svrluga

A district court judge on Monday dismissed a Trump administration case against Harvard University related to admissions data, saying the government had not satisfied the requirements for a court order for the records.

The administration sued Harvard in February, claiming the university had failed to provide records to ensure it was complying with a Supreme Court ruling banning affirmative action in college admissions. Harvard was a defendant in the Supreme Court case.

The Justice and Education departments have launched numerous investigations into whether universities continue to consider race in admissions despite the 2023 ruling.

Harvard has said it followed civil rights laws and provided data. The university argued the agencies did not comply with regulations in pushing the school to supply documents. 

Judge Myong J. Joun’s ruling was limited to whether the government had demonstrated it could not get the school to comply voluntarily. It did not determine whether Harvard had discriminated, whether the agencies could seek applicant-level data, or whether Harvard might be required to provide such data.

The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it may be refiled. 

Spokespeople for the Justice Department and for Harvard did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

An Education Department spokesperson said: “Students should be judged on their merit and accomplishments, not the color of their skin.”

By Susan Svrluga

Susan Svrluga covers national higher education for The Washington Post. follow on X@SusanSvrluga

The 7 logo

Ed Slavin endorsed by former St. Augustine Beach Mayor S. Gary Snodgrass. Thank you, I am honored, sir!

Thank you! I am honored by the October 19, 2026 endorsement on Facebook by beloved former St. Augustine Beach Mayor S. Gary Snodgrass. He wrote "Ed and I may not always agree, but I have never doubted his commitment to doing the work, understanding the issues, and doing what he believes is right. He is a hardworking advocate for mosquito control, open and honest government, and accountability. He listens, speaks plainly, and is willing to hold elected officials responsible to the people they serve. Ed’s commitment to mosquito control is also deeply personal, shaped by what malaria meant for his family. I strongly support his candidacy for the Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County. I hope you will join me in voting for Ed on or before November 3."

"Remember the Greediest!" -- Financial Mismanagement Follies -- Elect Me, Help Reform Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County

I am Ed Slavin, 27 year resident of St. Johns County, running for a seat on the Anastasia Mosquito Control Commission of St. Johns County. I would be honored to have your votes.

Moved here 27 years ago on November 5, 1999.  Within about one month, the late David Brian Wallace said to me, "It's crooked around here!" He was right.  If I were on the board of the Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County, I would not vote myself an illegal pay raise.  By analogy to the 27th Amendment, drafted by James Madison, it would be wrong. I am running in the November 3, 2026 election for AMCD.  Let me be your voice.

It's our money. 

One of my opponents missed some 37 meetings but argued that her pay should be increased. (CATHERINE BRANDHORST).  

Another one of my opponents actually wrote, "Can it be done in a more costly manner?" -- revealing October 2026 Facebook post by SANDRA FEINE, one of my three opponents for Anastasia Mosquito Control District of Johns County, seat 2.

I would be honored to have your vote for Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County, seat 2.  Yes, one of my four opponents CATHERINE BRANDHORST, the controversial commissioner who missed some 37 meetings and said she was underpaid. Her fellow Commissioners asked Governor DeSantis to evaluate her missing meetings and apply Article IV, section 7 of our Florida Constitution, to suspend or remove her. DeSantis never responded. 

After Commissioners voted themselves illegal Christmas bonuses and ducked records requests in 2024, Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County has seen 60% of its elected officials -- three (3) of five (5) Commissioners -- resign in 2025.  Commissioner Martha Gleason resigned in protest of AMCD's waste fraud and abuse, followed by resignations of AMCD Chair "Trish" Becker and Commissioner T.J. Mazzotta. 

WHAT'S NEXT?: Open public discussion about illegal "bonus" pay raises for elected Mosquito Control District Commissioners and hiring of next attorney for District. Come speak to Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County Commissioners at 5 PM on Thursday, February 13, 2025, 120 EOC Drive.  It's our money. 

From December 11, 2024:

Is it time for the ill-advised management of our local Mosquito Control District to retire?

Do some of our American governments practice kakistocracy or kleptocracy?

Which of our local government board members voted its members a $1000 bonus on November 21, and why? 

Four (4) incurious, passive, Anastasia Mosquito Control District District Commissioners voted themselves $1000 Christmas bonuses. Others got bonuses, too. AMCD staff proposed $800, but controversial soon-to-be former Commissioner CATHERINE BRANDHORST pushed to raise it to $1000, and three colleagues went along with her suggestion.  Full disclosure: I filed to run against BRANDHORST, who failed to qualify to run for re-election, missing the deadline by some two (2) minutes.   T.J. Mazzotta was elected to the seat on November 5, 2024. 

This is the same Mosquito Control Commissioner BRANDHORST whom four (4) Commissioners asked Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS to remove pursuant to Article IV, section 7 of our Florida Constitution for habitually missing monthly meetings, dozens of times.  Without explanation, Goofy GQP Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS ignored the Mosquito Control Commission's request.  

https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2022/10/governor-desantis-suspend-awol-st-johns.html

https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2022/08/mosquito-board-asks-governor-to-fire.html

Wonder why? Our imperious Florida Boy Governor, call him DeSANTIS I, ostentatiously picked fights and removed several elected prosecutors for disagreements on policy. But DeSANTIS I ignored a request to remove BRANDHORST for taking $500/month to attend monthly meetings she missed -- thousands of dollars. It's our money. BRANDHORST changed her party registration to Republican, after which DeSANTIS could not be bothered to acknowledge the Mosquito Control District's request to remove her. 

This same DeSANTIS cracked at President Biden words to the effect he would not even appoint him to a Mosquito Control District. But all of Boy Gov. DeSANTIS' taste is evidently in his mouth, suffering and permitting Brandhorst to continue.

AMCD voted to ask DeSANTIS remove Commissioner Brandhorst was during an election cycle, Democratic Secretary of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried would have picked a new Commissioner,  Meanwhile, BRANDHORSTt had changed her party registration to Republican, 

The 27th Amendment, drafted by James Madison and enacted 202 years later, prohibits members of Congress from giving pay raises for members of Congress during their current terms.  But AMCD's four unengaged, uninformed, ill-advised, misguided or greedy-gus Commissioners didn't give a fig.  They sought no legal opinions. They did not research.  Like trained seals, they responded to AMCD's staff crooked coaching.

Did CATHERINE BRANDHORST and Commissioners Trish Becker, Gayle Gardner and Gina LeBlanc illegally give themselves an illegal pay raise?  The $1000 bonus exceeded the pay cap under Florida law.  Their attorney now agrees it was illegal, but advised them they did not need to repeal it formally, because the action was a nullity.  That may be the law review preppy exam answer, but it is contrary to the genius of a free people.  

Mosquito Control must admit error, admit error publicly, reform and replace management, starting with the longtime Director, Dr. Rudy Xue, who suffers and permits third-rate work by subordinates whom he poorly supervises. 

This is what 388.141 says -- this is the government law on mosquito control districts, which Commissioners swore to uphold after they were elected:

388.141 Commissioners; compensation.— (1) Members of the board of commissioners of independent special tax districts may each be paid a salary to be determined by unanimous vote of the board which shall not exceed $4,800 for each commissioner during any one year; however, this section shall not be construed to limit compensation of district commissioners where higher amounts have otherwise been authorized by special act or general act of local application. Said members may be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in s. 112.061. (2) No board member of a mosquito control district shall receive compensation except for per diem and travel expenses authorized pursuant to s. 112.061, for serving on more than one special district board in this state. All special districts, regardless of the existence of other specific provisions of law, shall comply with this subsection. History.—s. 2, ch. 59-195; s. 13, ch. 63-400; s. 5, ch. 86-203; s. 13, ch. 91-308.

Copyright © 1995-2024 The Florida Legislature • Privacy Statement • Contact Us

Our imperious bumptious Florida Boy Governor, DeSANTIS I, who acts like a king but talks like a queen, ostentatiously removed several prosecutors for disagreements on policy. But DeSANTIS I ignored a request to remove often-AWOL AMCD Commissioner CATHERINE BRANDHORST for taking $500/month to attend monthly meetings she missed -- tens of thousands of dollars. It's our money. Brandhorst changed her party registration to Republican, after which DeSANTIS could not be bothered to acknowledge the Mosquito Control District's request to remove her. This same DeSANTIS cracked at President Biden words to the effect he would not even appoint him to a Mosquito Control District. But all of DeSANTIS' taste is evidently in his mouth, suffering and permitting BRANDHORST to continue. 

Adding insult to injury, BRANDHORST complained publicly in November 2024 that she was underpaid! She complained that she was underpaid for not attending all of those meetings. BRANDHORST's bullinging BS argument won the day, with a 4-0 vote to give everyone on the Board $1000 Christmas bonuses. How spectacularly selfish is that?  It is the height of insolence, incompetence and ineptitude for AMCD staff to propose, their louche lawyers to bless, and for four Commissioners to support illegal bonuses.  It's time for them to go.  Let's hire new staff capable of legal compliance, with respect for our rights under open records laws adopted by 1992 vote of 3.8 million Florida voters (83%).

Thanks to WJCT/Jacksonville Today and WJXT ("The Local Station") and reporters Noah Hertz and Khalil Maycock for their reporting, and to AMCD Commissioner Martha Gleason for her asking questions, demanding answers and expecting democracy!  Three cheers! 

https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2024/12/st-johns-county-commissioner-of.html

https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2024/11/bonuses-for-mosquito-control-board-may.html

https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2024/11/remember-greediest-anastasia-mosquito.html

My father explained to the colloquial term "Christmas tree bill," referring to government actions around the holidays benefitting a select few. What can you say about a government agency whose board members vote to give themselves $1000 Christmas bonuses?  Sounds like a conflict of interest to me.  I was proud to clerk during law school for attorney Dan M. Norwood, who thrice successfully sued Memphis City Council for giving themselves illegal pay increases. 

Wasteful spending seems to be a feature, not a bug, in our independent County Bug Board. Especially around holidays.  

On December 12, 2006, our Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County voted to spend $1.8 million on a no-bid luxury jet helicopter. Two days later, District Director Rudy Xue told two ladies from St. Augustine Beach (Robin Nadeau and Ann Palmquist) and me that the no-bid "sole source" helicopter contract  was longtime Mosquito Control Commissioner MARY TARVER WILLIS's "Christmas present." He laughed. Yes, Dr. Xue laughed. 

It's our money. 

We weren't laughing at AMCD waste, fraud and abuse then, and we're not laughing now. Perhaps it's time for Dr. Xue to go. And for his Business Manager, Auditor and CFO to go, too.

Fun fact: After ten months of activism, 2006-2007, with public speakers against the helicopter, including former Army Captain Don Girvan, later a Board member, who during a Board meeting on the FY 2008 budget, was publicly threatened with arrest by AMCD Chair BARBARA BOSANKO, spouse of former County Attorney DANIEL BOSANKO.  BOSANKO was caught on video violating Sunshine laws talking to another Commissioner and an AMCD lawyer. BOSANKO requested that one of Sheriff DAVID SHOAR's deputies be in attendance to chill free speech rights, standing behind the dais, directly behind Commissioners John Sundeman and Jeanne Jackson Moeller, persistent critics of the illegal helicopter purchase.  

Nevertheless, we persisted.

We, the People were finally heard and heeded and won unanimous cancellation of the illegal helicopter purchase, in violation of District purchasing policies and the Restatement of Contracts, 2d, Sec. 178 (Contracts Against Public Policy).  We got a full refund, too,

Also at the behest of longtime AMCD Commissioner MARY TARVER WILLIS, AMCD also bought $3.2 million worth of swampland near I-95 and SR16 for its headquarters, buying it from the influential Usina family, with no appraisal, no survey and no competitive bidding. Stinky? You betcha. 

Some say government should be run like a business.  My response: what kind of business, with what kind of internal controls, management, supervision, oversight, ethics and legal compliance? Is AMCD still run being run like a country store or a Third World dictatorship, after all these years?  

Even though We, the People exposed the no-bid contract, AMCD is still run by amateurs.  AMCD's Director is President of the American Mosquito Control Association and the Business Manager is President of the Florida Mosquito Control Association.  Together, some of their bad decisions reek of cronyism and impulse buying.

Four (4) AMCD Commissioners voted -- after 36% in cost overruns on what is now a $4.5 million Mosquito Museum -- November 21, 2024 to spend yet another $50,000 on the Mosquito Museum, refusing requests by Commissioner-elect T.J. Mazzotta and me to wait until December when Vice Chair Martha Gleason could attend. 

Those same four (4) elected officials also voted November 21 to give $1000 Christmas bonuses to themselves, while approving similar bonuses for some staff.  Florida law caps pay for Mosquito Control Commissioners at $400/month.  Our local District adds $100 a month for "expenses." But the extra $1000 beggars description. Is it an illegal pay raise?

As if conferring holiday gifts or spending our tax money like drunken sailors, or rebarbative politicians spending Other Peoples' Money, those four (4) Commissioners clicked their heels and followed the staff recommendation, raising an $800 bonus to.a $1000 bonus.  They have delusions of adequacy. 

Remember their names: recently re-elected Anastasia Mosquito Commissioners Gayle Gardner (Chair) and Gina LeBlanc, joined with lame duck, often AWOL Commissioner Catherine Brandhorst and second-term incumbent  Commissioner Pangiotta "Trish" Becker (whose term expires in 2026).  These four Mosquito Control of Commissioners voted themselves and staff $1000 Christmas bonuses and elected to rush $50,000 closeout of two buildings, depriving Commissioner Gleason of a fair meeting and decision (she was out sick).

By November 22, 2024 e-mail, Commissioner Martha Gleason refused to accept the $1000 Christmas bonus that her colleagues voted themselves when she was unable to attend due to illness. 

Martha Gleason, ill with bronchitis, with her mother having surgery, could not attend.  Four Commissioners refused to honor requests that they show comity and courtesy and waiting until December to vote on this $1000 Christmas bonus and other items.  Their lack of comity and courtesy and respect is stunning.  It has blown up in their faces, now that their November 21, 2024 vote was declared illegal by their attorney.

The AMCD's proverbial Christmas stocking was full, including a controversial a $50,000 Christmas check for selected government contractors for work on the $4.5 million Mosquito  Museum, which has already seen a 36% cost overrun and with the resolution capping spending ignored in Commissioner Gleason's absence, with Board Chair Gayle Gardner, ignoring requests by Commissioner Martha Gleason, by Commissioner-elect T.J. Mazzotta, and me. Chair Gardner did not inform fellow Commissioners that Commissioner Gleason was ill; wonder why? She rushes through meetings. It backfired when she voted herself a $1000 raise. 

AMCD still suffers from lax procedures and lackadaisical management.  During the project, Commissioners ineptly agreed to an arbitration clause, waiving our mosquito control district's Seventh Amendment rights to civil jury trial, then voted against invoking arbitration to enforce our contract.  

There's a clever story in T. Harry Williams Pulitzer Prize winning biography about the late Louisiana U.S. Senator Huey Pierce Long's puppet Governor, Oscar K. Allen, a/k/a "O.K. Allen": Huey Long's brother Earl Long said of Gov. O.K. Allen, "A leaf blew into his window once, and he signed it."  Sound famliar, SJC?

Oscar Allen

  

As Brian Wallace said shortly after we moved here in 1999, "It's crooked around here!"  

Yes my friends, that's the way it is around here, where I've lived for 25 years.  There are still problems with our local government mosquito control agency's staff and Board 

Mosquitos kill some 700,000+ people annually worldwide. 

Our Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County needs public scrutiny, investigations, and a new Auditor and new Attorney. It's wasting our money (again) and avoiding public scrutiny.  Enough flummery, dupery and nincompoopery. 

While I flunked accounting in college, I learned  about purchasing from my mother, visiting her office and learning from her wisdom and experience as a longtime purchasing secretary for Camden County College in Blackwood, N.J.  When our Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County contemplated buying a $1.8 million luxury Bell Jet helicopter without competitive bidding.  

My late friend Robin Nadeau asked me to look into Mosquito Control's aerial program.  So I asked my mom if she would buy a $1.8 million helicopter. Mom advised: "Absolutely not!'"  xxxx

My late mentor, USDOL Chief Administrative Law Judge Nahum Litt would often advise me to ask,"Cui bono? (Who benefits?).   

Funded by the Fund for Investigative Journalism, I helped expose hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority overspending on coal from the business associates and friends of Senator Howard Henry Baker, Jr.  The semester when I was supposed to be taking an accounting course, I was too often focused on accounting for government waste and corruption. Taking Greyhound busses to Tennessee with law books in my backpack, I missed classes and then very foolishly took my accounting mid-term and the final on the same day.  While I flunked accounting, I was learning valuable lessons about about las internal controls.  See GAO report here:  https://www.gao.gov/assets/emd-81-65.pdf. https://www.gao.gov/products/emd-81-65

My mother often said, "experience is a hard school, but fools know no other."  

For 25 years, I have lived in St. Johns County, suffering under one-party rule amidst overdevelopment, one of the most corrupt places in Florida, where the former County Commission Chair, THOMAS MANUEL, went to federal prison for bribery. His nemeses, like too many here, might as well have flunked accounting in real life (IRL) by lax internal controls, leading to $786,785 in embezzlement under longtime Sheriff DAVID SHOAR, who legally changed his name from "HOAR" in 1994.  When SHOAR ran for State Senate in the 2024 closed Republican Primary, he got 25% of the vote in the district.

Our secretive, seemingly sneaky money-wasting Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County is an independent special taxing district, funded by property taxes, and recently also from grants from corporations and governments. In the past, AMCD came close to being abolished after public indignation over its mendacity and moronic money-eating ways, including that $1.8 million no-bid luxury Bell Jet helicopter. (We, the People got the contract cancelled, with a full refund of our deposit, back in 2007.) Full disclosure: in 2024 I received 55,600 xx votes running for Mosquito Control (38%). 

While Mosquito Control is a force for good, is it also a pusillanimous previcator or recididivs t perpetrator of waste, fraud, abuse, misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance?

Local taxpayers have purchased a $5 million mosquito museum or education center,  fraught with delays, cost overruns, poorly drafted contracts, incurious counsel, and maladroit auditors.

Uninformed Mosquito Control Commissioners voted 4-1 to waive our sacred Seventh Amendment to jury trial and agree to an unconscionable mandatory arbitration provision (then-Commissioner Jeanne Jackson Moller, dissenting).

Remember the greediest!  (Inspired by 1970s tiny page one New York Times ads at holidays once exclaimed, "Remember the Neediest!)

While contemplating your SJC property tax bills & sales taxes here in Oligarch-ruled overdeveloping St. Johns County, let us remember at the holidays "Remember the Greediest!"

xxxxx

FIGHTING CORRUPTION in St. Johns County -- Let's make this magical place safe for democracy!

As Shakespeare wrote, "what's past is prologue."  The Tempest, Act II, Scene 1.  (Robert Aiken sculpture at National Archives, Washington, D.C.).

I have a record of fighting corruption, since 1978.

I am running for Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County (AMCD), seat 2.  I would be honored to have your vote on or before November 3, 2026).

I helped halt the no-bid, illegal purchase of a $1.8 million TEXTRON Bell Jet Helicopter incapable of killing a single skeeter.  We won a full refund of our $180,000 deposit.

It appears that NOT ONE of my opponents has ever stood up against CORRUPTION here  in St. Johns County, where I have lived since November 5, 1999. 

Tom Wicker's journalism professor at the University of North Carolina said, "If you're telling a story about a bear, bring on the bear."  The bear here in what we call "God's country" is CORRUPTION, my friends. 

Reforming St. Johns County starts with you.  

And it starts with Mosquito Control. 

We love this beautiful place.  Rose Kennedy's favorite Bible verse was "to whom much is given, much is expected."

President Woodrow Wilson said we "must make the world safe for democracy."

"The love of money is the root of all evil." 1 Timothy 6:10.

Corruption is the root of all evil in our governments. Everywhere. Americans agree.

I am running for Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County (seat 2) and I would be honored to have your vote on or before November 3, 2026.  Help me help you.  Let's fight corruption together.

I've been investigating, reporting on and exposing corruption since 1978.  

From Appalachia to Washington, D.C.  to California to Florida, I've investigated corruption and empowered Americans to resist waste, fraud, abuse, discrimination and petty boodling.

Here in St. Johns County, a corrupt former Sheriff was fired by the Florida Senate under Article IV section 7 of our Florida Constitution for corruption.  But Sheriff David Shoar's website lied to us for years  that corrupt Sheriff Lawrence O. Davis was "exonerated" by our Florida Senate, which removed him from office by 44-2 vote in 1971. 

Sadly Sheriff Robert Hardwick, the current Sheriff, abuses our Sheriff's website to pay homage to Sheriff Shoar, who with State's Attorney Ralph Joseph Larizza was  culpable in the coverup of the September 2, 2010 murder of a Sheriff's deputy's girlfriend, Ms. Michelle O'Connell.  That deputy is still on the payroll in 2026.  

County Court Judge Charles Tinlin and U.S. District Court Judge Brian J. Davis both found probable cause that Jeremy Banks committed homicide, killing Ms. Michelle O'Connell on September 2, 2010.  Sheriff Shoar declared it was as "suicide" before the sun even rose.  

Robert Hardwick was the investigator for the State's Attorney Ralph Joseph Larizza. Investigator Hardwick and his Assistant both thought Banks committed homicide and wanted an exhumation and autopsy.  

Larizza conveniently recused himself from the Michelle O'Connell case while Hardwick was at the FBI National Training Academy in Quantico, Virginia.  

When Michelle O'Connell's family finally arranged for an exhumation and independent autopsy, it found Michelle's jaw was broken. She was a victim of domestic violence.  Her killer remains employed by the County Sheriff and can retire in 2027.  It's our money.

We in the reality-based community disdain deception and condemn dangers to democracy, like promiscuous proliferation of FLOCK cameras and wasteful, out-of-control spending on edifice complexes for the Sheriff and Mosquito Control Commission.

We in the reality-based community don't approve of wasteful spending or harmful rhetoric.d

We don't need more overpriced Taj Mahals, no-bid contracts needless flubdubs or dishonesty.

Massive cost overruns and self-dealing must stop.

County Commissioners make more than $100,000 per year.

Mosquito Control Commissioners make $400 a month, but voted to give themselves illlgal "Christmas bonuses of $1000, violating Florida law pay cap of  $4800/year.  Thanks to WJCT/Jacksonville Today and reporter Noah Hertz for publicizing it.  It's our money.  

In the spirit of the 27th Amendment, it's wrong for public officials to raise their own pay during their current term of office. 

It was good enough for James Madison and it's good enough for St. Johns County.  

Let snollygosters go elsewhere. 

I am against wasting your money on self-aggrandizement, sweetheart contacts, domestic and foreign travel and conventions without trip reports or valid government purpose.

Our County elected officials sold out our citizens to the likes of private equity taking over Bayview, the beloved Skilled Nursing Facility Commissioners unanimously voted July 20, 2021 to sell its lease with the County to dodgy private equity interests that control dozens of nursing homes.'

Our elected officials in 2016 actually voted to allow PARC GROUP, controlled by the greedy WINN-DIXIE DAVIS FAMILY, to erase its legal commitment to dedicate 40 acres of Nocatee development to affordable housing, for the lucre of $800,000.  

This vicious vote violated our citizens' civil rights.  

So did the WINN-DIXIE DAVIS FAMILY's 2026 demand to alter state law to allow development of "agricultural enclaves" on demand. That dopey, dubious devilish  proposition was rejected 3-2 by our newly empowered St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners, which voted against the rebarbative, ridiculous ROGERS TOWERS' corporate law firm's rote demand to muck up some 4420 acres of mostly old growth forest.

Our elected officials voted 3-2 in 2025 without a conflicts check to hire a corporate lawyer, RICHARD CHRISTIAN KOMANDO,  as County Attorney, while allowing him to represent private clients, including the SLAUGHTER BROTHERS, roofers convicted in federal court for defrauding IRS and workers. It's time for KOMANDO to go.  

The odious otiose oleaginous corporate lawyer lied, in writing, to reform County Commissioner Ann Taylor, extravagantly claimed that his client list was secret and somehow protected by attorney-client privilege.  This louche liar needs to clean out his desk and get out of the County Commission building. Now.

Both our Anastasia Mosquito Control District Director and our County Administrator are Chinese Americans. Each of them have taken vacations in Communist China each year. Both are imperious, vastly overpaid potential security risks and treat our local government employees as servants, serfs and vassels. 

In the annals of St. Johns County's legendary corruption, in the history of its sins, crimes and torts many at the behest of bootleggers, organized crime devious developers, the case of Trey Alexander Asner is instructive.  

Mr. Asner was the County's historic preservationist, but he did his job "too well" for corrupt County officials, who fired him for preserving African-American history (Canright House and the 1953 St. Johns County Jail Annex, where the Rev. Dr. Maartin Luther King, Jr. and some 1000 civil rights protesters were incarcerated 1963-1964).  The building is now preserved, but Andrews wanted to demolish it. It's time for her to go.

Paid $360,000/year, maladroit County Administrator Junyao "Joy" Andrews still won't meet with Mr. Asner, and neither will criminally-charged Commissioner Sarah Salley Arnold.  

Pray for them. 

Vote for qualified candidates who will stand up to corruption in our town and our time.

I would be honored to be your voice standing up to corruption and self-dealing, starting with Mosquito Control.

My Father helped liberate the first French town from the Nazis on D-Day, June 6, 1944, before the sun even rose that day.

The late David Brian Wallace and I first visited St. Augustine in 1992 and fell in love with the place and its history. We were then living in Washington, D.C., where Brian worked for the American Association for the Advancement of Science and I graduated from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and was honored to represent American whistleblowers.

Brian and I moved to St. Augustine on November 5, 1999.  A few weeks later, the truth emerged; Brian said, "it's crooked around here!"  He was right.  

We were ashamed when we realized the level of corruption here.  Ever since, I've worked to solve the problem. 

When the City of St. Augustine dumped a landfill in the Old City Reservoir a coquina pit lake, friends informed me and I helped them resolve the problem of environmental racism in West Augustine.  I reported the City to the National Response Center, which assigned the Environmental Protection Agency and Florida Department of Environmental Protection to investigate. The coquina pit lake was cleaned up and the 80 acre site off Holmes Blvd. Extended will soon feature affordable housing.

.In 2006-2007, my mentor, League of Women Voters leader Robin Nadeau, recruited me to help oppose Mosquito Control's $1.800,000 no-bid TEXTRON Bell Jet Helicopter incapable of killing a single skeeter. It was freighted with waste, fraud and abuse.  I asked my Mother, a longtime former Purchasing Secretary for corporations and a county college. She would not buy a helicopter without competitive bidding.  

But our Mosquito Control Commission voted 3-2 to buy the fancy-bears helicopter.  Mosquito Control Commission Director Dr. Xue likes to spend money and too often gets his way.  We, the People defeated his wasteful spending. After ten months, Mosquito Control Commissioners voted unanimously cancel the illegal no-bid helicopter and got a full refund of our 10% deposit.  We, the People won!

When Mosquito Control illegally used pesticides near Bald Eagle nests, I reported AMCD to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  

When a negligently piloted Mosquito Control helicopter allegedly nearly killed six golfers with a helicopter at a county golf course, one of the near-victims told me. No helicopter will ever again endanger our wildlife or people.

I am appalled at the alleged fake Voter Guides scandal afflicting both parties, apparently.

I have been your watchdog on Mosquito Control for twenty years.  Help me help you.

The next global pandemic could be a mosquito-borne disease,  We will be prepared with good science, sound planning and resistance to wasteful spending.  It is up to us to reject 41% cost overruns and other irregularities.