Saturday, May 02, 2026

Ed Slavin response to Sierra Club on Anastasia Mosquito Control of St. Johns County Commission (2024)

Here's my response to the March 2024 Sierra Club questionnaire re: Mosquito  Control Commission;


Good evening:
Thank you for your patience!  Excellent questions. 


Questionnaire to Candidates for St. Johns County 
County Commission 2024

Please provide answers to the following questions below, or on a separate sheet:

1. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being the least important and 10 being the most important), where do
environmental issues rate when compared to other critical issues facing St. Johns County and
Northeast Florida? Please include a brief explanation of your rating.

Most important: 10.  Our frail planet, our city, county, state and nation are all threatened by pollution and climate change. Overdevelopment is destroying our quality of life.

2. What are the most significant environmental issues and challenges in St. Johns County? 

* Proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore deserves our County's support.  First proposed by the Mayor of St. Augustine, Walter Fraser, both U.S. Senators and our Congressman in 1939, this is an idea whose time has come.  https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2023/10/support-st-augustine-national.html
* Developers demanding to be free of fair impact fees.  

* Secretive PACs and campaign contributions, corruption and conflict of interest. Corruption, as Al Gore wrote in 1992, in Earth in the Balance, often leads to environmental devastation.  

* Proposed 25 ideas for local government reform in 2022, one (1) heeded (County Sheriff body-worn cameras and dashboard cameras, long opposed by Sheriff David Shoar). County Commission has STILL not responded to 25 suggestions on government reform. Why not?




+ Support meritocracy amidst one-party rule by mediocrities in St. Johns County Commission





3. What actions have you taken in the past to demonstrate your concern or interest regarding our environment?
 

  2. Helping end pelagic whaling of endangered sperm whales by promoting development of jojoba oil seed crops, an exact duplicate for the oil of the sperm whale. The market system worked. (Working as intern and staffer for Senator Ted Kennedy, 1974-76).  
  3. Helping defeat coal slurry pipeline eminent domain legislation in U.S House of Representatives, helping preserve and protect precious scarce water from Madison Formation aquifer.  (11,500 word Crossroads Magazine (formerly Coal Patrol) investigative article, inserted into Congressional Record by U.S. Rep. Joe Skubitz, Republican of Kansas, except for parts on campaign finance).  July 19, 1978: House Defeated Coal Slurry Pipeline Eminent Domain Legislation



  4. Exposing U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority purchasing and policies that encouraged steep slope strip-mining, corruption, coal quality fraud, antitrust violations and and conflicts of interest. With support from Fund for Investigative Journalism, helped secure GAO investigation verifying  concerns of Appalachian activists, led by Save Our Cumberland Mountains.  TVA's Coal Procurement Practices--More Effective Management Needed



  5. Winning declassification of world's largest mercury pollution event (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and testifying about it in Congressional investigation.  July 11, 1983: Al Gore's Mercury Pollution Hearing in Oak Ridge, Tennessee -- Largest Mercury Pollution Event in World History (4.2 Million Pounds). 



  6. Security clearance reforms protecting environmental, nuclear anjd other whistleblowers, and LGBTQ, people working for federal agencies and government contractors.  Helped win American Bar Association House of Delegates vote in February 1990, endorsing security clearance reforms that were implemented under President Clinton, halting a proposed Bush Executive Order that would have erased rights to fair hearings and due process.
  7. Environmental whistleblower law victories and precedents at U.S.Department of Labor, including landmark whistleblower case protecting federal environmental crimes investigators against retaliation for recusals or refusing to coverup wrongdoing.  FBI, HUD, EPA Senior Special Agent Robert E. Tyndall (Ret.), R.I.P.



  8. Exposed intimidation of nuclear weapons plant whistleblowers. February 5, 1992



  9. Questioned aerial pesticide spraying program and winning reversal of illegal, no-bid SJC Mosquito Control Board purchase of $1.8 million luxury Bell Jet helicopter unadorned by nozzles, tanks, pilots, hangar or any plans for aerial spraying, winning 100% refund of deposit.
  10. Defeat of multiple unwise development projects in St. Augustine and St. Johns County,
  11. Adoption of employee whistleblower policy and sexual orientation nondiscrimination policies for Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County. 
  12. Successfully reported City of St. Augustine illegally dumping a landfill in a lake to National Response Center, resulting in fines and consent decree, after City Manager William B. Harriss had said he would not agree to put the contaminated solid waste in a Class I landfill without a court order.  2008 Folio Weekly cover story by Anne Schindler called me an "environmental hero."
  13. Reported City of St. Augustine illegal sewage pollution to National Response Center, resulting in fines and consent decree.
  14. Helped elect Nancy Shaver as in St. Augustine Mayor and Krista Keating-Joseph as County Commissioner, defeating pro-developer incumbents. 
  15. Helping secure preservation of historic iconic Fish Island as city park with state funds, rejecting proposed ruinous development by D.R. Horton, with fifty (50) witnesses, including former St. Augustine Beach Mayor Sherman Gary Snodgrass.




4. What organizations do you belong to? 

1000 Friends of Florida
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Democratic Party
St. Augustine Historical Society
Fort Mose Historic Society
Florida Historical Society
Sierra Club
Investigative Reporters and Editors  
American Assn. For Advancement of Science  
Florida Adventures in Railroading
WJCT

5. What is your position and suggested solution on these key issues affecting our county?   
- Climate change and sea level rise
+ Support federal, state and local legislation to preserve and protect us from carbon and methane pollution, protect our coasts and wetlands, promote biodiversity, restore balance,
+ Support County's acceptance of federal grants on climate change. 
+ Oppose Florida Governors' attacks on environmental protection, with frequent blog posts.
www,cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
+ Support a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. Spoke to every St. Johns County Legislative Delegation meeting since 2006 on National Park and Seashore.


- Growth management and development
+ Strongly support reform of our Land Development Code as we know it.  
+ We must have fair hearings, with full disclosures, lobbyist registration, expert testimony, cross-examination of all witnesses and background investigations of developers.  
+ Are our current local and state procedures are a honky-tonk medley of "regulatory capture," farce and kabuki dance?
+ James Madison wrote, "A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. "
+ Affordable housing: we must reject "snob zoning," and allow duplexes and other auziliary dwellling units, preserving land and advancing affordable housing. 
+ We must adopt a Public Housing Agency.
+ We must comply with Fair Housing Act.
+ Let's start by re-writing our LDC and quasi-judicial hearing procedures.
+ For transparency, Commissioners must never meet with zoning applicants ex parte.  
+ St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Shaver refused such meetings during her 1550 days as Mayor (making an exception when an applicant was allegedly being treated unfairly).
+ What kind of administrative judicial system lets zoning applicants meet secretly with elected officials?
+  Reject this corrupt system and will not be embroiled by it. 
+ We must require fuller corporate disclosure and better data. 
+ Require background investigations on zoning applicants -- know your customer! 
+ Are any zoning applicants involved in money-laundering,  
+ Environmental violations by zoning applicants must be researched by County staff and discussed publly in hearings.
+ We need full information on ex parte contacts with Commissioners, disclosed before hearings.
+ All ex parte meetings with Commissioners and staff must be videotaped and made a public record.  
+ As Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "Secrey is for losers, for people who don't understand the value of the information.


- Trees and the proposed 14 point tree ordinance
+ Support proposed tree protection ordinance and spoke in favor of it, as did dozens of residents.  
+ I objected to four Commissioners' harsh response to First Amendment protected activity, evident retaliation against reform Commissioner Krista Joseph..

- Management of traffic and infrastructure
+ Support transit, impact fees and reform of zoning and planning as we know it.

- Septic tanks
+ Explore ban on new septic tanks in new construction
+ Monitor septic tank inspections and code enforcement.




6. What is your motivation for running to be a County Commissioner?
+ My first American ancestor escaped the British government-caused Irish potato famine in 1849, immigrating to Philadelphia with Irish neighbors at age six, the rest of her family died in famine.  My father taught me, as JFK's father taught him, that "if you don't stand up to people in power, they walk all over you."   JFK was killed 22 days after I proudly wore a JFK costume on Halloween, at age six. At age 17.5, I went to work for his brother, Sen. Ted Kennedy, the day before my first Georgetown class, inspired after hearing Ralph Nader speak on August 28, 1974 (Feast of St. Augustine).   
Love this magical place. We need to preserve what we know and love, with National Park Service help.  http://www.staugustgreen.com 
Moved here November 5, 1999, after falling in love with St. Augustine when we visited in August 1992, right after first environmental whistleblower trial against Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  
Faster than a speeding dump truck, what we love about St. Johns County is being destroyed. 



7. If you are elected or re-elected, what initiatives would you introduce or promote to protect the environment of St. Johns County?
* St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore
* Environmental Regulatory Commission.
* Independent environmental impact statements for government project, as under NEPA.
* Lobbyist registration and background investigations.
* Video of every County Commissioner "ex parte' meeting with putative "developers."
* County whistleblower protection ordinance
* Reform zoning and planning as we know it. 

Thank you. 
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
www.edslavin.com
(904) 377-4998


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ANNALS OF TRUMPI$TAN: Kennedy Consulted With Scandal P.R. Firm While Seeking Cabinet Nomination (Debra Kamin & Santul Nerkar, NY Times, May 2, 2026)

From The New York Times:

Kennedy Consulted With Scandal P.R. Firm While Seeking Cabinet Nomination

An associate of the firm, which has been accused of running a smear campaign against the actress Blake Lively, promised to suppress negative stories about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., records show.

Listen · 5:31 min
Robert F. Kennedy, seated, in a blue striped suit and tie.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his presidential campaign in August 2024, and President Trump later tapped him to be health secretary.Credit...Demetrius Freeman for The New York Times

By Debra Kamin and Santul Nerkar

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was seeking the nomination to become health secretary, he consulted with a crisis communications firm that has been accused of running a smear campaign against the actress Blake Lively, according to records unsealed on Friday in Manhattan federal court.

The records show that a strategist associated with the firm, The Agency Group, promised in late 2024 to help suppress negative stories about Mr. Kennedy, boost positive ones and create an algorithm “to manage concerns” related to negative publicity.

It was not clear whether the firm, which is also known as TAG PR, performed any work on Mr. Kennedy’s behalf.

The documents were gathered by Ms. Lively’s legal team after she sued the actor Justin Baldoni, his production company, TAG and others in December 2024, alleging sexual harassment, retaliationand other claims stemming from disputes related to a film she had made with Mr. Baldoni.

The records include a deposition that quotes an email from the strategist, Jed Wallace, to a TAG executive in which Mr. Wallace explicitly describes pushing positive stories and burying negative ones about Mr. Kennedy. The same email also noted that Mr. Wallace believed positive coverage might draw the attention of President Trump.

“I need to be able to throw a ton of upvotes at the stuff that is rah rah rah for him, especially in conservative circles where it might get back to DJT,” the email said. In the same message, he added that he needed to “downvote everything that’s acting as a drag on him as part of our mandate.”

At the time, Mr. Kennedy had abandoned a bid to become president and was facing questions about his past behavior. He had earlier admitted to leaving a dead bear cub in Central Park, said that a parasitic worm had eaten part of his brain and been accused of once being photographed eating a barbecued dog.

A spokesman for Mr. Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment.

The unsealed filings also include testimony that indicates that Mr. Wallace and Melissa Nathan, a Hollywood publicist who founded TAG, helped create a website on behalf of Oren, Tal and Alon Alexander, three brothers convicted of a sex-trafficking conspiracy earlier this year. The website attacked several of the women who had accused them of rape, published their photos and described their claims as a coordinated extortion campaign.

In an email, a lawyer for Mr. Wallace, Joel Glover, said that neither Mr. Wallace nor his private public relations firm, Street Relations, had “ever been engaged to provide services for the individuals identified in the recent filings” and added that neither had created a smear website.

Ms. Nathan said in an email that Mr. Kennedy had been referred to TAG, but that they had never accepted payment from or formally represented him.

“We had a limited number of preliminary calls and did not proceed,” she said. “We were never engaged, never contracted and received no payment whatsoever in connection with him. Any implication otherwise is false.”

As for her work with the Alexander brothers, she said the court records showed “that any such work was done independently and ‘on the side’ by someone else.”

The court records also include a deposition with Katie Case, a former TAG employee, who said under oath that after the brothers were turned down as clients for TAG, Ms. Nathan and Mr. Wallace asked her to “connect with them to create a website in conjunction with their ongoing litigation.”

She added that “they asked me to perform work for the Alexander brothers” and “I received payment for work done in conjunction with Jed and Melissa.”

Other names mentioned in the unsealed filings include Johnny Depp, the actor whom Ms. Nathan represented in his defamation trial against the actress Amber Heard, and Amanda Ghost, who is involved in a protracted legal battle with the actress Rebel Wilson and who was characterized as a “target” of the firm’s tactics.


Ms. Lively’s legal case has focused in part on the actions of TAG, which has been accused of orchestrating a covert online smear campaign against Ms. Lively at the behest of Mr. Baldoni.


Ms. Nathan had tried to keep sealed several documents that reveal the names of her famous clients, court records show. But Ms. Lively’s lawyers argued that making the documents public was relevant to the case, to show that members of the crisis P.R. firm working with Mr. Baldoni were providing the same services to other prominent clients.

Debra Kamin is an investigative reporter for The Times who covers wealth and power in New York.

Santul Nerkar is a Times reporter covering federal courts in Brooklyn.

See more on: U.S. Politics, Health and Human Services Department, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Blake Lively


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