St. Augustine City Clerk Karen Rogers is paid only $43,000 annually.
The City's other all- male department heads are paid two and three times as much.
At last night's budget hearing, I questioned City officials about the pay disparity, asking when our City would conduct an examination of possible discrimination and pay of women and African- Americans.
There was no response.
Commissioner SUSAN BURK was absent, apparently in South America, enjoying her "Sister Cities" trip to Cartagena, Colombia.
It's our money.
St. Augustine Mayor JOSEPH LEROY BOLES, Vice Mayor Donald CRICHLOW, and Commissioners
GEORGE GARDNER and ERROL JONES said not one word about possible pay disparities adversely affecting women and African- Americans.
In 1964, St. Augustine, Florida was the last place where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested before the 1964 Civil Rights Act was enacted by Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Dr. King said that St. Augustine was "the most lawless city in America."
Ms. Karen Rogers is one of three city officials hired directly by City Commissioners. She is the lowest paid of any of the three.
She also thinks that City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS is her supervisor, a contention not supported by the City Charter.
This is unacceptable, on both counts.
For the record, St. Augustine is not the only government in St. Johns County that appears to discriminate against women and minorities. The Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County (AMCD) has had a policy since 1992 that forbids payment of sick pay to women who are pregnant and giving birth. AMCD will reconsider this policy at its September 13, 2007 meeting at 4 PM, 500 Old Beach Road, St. Augustine Beach, Florida.
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