No vote on Mosquito District

No vote on Mosquito District

County commission decides against taking over board

By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 05/09/08

Anastasia Mosquito Control District's board members, employees and supporters on Thursday asked St. Johns County commissioners not to put the district's fate before the public in a non-binding referendum.

Commissioner Jim Bryant agreed and his motion not to support a straw vote passed in a split vote.

Bryant said the commission shouldn't be trying to absorb an elected board.

"The people in the mosquito control district will un-elect their commissioners when they want to," Bryant said.

His motion was seconded by Vice Chairman Cyndi Stevenson, who said the county already "had plenty on its plate" at the moment. "We need to go forward and work with other local governments," she added.

But Commission Chairman Tom Manuel said he was asked by two district board members to explore the county taking over mosquito control operations. In making his argument for a referendum, Manuel said the district was a service agency, not a revenue-generating agency.

"In seven years, the district collected $21 million in taxes," Manuel said. "Last year, it collected $3.3 million. They now have $4.7 million in reserves. This is a prime example of uncontrolled bureaucracy."

Miami-Dade County, with 2.5 million people and six times the area of St. Johns County, has a budget of $3.2 million for mosquito control while Anastasia's had a budget last year of $3.3 million, he said.

"This district has far exceeded the authority given to them by the statutes," he said. "The job is simple: To kill mosquitoes."

He wanted to explore absorbing the district into county operations for efficiency and economy.

However, John Sundeman, a mosquito board member, admitted there had been "humps and bumps" in the district's performance over the last few years, "but that's not a reason to come in an take over a public health organization."

He accused Manuel of wanting to consolidate all the governments in St. Johns County, including St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach, and he said there have been no studies showing a need for consolidation.

"We're not to be played politics with," Sundeman said. "It's a political stunt."

The appeals to save the district included one from Vivian Browning of Vilano Beach, who has announced she is running for a seat now occupied by Emily Hummel, a 16-year veteran board member who is retiring.

"This is moving too fast. It needs to be done (only) after many more meetings," Browning said, adding with a laugh, "The only reason Florida was settled was air conditioning and mosquito control."

Annette Cappella, a district supporter, asked the commission why this was initiated.

"The board has shown that it is really coming together. It's operating very well. There have been problems and dissension, but it's (now) operating very well."

The "problems and dissension" she mentioned included past meetings marked with disorder, rudeness and accusations, by both board members and speakers, who would ramble on for as long as they liked, ignoring then-Chairwoman Barbara Bosanko's gavel. Once the sheriff's office was called to restore peace, though no one was expelled or charged.

Since then, the board hired a general manager, Patricia Greer of Jacksonville, and meetings have been civil.

Greer said, "Most of the issues they had are in the past and belong in the past."

Commissioner Ben Rich said trying to disband an elected board would mean "a long and tedious process in Tallahassee," but he added that he still wanted to learn the public's opinion of district performance.

"I went to a few meetings and they were the most dysfunctional meetings I ever attended," he said. "We're going to give (the district's financial) numbers to our staff and that will be brought back for future consideration. I don't understand, you're taking tax money and hoarding it in this way."

Rich and Manuel opposed Bryant's motion. Stevenson and Commissioner Ron Sanchez voted with Bryant.

Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/050908/news_050908_030.shtml

© The St. Augustine Record