It takes a village....

Last night’s St. Augustine City Commission saw history being made.

For the first time in the recorded history of the Occupy Wall Street movement, a group of St. Augustine Occupiers spoke to a government body on public issues—we were all treated respectfully and our views are being heard and heeded.

Last night, Occupy St. Augustine members spoke to our City Commissioners last night , reading the Occupy Wall Street document.

Mayor Boles and Commissioners Leary, Sikes-Kline and Freeman listened attentively.

Commissioner ERROL JONES looked down at the table and did not make eye contact as the Wall Street document was read. ERROL JONES is nothing but a toady for landraping developers CHESTER STOKES and ROBERT MICHAEL GRAUBARD, I reckon Jones felt very uncomfortable at some of the words.

After hearing from the voice of the people, our St. Augustine City Commissioners are seemingly in agreement of the need to halt harassment of artists and entertainers. A workshop is planned.

Thank you for listening, particularly St. Augustine City Commissioners Leeanna Freeman, William Leary, Nancy Sikes-Kline, and Mayor Joseph Boles, and City Manager John Regan.

Democracy works.

Arresting artists and entertainers on St. George Street is an embarrassment to our City -- a stench in the nostrils of our Nation.

At the behest of the 1%, arresting artists and entertainers was the public policy of our City under the ancien regime -- St. Augustine’s commercial landlords and their pet City Manager, who is gone, gone, gone.

Arresting artists and entertainers gave our Nation’s Oldest City a black eye, nationwide. There were articles in USA Today and other national newspapers, and they made us look like a bunch of wretched redneck Tinpot Napoleons, angry at artists and wanting to suppress art for commerce’s sake.

Arresting artists and entertainers drove away tourists who were charmed by the street artists and entertainers.

Arresting artists and entertainers was a crime, a tort and a sin.

Why did it happen?

What did we accomplish here last night.

Arresting artists and entertainers was demonic, contrary to all that is good and decent in our community. No police officer can be proud of what our City Fathers ordered them to do.

Commercial landlords routinely, wrongfully procured arrests of artists and entertainers.

These commercial landlords were truly “shameful people,” throwing around their weight.

As the John Gielgud character says in the movie, “The Power of One,” about Apartheid, xxx

The City’s and the commercial landlords’ long train of abuses and illegal actions bordered dangerously on a racketeering conspiracy.

Our former City Manager and his henchmen violated constitutional rights for the convenience of selfish commercial landlords who were engaged in rent-seeking behavior.

One St. Augustine family of one-percenters in particular demanded the City to roust artists and entertainers. Wonder why? To force artists and musicians to leave town or to rent space from them in their commercial properties, under penalty of arrests at midnight six weeks after playing music on St. George Street.

That family’s public statements and newspaper columns suggested they had mixed motives – combining hate, greed and racism – they don’t like African-Americans, and they didn’t like young people (or African-Americans) playing music on “their” street.” The family looks at our City government like a gigantic slot machine, which is only worthwhile when it rewards its hare-brained schemes.

The family no longer owns City Hall. Viva la difference!

Just a few years ago, that family whipped up other commercial landlords. Watching the braying of the rent-seeking Republicans on TV when our City Commission adopted ordinances to arrest artists and entertainers, many of us were embarrassed to live here.

The commercial landlords and their enablers on City Commission were so full of hate that they didn’t understand the economics of their own street. In any couple, there’s usually one who loves to shop and one who hates shopping.

As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Arresting artists and entertainers is bad for business. See how the stores in St. George Street are dying on the vine. See how many of the classier stores in our Oldest City are gone, gone, gone.

See how many of the remaining stores are tacky, tatterdemalion sellers of tawdry t-shirts to teenagers – obscene t-shirts. No history. No diversity. No culture. Few or no minority employees. Fewer high-end tourists. More people who drive in from Palatka with $20 and a t-shirt, and change neither.

Artists and entertainers are working people, just like us – part of the 99%. They give our City charm and panache. (I can’t say that for the commercial landlords, who have too much money and too little class).

Artists and entertainers have been part of our City for four and one half centuries.

Artists and entertainers will soon be back, free of harassment, intimidation and illegal arrests that long violated the United States Constitution, and Florida’s Constitution.

Thank you for listening, St. Augustine City Commissioners, Mayor and City Manager.

Democracy works.

Our Nation’s Oldest City has in the past year:

· Dedicated two civil rights monuments on our Slave Market Square and is working to get a National Civil Rights Museum;

· Is fixing ALL of Riberia Street (at last)

· Is working with St. Johns County to (finally) provide sewage and water service to long-neglected West Augustine;

· Cancelled the no-bid contract with First America Foundation, getting more than half of our money back from this disgraceful violators of Sunshine and Open Records laws, whose perverse model for our 450^th birthday was totalitarian secrecy.

In the next year, let’s continue the good work to make our City of St. Augustine like a shining beacon a hill:

· Let’s sue those responsible for the First America Foundation, to take back the approximately $125,000 it took from our City of St. Augustine, with nothing to show for it. It’s our money. Time for a writ of replevin to be filed against know-it-all DON WALLIS.

· Let’s restore the artists and entertainers to St. George Street.

· Let’s make sure that our National Civil Rights Museum locates to the San Sebastian Inner Harbor property, with shrimp boats pulling up to the ready-to-ride piers (like Tarpon Springs), with artists and entertainers in the center (like Mallory Square in Key West).

· Let’s do something about the blight on our City of souvenir shops that sell only obscene t-shirts and gewgaws, with nothing about our City’s diverse history. Let’s follow the example of Clint Eastwood when he was Mayor of Carmel, California and pass an ordinance that limits the square footage or sales from t-shirts. (To speculators: “Go ahead, make my day!”)

· Let’s ban chain stores from our Historic area. (One Harley Davidson dealership on St. George Street shivers me timbers about the possibility of more – we don’t want to turn our town into the blighted Duval Street in Key West).

· Let’s adopt a Living Wage ordinance, protecting City employees and employees of City contractors and franchisees (like the tour trains).

· Let’s adopt a Human Rights policy banning discrimination against GLBT people (as Sheriff David Shoar did for the St. Johns County Sheriff’s office – because it’s the right thing to do – and as our Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County )

· Let’s adopt a whistleblower policy for City employees, like the one unanimously adopted by the Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County.

· Let’s work to enact the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore legislation. www.staugustgreen.com At our City’s recent Discover First America session, the collection of logos showed the National Park Service logo at the center – NPS is now our partner. It’s time for us to get a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore! Yes we can!

It takes a village.