JFK's father taught him, as my father taught me, that "if you don't stand up to people with power, they walk all over you." Our local governments in St. Augusitne and St. Augustine Beach are learning this valauable lesson. I am proud and I salute them.
1. Under pressure, St. Johns County government is finally trading back to St. Augustine Beach the contaminated land that St. Johns County's then-Administrator BEN ADAMS stuck St. Augustine Beach with in 2001, during the days of St. Augustine Mayor EMMETT PACETTI.
This undoing of wrongdoing was quietly announced at the first joint meeting between St. Augustine Beach and St. Johns County Commissioners, which should have been televised and on live streaming video. Prior efforts were unavailing for twelve (12) years.
2. St. Augustine's Planning and Zoning Director, Mark Knight, rejected a proposed 7-Eleven in our historic area. The 7-Eleven franchisee has hired the law firm of St. Augustine Beach City Attorney DOUGLAS BURNETT and plans an administrative appeal.
3. St. Augustine's Planning and Zoning Board rejected a University of Florida application to kill a tree that shades our Spanish Bakery's outdoor eating area. Board members responded to arborist Charles Lippi's letter, and told UF that while anyone can built bathrooms, no one can build a tree. (UF's lame excuse was that it had a "grant" to build bathrooms, as if that should overcome our community values).
4. St. Augustine's Planning and Zoning Board is recommending resrictions on building gasoline stations (whih need to be expanded to ban any gas stations on King Street or San Marco Avenue).
5. St. Augustine's Planning and Zoning Board is also recommending that derelict signs be removed. Memo to the Whetsone-Maguire family: the former Hardee's at U.S. 1 and West King Street is an eyesore, and no one appreciates the derelict sign there (one of twelve documented by City staff).
6. St. Augustine Beach rejected, after mulling it over, a Courtyard by Marriott developer-franchisee's indecent demand to reduce the $560,000 it had agreed to pay for infrastucture. The developer's elliptical reasoning was double-talk. A deal's a deal, and this developer wanted a 5-finger discount, as they call it in Brooklyn -- he wanted not to haggle (which is on the front end), but essentially to steal from St. Augustine Beach residents what it promised to pay. Monday night, the developer agreed to keep its binding promise. Prior Commissions would have allowed it to euchre the public. This Commission stood up to a developer and won. The Courtyard by Marriott will be built, according to the original terms, without creepy discount.
The two cities are making progress. St. Johns County -- not so much!
St. Johns County is reportedly picking on a disabled woman who has chickens on her property, while doing nothing to prosecute the tree-killing property owner responsible for devastating the trees in front of the Barnes & Noble store on U.S. 1.
Corporativists control St. Johns County government, which personifies "Gotcha" government. While proclaiming property rights for the 1%, our St. Johns County officials -- who seem to be other-directed by developers -- pick on chickens when they should be standing up to crooked developers.
Case in point: MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK's ethically-impaired secret conversation with KEY INTERNATIONAL about possible transfer of part of Pier Park for a new luxury hotel. WANCHICK's disussions were not authorized by County Commission and were a surprise to local residents attending the January 29, 2014 first-ever joint meeting of the St. Augustine Beach and St. Johns County Commissioners.
Memo to Mr. WANCHICK: Hands off our parks! Knock it off!
You never know when you're talking to an undercover FBI agent (as former County Commission Chairman Thomas G. Manuel learned to his chagrin).
It's time for our St. Johns County Commission and St. Johns County Administrator to stop cowering to power and to start protecting the public interest.
Our elected officials in St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach listen to us, unanimously adopting GLBT rights protections.
Not St. Johns County. They won't even talk about it. The staff of our St. Johns County Tourist Development Council and Visitor and Convention Bureau can't seem to bring themselves to produce a simple list of GLBT-friendly accomodations. Pray for them!
Sadly, St. Johns County government still seems to be under the thumb of the KKK and developers. Former County Commission Chairman Ben Rich told Folio Weekly that:
A. "St. Johns County is one of the last bastions of the Ku Klux Klan."
B. Developers that create sprawl, clear-cut beautiful trees and sell crummy houses are "worse than any carpetbagger."
St. Johns County is still in the thrall of developers, even after Sid Perry, the spouse of the former corrupt Sheriff NEIL PERRY, formally folded her "Issues Group" operation, which vetted and picked County Commission candidates.
Not one St. Johns County elected official has said a word about Sheriff DAVID B. SHOAR's mishandling of the O'Connell shooting case. Not one word. Color them cowardly.
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