Thursday, December 11, 2014

Disorganized 450th: My Letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell on Federal St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission





Dear Secretary Jewell:

StAugustGreen was delighted to provide our written testimony (attached) in support of your nomination as Secretary of the Interior last year.

Our City of St. Augustine's 450th birthday year begins in only 20 days. Local and federal efforts to prepare for it are disorganized, at best, partly the result of a lack of any Congressional appropriations for the Federal St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission, appointed by Secretary Salazar.

On April 14, 2011, Secretary Salazar appointed very qualified members to the Federal St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission, partly in response to StAugustGreen's July 15, 2009 letter to the Secretary, opposing proposed Federal Advisory Committee Act violations, which were sought by our then-Mayor and City Manager of St. Augustine, who requested appointment of "affluent and influential" members. StAugustGreen urgently requested what FACA requires -- a "fairly balanced" advisory committee -- which Secretary Salazar then appointed. It includes qualified experts on civil rights, national parks and Florida history, including former UN Ambassador Andrew Young, former Senator Bob Graham and is chaired by an ardent National Parks supporter, Jay Kislak.

As we stated in our Senate written testimony on your nomination to be Secretary of the Interior, StAugustGreen looks forward to enactment of the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore Act (see second attachment, "St. Augustine History Is A National Treasure," and our website, www.staugustgreen.com).

StAugustGreen has five easy requests today:
1. Please expedite the appointment of our new reform Mayor of St. Augustine, Nancy E. Shaver, to the Federal St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission.
2. Please ignore any requests to retain ex-Mayor Joseph Lester Boles, Jr. on the Federal St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission. Retaining the ex-mayor would be counterproductive and would not promote healing. In fact, it might be disruptive, in light of his past actions in profiting from government service, including $2-3 million in profits from a 35-year no-bid City of St. Augustine commercial lease of 81 St. George Street at 1/5 to 1/10 of market rates (Florida Cracker Cafe and Savannah Sweets). http://folioweekly.com/THE-BLOGGER-THE-LEASE-AND-THE-ST-AUGUSTINE-MAYORS-RACE,10719
3. Please appoint a Native American to the Federal St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission; that seat still remains vacant after more than 3.5 years.
4. Please direct the Federal St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission to comply with Federal Advisory Committee Act Sunshine requirements and stop holding meetings out of the Sunshine, which it has done based on the Solicitor's erroneous legal advice that it was an "operating committee." It is not "operating" anything.
5. Please ask the Federal St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission for its wisdom and guidance on the draft proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore legislation. http://www.staugustgreen.com/draft-legislation.html

America's newest National Park and Seashore for our Nation's Oldest City is a suitable legacy for our 450th anniversary. Who among us would disagree?

Please ask your staff to call me for further discussion.

Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed
Ed Slavin
StAugustGreen
www.staugustgreen.com
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085
904-377-4998

Enclosures (2):
http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2013/03/in-haec-verba-staugustgreen-statement.html


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Once moribund, let's see if this commission can get some life breathed into it.

A grand idea to write Secretary Jewell at this juncture. Our big year is right around the corner.

Keep working for the little people, Mr. Slavin. We thank you.

Warren Celli said...

Sheesh!
This is so exciting!
So thought provoking!
And soooooooooo true blue Scamerican!

Yes!!!!

By all means!!!

Let's fight over who controls the birthday party for the gang rapists that have hijacked — through usurpation of the now TOTALLY scam 'rule of claw' — our beautiful city.

Let's have a birthday party for the gang rapists that still control and profit from all of their plundered public commons and the crooked cops that colluded with them. The same crooked cops that confiscated and BANNED my lawful newspaper, "The Saint Aug Dog", at the point of a gun — did you get that — AT THE POINT OF A FUCKING GUN — that these asswipes still control! The same crooked cops that now enforce all of the oppression. The same crooked cops that prevent any hope of healing and recouping the pigdebt. [Pigdebt is the total amount of recompense due to those who have been harmed, financially, physically, and emotionally, by the willful and intentional immoral usurpation of the 'rule of law' by Xtrevilist pigs for selfish gain.]

Yes! This is so compelling an issue! An issue of the highest and most essential priority! Lets fight over who will plan the birthday party for these asswipe gang rapists that have hijacked our city and led us astray into the cesspool of high socially negative community impact tourism, and yes, of course, let's also throw in a state park for them to plunder with crony constructed and controlled camp sites and amenities built on the homes of our fast disappearing defenseless wild life creatures.......

One either fights to stop and reverse the immorality, or one fights to profit from and perpetuate the immorality.

We shall overcome.

Please ask your staff to call me for further discussion.

Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Warren Celli
St Augustine, president and CEO of the Fountain of Baloney™.

http://fountainofbaloney.com/index.html