Thursday, August 17, 2017

St. Augustine Record still letting St. Augustine Beach City Manager MAX ROYLE "get away with it"

Ten days after the August 7, 2017 St. Augustine Beach City Commission meeting, the St. Augustine Record finally has a story about it.  And what a story it is.
Shallow.
280 words,
No mention of the alleged ADA violations by St. Augustine Beach Civic Association and landlord Norbert Tuseo, which were on the agenda.  No mention of the alleged illegal destruction of records by City staff, which was on the agenda.  
No mention of City Manager MAX ROYLE's inept coverup of sexual harassment by building official GARY LARSON, which resulted in no criminal charges for sexual battery and years of torment for the alleged victim.  
No discussion of the FPL franchise renewal -- in reality, a 30 year 5.9% electricity tax with no advantages for the taxed people of St. Augustine Beach, who are being deprived of public power options, despite broken promises to have a workshop and explore alternatives.
Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.

To top it all off, the St. Augustine Record did not even send a reporter to cover the meeting.

GateHouse Media, take note: come Liberation Day (October 2), please assign a new editor or new reporter to cover St. Augustine Beach City Hall, ones who will investigate local governments, attend meetings, and not act like prissy Cato the Censors, omitting controversy.
We need razor-sharp reporting, not coverups.

Posted August 16, 2017 06:08 am
By SHELDON GARDNER sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com
St. Augustine Beach commissioners support temporary ban on medical marijuana dispensaries

For now, the city of St. Augustine Beach plans to prohibit marijuana dispensaries from coming to the city.

Florida lawmakers recently implemented a constitutional amendment approving medical marijuana that voters approved in 2016, and expanded the list of businesses that could open dispensing storefronts in the state.

The state also prohibited cities from putting in place any restrictions on locating and permitting medical marijuana dispensaries that are any stricter than rules applied to pharmacies, according to beach City Attorney Jim Wilson. The only other option the state allows is banning dispensaries entirely.

St. Augustine Beach Police Chief Robert Hardwick said during a regular city commission meeting last week he’s opposed to allowing dispensaries in St. Augustine Beach, citing concerns over inviting a Daytona Beach-like environment and saying that people can go to other jurisdictions like Ponte Vedra Beach or Jacksonville to get their medicine.

“To have this mom-and-pop-type thing in our jurisdiction … I think it sets a bad example for our city. … I’m not sure we want to inherit that problem,” Hardwick said.

Beach commissioners decided to support a temporary ban that they could review in a year.

“It’s probably not the end of the world to prohibit it entirely,” Commissioner Margaret England said.

An ordinance is expected to come back to the City Commission for a vote in September, City Manager Max Royle said.

In other business

Commissioners also supported renewing their franchise agreement with Florida Power &Light Company, and they’ll have a chance to take a final vote on the matter in September.

Also, the city is still updating its harassment policies, and a final version is expected to come to the Commission for a vote.

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