Thursday, March 22, 2018

St. Augustine Beach Needs More Responsive, Responsible City Government Leadership







Only three months in office, is St. Augustine Beach Mayor Undine Celeste Pawlowski George already repeating the "mistakes" of her unimpressive predecessors, ANDREA SAMUELS and RICHARD BURTT O"BRIEN?

Is Mayor GEORGE really a reformer, or another dull fungible small town politician pretending to be a reformer, willing to "go along to get along?"

You tell me.

Read my unrebutted comments below the Record's 412 word article:

Beach officials address parking woes
By Sheldon Gardner
Posted Mar 21, 2018 at 6:48 AM
St. Augustine Record
Updated at 7:00 AM

Some St. Augustine Beach residents have gotten used to beach visitors parking in their yards, leaving trash and doing other obnoxious things — like leaving diapers behind and using water on private property to wash off.

Beach resident and planning board alternate Kevin Kincaid lives with his wife a short distance from the beach east of A1A Beach Boulevard. Like other beach residents, they’ve had to deal with people parking in their grass and littering.

On Tuesday, a repairman worked on fixing a sprinkler head that a driver had damaged, Kincaid said. He now has railroad ties in his yard to discourage visitors from leaving their cars there on the way to the beach.

“That’s from people parking there,” Kincaid said, referring to a patchy section of grass near the driveway. ”... I don’t know what right we have to do anything.”

People can park on right-of-way in some areas of St. Augustine Beach, including parts of people’s lawns because that is also part of the right-of-way in some areas. City code also provides different parking rules for different areas, which makes it a challenge for people to enforce, officials said.

Visitors parking in residential areas is one side effect of the city’s popularity. But relief could be coming soon.

The City Commission and members of the Comprehensive Planning and Zoning Board talked Monday about ways to make life better for residents in terms of visitor parking concerns. Suggestions included having residential-only parking east of A1A Beach Boulevard, hiking fines for parking violations and expanding public parking.

In May, an ordinance to increase parking fine amounts will go before commissioners, City Manager Max Royle said. In June, commissioners will take a closer look at putting a residential parking pilot program in place, once city and police officials have a chance to decide what streets to include in the pilot program, Mayor Undine George said.

George also proposed giving property owners more control over the right-of-way in front of their homes, an idea that was met with mixed results at the meeting. Kincaid said he supports the idea. No formal votes could be taken at Monday’s meeting because it was just a workshop.

As for parking fines, commissioners and board members disagreed on how severe the increase should be. The current fine is $20.

Commissioner Maggie Kostka said the commission should hike the fine to $100 to deter people from breaking the rules.

“I think we want to make it hurt,” she said.

Comments

Edward Adelbert Slavin
  • Edward Adelbert Slavin
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1. SAB and SAR are like a dysfunctional family, ignoring real problems in two-party harmony. There was NO discussion of parking problems caused by allowing EMBASSY SUITES and SALT LIFE FOOD SHACK to be built without adequate parking. The 412 word article was unadorned by ANY quotes from public comment, or any mention of brief colloquy on low fines for parking in disabled spaces and SABPD laxity in enforcement, or Mr. Royle's proposal to raise disabled parking fines.
2. NO mention of Mayor Undine Celeste Pawlowski George forcing citizens to wait two (2) hours and eight (8) minutes before allowing public comment. City Manager's cabined agenda approved without editing by Mayor and Commissioners and PZB members. Cruelly unfair, arbitrary, capricious and oppressive? (One lady left before public comment). How disrespectful, following in the footsteps of ex-Mayor Richard Burtt O'Brien, who waited 200 minutes into a 2016 workshop with Commission and two boards before allowing public comment (except for a favored architect called upon by Commissioner Gary Snodgrass several times).
3. Mayor George and City "Manager" Bruce Max Royle both lack a welcoming spirit. The City blocks open records requests with fee-grabbing attempts. The Record rarely files Open Records requests and does not cover local governments zealously.
4. NO mention of concerns about Planning and Zoning Board members reasoned and documents being overruled for political reasons, as in the case of disgraced ex-Mayor and current Commissioner Richard Burtt O''Brien's two gigantic McMansions on F Street
5. NO mention of Mayor George's suggestion of cellular telephone app for parking, based on her ex parte discussion with unnamed local vendor, and her experience with Courthouse parking garage app in Gainesville.« less
  • 1 day ago (edited)
Edward Adelbert Slavin
  • Edward Adelbert Slavin
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NO mention of Mayor George quoting CFO Melissa Burns' claim that no competitive bidding is required if city does not purchase anything, but lets app vendor charge 35 cents for each use. Are you kidding me? Enough half-baked impulse buying. In City Manager form of government, should Mayor be meeting with a potential vendor without counsel and staff being present and notice to public and press? There needs to be a definition of need (if any) for app), then an RFP or RFQ. Sales pitch to Mayor by local vendor in private? Unseemly -- not her job? Smacks of appearance of impropriety, insensitivity, if not corruption and favoritism?
6. Local government purchasing is a stench in the nostrils of the State of Florida. Remember $1.8 million no-bid Textron Bell Jet helicopter purchase without competitive bidding, claimed to be "sole source." It was illegal and we got it reversed, thanks to AMCD Commissioners Jeanne Moeller and John Sundeman and local residents Robin Nadeau (my late mentor), Ann Palmquist and Don Girvan. AMCD Chair Barbara Bosanko, spouse of former County Attorney Daniel Bosanko, called the Sheriff's office to chill free speech.
7. Remember SABPD Chief Hardwick's naughty effort to purchase red light cameras after [he] met salesman at Orlando police convention, then put her on the agenda, with "testimony" by small town police chiefs extolling revenue and ignoring safety and ethics concerns? We stopped it, thanks to the late Robert Kahler and other outspoken residents, who are often treated disdainfully, disrespectfully and rudely by local burghers
8. Heard of no-bid, unsigned Beach Blast ATM contracts? Not yet? Need investigation. Looking forward to reading about it in SAR? So am I. SAR needs to report ALL the news and practice journalism.« less
  • 1 day ago (edited)
Edward Adelbert Slavin
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9. Mayor George, Vice Mayor England and City Manager Royle ALL lack a welcoming spirit to public participation. Vice Mayor England attacked Tom Reynolds BY NAME in provocative, angry, uncouth retaliation for his First Amendment protected activity at [March 6], 2018 meeting. NO APOLOGY Does being a local government official mean never having to say you're sorry? Disgraced former Mayors ANDREA SAMUELS (SAB) and JOSEPH BOLES (St. Augustine) would both bray to residents: "THIS IS NOT A DIALOGUE!" We need Democrats, NOT dull Dictators.
10. At times, speaking to local governments is like talking to a post. We need more candidates.
11. Is Mayor George proving a failure at reform? Does she lacks thoroughness and finesse?
12. Is City Manager Bruce Max Royle, the somnambulistic, mendacious and mediocre City "Manager" still calling the shots, still writing agendas that manipulate Commissioners and discourage public participation?
13. The City of St. Augustine Beach is still getting a free pass from the St. Augustine Record, whose articles on SAB meetings are NOT thorough, NOT interesting, and miss a lot. Dull 412 word article breached the standard of care for local government coverage: journalistic malpractice?
14. Is St. Augustine Beach Mayor Undine George a huge disappointment, showing NO signs of being a reformer? You tell me. Mayor George NEVER apologized for or explained her bizarre statement March 6, 2018 that "everybody makes mistakes" (before finally allowing Commissioner Kostka to speak on the proposed censure of Mayor O'Brien). Does Mayor Undine Celeste Pawlowski George's lack of preparation and arrogance in office suggest that she's just another dull fungible small town politician pretending to be a reformer, willing to "go along to get along?"« less
  • 23 hours ago (edited)
Edward Adelbert Slavin
  • Edward Adelbert Slavin
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Enough flummery, dupery and nincompoopery.
15. I encouraged PZB members to consider running for Commission one day.
16. That's the normal recruiting ground for a City Commission, because of the vital experience with quasi-judicial hearings. PZB members are experienced at listening to evidence and deciding cases based on law and facts.
17. The recruiting ground for SAB Commission must no longer be the St. Augustine Beach Civic Association, Inc., a dodgy 501c4 political club run by a couple of bullies, longtime recipients of no-bid St. Johns County contracts for eighteen (18) years, a de facto Political Action Committee (PAC).
18. Go to meetings. Watch archived meeting videos. Read agenda backup materials. Make Open Records requests. Speak out.
19. Ask questions. Demand answers. Expect democracy.
20. Vote like your future depends upon it, because it does. St. Augustine Beach is a cool, hip, low-rise beach town, threatened by the formidable forces of avaricious developers and incurious or inept government officials.
http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2018/03/preserving-and-protecting-st-augustine.html
http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-city-of-st-augustine-beach-needs.html« less
  • 23 hours ago
Edward Adelbert Slavin
  • Edward Adelbert Slavin
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St. Augustine Beach already has at least one adult in the room -- Commissioner Maggie Kostka. It needs another one -- elect Rosetta Bailey for SAB Commissioner.  http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-city-of-st-augustine-beach-needs.html
  • 23 hours ago
Edward Adelbert Slavin
  • Edward Adelbert Slavin
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1. Correction: St. Augustine Beach Vice Mayor England's angry attack on Tom Reynolds was at the March 6, 2018 City Commission meeting, NOT February 12.
2. The only parallel I've seen is the outgoing then-Mayor of St. Augustine 's scripted attack on me, given standing ovation by four other then-Commissioners, on November 13, 2006. Everyone else in the City Commission meeting room EXCEPT for three people (Lighthouse Park resident Ron Asner, the Record reporter and me).
3. The next Sunday, November 19, 2006, the St. Augustine Record responded with an epic editorial defending me & the First Amendment, telling our local politicians that they need "thicker skins." Read Peter Ellis' editorial here: http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2006/11/editorial-always-important-to-stick-to.html
4. Yes, the Record once passionately defended citizen First Amendment rights.
5. In contrast, under new ownership, with teeny-tiny word limits, the Record has NOT yet done so on Vice Mayor England's March 6 attack on Mr. Reynolds, NOT reporting it and NOT defending Mr. Reynolds. Why?
6. In 1999, when we moved here, SAR was an afternoon newspaper, a broadsheet, with a proud history of (sometimes) holding governments accountable.
7. Margo Pope detected/reported on Sunshine violations. You can read her fine work in St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library.
8. Readers should be able to read find fine journalistic work in the SAR every day. But Is GateHouse neutering, neutralizing and ending the Record's "watchdog" function, making SAR a dull McHappyPaper, like USA Today?
9. What do y'all reckon?
10. Footnote: Today I could NOT find November 19, 2006 editorial on Record's website; are older articles being quietly deleted by GateHouse -- another "false economy" move?« less
  • 32 minutes ago
Edward Adelbert Slavin
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412 words?
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