UNCONSTITUTIONAL DENIAL OF PRESS PASS & WRONGFUL WITHHOLDING OF OUR PUBLIC RECORDS -- CITY, FLAGLER COLLEGE KEEPING SECRECY AT "KEEPING HISTORY ABOVE WATER CONFERENCE."

Mean-spirited City of St. Augustine and Flagler College, Inc. schoolmarms are violating our RIGHT TO KNOW about KEEPING HISTORY ABOVE WATER" CONFERENCE. 

It's our money.  

It's government funded. 

(Photo'video credit: NBC News, St. Augustine Record, Historic City News)

Nor unlike Alabama Governor GEORGE CORLEY WALLACE standing in the schoolhouse door, Flagler College President JOSEPH JOYNER, Ed.D., and St. Augustine City Manager JOHN PATRICK REGAN, P.E. are violating civil and constitutional rights.

My civil and constitutional rights to learn at the government-funded KEEPING HISTORY ABOVE WATER CONFERENCE.

Your civil and constitutional Right to Know. 

The facts are undisputed.

The law is being violated by two "peculiar institutions," Flagler College, Inc. and the City of St. Augustine, both of which disrespect free speech rights, and have repeatedly done so.

Beloved St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Shaver served honorably for 1550 days, 2014-2019, suffering a stroke February 25, 2019 amidst stonewalling of her sincere efforts to reform our corrupt City Hall maladministration. 

Now that she's gone to recuperate, City "Manager" JOHN PATRICK REGAN, P.E. is behaving like a ruffian again, like WILLIAM BARRY HARRISS, the energumen conman he claims as his "mentor."

When I asked questions about the controversial questionable purchase of 91-93 Coquina Avenue property, Assistant City Public Works Director TODD GRANT, P.G. ducked my question and City Public Works Director MICHAEL G. CULLUM, P.E. invited me to "step outside."  This is documented on video.  Both were empowered by City Manager REGAN, who took no action in response.  The REGANS and the CULLUMS are close friends.

This threatening behavior happened at the January 31, 2019 KEEPING HISTORY ABOVE WATER CONFERENCE at Galimore Community Center, where:

• Not one African-American resident attended.
• Statistically unreliable data on storm survival was presented, without socioeconomic data.
• An unfriendly sign was on the front door, discouraging attendance. 

As United States Supreme Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis wrote, "Decency, security and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. Olmstead v. United States, 477 U.S. 438, 485 (1928)(Brandeis, J. dissenting)

Does JOE JOYNER, former St. Johns County School Superintendent, resemble the "school dictators" documented by Harry Caudill in Night Comes to the Cumberlands?

Here is the e-mail I sent the City and Flagler College last night:

From: Ed Slavin
Sent: Sunday, May 5, 2019 10:34:03 PM
To: dgalambos@aol.com; pwilliamson@citystaug.com; jregan@citystaug.com; reganj@bellsouth.net; ilopez@citystaug.com; jcary@citystaug.com; serdelyi@marksgray.com; jjoyner@flagler.edu; rsniffen@sniffenlaw.com; tupchurch@citystaug.com; jpiggott@citystaug.com; tburchfield@citystaug.com; lfountain@citystaug.com; bfox@staugpd.com; fdupchurch@ubulaw.com; acuthbert@staugpd.com; tfleming@citystaug.com
Subject: CEASE AND DESIST UNCONSTITUTIONAL DENIAL OF PRESS PASS & CEASE WITHHOLDING PUBLIC RECORDS; Request 2019-187: City press pass policy for City-sponsored events; Slavin v. Flagler College, U.S. Department of Education Case No. 4-19-2208

Dear Mayor Upchurch, Dr Joyner, Mr. Regan, Ms. Erdelyi, Ms. Lopez, Mr. Cary, Dr. Joyner, Dr. Keys, Messrs. Williamson and Sniffen, et al.:

1. At 9 AM on Monday, May 6, 2019, the City of St. Augustine, Flagler College, Inc., et al. will commence their "international" conference "Keeping History Above Water," violating my First Amendment rights by denying me a press pass, which I first requested in February.  
2. Please provide a press pass for me for KHAW, without further delay, and kindly call me before 8 AM to inform me where I can pick it up.
3. Please cease and desist from all unconstitutional discriminatory denial of a press pass for the May 6-9, 2019 event, which I have repeatedly requested since February 2019. 
4. The City of St. Augustine and its no-bid contractor, Flagler College, are concealing from me and from my readers pertinent KHAW documents, required to be disclosed by F.S. 119.0701
5. The City's Flagler College-drafted contract was required to include Open Records language mandated by F.S. 119.0701 and Florida Constitution Article I, Sec. 24.
6. F.S. 119.0701 requires City disclosure of the KHAW documents that I have requested.
7. But F.S. 119.0701 is flouted by Flagler College counsel's odd April 29, 2019 letter (attached), inter alia stating that as a "private college," Flagler College is exempt from records law. 
8. Mr. Snedden's material misstatement is freighted with stonewalling, animus and malice -- an irrefragable badge of government and contractor retaliation for First Amendment protected activity.
9. By denying me a press pass and by refusing to communicate civilly with a journalist, the City of St. Augustine and Flagler College are guilty of blatant viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment and Civil Rights laws.  See, e.g., United Teachers of Dade v. Stierheim, 213 F. Supp. 2d 1368, 1371 (S.D. Fla. 2002); Sherrill v. Knight, 569 F.2d 124, 129 (D.C.Cir.1977) ("arbitrary or content-based criteria for press pass issuance are prohibited under the [F]irst [A]mendment"); Quad-City Cmty. News Serv. v. Jebens, 334 F. Supp. 8, 17 (S.D.Iowa 1971) (stating "any classification which serves to penalize or restrain the exercise of a First Amendment right, unless shown to be necessary to promote a compelling governmental interest, is unconstitutional").  In Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of Univ. of Va., 515 U.S. 819, 828-829, 115 S. Ct. 2510, 132 L. Ed. 2d 700 (1995) the Supreme Court held that "[d]iscrimination against speech because of its message is presumed to be unconstitutional ... When the government targets not subject matter, but particular views taken by speakers on a subject, the violation of the First Amendment is all the more blatant. ... Viewpoint discrimination is thus an egregious form of content discrimination."). 
10. People of color and low-income people are more likely to be hurt by climate change.  My concerns about these issues are protected activity under Title Vi of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
11. My legally protected concerns since 2006 about Environmental Justice (EJ) resulted in $9 million in roadbuilding for Riberia Street, long the worst street in St. Johns County,.
12. My legally protected concerns about pollution in two EJ communities resulted and in tens of thousands of dollars in fines and consent orders against the City of St. Augustine, as documented in a 2008 cover story in Folio Weely.
13. My EJ concerns on and since January 31, 2019 about the City's and Flagler College's all-white KHAW "community" meetings at the City's Willie Galimore Community Center are protected activity under Title VI.  
14. So are my concerns about lack of socioeconomic data in the survey of City residents on flooding issue.
15. So was the hostile sign that was posted on the building during the "community"  meeting, since removed, discouraging minority and low-income citizen attendance at the January 31, 2019 "community" meetings:
    
    
     
16. The City of St. Augustine has repeatedly violated free speech rights and has repeatedly lost First Amendment cases to its citizens, including several cases brought by visual artists, Bates I & Bates II, as well as  Celli v. City of St. Augustine, 214 F.Supp. 2d 1256 (M.D. Fla. 2000)(upholding $23,500 jury verdict for four hours of First Amendment violation re: St. Aug Dog newspaper rights to free distribution on St. George Street); Rev. Ruth Jensen v. City of St. Augustine, 3:05-CV-504-J-25HTS TRO (M.D. Fla. 2005)(ordering Rainbow flags flown on Bridge of Lions June 8-13, 2005 in honor of Gay Pride).  The City was guilty of viewpoint discrimination in both the Celli and Jensen decisions, which were swift justice and not appealed.  
17. The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights assigned my April 24, 2019 complaint against Flagler College case number 4-19-2208 on Friday night, May 4, 2019, and it was assigned to an investigator.   
18. Please send me any City of St. Augustine press pass policy for City-sponsored events, like the Keeping History Above Water (KHAW) conference, showing the date(s) adopted or altered, including City Commission minutes.
19. Please comply with my F.S. 119.0701 requests promptly.
20. Please issue the press pass for this week's conference promptly.

Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am, 

Sincerely yours,

Ed Slavin

904-377-4998

www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com

www.edslavin.com

------------

-----Original Message-----
From: St. Augustine Public Records <recordsrequest@citystaug.com>
To: 'easlavin@aol.com' <easlavin@aol.com>
Sent: Wed, Apr 24, 2019 1:06 pm
Subject: RE: Request No. 2019-151: Keeping History Above Water conference contracts and MOUs

Please see the attached document and below correspondence relevant to your public record request. 

From: Keys, Leslee [mailto:LKeys@flagler.edu]
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2018 5:06 PM
To: John Regan <jregan@citystaug.com>
Cc: Lucy Fountain <lfountain@citystaug.com>
Subject: KHAW Agreement
Importance: High

John – Please excuse the brevity - 

I am writing a TDC grant for KHAW that requires partner agreements.  I hope the attached meets your needs and you can send back via email before next Wednesday – sorry for the short turnaround.  I did not realize that I needed this documentation.

Thanks.

Dr. Leslee F. Keys

Director of Historic Preservation and Special Initiatives 

Assistant Professor of History

Phi Alpha Theta Faculty Advisor

Department of Humanities

Research Associate

Historic St. Augustine Research Institute

Trustee

US National Committee for the International Council on Monuments and Sites (US/ICOMOS)

Mailing Address:  74 King Street | Saint Augustine, FL 32085-1027

Physical Address:  508 Kenan Hall | Saint Augustine, FL 32084
Phone:  904.819.6443 | Mobile:  904.814.1022

www.flagler.edu
                                                      

           

Ranked 2018 U.S. News & World Report #2 in “Best Colleges in the South,” 2017 Princeton Review’s “382 Best Colleges,” 2017 House Beautiful’s, 2017 Cosmopolitan’s and 2016 BuzzFeed’s “Most Beautiful Campuses in the World,” and 2017 Travel and Leisure’s, 2017  Southern Living’s and 2015 Thrillist  “Most Beautiful” campuses in the U.S. 

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.