$1,025,000 VETOED for keeping Flagler College above water.
Not even Sheriff DAVID SHOAR, Professor and former UnderSheriff JOEL BOLANTE and Flagler College Chancellor WILLIAM LEE PROCTOR, former eight year member of our Florida State House of Representatives, could save Flagler College from Governor RONALD LEON DeSANTIS's veto pen.
Formerly a nominal St. Johns County resident, Governor and former Congressman RON DeSANTIS rightly vetoed state funds for resiliency for Flagler College, a private school with an endowment of $51,000,000.
Perhaps it was the arrogance, effrontery, bad karma and bad PR that came from Flagler President JOSEPH JOYNER silently and inexplicably denying public access to a four day "Keeping History Above Water Conference," ≈after attempted interventions by several Flagler board members, elected officials and the City Manager. Taking oodles of public funds for its conference, Flagler wanted no public scrutiny. FC denied me a press pass and refused to provide documents provide to others. Wonder why?
I filed a discrimination complaint against Flagler College with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. In response, Flagler's lawyers refused to provide documents and refused to agree to preserve evidence.
Others had press passes or scholarships for the unscholarly $400 conference, run with City, State and County funds.
No proceedings have been produced. No papers have been posted.
From Florida Politics and the St. Augustine Record:
Florida TaxWatch praises Ron DeSantis for budget veto decisions
“The state budget is the most important piece of public policy.”
By Ryan NicolonJune 24, 2019
Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic M. Calabro offered praise for Gov. Ron DeSantis after DeSantis axed $131 million worth of projects from the 2019-20 state budget.
“Florida TaxWatch congratulates Gov. DeSantis and his team on the signing of their first state budget,” Calabro said.
“The state budget is the most important piece of public policy, the only law required by the state constitution to be passed each year, and the governor’s review of the budget is a vital part of the checks and balances process.”
Indeed, the business-backed taxpayer watchdog signaled the importance of the Governor’s budget decisions by releasing its annual Budget Turkey Watch Report in early June.
The TaxWatch report is filled with suggestions on which programs should be axed via the Governor’s line-item veto power. In the end, of the group’s 106 suggested programs to cut, the Governor agreed on 49 of those items, giving them the axe this past Friday.
“The Budget Turkey label does not signify judgment of a project’s worthiness,” the group noted.
“Instead, the review focuses on the Florida budget process, and the purpose of the Budget Turkey label is to ensure that all appropriations using public funds receive the deliberation, debate, and accountability they deserve.”
The largest project that the group and the Governor agreed on cutting as an $8 million workforce housing project (HB 4303) in Jacksonville backed by state Rep. Jason Fischer and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.
“The Jacksonville housing project would bypass the Florida Housing Finance Corporation’s process for selection and oversight of projects funded by scarce Sadowski Fund housing dollars in the face of an affordable housing crisis,” read the TaxWatch report on the project.
“This may be the first time a member project would be funded through the housing trust funds and would set a bad precedent.”
Another big item eyed by the group was a $4.57 million allotment for the Gentry Regional Training Center in Sebring. The Governor ended up vetoing the project, as well as another $3.5 million for a Clay County youth sports complex, which was also a suggested cut from TaxWatch.
The Governor vetoed 193 items in total, 49 of which were among the programs listed in TaxWatch’s report. Those 49 programs totaled nearly $45 million in cuts.
“As stated [Friday] by Gov. DeSantis and year after year by Florida TaxWatch, funding projects outside of established processes is detrimental to good budgeting, and we applaud his use of the line-item veto to strike $131 million in individual projects from the budget, a relatively modest amount compared to the first session of many first-year governors,” Calabro added.
“Florida TaxWatch is pleased that Governor DeSantis has shown that he is willing to have a collaborative relationship with the Legislature, and we have confidence that the state of Florida is in good hands.”
The Governor also agreed with TaxWatch on several proposed cuts to agricultural promotion projects. The Governor cut $750,000 for the Putnam County Fair Association, $650,000 for the 4Roots Farm and Agricultural Center, and $50,000 for the Washington County Agricultural Center.
Cuts to funding for Ruth Eckerd Hall and the Carter G. Woodson Foundation were also made by DeSantis after being suggested by TaxWatch.
Calabro said the group will continue to provide guidance to DeSantis during future budget discussions.
“We are looking forward to advising and assisting the Governor and the Legislature in protecting the taxpayers of Florida in the years ahead, just as we have for the past 40 years,” Calabro said.
A full list of suggested cuts from TaxWatch that were followed through by the Governor is below:
— Jacksonville Urban Core Workforce Housing Project: $8 million
— D/S Gentry Regional Public Safety Training Center: $4.5 million
— Northeast Florida Multi-Purpose Youth Sports Complex: $3.5 million
— Bradenton Beach SR 789 Multi-Modal Capacity Project: $2 million
— UNF-Roy Lassiter Hall Renovations: $2 million
— AVE Banyan Project at Opa Locka Executive Airport: $1.5 million
— Pensacola Airport MRO Campus Expansion: $1.5 million
— Flagler College Hotel Ponce de Leon Resiliency: $1.025 million
— Altamonte Springs P3 AV Smart Corridor Project: $1 million
— Centennial Park Restoration Project: $1 million
— Land O’ Lakes US 41 Landscape Rehabilitation: $1 million
— Millers Bayou Working Waterfront Enhancements: $1 million
— The Industrial Park Connector: $1 million
— US 331/CR 30A Improvements – Walton County: $1 million
— Moccasin Slough Educational Center for Natural Resources: $900,000
— Hegener Drive Extension: $893,750
— Miami Lakes Business Park SE Resilient Transportation System Infrastructure Project: $853,000
— Amelia Island, An Environmental Branding Initiative: $817,702
— I-395 Underdeck Open-Space and Heritage Trail: $900,000
— Camp Blanding Museum Expansion Project: $750,000
— City of Miami Springs: South Royal Poinciana Median: $750,000
— CR 437 Realignment from Central Avenue to SR 46: $750,000
— Pedestrian Crossing Installation, Duval County: $750,000
— Putnam County Fair Association: $750,000
— 4Roots Farm and Agricultural Center: $650,000
— Cape Coral Sirenia Vista Park: $650,000
— W. Cervantes Street Pedestrian Safety Improvement: $600,000
— HART Intelligent Transportation System: $500,000
— Northwest Florida I-10 Industrial Park Improvements: $500,000
— Ruth Eckerd Hall Expanding the Experience Campaign: $500,000
— Sport Aviation Village: $500,000
— Palmetto Roadway and Drainage Improvements: $481,000
— Miami Shores Village-Wide Traffic Calming: $410,500
— Downtown Miami Pedestrian Bridge – Phase 1: $300,000
— Leon County Orchard Pond Greenway Trail, Phase II: $300,000
— Pembroke Pines Senior Transportation Program: $288,000
— Macclenny Youth Soccer Field: $264,500
— Camp Matecumbe Gym Renovation: $250,000
— Carter G. Woodson African American Museum: $250,000
— Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club LPGA Tournament: $250,000
— Woodbine Road 4 Lane Expansion: $250,000
— North Miami Beach Snake Creek Canal Park: $200,000
— Reaching Beyond the Sunrail Station: $200,000
— Apopka Birding Park: $184,175
— Orlando Citrus Parade: $100,000
— Schooner Western Union State Flagship Restoration: $100,000
— Jacob Bus Shelter: $67,459
— Washington County Agriculture Center: $50,000
— Town of Loxahatchee Groves North Rd Equestrian Trails: $47,500
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Veto leaves Flagler College $1 million short for resiliency project at Hotel Ponce de Leon
During recent hurricanes flood waters reached this breezeway between two buildings of the former Ponce de Leon Hotel, built in 1888, on the campus of Flagler College in St. Augustine. Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $1.025 million of state funds to help fund efforts to upgrade the historic building to protect from flooding. [PETER WILLOTT/THE RECORD]
A statue of industrialist Henry Flagler stands in front of his Ponce de Le‡³n Hotel on King Street in St. Augustine that he built in 1888 on Tuesday. The building, which closed as a hotel in 1967, is now home to Flagler College. Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $1.025 million of state funds to help fund efforts to upgrade the historic building to protect from flooding during hurricanes. [PETER WILLOTT/THE RECORD]
HIDE CAPTION
During recent hurricanes flood waters reached this breezeway between two buildings of the former Ponce de Leon Hotel, built in 1888, on the campus of Flagler College in St. Augustine. Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $1.025 million of state funds to help fund efforts to upgrade the historic building to protect from flooding. [PETER WILLOTT/THE RECORD]
HIDE CAPTION
A statue of industrialist Henry Flagler stands in front of his Ponce de Le‡³n Hotel on King Street in St. Augustine that he built in 1888 on Tuesday. The building, which closed as a hotel in 1967, is now home to Flagler College. Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $1.025 million of state funds to help fund efforts to upgrade the historic building to protect from flooding during hurricanes. [PETER WILLOTT/THE RECORD]
HIDE CAPTION
During recent hurricanes flood waters reached this breezeway between two buildings of the former Ponce de Leon Hotel, built in 1888, on the campus of Flagler College in St. Augustine. Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $1.025 million of state funds to help fund efforts to upgrade the historic building to protect from flooding. [PETER WILLOTT/THE RECORD]
Next
By Stuart Korfhage
Posted Jun 25, 2019 at 5:47 PM
Updated Jun 25, 2019 at 5:47 PM
Many of the legislative priorities for St. Johns County survived the vetoes of Gov. Ron DeSantis last week, but one project in downtown St. Augustine did not.
A proposed $1.025 million resiliency project for the Hotel Ponce de Leon building on the campus of Flagler College was one of the casualties of the governor’s cuts. That leaves the college looking at other alternatives.
Beth Sweeny, the college’s director of Foundation and Government Relations Office of Institutional Advancement, said the money was slated to go toward improving and protecting the Hotel Ponce de Leon building, which suffered damage in Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Irma.
Built in 1888 by Henry Flagler, the building is a National Historic Landmark that now serves as the centerpiece for Flagler College.
“It was resiliency and preservation of the hotel,” Sweeny said. ”(After) some of the failings of the building in the recent storms, we kind of looked at what we needed to safeguard the building moving forward in the event of another storm like that.”
The proposed improvements included adding sump pumps in the basement level as well as installing hurricane protection on windows on the first floor of the Ponce.
While that might sound like a simple maintenance issue at a private college, the hotel is an important building for the city overall and accessible to the general public during regularly available tours.
“The argument we tried to make to the governor (was) that this is not just a college project,” Sweeny said. “This goes beyond. This building is a piece of history that has hundreds of thousands of visitors walk through it every year. It’s important even to the tourism industry and the economy of the local area.
“Our board and our president and everyone at the college takes it very seriously to upkeep the building and take care of it and preserve it.”
As for what the college will do now that officials there know money is not coming from the state, Sweeny said they are still assessing the situation. One thing they hope to do is establish some kind of trust fund to pay for the continuing needs of a campus full of historic buildings.
They will also try their luck again in the next budget year with state lawmakers.
“We’ll be right back to the Legislature in a few months,” Sweeny said. “We’re regrouping to see if we’re going to submit a similar proposal next (session) or if there is something else that really takes precedent.”
Flagler College has received grants in the past for historic preservation and will not be deterred from making its case in the future.
“It’s a different governor (from last year), and I think everyone was trying to figure out what his philosophy on vetoes was going to look like,” Sweeny said. “I don’t think (the veto) had anything to do with the merit of our project.
“I just think he just has a belief that higher education projects like this should be funded internally or through other revenue sources.”
For example, the University of Central Florida also had a $1.7 million project vetoed.
Overall, it was considered a good year for the county in gaining state assistance for local needs.
County administration spokesman Michael Ryan pointed to several successful projects supported by the new budget:
• State Road 313 right of way funding ($3.7 million)
• Ponte Vedra Beach intersection improvements funding ($500,000)
• Beach renourishment funding ($40.1 million in recurring funds from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund and $9.8 million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund)
• West Augustine septic to sewer funding ($350,000)
Comments
David Cash
Flagler college are stewards of this property. They should budget these expenses in their building maintenance funding. They certainly have high enough tuition and fees to cover it.
Edward Adelbert Slavin
Reply to @David Cash: I agree. "To whom much is given, much is expected." (Rose Kennedy's favorite Bible verse).
Edward Adelbert Slavin
Righteous veto. Arrogant response. Shallow story. Five days late. Why?
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