In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome!
Facing my repeated questioning about the lack of an Inspector General, St. Johns County's Dull Republican political machine re-named an existing position circa 2017, retitling the fraud, waste and abuse investigator in the Clerk of Court and Comptroller's office.
It called the existing fraud waste and abuse investigator position an Inspector General.
There's still no independence.
Why?
No staff.
Why?
Just one person.
Welcome her.
Make disclosures to her,
Ask questions. Demand answers. Expect democracy.
Welcome the day when public officials will support a charter with an Ombudsman and Inspector General.
From St. Augustine Record:
County gets new inspector general
Responsibilities include investigating fraud, waste and abuse in government
St. Johns County has a new person leading efforts against fraud, waste and abuse in part of county government.
Nilsa Arissa, a St. Johns County resident, is the new inspector general for St. Johns County.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity to add value to this incredible position here in St. Johns County and definitely interested in enhancing the processes here and serving the residents of St. Johns County," Arissa said.
The role includes leading investigations of fraud, waste and abuse in the clerk of court and in county administration and contracted entities associated with it, St. Johns County Clerk Brandon Patty said.
The county maintains a hotline for anyone, including the public, to report such allegations. People can call the hotline at 1-866-272-4351.
Amid speculation that the Tokyo Olympics could be canceled as Japan navigates a surge in coronavirus cases this month, Florida has offered itself up as a replacement host.
Jimmy Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer, issued a letter to the International Olympic Committee and its president, Thomas Bach, on Monday, encouraging the IOC to consider relocating the competition to Florida. Patronis cited “media reports” in his letter, suggesting Japanese officials are privately “too concerned about the pandemic for the 2021 Olympics to take place.”
Patronis seemed to reference a story from last week in the Times of London that cited a source in the Japanese government who “privately concluded that the Tokyo Olympics will have to be canceled because of the coronavirus” and that Tokyo’s focus has shifted to securing the Games in 2032, the next available year. A surge in coronavirus cases, which this month prompted Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo, has amplified pressure to cancel this summer’s Olympics, although Japanese senior officials denied the report.
Patronis, who in his letter referenced competitions held in Florida including a UFC Fight Night event in Jacksonville in May and the NBA’s Disney World bubble, argued his state has the infrastructure to host the Games on short notice. At least one other government figure, a British mayoral candidate, made a similar appeal last year.
The Tokyo Olympics, which were rescheduled from 2020 to open July 23, 2021, have been seven years in the making and will cost Japan about $25 billion of mostly public money, according to the Associated Press.
As Japan endures its current spike in cases while hoping to start vaccinations in February, Florida is navigating its own issues with vaccine distribution. Japan, which has a population of 126 million, has had 372,496 confirmed cases. Florida, with a population of 21 million, has had 1.6 million cases. Less than 1 percent of its population has been fully vaccinated.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked Tuesday whether she could see the Biden administration supporting Patronis’s effort.
“Well, that’s a lot of steps that need to take place and I don’t know the entire process of the Olympics, but I would certainly send you to the U.S. Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee first on what their assessment of that offer is, and certainly of course what their assessment is of Japan’s preparedness for the Olympics,” she said.
A U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee spokesman reiterated the organization’s support for current organizers in a statement: “We were not made aware of the letter to President Bach in advance. We invite American cities to indicate to us their interest in hosting a future Olympic and Paralympic Games, and we are happy to work with them through the education and fact-finding process. We are thrilled that Los Angeles will host the next Olympic and Paralympic Games in the United States.
“We stand in support of the Tokyo Organizing Committee and Japanese government who have given more than seven years of focus and dedication to welcoming the athletes of the world, and honor their efforts to host a safe and successful Games this summer.”
Glynn is a general assignment and breaking news reporter for The Washington Post. He previously worked for the Houston Chronicle, where he covered business, education, government and sports.
Ominous that DONALD JOHN TRUMP's maladministration tried to suppress similar warnings of domestic insurrection last year -- while empowering insurrectionists with falsehoods about the 2020 election, TRUMP denied information to local law enforcement. There is blood on Trump's hands.
From The New York Tiems:
U.S. faces heightened threats from violent domestic extremists after Capitol attack, Homeland Security says.
The breach of the Capitol might encourage domestic extremists to target other government facilities or elected officials, the Department of Homeland Security said.Credit...Oliver Contreras for The New York Times
The department’s terrorism alert did not name specific groups that might be behind any future attacks, but it made clear that their motivation would include anger over “the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives,” a clear reference to the accusations made by President Donald J. Trump and echoed by right-wing groups that the 2020 election was stolen.
“D.H.S. is concerned these same drivers to violence will remain through early 2021,” the department said.
The Department of Homeland Security does not have information indicating a “specific, credible plot,” according to a statement from the agency. The alert issued was categorized as one warning of developing trends in terrorism, rather than a notice of an imminent attack.But an intelligence official involved in drafting Wednesday’s bulletin said the decision to issue the report was driven by the department’s conclusion that Mr. Biden’s peaceful inauguration last week could create a false sense of security because “the intent to engage in violence has not gone away” among extremists angered by the outcome of the presidential election.
The warning contained in a “National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin” was a notable departure for a Department of Homeland Security accused of being reluctant during the Trump administration to publish intelligence reports or public warnings about the dangers posed by domestic extremists and white supremacist groups for fear of angering Mr. Trump, according to current and former homeland security officials.
Starting with the deadly extremist protest in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, when Mr. Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides,” he played down any danger posed by extremist groups. And when racial justice protests erupted nationwide last year, his consistent message was that it was the so-called radical left that was to blame for the violence and destruction that had punctuated the demonstrations.
Even after the Department of Homeland Security in September 2019 singled out white supremacists as a leading domestic terrorism threat, analysts and intelligence officials said their warnings were watered down, delayed or both. Former officials in the Trump administration have even said that White House officials sought to suppress the phrase “domestic terrorism.”
The intelligence official involved with the bulletin, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss its findings, added that the public warning should have been issued as early as November, when Mr. Trump was making an escalating series of false accusations about the election, and that far-right groups continued to be galvanized by such false statements.
But at the time, Mr. Trump was also seeking to dismiss department officials whom he regarded as disloyal, including Christopher Krebs, the chief of its cybersecurity agency, after a committee overseeing the election declared it had been “the most secure in American history.” The agency failed to issue a warning to state and local agencies warning of specific violence aimed at the Capitol before the attack on Jan. 6.
HOMELAND SECURITY ASSESSMENT
The warning was a notable departure for a department accused of being reluctant during the Trump administration to publish warnings about the dangers posed by extremists and white supremacist groups.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs is the homeland security correspondent, based in Washington. He covers the Department of Homeland Security, immigration, border issues, transnational crime and the federal government's response to national emergencies and security threats. @KannoYoungs
David E. Sanger is a national security correspondent. In a 36-year reporting career for The Times, he has been on three teams that have won Pulitzer Prizes, most recently in 2017 for international reporting. His newest book is “The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage and Fear in the Cyber Age.” @SangerNYT•Facebook
