St. Johns County has endured years of desuetude amidst promiscuous unregulated developer clearcutting, wetland-filling and wildlife killing. Telltale sign: our former County Administrator and former County Commissioners ended our Land Acquisition Management Program Advisory Committee..
But thanks to the perspicaity of St. Johns County Commission Chair I. Henry Dean, we now have a revived St. Johns County Land Acquisition Management Program (LAMP) Advisory Board.
Its first meeting is on January 11, 2022.
But sadly, our secretive revived LAMP leaves much to be desired:
- Its first meeting is not set to be in public at the St. Johns County Auditorium. Why?
- It won't be televised and live-streamed, like PZA and BoCC meetings. Why?
- There is no contact information for the LAMP Board Members -- no e-mail addressers or telephone numbers. Why?
- Our County Administration still remains secretive, despite the County Commission's November 19, 2019 unanimous vote to fire longtime County Administrator Michael David Wanchick (2007-2019).
- Our County Commissioners have no legislative staff. None. Once there was a single part-time legislative assistant allowed each Commission. That ended when putative budget concerns led to the legislative assistant line item being deleted,
- The "Legislative Branch" of County government is a sapless branch, other-directed by lobbyists and developers in frequent unrecorded "ex parte" meetings. Those secret develope meetings must be taped as part of the legislative history of every single zoning favor. Lobbyist registration must bar required.
Here is the full text of the webpage from SJC BoCC, including link to Ordinance 2021-38, a description of the revived LAMP board's duties, and a list of the members of the new LAMP Board, who need to resolve to meet in the County Commission meeting room as their first order of business. LAMP should not be mistreated in this manner, "like a red-headed stepchild," as they would say in East Tennessee.:
LAMP Conservation Board
About
The LAMP Conservation Board established by Ordinance 2021-38serves as an advisory board to the Board of County Commissioners on issues involving the acquisition, conservation and management of Environmentally Sensitive Lands, Archaeological Sites, Historic Sites, recreational lands, and Aquifer Recharge Areas. It is comprised of nine members, one member chosen by each County Commissioner with the member residing in the district of the Commissioner that chooses that member and the balance chosen and appointed by the Commission as a whole. Members of the LAMP Conservation Board shall have experience or expertise in one or more of the following areas and at least five of these areas shall be represented at all times: agriculture, archaeology, business/finance, eco-tourism, engineering, environmental, history, parks, planning, real estate, recreation, soil/hydrologic or natural sciences such as: biology, botany, geology, zoology. LAMP Members must be registered voters of St. Johns County and are required to file financial disclosure. The LAMP Conservation Board shall meet at least quarterly.
Meetings
The first LAMP Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 11, 2022, 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. in the St. Johns County Growth Management Permit Center 1st Floor Conference Room, 4040 Lewis Speedway, St. Augustine, FL. It is anticipated that the Board will meet on the second Tuesday in the first month of each quarter.
Members
The current LAMP Conservation Board members were appointed during the November 16, 2021 regular meeting. Their terms expire on November 16, 2025.
| LAMP Board Members | |
Smith III, Vernon Hawley | |
Adams, Michael D. | |
Watson, Jimmy R. | |
Adamson, Kaley | |
Guthrie, Elizabeth | |
Minch, Travis | |
Miller, William J.B. | |
Flowers, Wayne E. | |
Robbins, Robin (Shorty) | |
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