St. Johns County Commission changes course, selects Clay Murphy as chair (Lucia Viti, St. Augustine Record, December 4. 2025)

"He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."  James 1:8

FEET OF CLAY: effete egocentric St. Johns County Commissioner CLAY MURPHY's vapid interview with the incredible shrinking St. Augustine Record (below) exemplifies his animus against reformers like Commissioner Krista Keating Joseph.  No wonder no one reads the St. Augustine Record any longer. Read another pitiful, one-sided, supercilious shallow article by louche Lucia Viti, entry amanuensis for the St. Johns County political machine and devious developers.

From Humbert Wolfe:

You cannot hope 
to bribe or twist, 
thank God! the 
British journalist. 

But, seeing what 
the man will do 
unbribed, there's 
no occasion to.

From St. Augustine Record:

LOCAL

St. Johns County Commission changes

course, selects Clay Murphy as chair

Lucia Viti

St. Augustine Record

Dec. 4, 2

0

25, 10

09 a.m. ET

The St. Johns County Commission overturned the reelection of Krista Joseph as

board chair and voted Clay Murphy in as chair at the Dec. 2 meeting.

At the Nov. 21 reorganization meeting, Murphy, who was thought to become the

next board chair, voted against himself after Joseph rescinded her nomination of

him because he wouldn't support Ann Taylor as vice chair.

Murphy said he felt that Taylor lacked the "seasoning" to serve as vice chair. Joseph

then questioned whether Murphy had complete a required ethics course during a

conference during the summer. Murphy denied the accusation and a contentious

exchange followed.

Following public comments, Taylor nominated Joseph to serve for another term.

Commissioner Christian Whitehurst supported the vote, and Joseph was re-elected

by a 3-2 margin with Commissioner Sarah Arnold and Murphy voting no.

During commissioners’ comments at the Dec. 2 board meeting, Murphy addressed

Joseph’s “unwarranted, unprovable and categorically false accusation” about the

ethics training as “cheap, petty, gotcha arrows thrown from a chair that didn’t get

the answers she wanted.”

“I’m sorry that I was unprepared for the nasty, vitriolic attack, quid pro quo

preschool reaction by the chair,” he said.

Murphy added that he regretted leaving Joseph at the helm because of the “depth of

stress and anxiety county workers were living under due to a lack of true

leadership.”

“Leadership isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room or taking credit for your

team's work or even having an answer for everything,” he said. "Good leadership

shines a light on others. It's about amplifying quiet voices and creating space for

growth; to invest in people to see their potential before they do."

Murphy also underscored the importance of working on state and local levels for the

residents of St. Johns County, “answering emails and phone calls from the people

who feel like they’ve been forgotten by a growing government.”

He motioned (sic)  to remove her as chair and nominated himself.

“You are not a leader if your absence feels like a relief,” he said.

Joseph responded abrasively.

“I feel like someone had a temper tantrum,” she said before again accusing him of

being noncompliant with completing his ethics training.

“I take my job seriously,” she said. “I take the ethics commission seriously. I think if

you are going to be chair, you should take your job seriously. I did.”

Joseph then spoke of “a white envelope on a developer's desk that I have not made

public.”

“But I have turned this in to the FBI,” she said. “With that, if you don't want me to

be chair, I’m fine. I'm working hard for you.”

Whitehurst seconded Murphy’s nomination, and the board gave Murphy the

chairmanship with a 3-2 vote.

“I will work at the highest level in my role as chair,” Murphy told the St. Augustine

Record via text following the meeting. “Several matters need thoughtful attention,

and I plan to work with my fellow commissioners and our state delegation to ensure

we’re well positioned moving forward.”

When asked to address the allegation of a “white envelope from a developer,”

Murphy said that he welcomed the opportunity of a thorough investigation by the

appropriate authorities.

“The statement made by Joseph that I took a bribe is nonsensical, slanderous,

without merit and made up as a deflection from her failed leadership,” he said.

Joseph told the St. Augustine Record via email that the "board is the way it should

be and could have been that way at the November meeting if all parties had followed

traditional board protocols."

“I’m going forward with a positive attitude and hope for the future of our county,”

she said.