FIGHTING CORRUPTION in St. Johns County -- Let's make this magical place safe for democracy!

As Shakespeare wrote, "what's past is prologue."  The Tempest, Act II, Scene 1.  (Robert Aiken sculpture at National Archives, Washington, D.C.).

I have a record of fighting corruption, since 1978.

I am running for Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County (AMCD), seat 2.  I would be honored to have your vote on or before November 3, 2026).

I helped halt the no-bid, illegal purchase of a $1.8 million TEXTRON Bell Jet Helicopter incapable of killing a single skeeter.  We won a full refund of our $180,000 deposit.

It appears that NOT ONE of my opponents has ever stood up against CORRUPTION here  in St. Johns County, where I have lived since November 5, 1999. 

Tom Wicker's journalism professor at the University of North Carolina said, "If you're telling a story about a bear, bring on the bear."  The bear here in what we call "God's country" is CORRUPTION, my friends. 

Reforming St. Johns County starts with you.  

And it starts with Mosquito Control. 

We love this beautiful place.  Rose Kennedy's favorite Bible verse was "to whom much is given, much is expected."

President Woodrow Wilson said we "must make the world safe for democracy."

"The love of money is the root of all evil." 1 Timothy 6:10.

Corruption is the root of all evil in our governments. Everywhere. Americans agree.

I am running for Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County (seat 2) and I would be honored to have your vote on or before November 3, 2026.  Help me help you.  Let's fight corruption together.

I've been investigating, reporting on and exposing corruption since 1978.  

From Appalachia to Washington, D.C.  to California to Florida, I've investigated corruption and empowered Americans to resist waste, fraud, abuse, discrimination and petty boodling.

Here in St. Johns County, a corrupt former Sheriff was fired by the Florida Senate under Article IV section 7 of our Florida Constitution for corruption.  But Sheriff David Shoar's website lied to us for years  that corrupt Sheriff Lawrence O. Davis was "exonerated" by our Florida Senate, which removed him from office by 44-2 vote in 1971. 

Sadly Sheriff Robert Hardwick, the current Sheriff, abuses our Sheriff's website to pay homage to Sheriff Shoar, who with State's Attorney Ralph Joseph Larizza was  culpable in the coverup of the September 2, 2010 murder of a Sheriff's deputy's girlfriend, Ms. Michelle O'Connell.  That deputy is still on the payroll in 2026.  

County Court Judge Charles Tinlin and U.S. District Court Judge Brian J. Davis both found probable cause that Jeremy Banks committed homicide, killing Ms. Michelle O'Connell on September 2, 2010.  Sheriff Shoar declared it was as "suicide" before the sun even rose.  

Robert Hardwick was the investigator for the State's Attorney Ralph Joseph Larizza. Investigator Hardwick and his Assistant both thought Banks committed homicide and wanted an exhumation and autopsy.  

Larizza conveniently recused himself from the Michelle O'Connell case while Hardwick was at the FBI National Training Academy in Quantico, Virginia.  

When Michelle O'Connell's family finally arranged for an exhumation and independent autopsy, it found Michelle's jaw was broken. She was a victim of domestic violence.  Her killer remains employed by the County Sheriff and can retire in 2027.  It's our money.

We in the reality-based community disdain deception and condemn dangers to democracy, like promiscuous proliferation of FLOCK cameras and wasteful, out-of-control spending on edifice complexes for the Sheriff and Mosquito Control Commission.

We in the reality-based community don't approve of wasteful spending or harmful rhetoric.d

We don't need more overpriced Taj Mahals, no-bid contracts needless flubdubs or dishonesty.

Massive cost overruns and self-dealing must stop.

County Commissioners make more than $100,000 per year.

Mosquito Control Commissioners make $400 a month, but voted to give themselves illlgal "Christmas bonuses of $1000, violating Florida law pay cap of  $4800/year.  Thanks to WJCT/Jacksonville Today and reporter Noah Hertz for publicizing it.  It's our money.  

In the spirit of the 27th Amendment, it's wrong for public officials to raise their own pay during their current term of office. 

It was good enough for James Madison and it's good enough for St. Johns County.  

Let snollygosters go elsewhere. 

I am against wasting your money on self-aggrandizement, sweetheart contacts, domestic and foreign travel and conventions without trip reports or valid government purpose.

Our County elected officials sold out our citizens to the likes of private equity taking over Bayview, the beloved Skilled Nursing Facility Commissioners unanimously voted July 20, 2021 to sell its lease with the County to dodgy private equity interests that control dozens of nursing homes.'

Our elected officials in 2016 actually voted to allow PARC GROUP, controlled by the greedy WINN-DIXIE DAVIS FAMILY, to erase its legal commitment to dedicate 40 acres of Nocatee development to affordable housing, for the lucre of $800,000.  

This vicious vote violated our citizens' civil rights.  

So did the WINN-DIXIE DAVIS FAMILY's 2026 demand to alter state law to allow development of "agricultural enclaves" on demand. That dopey, dubious devilish  proposition was rejected 3-2 by our newly empowered St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners, which voted against the rebarbative, ridiculous ROGERS TOWERS' corporate law firm's rote demand to muck up some 4420 acres of mostly old growth forest.

Our elected officials voted 3-2 in 2025 without a conflicts check to hire a corporate lawyer, RICHARD CHRISTIAN KOMANDO,  as County Attorney, while allowing him to represent private clients, including the SLAUGHTER BROTHERS, roofers convicted in federal court for defrauding IRS and workers. It's time for KOMANDO to go.  

The odious otiose oleaginous corporate lawyer lied, in writing, to reform County Commissioner Ann Taylor, extravagantly claimed that his client list was secret and somehow protected by attorney-client privilege.  This louche liar needs to clean out his desk and get out of the County Commission building. Now.

Both our Anastasia Mosquito Control District Director and our County Administrator are Chinese Americans. Each of them have taken vacations in Communist China each year. Both are imperious, vastly overpaid potential security risks and treat our local government employees as servants, serfs and vassels. 

In the annals of St. Johns County's legendary corruption, in the history of its sins, crimes and torts many at the behest of bootleggers, organized crime devious developers, the case of Trey Alexander Asner is instructive.  

Mr. Asner was the County's historic preservationist, but he did his job "too well" for corrupt County officials, who fired him for preserving African-American history (Canright House and the 1953 St. Johns County Jail Annex, where the Rev. Dr. Maartin Luther King, Jr. and some 1000 civil rights protesters were incarcerated 1963-1964).  The building is now preserved, but Andrews wanted to demolish it. It's time for her to go.

Paid $360,000/year, maladroit County Administrator Junyao "Joy" Andrews still won't meet with Mr. Asner, and neither will criminally-charged Commissioner Sarah Salley Arnold.  

Pray for them. 

Vote for qualified candidates who will stand up to corruption in our town and our time.

I would be honored to be your voice standing up to corruption and self-dealing, starting with Mosquito Control.

My Father helped liberate the first French town from the Nazis on D-Day, June 6, 1944, before the sun even rose that day.

The late David Brian Wallace and I first visited St. Augustine in 1992 and fell in love with the place and its history. We were then living in Washington, D.C., where Brian worked for the American Association for the Advancement of Science and I graduated from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and was honored to represent American whistleblowers.

Brian and I moved to St. Augustine on November 5, 1999.  A few weeks later, the truth emerged; Brian said, "it's crooked around here!"  He was right.  

We were ashamed when we realized the level of corruption here.  Ever since, I've worked to solve the problem. 

When the City of St. Augustine dumped a landfill in the Old City Reservoir a coquina pit lake, friends informed me and I helped them resolve the problem of environmental racism in West Augustine.  I reported the City to the National Response Center, which assigned the Environmental Protection Agency and Florida Department of Environmental Protection to investigate. The coquina pit lake was cleaned up and the 80 acre site off Holmes Blvd. Extended will soon feature affordable housing.

.In 2006-2007, my mentor, League of Women Voters leader Robin Nadeau, recruited me to help oppose Mosquito Control's $1.800,000 no-bid TEXTRON Bell Jet Helicopter incapable of killing a single skeeter. It was freighted with waste, fraud and abuse.  I asked my Mother, a longtime former Purchasing Secretary for corporations and a county college. She would not buy a helicopter without competitive bidding.  

But our Mosquito Control Commission voted 3-2 to buy the fancy-bears helicopter.  Mosquito Control Commission Director Dr. Xue likes to spend money and too often gets his way.  We, the People defeated his wasteful spending. After ten months, Mosquito Control Commissioners voted unanimously cancel the illegal no-bid helicopter and got a full refund of our 10% deposit.  We, the People won!

When Mosquito Control illegally used pesticides near Bald Eagle nests, I reported AMCD to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  

When a negligently piloted Mosquito Control helicopter allegedly nearly killed six golfers with a helicopter at a county golf course, one of the near-victims told me. No helicopter will ever again endanger our wildlife or people.

I am appalled at the alleged fake Voter Guides scandal afflicting both parties, apparently.

I have been your watchdog on Mosquito Control for twenty years.  Help me help you.

The next global pandemic could be a mosquito-borne disease,  We will be prepared with good science, sound planning and resistance to wasteful spending.  It is up to us to reject 41% cost overruns and other irregularities. 

Slavin family values -- putting people first

On June 6, 1944, my late paratrooper Father parachuted into France and helped liberate the first French town from the Nazis, before the sun even rose that day.  

My Dad taught me, as JFK's dad taught me him, that "you have to stand up to people with power, or else they walk all over you."

In his spirit, my Mother helped organize the employees of Camden County College in Blackwood, N.J. into what became International Union of Electrical Workers Local 440.  Mom got some 40 union cards signed in an hour in 1970.  The clerical and custodial employees prevailed.  

One of my law professors in Memphis told a mutual friend that I was a "natural born attorney."  My Mother said, "I always knew you were an S.O.B."

My late mentor, the Honorable Nahum Litt, was the Chief Administrative Law Judge of the United Staes Department of Labor, 1979-1995.  

Chief Judge Litt stood like Horatius at the bridge, protecting the independence of hearings in whistleblower and in workers compensation cases for Black Lung disease sufferers from the coalfields.

Judge Litt helped me to understand. We worked to understand administrative law's perversion of justice by rich and powerful corporations.  

I later wrote about ACUS for Common Cause Magazine.  In response, Congress defunded a federal agency from 1995-2010: the prestigious Administrative Conference of the United States lost funding because it wasted federal tax dollars on worthless studies by pro-agency law professors.  ACUS sought to inflict Alternative Dispute Resolution on workers and corporations. ACUS sought to defang and declaw the Freedom of Information Act.  ACUS sought to stifle lawyer representation of workers in cases against powerful employers, while encouraging non-lawyer representatives. 

My Mother, my Father, and Chief Judge Litt taught me valuable lessons. 

Here in St. Johns County, we're learning what happens when soulless corporations control and contaminate our governments.  

Deforestation. 

Flooding.  

Unplanned overdevelopment. 

Overcrowded schools with hundreds of unsafe portable classrooms. 

Since 1981, I've investigated and helped expose corruption in our country.

 I've lived in St. Augustine since November 5, 1999. 

We've seen the murder of a Sheriff deputy's girlfriend reported in The New York Times and PBS Frontline, 

My Mother had decades of experience in purchasing for Camden County College and corporations like F.W. Woolworth.

 

When I learned that our Mosquito Control Commission bought a $1.8 million no-bid helicopter, I asked my Mother if she would buy a helicopter withoutn competitive bidding: "absolutely not."  

Working with the late Robin Nadeau, John Sundeman,Jeanne Moeller, Don Girvan,  and other community leaders, 

We, the People helped persuade our Mosquito Control District to cancel the no-bid contract.  Taxpayers won a full refund of our MCD's 10% deposit. 

Chief Judge Litt was tight as a tick with government money. Judge Litt taught me that any government budget can be cut by 10%. Here in St. Johns County, we have a $4.5 million mosquito museum, with 41% cost overruns. There's too much waste in government. 

Mosquito-borne diseases kill one million people annually.  My Father was bitten by a mosquito in Sicily in 1943 as an 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper.  

I believe in miracles. They called me a "miracle baby."

Likely due to my Father's suffering from malaria, it took my patents a dozen years, praying to Saint Jude, (patron Saint of hopeless causes), before they were able to have their only child (me).   Mom said the chances of my being born were less than one in 100,000.

We, the People, have achieved dozens of public interest victories here in the 21st century. 

We can control pestiferous mosquitoes.

We can conquer corruption. 

Yes we can!

Help me help you save money and save lives. 

I would be honored to have your vote to serve on the board of the Anastasia Mosquito Control Commission, seat 2

Vote on or before November 3, 2026.

Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

Ed Slavin

Box 3084

St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084

www.edslavin.com

http://www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com

http://www.staugustgreen.com

(904) 377-4998   

Remembering the Holy Thursday Agreement for Historic Preservation (April 13, 2017, updated September 1, 2026)

On September 1, 2026,  I reminded St. Johns County Commissioners of the Holy Thursday agreement. It was within the context of the greedy DAVIS FAMILY's demand to rezone some 4400 acres of land pursuant to a corrupt special interest bill that their louche lobbyists enacted.

 Commissioners rightly voted to seek an injunction. 

At their September 15, 2026 meeting, County Commission voted 3-2 to deny the wealthy, entitled entrenched WINN-WINN-DIXIE DAVIS FAMILY's indecent proposal.  

So let the DAVIS family sue, or request a special magistrate pursuant to F.S. 70.51.  

Everyone who spoke on their proposal can and would be heard before the Special Magistrate. 

The Holy Thursday agreement points the way to a possible compromise and the "just, speedy and inexpensive" determination of this action. 

 As President John Fitzgerald Kennedy said in his Inaugural Address:

 "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."

Mediator Terrence Edward Schmidt, a former U.S. Navy weapons officer, who helped Florida Bar disbar F. Lee Bailey..

Big victory in 2017.  

Faster than a speeding dump truck, what we know and love in St. Augustine and St, Johns County is being demolished,  I convinced our Historic Architectural Review Board to declare the 1880 Victorian a local historic landmark.  The City of St. Augustine City Commission affirmed it, 4-1 (Vice Mayor "Odd Todd" Neville, dissenting).  Then the applicant requested a 70.51 mediation.  The historic Victorian, Wisteria House, was saved, from demolition.  Yes we did.  Yes we can!

The 1880 Victorian home on Grenada Street, across from City Hall, was moved and saved.  It is now a restaurant (Lobstah on a Roll) and one or two apartments.  

We, the People triumphed over the formidable feculent fascist forces that seek to destroy our history and nature here in St. Augustine and St. Johns County.   

Longtime locals, including former County Commissioner Isaac Henry Dean, and me, call St. Johns County "God's country."

It takes a village.

I wrote on this blog that day:

IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO SAVE A VILLAGE, AND ONE SPECIAL VICTORIAN

The lovely historic home at 32 Grenada Street will be preserved by mediated settlement, subject to City Commission approval. KUDOS to the participants in today's successful mediation before Terrance Edward Schmidt, including Lee Geanuleas, U.S.N. (Ret.), Melinda Rakoncay, Trey Asner, B.J. Kalaidi, St. Augustine City Manager John Patrick Regan, P.E., Assistant City Attorney Denise May, Planning and Building Director David Birchim, Historic Presevation Director Jenny Wolfe, 32 Grenada Street (now called WISTERIA HOUSE) building owner Louis John Arbizzani and lawyer Sidney Franklyn Ansbacher of Upchurch, Bailey & Upchurch.

The St. Augustine Record was not there. So much for its bragging Palm Sunday house ad, in which it claimed to cover the news in City Hall, while attacking blogs.

I was there, taking copious notes (almost half a legal pad) and helping our City secure the victory for historic preservation.

WISTERIA HOUSE, will be preserved and moved one lot to the south to a lot where the current building has an authorized demolition permit. There will eventually be town homes built on the adjacent lots. The City will not pay to move WISTERIA HOUSE.

The marathon seven hour session was anxiously awaited by local residents who say, "enough is enough" when it comes to preserving and protecting our history and nature in St. Augustine, Florida.

It takes a village to save what County Commission Vice Chair Henry Dean has called "our village."

Today we saved a building. 

Each of the 63+ public interest victories here since June 2005 represents a tribute to the character of our community, and the cooperation of people who love St. Augustine. Like any good diplomats, we will not take "no" as if it were an answer.

From this day forward, our City officials know they are empowered to declare buildings local landmarks, and halt the damn demolition derby perpetrated by the likes of FLAGLER COLLEGE, FLORIDA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND BLIND, and assorted sordid "developers" (read: speculators).

From this blog, from April 20, 2017:

32 Grenada Street, forever declared a local landmark after LOUIS JOHN ARBIZZANI demanded demolition permit

Did you read interesting St. Augustine Record article, five (5) days after our successful mediation preserving 32 Grenada Street (Wisteria House)? Northern Ireland has its "Good Friday Agreement," making the peace among warring tribes of Catholics and Protestants. Will April 13, 2017 go down in history as St. Augustine's "Holy Thursday Agreement," freighted with meaning?  Will the Holy Thursday agreement mark the beginning of true historic preservation, stopping the wrecking crews and demolition derby of our historic homes, nature and culture in the Nation's Oldest City? 

Each of the 63+ public interest victories here since June 2005 represents a tribute to the character of our community, and the cooperation of people who love St. Augustine. Like any good diplomats, we will not take "no" as if it were an answer.

From this day forward, our citizens and City officials know they are empowered to declare buildings local landmarks, and halt the damn demolition derby perpetrated by the likes of FLAGLER COLLEGE, FLORIDA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND BLIND, and assorted sordid "developers" (read: speculators).

What do you reckon?


Posted April 18, 2017 12:02 am
By SHELDON GARDNER sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com

Local landmark in St. Augustine to be restored under agreement


The house at 32 Granada St. in St. Augustine, recently named a local landmark, appears to have been saved from destruction.

Attorneys for both the city and John Arbizzani, property owner, met recently to resolve the building’s future. The plan now is for the building to be restored, said Denise May, assistant city attorney.

The main issue had been whether the late 19th century building is historically significant. Some have pointed to its Victorian style and former residents as reasons to keep it.

Arbizzani, whose team contested the building’s significance, wanted to demolish it so he could develop the property, but residents pushed back.

The Historic Architectural Review Board named the building a local landmark in September, which gave board members the option of denying demolition. The City Commission upheld the landmark designation in January.

After that, the city and Arbizzani went into dispute resolution, which avoids a potentially costly court battle.

“The city’s position was to save the structure,” May said. “That was our goal and we met that goal.”

May said complete details about the agreement will be available in a couple of weeks from the special magistrate who oversaw the case, but she shared some highlights. Once the language is fine-tuned, the agreement will go to the City Commission for a vote, she said.

Under the agreement, the house will not only be saved, but also will be restored, she said. The building will be moved to the lot just south so more parking can be developed. Arbizzani will pay for moving the house, May said.

The city plans to create and manage the added parking spaces and take in revenue to cover the cost, she said. The city already leases land from Arbizzani for the parking lot just north of 32 Granada St.

Arbizzani could develop 32 Granada St. into a commercial venture under its zoning of Commercial Low-One. Under the agreement, the city will also defer the cost of utility connection for 10 years, she said.

Spanish Colonial-style townhomes are another option discussed for the site, said Lee Geanuleas, a city resident who attended the dispute resolution meeting.

He voiced concern about the possibility of townhomes and their compatibility with that slice of town. And while he’s also worried about the stability of the house when it is moved, Geanuleas called the agreement a “reasonably good outcome.”

Neither Arbizzani nor his attorney responded to a request for comment.

Of the history that people touted when trying to save the building, artist Antonio Vedovelli was one of the main figures.

Vedovelli retired in St. Augustine and starting painting in the 1920s, developing “a highly personal folk style often described as primitive or naive,” according to a book on Florida paintings called “Reflections” by Garry Libby. His paintings include one of the Ponce de Leon Hotel (now Flagler College) in the 1940s.

An army sergeant who was on his honeymoon bought one of Vedovelli’s paintings, and that connection led Vedovelli to show his work at the Perls Galleries in New York, according to the book.

“Antonio Vedovelli’s reputation soared after the exhibition, allowing him to purchase a large house at 32 Granada Street in St. Augustine,” according to the book.

Melinda Rakoncay, a city resident who also went to the meeting, said she was happy to see the city stand up for the property and its status as a landmark.

“To see our city staff going to bat for [the property], that made me feel really good about the city,” she said.

Ed Slavin response to Sierra Club on Anastasia Mosquito Control of St. Johns County Board Race (2024)

Here's my response to the March 2024 Sierra Club questionnaire re: Mosquito  Control Commission;

Good evening:

Thank you for your patience!  Excellent questions. 

Questionnaire to Candidates for St. Johns County 

County Commission 2024

Please provide answers to the following questions below, or on a separate sheet:

1. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being the least important and 10 being the most important), where do

environmental issues rate when compared to other critical issues facing St. Johns County and

Northeast Florida? Please include a brief explanation of your rating.

Most important: 10.  Our frail planet, our city, county, state and nation are all threatened by pollution and climate change. Overdevelopment is destroying our quality of life.

2. What are the most significant environmental issues and challenges in St. Johns County? 

* Proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore deserves our County's support.  First proposed by the Mayor of St. Augustine, Walter Fraser, both U.S. Senators and our Congressman in 1939, this is an idea whose time has come.  https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2023/10/support-st-augustine-national.html

* Developers demanding to be free of fair impact fees.  

* Secretive PACs and campaign contributions, corruption and conflict of interest. Corruption, as Al Gore wrote in 1992, in Earth in the Balance, often leads to environmental devastation.  

* Proposed 25 ideas for local government reform in 2022, one (1) heeded (County Sheriff body-worn cameras and dashboard cameras, long opposed by Sheriff David Shoar). County Commission has STILL not responded to 25 suggestions on government reform. Why not?

County Commission has STILL not responded to 25 suggestions on governmen... Our County Commissioners lack a welcoming spirit. Developers rule. Citizen concerns are ignored. That's why Kri...

+ Support meritocracy amidst one-party rule by mediocrities in St. Johns County Commission

+ Positive can-do spirit has contributed to dozens of local victories.  Don't Be Discouraged by Yul Nivver, Spouting "You'll Never" -- American History Teaches That Yul Nivver is Nearly Always Wrong!

Don't Be Discouraged by Yul Nivver, Spouting "You'll Never" -- American ... Updated January 27, 2024: Developer puppets, unjust stewards and corporate cat's paws voted 3-2 against stopp...

3. What actions have you taken in the past to demonstrate your concern or interest regarding our environment?

 

1. Opposing corporate welfare for developers. See ANOTHER VICTORY: LANDSLIDE DEFEATS DEVIOUS DEVELOPERS' PITIFUL "PENNY PLAN," A "RAPE OF THE TAXPAYER" -- 63% of VOTERS REJECT 15% SALES TAX INCREASE
   

   
   
2. Helping end pelagic whaling of endangered sperm whales by promoting development of jojoba oil seed crops, an exact duplicate for the oil of the sperm whale. The market system worked. (Working as intern and staffer for Senator Ted Kennedy, 1974-76).  
   
3. Helping defeat coal slurry pipeline eminent domain legislation in U.S House of Representatives, helping preserve and protect precious scarce water from Madison Formation aquifer.  (11,500 word Crossroads Magazine (formerly Coal Patrol) investigative article, inserted into Congressional Record by U.S. Rep. Joe Skubitz, Republican of Kansas, except for parts on campaign finance).  July 19, 1978: House Defeated Coal Slurry Pipeline Eminent Domain Legislation
   
   

   July 19, 1978: House Defeated Coal Slurry Pipeline Eminent Domain Legisl... It was 44 years ago: activists defeated coal slurry pipeline eminent domain legislation in the U.S. House of Rep...
   
   
   
   
4. Exposing U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority purchasing and policies that encouraged steep slope strip-mining, corruption, coal quality fraud, antitrust violations and and conflicts of interest. With support from Fund for Investigative Journalism, helped secure GAO investigation verifying  concerns of Appalachian activists, led by Save Our Cumberland Mountains.  TVA's Coal Procurement Practices--More Effective Management Needed
   
   

   TVA's Coal Procurement Practices--More Effective Management Needed Because the coal purchases of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) have a major impact on its costs and power ra...
   
   
   
   
5. Winning declassification of world's largest mercury pollution event (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and testifying about it in Congressional investigation.  July 11, 1983: Al Gore's Mercury Pollution Hearing in Oak Ridge, Tennessee -- Largest Mercury Pollution Event in World History (4.2 Million Pounds). 



July 11, 1983: Al Gore's Mercury Pollution Hearing in Oak Ridge, Tenness... 40 years ago today. Members of Congress wanted answers, or at least then-Rep. Al Gore and some others acted like...




6. Security clearance reforms protecting environmental, nuclear anjd other whistleblowers, and LGBTQ, people working for federal agencies and government contractors.  Helped win American Bar Association House of Delegates vote in February 1990, endorsing security clearance reforms that were implemented under President Clinton, halting a proposed Bush Executive Order that would have erased rights to fair hearings and due process.
7. Environmental whistleblower law victories and precedents at U.S.Department of Labor, including landmark whistleblower case protecting federal environmental crimes investigators against retaliation for recusals or refusing to coverup wrongdoing.  FBI, HUD, EPA Senior Special Agent Robert E. Tyndall (Ret.), R.I.P.
   
   

   FBI, HUD, EPA Senior Special Agent Robert E. Tyndall (Ret.), R.I.P. 1. I am heartbroken. My heart goes out to the entire Tyndall family and to all of Bob's many friends and former ...
   
   
   
   
8. Exposed intimidation of nuclear weapons plant whistleblowers. February 5, 1992
   
   

   February 5, 1992 Time flies. It was 32 years ago: On February 5, 1992, I was up early in the Northeast Washington, D.C. arctic co...
   
   
   
   
9. Questioned aerial pesticide spraying program and winning reversal of illegal, no-bid SJC Mosquito Control Board purchase of $1.8 million luxury Bell Jet helicopter unadorned by nozzles, tanks, pilots, hangar or any plans for aerial spraying, winning 100% refund of deposit.
   
10. Defeat of multiple unwise development projects in St. Augustine and St. Johns County,
11. Adoption of employee whistleblower policy and sexual orientation nondiscrimination policies for Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County. 
12. Successfully reported City of St. Augustine illegally dumping a landfill in a lake to National Response Center, resulting in fines and consent decree, after City Manager William B. Harriss had said he would not agree to put the contaminated solid waste in a Class I landfill without a court order.  2008 Folio Weekly cover story by Anne Schindler called me an "environmental hero."
13. Reported City of St. Augustine illegal sewage pollution to National Response Center, resulting in fines and consent decree.
14. Helped elect Nancy Shaver as in St. Augustine Mayor and Krista Keating-Joseph as County Commissioner, defeating pro-developer incumbents. 
15. Helping secure preservation of historic iconic Fish Island as city park with state funds, rejecting proposed ruinous development by D.R. Horton, with fifty (50) witnesses, including former St. Augustine Beach Mayor Sherman Gary Snodgrass.

4. What organizations do you belong to? 

1000 Friends of Florida

National Trust for Historic Preservation

Democratic Party

St. Augustine Historical Society

Fort Mose Historic Society

Florida Historical Society

Sierra Club

Investigative Reporters and Editors  

American Assn. For Advancement of Science  

Florida Adventures in Railroading

WJCT

5. What is your position and suggested solution on these key issues affecting our county?   

- Climate change and sea level rise

+ Support federal, state and local legislation to preserve and protect us from carbon and methane pollution, protect our coasts and wetlands, promote biodiversity, restore balance,

+ Support County's acceptance of federal grants on climate change. 

+ Oppose Florida Governors' attacks on environmental protection, with frequent blog posts.

www,cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com

+ Support a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. Spoke to every St. Johns County Legislative Delegation meeting since 2006 on National Park and Seashore.

- Growth management and development

+ Strongly support reform of our Land Development Code as we know it.  

+ We must have fair hearings, with full disclosures, lobbyist registration, expert testimony, cross-examination of all witnesses and background investigations of developers.  

+ Are our current local and state procedures are a honky-tonk medley of "regulatory capture," farce and kabuki dance?

+ James Madison wrote, "A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. "

+ Affordable housing: we must reject "snob zoning," and allow duplexes and other auziliary dwellling units, preserving land and advancing affordable housing. 

+ We must adopt a Public Housing Agency.

+ We must comply with Fair Housing Act.

+ Let's start by re-writing our LDC and quasi-judicial hearing procedures.

+ For transparency, Commissioners must never meet with zoning applicants ex parte.  

+ St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Shaver refused such meetings during her 1550 days as Mayor (making an exception when an applicant was allegedly being treated unfairly).

+ What kind of administrative judicial system lets zoning applicants meet secretly with elected officials?

+  Reject this corrupt system and will not be embroiled by it. 

+ We must require fuller corporate disclosure and better data. 

+ Require background investigations on zoning applicants -- know your customer! 

+ Are any zoning applicants involved in money-laundering,  

+ Environmental violations by zoning applicants must be researched by County staff and discussed publly in hearings.

+ We need full information on ex parte contacts with Commissioners, disclosed before hearings.

+ All ex parte meetings with Commissioners and staff must be videotaped and made a public record.  

+ As Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "Secrey is for losers, for people who don't understand the value of the information.

- Trees and the proposed 14 point tree ordinance

+ Support proposed tree protection ordinance and spoke in favor of it, as did dozens of residents.  

+ I objected to four Commissioners' harsh response to First Amendment protected activity, evident retaliation against reform Commissioner Krista Joseph..

- Management of traffic and infrastructure

+ Support transit, impact fees and reform of zoning and planning as we know it.

- Septic tanks

+ Explore ban on new septic tanks in new construction

+ Monitor septic tank inspections and code enforcement.

6. What is your motivation for running to be a County Commissioner?

+ My first American ancestor escaped the British government-caused Irish potato famine in 1849, immigrating to Philadelphia with Irish neighbors at age six, the rest of her family died in famine.  My father taught me, as JFK's father taught him, that "if you don't stand up to people in power, they walk all over you."   JFK was killed 22 days after I proudly wore a JFK costume on Halloween, at age six. At age 17.5, I went to work for his brother, Sen. Ted Kennedy, the day before my first Georgetown class, inspired after hearing Ralph Nader speak on August 28, 1974 (Feast of St. Augustine).   

Love this magical place. We need to preserve what we know and love, with National Park Service help.  http://www.staugustgreen.com 

Moved here November 5, 1999, after falling in love with St. Augustine when we visited in August 1992, right after first environmental whistleblower trial against Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  

Faster than a speeding dump truck, what we love about St. Johns County is being destroyed. 

7. If you are elected or re-elected, what initiatives would you introduce or promote to protect the environment of St. Johns County?

* St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore

* Environmental Regulatory Commission.

* Independent environmental impact statements for government project, as under NEPA.

* Lobbyist registration and background investigations.

* Video of every County Commissioner "ex parte' meeting with putative "developers."

* County whistleblower protection ordinance

* Reform zoning and planning as we know it. 

Thank you. 

With kindest regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

Ed Slavin

Box 3084

St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084

www.edslavin.com

http://www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com

http://www.staugustgreen.com

(904) 377-4998