Labels are for jars. From St. Johns Citizen:
St. Johns County Board Chair Clay Murphy Says ‘Radical Leftists’ Have Infiltrated Local Republican Party
St. Johns County Board Chair Clay Murphy pulled the pin on a political bomb Tuesday, asserting that “radical leftists” have infiltrated the local Republican Party.
The allegation came during a debate over whether to make it harder to remove County Attorney Rich Komando, with Murphy arguing that the position should be shielded from shifting political winds.
Commissioners were considering a change to Komando’s contract that would require a supermajority — a 4-1 vote — to fire him for reasons unrelated to his professional competency.
Murphy, who introduced the measure, said it was designed to protect the office from political pressure.
Commissioner Krista Joseph pressed him on what he meant by “political,” noting that all five commissioners are Republicans.
I don’t think that saying that we’re all Republicans and then we’re the same party,” he said. “I think being the same party is absolutely correct, but we’re not all the same.”
When Joseph asked him to explain, Murphy sharpened the point.
“There’s a radical leftist agenda that’s infected our Republican Party in St. Johns County, that tends to want to try to control our government, and I’m completely against that,” Murphy said. “I’ll stand up as a strong conservative and say that I rebuke and I push back against that, and this is one of the ways that we, that I intend to try to help do that.”
The accusation brought into the stunned chamber a claim that has circulated in some local conservative Facebook groups, that left-leaning voters presented themselves as Republicans in heavily GOP St. Johns County to influence government.
Joseph flatly rejected the implication that she was part of any political effort to oust Komando.
She said she had told Komando he was doing a commendable job and said her objection was not about him personally, but about the 4-1 removal threshold.
Nicole Crosby, who runs the Facebook page Fight for St. Johns County, has frequently criticized Murphy’s votes online and has supported several local candidates, including Joseph and Taylor. She rejected Murphy’s framing in a statement to The Citizen.
“‘Radical leftist agenda’ is the familiar battle cry of developer-funded operatives like Murphy, whose campaign received thousands of dollars from developer interests,” Crosby said, noting that she has been a staunch backer of President Trump.
County legal staff said during the discussion that the supermajority requirement would not apply if Komando were being removed for incompetence, misconduct or other cause.
In those situations, a simple majority could still act.
Commissioner Christian Whitehurst backed the amendment, pointing to Facebook posts on Fight for St. Johns County that accused Murphy of colluding with developers and suggested that Komando’s contract was being rewritten to keep them in control.
“If you’re looking for what does political mean, look no further than Facebook,” Whitehurst said.
Whitehurst said Komando had never pressured him to approve a development project and had advised commissioners that denied projects could be defended.
Commissioner Ann Taylor opposed the supermajority provision, saying residents did not support shifting removal power from a simple majority to a 4-1 vote.
“The bottom line is, we represent the residents in this county,” Taylor said. “This is not what they want.”
Murphy closed by praising Komando’s work, saying he had initially scrutinized him because of claims that he was “in the pockets of developers.”
“What I found was not only were you not in the pockets of developers, if you will, but you actually made rulings that were in opposition to the interests of developments and in the interests of the county,” Murphy said.
The amendment ultimately passed 3-2, with Murphy, Whitehurst and Commissioner Sarah Arnold in support, and Joseph and Taylor opposed.
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