Thanking the City of St. Augustine, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Local Residents for Galimore Center Restoration

"Here we right a wrong."

That is carved in marble on the Japanese interment monument in Washington, D.C.

It might have been the lead in the St. Augustine WRecKord today, had the viewspaper bothered to send a reporter.  While busily kissing up to developers, printing racist Ann Coulter columns and censoring or rejecting local news and opinions, the Morris Communications empire's local mossbacks couldn't be bothered to cover the opening of the Willie Galimore Center Pool yesterday.  Yes, there are photos, and a cut line, on page one, but no story.

Here's what the WRecKord missed:

1. This is one of only four pools being opneed or rehabilitated by a city government in Florida.   It replaces the decreit pool that Environmental Racism allowed to fall apart. Under City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS (a/k/a WILL HARASS), the County Administrator called to ask if it was okay to let the pool not be maintained.  Republican Lord of All He Surveyed, WILLIAM B. HARRISS never bothered checking with City Commissioners.  This violated the public trust.

2. Enter City Manager John Regan, who worked with legal counsel to get St. Johns County to write a check for $400,000 as a remedy for its breach of contract to maintain the pool.

3. Architect Jerry Dixon, a pool contractor and city staff are responsible for the wonderful look of the pool, which has five lap lanes, a learn to swim and play area.  The pool will be run by the YMCA.

4. Best of all, thanks to a last-moment pitch by City Manager John Regan -- in response to residents' concerns about fees -- the Jacksonville Jaguars football team is donating the cost of learn to swim ("waterproofitng") classes for 100 local residents, and writing a check to provide for free admission to the pool for everyone, 365 days a year.  Thank you!

5. All of this is from a city that does not have a recreation department, but innovated because of the callous indifference of the county government and our former City Manager, WILLIAM B. HARRISS.

6. A city once called "the most lawless" city in America by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is now on the mend, listening to citizens, respecting rights, affirming human dignity, and firmly committed to providing equal services to its citizens, as exemplified by Riberia Street construction and the Willie Galimore Center Pool.

7.  A city that once literally dumped on Lincolnville has shown its respect for the Fourteenth Amendment, whihc requires equal protecton of the law. 

8. What's next?  We need to persuade the mendacious mediocrities at multinational travel advertsing consultant MMGY and oleaginous Richard Goldman at the St. Johns County Visitor and Convention Bureau to end their snobby, racist advertising policies, which refuse to market our town and our 450th and 500th to people in Miami, African-Americans, youth and GLBT people.  It's our money.  $4.6 million a year, swathed in secrecy and smarminess. The story of the photos in the tourist brochure says it all! See below.

Yes we can!

IN HAEC VERBA: ARROGANT, ANGRY GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR ST. JOHNS COUNTY VISITORS AND CONVENTION BUREAU (SJCVCB) RESISTS Accountability for Your Bed Tax Dollars Redlining and Discriminating Against Miami, Minorities, Youth, GLBT Markets

Sent: Fri, May 24, 2013 7:05 pm

Subject: Re: Antitrust and Civil Rights Compliance Policies

What on Earth are you thinking or talking about!? Please provide documents now. Please retract libel and lashon hara now. Return call please now. Your words are freighted with animus toward First Amendment protected activity. Who is your personal and organizational counsel?


On May 24, 2013, at 3:08 PM, Richard Goldman wrote:

RICHARD GOLDMAN

Executive Director. St. Johns County Convention and Visitors Bureau:

Violates Open Records Law and Refuses to Provide Government Contractor Records

on $4.6 Million Annual Visitor and Convention Bureau --

Not Even its Antitrust and Civil Rights Compliance Policies

(Which May Not Even Exist)

Dear Mr. Slavin,
Please see the emails below including the opinion of the county attorney’s office regarding the application of the Public Records Act. Consistent with the opinion, the VCB will not be providing the requested documents. Suffice it to say that we do follow the laws relating to anti-trust behavior, equal employment protections for our staff current and future, as well as all other ordinances and statutes relating to the conduct of the VCB’s business.
Also, this week a member of staff reported being harassed by you and that you interfered with patrons at the beaches visitor information center. Such behavior must cease immediately.

Sincerely,
Richard Goldman
Executive Director
St.Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches
Visitors & Conventions Bureau
office:904.829.1711
direct:904.209.4426


From: Richard Goldman
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 5:39 PM
To: 'Commissioner Rachael Bennett'; Patrick McCormack; Regina Ross
Subject: RE: Antitrust and Civil Rights Compliance Policies


Commissioner Bennett, Mr. McCormack and Ms. Ross,
Indeed a thorough analysis. Thank you for sharing, we will pursue an independent opinion as suggested.

Meanwhile, below I have answered the questions posed or confirmed Ms. Ross’ review regarding the “factors” considered in determining whether a private organization is subject to the public records act. The CAPS are for the sake of distinguishing VCB answers and should not be interpreted as shouting.

1. The County does provide a level of public funding in the way of tourist development tax revenues in exchange for the services provided by the VCB; CONFIRMED
2. Whether there is any comingling of public and private funds is a question which can be best answered by the VCB; THERE IS NO COMINGLING
3. Very few, if any, VCB activities are conducted on County owned property; CONFIRMED
4. There is no indication that the services provided by the VCB are an integral part of the County’s decision-making process; AGREED
5. The VCB performs tourist-related marketing and promotions services at the direction of the County, which is not customarily a governmental function; AGREED
6. The extent of the County’s involvement with the VCB is limited to activities that promote St. Johns County a tourist destination, and the County’s exercises of control over the organization is limited to the manner in which the contractual services are provided; AGREED
7. The VCB is not a County created agency; CONFIRMED
8. The County’s financial interest in the VCB is limited to the use of funds provided by the County in accordance with the terms of the contract; CONFIRMED
9. For whose benefit the VCB is functioning is also a question better answered by the VCB. VCB ACTIVITIES DIRECTLY BENEFIT THE TOURISM RELATED BUSINESSES INCLUDING TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TAX COLLECTORS. INDIRECTLY, ITS ACTIVITIES STIMULATE VISITOR SPENDING AND COLLECTION OF MORE SALES RELATED TAXES AND FEES THAN WOULD BE COLLECTED FROM RESIDENTS ALONE.
Richard Goldman
Executive Director
St.Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches
office:904.829.1711
direct:904.209.4426

From: Commissioner Rachael Bennett [mailto:bccd5@sjcfl.us]
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 4:20 PM
To: Patrick McCormack; Regina Ross
Cc: Richard Goldman
Subject: Re: Antitrust and Civil Rights Compliance Policies
An excellent and thorough response. Thank you so much Regina!
Richard please feel free to share with your board as you see fit but please be certain to include Patrick's strong recommendation that final determination be made by the counsel to VCB
Thanks!
Rachael L. Bennett
St Johns County Commission
District 5
(904)209-0305 office
(904)315-7260 cell
Sent from my iPhone

On May 22, 2013, at 4:07 PM, "Patrick McCormack" wrote:
Commissioner Bennett,
Pls see Regina’s analysis below…again, the VCB needs to make its own determination…this is how we see it based on what we have seen.
Pls let me know if you would like to discuss further.
v/r
Pat
From: Regina Ross
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 3:57 PM
To: Patrick McCormack
Cc: Diane Lehmann; Judy Hamilton
Subject: RE: Antitrust and Civil Rights Compliance Policies
Patrick:
Based upon the email chain below, it appears that questions concerning private organizations and open government laws have resurfaced. In response to Commissioner Bennett’s request for information on the issue, consider the following general information regarding private organizations and open government laws.
The Sunshine Law (Chapter 286, F.S.)
The Sunshine Law applies to “any board or commission of any state agency or authority or of any agency or authority of any county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision.” Courts have construed the law very liberally to give effect to its purpose. Accordingly, it applies equally to elected and appointed boards or commissions, and is also applicable to advisory boards which make recommendations for consideration by a public agency. Generally, private organizations are not subject to the Sunshine Law unless the private organization has been delegated the authority to perform some governmental function. Simply stated, the Sunshine Law would not apply to a private organization where no delegation of legislative or governmental function by any governmental entity has occurred and the organization does not act in an advisory capacity to the governmental agency.
Relatively speaking, most of the litigation regarding the application of open government laws to private organizations providing services to public agencies has been in the area of public records. Accordingly, Courts have often looked to Chapter 119, F.S. to determine the applicability of the Sunshine Law.
The Public Records Act (Chapter 119, F.S.)
Section 119.011(11) of the Florida Statutes defines “public records” to include “all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, data processing software or other material, regardless of physical form, characteristics or means of transmission, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any agency. Additionally, section 119.011(2) defines “agency” to include any state, county, district, authority or municipal officers, department, division, board, bureau, commission or other separate unit of government created or established by law….and any other public or private agency, person, partnership, corporation or business entity action on behalf of any public agency.
The term “agency” is broadly defined to include private entities acting on behalf of any public agency; therefore, provisions of the Public Records Act are not limited to governmental entities. In light of the purpose of the Public Records Act, the broad definition ensures that public agencies do not avoid their duty to disclose records by simply delegating the responsibility to private entities by way of a contract.
While at first glance this premise seems straightforward, Florida case law clearly establishes that a more complex issue is presented when a private entity, not otherwise connected with government, provides services for a government body.
More succinctly stated, whether a private entity is subject to the Public Records Act is dependent upon whether the private entity is “acting on behalf of an agency”. Unfortunately, the Florida Statutes provides no clear criteria for determining when a private entity is “acting on behalf of a public agency.” Moreover, there is no single factor that is controlling on the question of when a private entity becomes subject to the Public Records Act. For instance, Florida courts have found that the mere fact that a private entity is under contract with or receiving funds from a public agency is not sufficient, standing alone, to bring the private entity within the scope of the Public Records Act. In addressing the issue, the Florida Supreme Court has adopted the “totality of factors” test to use as a guide for evaluating whether a private entity is subject to the Public Records Act. The factors listed by the Court include:
1. The level of public funding provided to the private entity;
2. Whether there is any comingling of public and private funds;
3. Whether the activities are conducted on publically owned property;
4. Whether the services contracted for are an integral part of the public agency’s chosen decision-making process;
5. Whether the private entity is performing a governmental function or a function which the public agency otherwise would perform;
6. The extent of the public agency’s involvement with, regulation of, or control over the private entity;
7. Whether the private entity was created by the public agency;
8. Whether the public agency has a substantial financial interest in the private entity; and
9. For whose benefit the private agency is functioning.
Application of the totality of factors tests usually requires a thorough analysis of any resolutions, or other provisions that establish the function to be performed by the private entity along with review of the terms of the contract, lease or other document between the governmental body and the private organization.
Please note that there is a difference between a private entity contracting with a public agency to provide services to the agency and a private entity contracting with a public agency to provide services in place of the agency. In other words, the business records of a private entity that simply provides a service for an agency is more than likely not subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act. However, if a private entity contracts to relieve the public agency from the operation of a government function, the open government laws do apply.
In reference to the discussions in the email chain below, while the County does have a contractual relationship with the VCB to provide a specific scope of services to the County (see Article 3 and Attachment A of the attached contract), you are absolutely correct in stating that the VCB, along with its counsel, would have to make a determination as to whether the organization is subject to open government laws. Based on my extremely cursory review in applying the factors above:
1. The County does provide a level of public funding in the way of tourist development tax revenues in exchange for the services provided by the VCB;
2. Whether there is any comingling of public and private funds is a question which can be best answered by the VCB;
3. Very few, if any, VCB activities are conducted on County owned property;
4. There is no indication that the services provided by the VCB are an integral part of the County’s decision-making process;
5. The VCB performs tourist-related marketing and promotions services at the direction of the County, which is not customarily a governmental function;
6. The extent of the County’s involvement with the VCB is limited to activities that promote St. Johns County a tourist destination, and the County’s exercises of control over the organization is limited to the manner in which the contractual services are provided;
7. The VCB is not a County created agency;
8. The County’s financial interest in the VCB is limited to the use of funds provided by the County in accordance with the terms of the contract;
9. For whose benefit the VCB is functioning is also a question better answered by the VCB.
In balancing the factors, while I am unable to definitively state whether the VCB is subject to open government laws, I do not believed (sic) that its contractual relationship with the County, standing alone, places the organization within the scope of the Sunshine Shine Law or subjects its business records to disclosure under the Public Records Act. As an additional note, with respect to the contract between the County and the VCB, Articles 8 and 9 explicitly provide that access to, and disclosure of, any records related to the services rendered to the County are subject to applicable provisions of the Public Records Act.
I hope this information assists. If there is anything else I may provide or clarify, please let me know. Also, I can provide case law citations upon request.
ReginaFrom: Patrick McCormack
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 8:33 AM
To: Regina Ross
Subject: FW: Antitrust and Civil Rights Compliance Policies
From: Ed Slavin [mailto:easlavin@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 3:18 PM
Cc: Richard Goldman; Patrick McCormack
Subject: Re: Antitrust and Civil Rights Compliance Policies
Does VCB have any compliance policies? Please respond, e.g., with documents, today. Talk to you both soon.
Ed Slavin
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com

"Ideas Have Consequences"

As my Georgetown University Political Theory Professor, Jose Sorzano said it best, "Ideas have consequences."  (He served as Deputy UN Ambassador under Jeanne Kirpatrick during the Reagan Admistration.)

Our St. Johns County Visitor and Convention Bureau and its monopolistic international tourism consultant, MMGY, have potentially run afoul of civil rights laws by publishing expensive Apartheid-style travel guides, with 199 identifiable white people and some four (4) identifiable Hispanic people (one is Ponce de Leon on the cover).

There are zero Native American Indians, despite the fact that St. Augustine is where the Columbian exchange began in North America, and we have 11,000 years of Native American history. 

There are only some eleven (11) African-Americans, most of whom appear to be happy slaves.

Fair Housing and Civil Rights cases forbid marketing materials that don't show African-Americans and other minorities. Yet local developers in St. Johns County had billboards and newspaper advertisements that did that for years. So now does our VCB. This is Jim Crow 1950s marketing, and it is not working. Despite always-rosy projections, we average only nearly 60% lodging occupancy.

Wonder why?

Under advice from MMDY, a conflicted travel industry consultant, VCB is refusing to advertise in Miami, potentially sabotaging our City's strategic plan for the 450th/500th celebrations, which is to attrack Hispanic tourists from South Florida.

One City official said, "That's crazy."  VCB and MMGY still offer no principled reason for not advertising in Miami. 

Our City officials were never informed of this possibly illegal redlining of advertising in the Miami market.  This frustrates the City's 450th strategic marketing plan.   As JFK said during the Cuban Missile Crisis, "There's always some poor SOB who doesn't get the word."

VCB has not been forthcoming with documents or answers -- not even its Antitrust and Civil Rights Compliance policies, if any.

VCB is not with the program. St. Augustine's future lies in historic and environmental tourism – VCB is still caught up in past mistakes

On June 11, 1964, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote rabbis, calling St. Augustine "the most lawless" city in America. A week later, the largest mass arrest of rabbis in America took place here.

Now that our City government is listening to the people, it is on the path to recovery.

Meanwhile, dominated by mossbacks, our County VCB needs to get with the program.  See below, including article about judgment and settlement involving illegal, racially exclusionary real estate ads in Washington, D.C.  (The plaintiff was Georgetown Law Professor Girardeau Spann and the defendant was a Mobil Oil real estate subsidiary in Northern Virginia, which had only white models in its ads).

Our VCB must not "redline" Miami, African-Americans, Hispanics, youth and GLBT people.

Our VCB must not provide a forum for price manipulation and pricefixing by competitors -- tourism is interstate commerce.  VCB is a government contractor and discussions of pricing (or recommendations to raise prices) raise eyebrows, hackles and concerns about possible antitrust violations and appearance of impropriety.

Knock if off.

Our VCB must honor its MMGY consultant's wisdom about the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore -- MMGY Vice Chairman Dr. Peter Yessawich, Ph.D. said May 14, 2013 that creating a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore would boost our local economy, "without questiont" having a "positive effect."  www.staugustgreen.com

Dr. Yessawich is right.  www.staugustgreen.com

Sit up and listen:

VCB needs to endorse creation of a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore.
www.staugustgreen.com

VCB must be the most stalwart advocate -- it must be all over it, "like a rat on a Cheeto(R) (a wonderful phrase I hereby borrow from Mayor Joseph L. Boles, Jr., a member of the federal St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission).

VCB must listen to our two local city governments about Fair Housing and diversity in marketing.
City of St. Augustine Ordinance 2012-15  (Fair Housing), bans sexual orientation discrimination.
City of St. Augustine Beach Ordinance 2013-1 & 2013-3 (Fair Housing and Employment), bans sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.  These elected boards voted unanimously.  So did our Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County (Employment, 2009).  Sheriff David Shoar told me that he banned sexual orientation by administrative order, sua sponte.

What about VCB?  Will VCB reach out to GLBT tourists now that all of these public officials are on record that our hearts are open, we're open for business, and we're NOT Jacksonville f/k/a "Cowford," (a provincial place with tall buildings and well-funded bigots, one whose City Council refuses to adopt any GLBT human rights ordinance of any kind, and whose allegedly Democratic Mayor refused to speak out for GLBT rights).

St. Augustine is a different "product" than the rest of Northeast Florida -- we must not hide our light under a bushel basket.  The product is tolerance and diversity, which is why Mumford & Sons is playing concerts here in September, and not in Jacksonville, f/k/a "Cowford."

VCB must respect Fair Housing, Open Records, Antitrust and Civil Rights Laws.  This is not Jacksonville.

VCB must welcome the Hispanic, African-American, Civil Rights, GLBT and Youth touirsm markets.  Advertising in bankrupt Reader's Digest hardly appeals to our strengths -- this is a cool hip place with wonderfully diverse history, nature and eco-tourism.  VCB seems loathe to "sell" this "product" (a metaphor MMGY and VCB repeatedly use, even calling the tourism business an "industry").

Tourism should be a profession or a business, not an "industry."  This is not a mining operation -- it is an effort to raise our quality of life by preserving and protecting St. Augustine and its rich diverse culture.

VCB's appreciation of our history is incomplete and unsophisticated, lacking nuance and thought.

St. Augustine tourism promotion must appeal to what is genuine, starting with respect for 11,000 years of Native American history, 500 years of  Roman Catholic, African-American, Hispanic and Jewish history, and many years of English Mincorcan, Greek, Civil War, Civil Rights and American history. 

VCB must lead, follow or get out of the way.

IN HAEC VERBA -- Fair Housing Advocates re: Six-figure settlement of Fair Housing case involving racially exclusive advertising models

http://www.fairhousing.com/index.cfm?method=page.display&pagename=advocate_july95_page3

Washington Area Advertising Case Settled for $841,000
Home > News Archive > The Advocate > July 1995
An African-American Georgetown University law Professor and two fair housing advocacy groups have settled their nine-year "white models" advertising case for $841,000. They had charged that newspaper ads which used only white models violated fair housing laws.
Law professor, Girardeau A. Spann, the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington, and the Metropolitan Planning and Housing Association brought the charges. A federal jury in 1992 had ordered the Arlington real estate developer to pay $850,000 in damages to the African-American professor and the two housing groups.
The June 1995, settlement with Mobil Land Development Corp. was for slightly less money to avoid an appeal. Mobil operates the Colonial Village property but is best known as the current developer of Reston.
The case decided in U. S. District Court in Washington, involved ads than ran between 1981 and 1986 in the Washington Post and several other local papers for the sale of condos at Colonial Village, a garden-apartment community located in Arlington. In that period, newspaper advertisements for the 640 apartments in Colonial Village, showed 251 white models, but no African-American models.
The legal battle began when Spann started looking for a house or condo to buy and noticed real estate ads showing only white models. "It made me angry and it still makes me angry to this day, " Spann said earlier. He had discussed the ads with an attorney friend of his who told him, "Now wait a minute, this is racial steering. It has to be illegal. Why don't we sue them for it?" (See December, 1992, Advocate p.4)
Fair housing officials had testified that the Colonial Village ads harmed their mission or goals and caused them to divert resources to investigate and counteract the discriminatory effects of the ads. Their attorneys said non-white residents of the Washington area were victims of bias because of Mobil Land advertising that displayed only white models.
The lawsuit against Mobil Land was one of about 40 administrative complaints against advertisers and developers in the mid-1980s but was the only one that went to trial, said David Berenbaum, executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington. Spann and the fair housing groups alleged that Mobil Land violated the federal fair housing law because only white models were pictured in advertising until May 1986. The law requires that the models used in ads reflect composition of a community.
The Colonial Village development still exists but it is no longer a corporate entity called Colonial Village or connected with Mobil Land.
In addition to the monetary damages, Mobil Land agreed to ensure that all its ads comply with the law by showing "models of all races in the metropolitan area if models are used," according to the Fair Housing Council. At the time, Spann and the two fair housing organizations that filed the suit said the advertising was biased because it showed only white models and thus discouraged him from buying housing from the companies that advertised.
"I'm happy the case is finally settled," Spann said recently. "All my life I've been troubled by racially directed advertising," as reported in the June 10, Washington Post.
Berenbaum said the outcome of the long-running Mobil Land case could affect advertising practices across the country because the firm operates nationally, and the outcome might help educate companies everywhere about fair housing advertising law. When the cases were filed, they were among the first of their kind in the nation. He said the council will use its share of the award "to educate the public on the benefits of housing integration."
Mobil Land, said it will feature Black models in 33 percent of the company's newspaper, television and other advertising, reflecting the percentage of Blacks living in the Washington metropolitan area. Companies that have shown whites in their advertising were required to continue using human models, including Blacks, with the same frequency as in the year before April 1986, when the complaints were filed.

IN HAEC VERBA: Open Records Request re: VCB

Dear Messrs. McCormack, Wanchick and Hastings:




A. VCB has still not responded substantively to my May 20, 2013 request for its Antitrust and Civil Rights Compliance policies. Why not?



B. Articles 8, 9, 10 and 11 of VCB's February 2, 2010 contract with St. Johns County (SJC BCC Resolution 2010-22) require VCB's full compliance with Florida's Open Records laws, antitrust laws, civil rights laws and other federal state and local laws. Accordingly, please direct VCB, TDC and county officials to provide by E-mail or thumb drive, by close of business May 24, 2013:

1. Copies of all MMDY contracts for research, advertising, marketing and strategic advice;

2. Year-by-year total disbursements to MMDY and predecessors, and other contractors;

3. Any proof of competitive bidding for any MMDY or other contracts, or failing that, any legal determination of sole source status;

4. VCB and MMDY evaluations of Miami, African-American, youth and GLBT markets and why we're not advertising there.

5. MMDY draft and final presentation to May 14, 2013 WGV meeting where pricing was discussed (sorry for typo in earlier E-mail below -- meeting in quo was May 14th, not May 7th).

6. Compliance policies, including but not limited to those on Antitrust, Competitive Bidding and Civil Rights.

7. Pricing information shared and discussions about pricing at VCB meetings.

8. All EEOC forms EEO-1 or EEO-4 filed by VCB and MMDY.

9. All VCB documents responding to the 2012 and 2013 Fair Housing ordinances adopted by the Cities of St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach, banning sexual orientation discrimination, e.g., any advice to VCB members or changes to VCB and member advertising and marketing materials.

10. All communications concerning or resulting from or related to any civil rights and antitrust concerns, including mine, including but not limited o communications between and among VCB, TDC, SJC, COSA, SAB,et al.



To help identify responsive documents, I am available to meet with you, or your respective staffers, at VCB's offices tomorrow morning -- this will help to assure compliance and avoid more delays.



Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

Ed

Ed Slavin

Clean Up City of St. Augustine, Florida

www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com

Box 3084

St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084

904-377-4998

IN HAEC VERBA: May 20, 2013 E-mail to City of St. Augustine, VCB and TDC leaders on Civil Rights, African-American, Hispanic, GLBT and Youth Tourism

http://www.waaytv.com/news/state/alabama-releases-civil-rights-tourism-app/article_f51a4214-a5ba-11e2-b303-0019bb30f31a.html



Dear Richard, Glenn John and Dana:

FYI re: an app for civil rights tourism in Alabama.

Under Governor Haley Barbour, Mississippi in 2006 mandated civil rights education K-12 and building a $50 million civil rights museum. St. Augustine is poised to get two at least civil rights museums. St. Augustine's civil rights and African-American heritage must be shared with the world. We must not hide our light under a bushel basket, or yield this civil rights tourism market to Mississippi and Alabama, or continue Apartheid-style marketing assumptions.

Do you agree that VCB needs to start running ads in Miami, in African-American and GLBT publications, and in diverse publications that will reach the youth market?

Cheers,

Ed Slavin

904-377-4998

IN HAEC VERBA: Letter to St. Johns County re: Civil Rights and Antitrust Compliance Issues at Visitors and Convention Bureau

Dear Messrs McCormack, Wanchick and Hastings:

Please investigate whether VCB is in material breach of its contract with SJCBCC by:



1. Discussing pricing in meetings, in violation of possible antitrust laws. On May 14, 2013 (corrected), at the SJC WGV Convention Center, MMGY Vice Chairman Peter Yesawich, Ph.D. urged VCB members to raise their prices. MMGY advises some 200 tourism enterprises in some ten countries. This advice to raise prices is, at best, unseemly. Dr. Yesawich's advice may expose VCB and SJC to antitrust liability concerns; moreover, it is wrong for government money to disbursed to a contractor (MMGY) whose Vice Chairman urges competitors to raise their prices. From this day forward, VCB and its contractor must obey antitrust laws. Competition is our economy's fundamental policy -- we don't need government-sponsored administered pricing (or price-fixing and monopolistic practices).



2. Violating the spirit and letter of St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach Fair Housing laws re: sexual orientation and gender identity, e.g. by not advertising our non-discrimination policies and by not projecting a Gay-friendly image consistent with our cities' values, as declared unanimously by elected officials. Sadyly, VCB has a history of anti-Gay actions, as when its call center told a Gay man from Austin, Texas to go elsewhere for his vacation.
3. Violating federal Civil Rights laws and the Fair Housing Act by using nearly all-white figures in its marketing brochures, entirely leaving out Indians, with only a few happy African-American slaves and few Hispanics, during this, the 500th anniversary of Spanish Florida. There are some 199 images of white people, no Native Americans, four Hispanics and eleven African-Americans (mostly slaves) in the VCB's latest travel brochure on our area. Please review pertinent civil rights case law and advise VCB of its legal, moral and ethical duties.
4. Pointedly refusing to advertise in Miami, apparently based upon MMGY's prejudices. This is a poor reflection on our County's commitment to diversity. In targetting tourists to recruit, MMGY staffer Cindy Muretta refused to say why in public, but she earlier said that marketing is a question of "who you want to invite to your party." We don't need those decisions contaminated by secrecy and bigotry -- it makes us look bad.
5. Targeting only the richest 50% of Americans, when we average 40% vacancy rates in local lodging. We are all God's children, and we don't need MMGY to tell us to "redline" tourists who are not high-income.
6. Ignoring African-American, Native American, Hispanic, GLBT and youth markets, based on shallow research and superficial assumptions by MMGY, the longtime consultant.
7. Contracting with MMGY, the largest international travel consulting firm, which has potential conflicts of interest, including giving advice to Disney. Please obtain a complete MMGY client list and perform suitable conflicts checks. Please see that future contracts have full competitive bidding and transparency, and no conflicts of interest.
8. Not focusing advertising on our City's 450th commemoration heritage tourism goals, e.g., increasng African-American and Hispanic tourism, especially from Miami. Instead of advertising in Miami, money is being spent recruiting tourists from The Villages, Savannah and Augusta.
9. Wasting bed tax money on dubious, high-priced consulting contracts, e.g., MMGY. How much money has MMGY ever received over the years, including commissions?
10. Not complying promptly with legal and contractual requirements to respond to public record requests -- my May 20, 2013 request to VCB for copies of VCB's Antitrust and Civil Rights compliance policies have not yet yielded one (1) VCB document -- not even a cogent or coherent answer as to whether VCB even has any compliance policies. Does it?
This multi-milllion dollar government contractor operation needs to have its consciousness raised, and quickly. Our 450th and 500th commemorations are in progress, and VCB is not advertising in Miami due to some horribly bad advice from MMGY -- whatever basis MMGY has to give such advice must be shared with the public now. Our City leaders were not aware that VCB was not advertising in Miami -- this shows a level of secrecy that requires an agonizing reappraisal of the nature, structure and performance of VCB and whether it should have another contract (and whether MMGY should have another contract).
I look forward to talking and meeting with you, and with the BCC and two City Commissions on these issues in contemplation of whether VCB's and MMGY's contracts should be renewed later this year, and if so, under what terms to protect the public interest, especially in diversity, civil rights and antitrust compliance. See my blog post at www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com


Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

Ed Slavin
Clean Up City of St. Augustine, Florida
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-377-4998

VCB Hears Economy Will Get Boost With St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore -- Record Did Not Report It -- Miamians Among People VCB NOt Advertising To for 500th, 450th

MMGY's Global Vice Chairman, DR. PETER YESAWICH, Ph.D.. told VCB at WGV May 14th that enactment of the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore will have, “no question, a positive effect”on our local economy. www.staugustgreen.com

Ph.D. Peter Yesawich is an international travel expert working for the local Visitor and Convention Bureau, MMDY Global Executive Vice Chairman told 100 local tourism experts May 7th that the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore will have, “no question, a positive effect”on our local economy.

Although the St. Augustine Record (SAR) had an editorial (below) about the gathering where Yesawich spoke, it omitted certain facts – such as Dr. Yesawich's candid support for the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore.
SAR is no longer informing the public. Government meetings and agencies are left uncovered for weeks at a time. Reader letters are unpublished. Scandals are not uncovered. Questions are not asked.
Thus, SAR readers who were not in the room did not learn that the VCB's consultants support the National Historical Park and National Seashore.
They also did not learn that VCB's consultant may lack commitment current knowledge and interest in marketing St. Augustine for what it is rapidly becoming – as a diverse, cool, hip, place. VCB's longtime consultants are focused on older rich white guys who play golf – and advising motels and tourist attractions to raise their prices, which could run afoul of federal antitrust laws.
In a surprising admission last week, MMDY Global consultant Cindy Muretta, working for the county's Visitor and Convention Bureau (VCB) publicly admitted May 14th that there is no St. Augustine tourism advertising in Miami – even though our City of St. Augustine's strategic plan for our 450th anniversary commemoration places a high priority on recruiting Hispanic tourists from Miami.
MMGY's website shows no persons of color among its 18-person leadership. MMGY is the largest travel consulting group in the world, headquartered in Missouri and Florida.
MMGY failing to include African-American and Civil Rights tourism, in its $300,000 draft 2009 Destination Master Plan.
MMGY works for Disney and 200 other large travel organizations throughout the world.
Is it a conflict of interest for St. Augustine's visitor recruitment to be run by the firm that advises Walt Disney? Is that what St. Augustine should aspire to become – more Disney-fied than now? MMGY's initial tourism master plan had visions of a waterslide, as if history and nature were not enough of “product.”
Enough.
This overlapping marketing advice is not in the best interest of our “brand,” which hopelessly provincial, MMGY has repeatedly lacked understanding and appreciation. Plainly MMDY does not have St. Augustine's cultural diversity at heart. Its “leaders” are secretive, and avoid questions.
MMGY Global's Cyndy Murrieta (MMGY's Media Group Director) told the assembled tourism “industry” personnel that advertising is a question of “who do you want to invite to your party.” MMGY's Media Group Director Cyndy Murieta lauded spending tax money on recruiting “affluent” tourists from Atlanta, Georgia; Orlando, The Villages in Florida and Augusta and Savannah in Georgia – but not Miami.
Instead, VCB is actually spending bed tax money advertising for St. Augustine in bankrupt Reader's Digest, in Better Homes and Gardens! I could not believe my ears (and eyes). Who knew!
So I asked MMGY Media Group Director Cyndy Murrieta why VCB was not advertising in Miami. MMGY's Murietta condescendingly told me to ask her after the meeting. I requested a public answer, then and there. Instead, MMGY's Murrietta, VCB's consultant then said “I'm being heckled.” How gauche. We paid for her microphone, but she refused to emit an answer.

              CYNDY MURRIETA, MMGY MEDIA GROUP DIRECTOR
Who are these lugubrious goobers? The Visitor and Convention Bureau for St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra and the Beaches receives some $4.6 million annually from bed tax revenue on people staying at hotels, motels, Bed and Breakfasts and guest houses. In turn, they hire MMDY and spend millions on advertising.
Not one New York Times Travel Section article focused on St. Augustine has appeared since September 5, 2003 (see it on the bulletin board at the Bunnery cafe downtown – it is yellow).
Meanwhile, MMGY brags of getting TV news stories on Lee County, Florida, but can't seem to bring about a New York Times Travel Section after years of working for us.
Not one penny of that $4.6 million annual VCB bed tax budget money is being used for advertising in Miami, our City's core market for the 450th and 500th commemorations. “That's crazy,” opined one City official, who was unaware that VCB is not advertising in Miami.
It's our money – VCB has a contract with our County Commissioners. I have asked for a copy, along with a copy of VCB's antitrust and civil rights compliance policies.  It appears VCB may be in material breach of its contract.  See correspondence, above.
It was appalling to hear the Vice Chairman of MMGY, Dr. Peter Yesawich, write off the lower 50% of American income earners while urging business owners to raise their prices – inviting possible antitrust violations while speaking in a government building – St. Johns County's $16.9 million World Golf County Convention Center, in the presence of city and county officials, hearing the invitation to raise prices without anyone offering any dissenting view (or antitrust law advice)
MMGY and VCB potentially run afoul of civil rights laws by publishing expensive Apartheid-style travel guides, with 199 identifiable white people and four (4) identifiable Hispanic people (one is Ponce de Leon on the cover). There are zero Native American Indians, There are only eleven (11) African-Americans, most of whom appear to be happy slaves. Fair Housing and Civil Rights cases forbid marketing materials that don't show African-Americans and other minorities. Yet local developers in St. Johns County were guilty of that for years. So is our VCB. This is Jim Crow 1950s marketing, and it is not working. Despite always-rosy projections, VCB is not with the program. St. Augustine's future lies in historic and environmental tourism – VCB is still caught up in past mistakes
That was shown by the lack of interest in GLBT tourism; during Q&A, Peter Yesawich told me it was 5% of the national tourism market (and “more of the spend',” using a verb as a noun) But Yesawich wondered if GLBT marketing might turn off other tourists. He offered no data. Unknown to MMGY, we have made great strides in local GLBT-friendly housing and employment nondiscrimination laws in St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach (and Sheriff David Shoar, and Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County, the first in our county, in 2009). GLBT tourism marketing would differentiate our “product” from our bigoted northern neighbor, Jacksonville, formerly known as Cowford. This is why Mumford & Sons chose St. Augustine over bigoted Jacksonville or other places.
MMGY is not selling our strengths because it does not appreciate them. In fact, entirely left out are the fact that this is the first cultural melting pot in American, one that had on Day One (September 8, 1565) the first freed and African-American, Catholic and Jewish Americans, 42 years before Jamestown. Left out are the courage of the Minor can people, fleeing British oppression in New Smyrna Beach indigo plantations. Not even Minorcans get respect from MMDY.
It's time for a change. VCB needs to listen to the City of St. Augustine, and stop messing around with our City's 450th ad 50th celebration. Leaving Miami out of advertising and advising people to raise their prices is unseemly. Enough.
St. Augustine is not "an industry" and not "a product." It is about authentic history and real nature -- which the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore will help us showcase to the world!
www.staugustgreen.com
Yes we can!

St. Augustine Record editorial on growth of civil rights tourism with Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor status from Department of the Interior and National Park Service

Sunday, May 19, 2013
Our view: Our home on many travel bucket lists
Florida’s Historic Coast got a double-dose of good news this past week. On Wednesday, we learned the Department of the Interior had given final approval to the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Management Plan. As reported in The Record, the 8-million-acre corridor stretches in a long arc from Wilmington, N.C., to St. Augustine and honors those in the African-American community who made their way to Florida with an ideal and a promise of freedom.
In an editorial published in 2009, we noted than many people share the vision of increasing African-American tourism in St. Johns County. We suggested being a stop on the Gullah Geechee corridor is a step in that direction. In August of last year we urged our readers to express support for the management plan to the Corridor Commission. Previously the plan had received the support of both the St. Johns County and the St. Augustine City commissions.
At the same time the good news about the Gullah Geechee Corridor was spreading, the 4th Annual State of the Tourism Industry summit was convening in the conference center at World Golf Village. It brought together about 200 leaders involved with tourism in St. Johns County, including those associated with attractions, lodging facilities and related enterprises.
Peter Yesawich, vice president of MMGY Global, gave a keynote presentation that provided a profile of the American traveler. MMGY Global touts itself at the world’s largest and most integrated travel marketing firm. Yesawich reported travelers are more confident than they have been in the last four years. He said 28 percent of travelers earning more than $50,000 annually, who plan to travel at least once, want to visit St. Augustine during the next two years. This was the same percentage received by larger destinations, such as West Palm Beach and Phoenix/Scottsdale.
But even more telling was another statistic that paints an interesting picture of travelers who hope to visit St. Augustine. People were asked if they would be interested in attending historical events when traveling. Fifty percent of those who would like to visit St. Augustine responded positively while only about a third of all people queried expressed the same interest.
Richard Goldman, executive director of the Visitors and Convention Bureau (VCB), told The Record they are seeing great traction for the work they have done in bringing the celebration of Florida’s 500th anniversary to the rest of the world. He noted the comparable value of publicity received during the past seven months was estimated at $168 million. For those who like to see a positive return on investment, this figure represents approximately 54 times the amount of the VCB’s annual budget.
Goldman said he was a little surprised and very pleased when he learned how many tourists know about Florida’s Historic Coast and want to visit here.
We could think of scores of reasons why folks would want to visit our area and with the adoption of the Gullah Geechee Management Plan, our list just grew by one.

Some Environmental Progress to Report on Earth Day, 2013 -- Time to Adopt the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore

Today marks the 33rd anniversary of Earth Day, founded in 1970.

This year, our City of St. Augustine co-sponsored the (mostly rained-out) Earth Day yesterday at Willie Galimore Center, co-sponsoring it with the Lincolnville Neighborhood Association's Sunday Farmer's Market.

That's progress.  I am proud of our City today.

Our City was once no friend of the environment, no friend of history, no friend of civil rights and no friend of Lincolnville.  Today, our City is working to protect our precious historic environmental heritage for future generations, while respecting civil rights. 

Let's continue to move forward.

Tonight, our St. Augustine City Commissioners will hear a presentation, sponsored by Commissioner Donald Crichlow, on global climate change.   Our City needs to embrace and be included in the Guana-Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, and support GTM-NERR's and Anastasia State Park's inclusion in the St. Augustine National Hisorical Park and National Seashore (first proposed by two U.S. Senators and our local Congressman in 1939).  See www.staugustgreen.com for details.

We need to work in a bipartisan way, just as our community has done in adopting nondiscrimination and ordinances and policies adopted3by the Cities of St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach; Anastasia Mosquito Control District (2009) and St. Johns County Sheriff.   Support has been unanimous on every single vote in every single board (in sharp contrast to Jacksonville, which proved August 14th that intolerance is the basis for public policy).

We need to encourage U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Ron Wynden (D-Oregon); our new Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell; U.S. Senators Bill Nelson and Mario Rubio, Congressman Ron DeSantis, Governor Rick Scott, State Senator John Thrasher and State Rep. "Doc" Renuart.  Make no little plans: the 500th anniversary of Spanish Florida is here, and the 450th anniversary of St. Augustine is in 2015, and the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act is next year. This time, let's preserve our "sense of place" forever.

Let us preserve and protect our historic and environmental heritage forever, while saving some $32 million in operations and maintenance costs over ten years in local state parks and water management district land.  Our State of Florida can turn this land over to the National Park Service.

We want a well-run, unified National Historical Park and Seashore that will welcome our visitors with the diversity of our history -- 11,000 years of history well, including Spanish, Native American, African-American, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, British, French, Nautical, Civil War, Flagler Era and Civil Rights history, while protecting us all from erosion and floods and protecting unique wildlife, from the endangered right whale (350 left; 20 born off our shores this winter) to the Anastasia Island Beach Mouse.

Yes we can!

Governor and Cabinet Must "Let the Sunshine In" At April 2, 2013 Meeting at Flagler College's Ponce de Leon Building

Our Florida Governor and Cabinet are holding a Cabinet meeting in St. Augustine on April 2, 2013:
1.  In a small room (100 people), which is named for a convicted Standard Oil Trust antitrust law violator, Robber Baron HENRY MORRISON FLAGLER;
2. At private Flagler College, on private property (heavily subsidized with state and federal funds);
3. Without public comment, except on agenda items;
4. Without provision for live TV coverage by our local Government TV, by
5. Eschewing three nearby government buildings (two City Halls and our County Commission Auditiorium).
Why? 
Article I, Section 24 of our Florida Constitution was enacted by 72% of Florida voters in 1992: 3.8 million voters. 
Prior Governors and Cabinets allowed public comment on any topic, not limited to agenda items. 
Prior Governors and Cabinets held meetings in government buildings, like St. Augustine City Hall.
Call Florida Governor RICHARD SCOTT (850-717-9239, Cabinet Affairs) and the Cabinet Affairs offices of our three other elected State Cabinet members (AG PAMELA BONDI (850-245-0145). Agriculture Secretary ADAM PUTNAM (850-617-7747) and Chief Financial Officer JEFFREY ATWATER (850-413-2824).  Tell them you want public comment and to hold the meeting in a government building, not at Flagler College in a small meeting room. Let the Sunshine in!

This is one more reason why we need a Florida Constitutional Convention, to halt corruption and to preserve, protect and defend our right to Open Governent. Let us work to right wrongs. See below.

How 'We the People' can fight corruption in state

Letter: How 'We the People' can fight corruption in state
St. Augustine Record
ED SLAVIN
March 28, 2013                                                                          Copyright 2013 St. Augustine Record.
Editor:
What do we do about corruption in Florida, rated one of our most corrupt states?
Here in our ancient city, diverse citizens work together to solve modern problems, defeating corruption. Citizens spoke out and helped cancel the $1.8 million no-bid Mosquito Control helicopter purchase (with $81,000 deposit refund); halted four City Commissioners’ planned “business trip” to Spain; ended secretive First America Foundation (with $200,000 refund); and halted plans to dump 40,000 cubic yards of toxic, illegally dumped solid waste in Lincolnville.
But generally speaking, is Florida corruption getting worse? Last year, then-State Sen. Michael Bennett, R-Bradenton, and our Legislature illegally revoked St. Johns County’s land use decision-making powers as to one absentee developer’s 607-acre property in Switzerland community. Bennett, in his closing seconds as Senate President Pro Tempore, procured last-minute legislation eviscerating “local control,” which he supposedly cherished in slashing the Department of Community Affairs.
Debating Florida voter suppression laws, Bennett said voting “should not be easy.” It’s corruption that “should not be easy,” not citizen participation. It is our government. Let’s unite to halt legislative legerdemain and Tallahassee trickery. We must re-write our Florida Constitution and laws to make it easier to expose corruption and fight Big Money’s power. How?
“We, the People” can petition for a Florida Constitutional Convention: Florida has not had once since 1968. Florida’s Constitutional Convention will create stronger, indelible ethics and Sunshine laws (including posting government contracts online and protecting public rights to speak at meetings). It’s our government. It’s our money. Freedom works. When governments hear and heed informed citizens, we all save money (and save lives).
Bennett’s last-minute legislating flummery-frenzy proves we need more Sunshine, not less. It takes a village — and the hearts, minds and souls of all Floridians — to fight corruption.

Fodor's Places St. Augustine on "Best Small Towns" List

http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2013-03-20/fodors-lists-st-augustine-best-small-towns-list#.UUzRaTdtazs

Twenty endangered North Atlantic Right Whales born off St. Augustine this winter

http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2013-03-21/20-right-whale-claves-born-our-coast-winter#.UUzDlTdtazs  We look forward to the enactment of the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore Act, which will protect their habitat forever. www.staugustgreen.com

“Coastal Park” in Our Future – So is St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore

Exciting news sometimes comes in twos.

First, County Commissioner Ronald Sanchez said at today's St. Johns County Commission meeting that the National Park Service is considering re-designating all or part of Fort Matanzas National Monument as a “coastal park.” This would allow beach driving on the Atlantic Ocean side, once again.

Several years ago, amid protests against NPS for ending beach driving, I pointed out this nuance in NPS regulations. Glad someone was listening. (Commissioner Sanchez was recently honored by an appointment to our local Selective Service Board by President Barack Obama).

Second, last year, the National Parks and Conservation Association (NPCA) sent a top staffer here for several days, looking at the potential scope of an expanded NPS presence. Federal St. Augustine 450^th Commemoration Commission Chair Jay Kislak chairs NPCA; the mortgage billionaire is 90 years old.

Sounds like we're getting closer to a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore.

What better “legacy project” for our 450^th? What do you reckon?

Yes, we can!   See www.staugustgreen.com

St. Johns County Prepares to File Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of Special Legislation Benefitting One Developer

St. Johns County Commissioners today authorized filing of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of legislation inserted in 2012 by Florida Senate President Pro Tempore MICHAEL BENNETT. BENNETT''s sneak attack on St. Johns County took the form of -- last minute special legislation benefiting one developer, violating St. Johns County's rights to "local control" over land use, affecting only one 607 acre plot near Switzerland. 
Record article and editorial.
There will be a meeting with the developer and County staff on March 25, 2013.  Both the Florida Association of Cities and Florida Association of Counties went along with the deal, throwing St. Johns County to the wolves.  Before anyone pays any more dues to those august organizations, public officials need to question those Tallahassee organizations about their ethics and morality.

For more on BENNETT's folly, see Record article and editorial, and prior blog story here.

What's worse than a no-bid contract?

No contract at all.  Those cheesy tatterdemalion portable $3/transaction ATM machines at our St. Augustine Amphiteater (run by our County government) were NEVER the subject of ANY contract, it turns out.  While there was a Request for Proposals, it was rescinded by Amphitheater staff, as recorded in handwritten notes by the County Purchasing Department.
FDIC and the County Attorney's office are investigating these high-priced non-ADA compliant machines, from which our County has made thousands of dollars without ever having any signed contract in place.  See original story, here.

Progress in St. Augustine, Florida

It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.--Robert F. Kennedy, Day of Affirmation, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 1966.

Look around you and see the progress.
There’s a lot of progress in St. Augustine, of which we are justly proud.
Where once there was bigotry, there is healing.
Where once there was secrecy, there is accountability.
Where once there was pollution and environmental injustice, there is growing sensitivity that we are environmental stewards, there is only one Earth, and as JFK said at American University, "We all breathe the same air and we are all mortal."
Riberia Street is being built properly for the first time in St. Augustine’s history. The entire street is being replaced, not just the part in the white area, as once proposed.
Sewers will be provided for West Augustine, where African-American families have long suffered from health effects of septic tanks and wells.
Our city public officials are now listening to the people, instead of ripping them off and violating our civil rights.
Our county government has a long way to go, however, as does our state government (see below).
The stain and stink of corruption are still upon and about them.
Our Founders, including Thomas Jefferson, believed in the power of human beings to change.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, let’s “Be the change that you want to see in the world.”
Our City of St. Augustine in 2011 dedicated a Civil Rights Monument, to the Civil Rights Footsoldiers and a second one, honoring Ambassador Andrew Young, who led the courageous Civil Rights Footsoldiers here, changing our world for the better.
The City of St. Augustine Beach has adopted Fair Housing and Employment Nondiscrimination Ordinances protecting everyone, including Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered People.  Our Anastasia Mosquito Control District, the City of St. Augustine and Sheriff David Shoar ban sexual orientation discrimination.  St. Augustine passed its Fair Housing Ordinance on December 10, 2012.
The Commissioners of the City of St. Augustine, City of St. Augustine Beach and Anastasia Mosquito Control District and St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar all deserve credit.  That's seventeen elected officials -- and four government entities -- against sexual orientation discrimination (four more than in Jacksonville and Duval County, where homophobic miscreant misanthrope misogynists, closet KKK members and mendacious ministers railed against equality for months last year).  Our leaders here spent less time debating equality than the burghers and bigots of Jacksonville (formerly known as "Cowford") spent clearing their throats.
Let us leave Jacksonville (f/k/a "Cowford") behind, in our dust, when it comes to tourism and recruiting new enterprises, whether young startups or Fortune 500 companies -- good and decent people like to visit and work in tolerant places, and that includes creative enterprises, whether young startups or the Fortune 500.
Who knows what, if anything, our five Republican St. Johns County Commissioners are thinking on the issue. Let us leave them to worry about their Tea Party and KKK problems (Republican former County Commission Chairman Ben Rich told Folio Weekly that St. Johns County was one of the KKK's "last bastions"). 

Let us leave Jacksonville's bigotry in the dustbins of America history -- what matters to us here is that St. Augustine is moving forward.  We're becoming more tolerant and more sophisticated, as I pointed out in a St. Augustine Record column last month.
We’re looking forward to establishing a St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Parkway, to include a National Civil Rights Museum and an Indigenous American Indian Cultural Museum. www.staugustgreen.comYes we can!
In the words of the Prayer of St. Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

NY Times Editorial Page Editor on MICHAEL S. BENNETT and Florida Voter Suppression Laws

February 28, 2012, 4:08 pm18 Comments

You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Vote

By ANDREW ROSENTHAL

Over the last few years, Republican governors and Republican state legislators have put tremendous effort into making voting more difficult. In 2011, 34 states introduced bills requiring citizens to show photo ID at the polls, and seven states have enacted those laws; thirteen states have ended same-day registration. The pretext is voter fraud—a problem, as I’ve explained many times, that isn’t really a problem at all.
At the forefront of the don’t-get-out-the-vote movement is Florida, which I suppose isn’t that surprising given the state’s inability to count the votes that were cast in 2000. Must be something in the soupy air; or maybe Florida policy-makers have grown to love the feeling of international mockery. The state has imposed new rules restricting third-party voter registration drives, which are so onerous that Rock the Vote, the League of Women Voters and the Florida Public Interest Research Group Education Fund have had to suspend their volunteer-led programs. Attorneys from the Brennan Center for Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union and two law firms filed suit to block these measures in December, and on Thursday a Florida federal judge will hear the case.

In the complaint, the attorneys argue that the law will “disproportionately harm members of minority communities, who regularly rely on…community-based groups to help them overcome barriers to registering to vote and participating in the democratic process.” They also say it will “cause disparate harm to senior citizens, students, people with disabilities, and members of rural and low-income communities.” (FL PIRG, for instances, focuses its efforts on student populations, and almost half of the students that the organization registered in 2010 were non-white.) Is it just a coincidence that these groups tend to vote Democratic?
The state must have a compelling reason to impose new restrictions despite these possible adverse consequences, right? Actually, no. Supporters are trotting out the voter fraud issue, as usual, and, as usual, it’s a complete canard. Representative Geraldine F. Thompson of the Florida House said that election supervisors “have not identified a problem with fraud.” State Senator Nan H. Rich said the bill’s champions could not “provide any proof that the integrity of our election process has been compromised.”
The only purpose, it seems, is increased difficulty. I’m not exaggerating. Here’s how State Senator Michael Bennett, the chamber’s President Pro-Tem, explained his support for the legislation:

Ever read the stories about people in Africa? The people in the desert who literally walk 200-300 miles so they could have an opportunity to do what we do? And we want to make it more convenient? .… I want ‘em to fight for it. I want ‘em to know what it’s like. I want ‘em to have to walk across town to go over and vote. I want ‘em to at least know the date of when they’re supposed to vote…. This is Florida and we should count. We do make it convenient for people to vote but I gotta tell ya I wouldn’t even have any problem making it harder.

Mr. Bennett didn’t have to look as far as undeveloped African countries to make his point. The government right here in America used to be really good at making it hard for “’em” to vote– with poll taxes and fire hoses and police dogs.
This is one of those moments when I wish I were on the Daily Show, so I could just stare incredulously into the camera.

TIME FOR "WE, THE PEOPLE" TO TO FIGHT FLORIDA CORRUPTION WITH CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

When the Florida Department of Community Affairs was demolished by Governor RICHARD SCOTT and his rabid wrecking crew in 2011, citizens were told local officials were supposed to decide local land use.

You've got to hand it to an outspoken “conservative” Bradenton Beach businessman, Aladdin Wand Electric owner MICHAEL S. BENNETT. Although BENNETT does not live or work in St. Johns County, BENNETT effectively got to decide in 2012 that a 607 acre tract of St. Johns County gets developed as a “rural enclave,” building homes there in Switzerland, overruling our laws and our local elected officials in St. Johns County. .

Who is this guy? Why did MICHAEL S. BENNETT get to trump our laws and our elected officials? You see, MICHAEL S. BENNETT was then a State Senator, and made the motion to except developer three minutes before the deadline on the last day of the legislative session, ramming his unconstitutional, stick-it-to St. Johns County “special law” through the legislature. He did so at the behest of wealthy developer JOSEPH ANDERSONS and his lobbyist, JAMES EATON. See today's Record article

and editorial.

MICHAEL S. BENNETT is an archetypical bully. The Bradenton Times reported in 2012:
As a Florida Senator, Bennett was involved in several controversial issues, including [pushing for SB 360] the legislative effort to dissolve the state's Department of Community Affairs and efforts to defeat Amendment 4 (Hometown Democracy Act). More recently, he was at the center of Florida's controversial new voting laws. During the 2011 session, Bennett was famously quoted while defending the law, criticized as designed to suppress the votes of minorities, saying, "I don't have a problem making it harder (to vote). I want the people in the state of Florida to want to vote as badly as that person in Africa who is willing to walk 200 miles for that opportunity he’s never had before in his life. This should not be easy.” 
Footnote: In 2012, MICHAEL S. BENNETT was elected Manatee County Supervisor of Elections!

In 2011, the NY Times reported that State Senator MICHAEL BENNETT (and State Representative Peter S. Nehr of Tarpon Springs) owned interests in putative “internet cafes.”

Now, "internet cafes" are facing criminal charges -- they are fronts for illegal gambling, federal and state law enforcement officials credibly allege, with affidavits an evidence to prove it.  Political contributions from ALLIED VETERANS OF THE WORLD, INC. AND AFFILIATES are targets of ongoing criminal investigations. Seminole County Sheriff Donald Enslinger says that this is “the second wave” of a nationwide multi-agency investigation of Florida gambling, using the ruse of charities operating putative “internet cafes.” 

This week's bust of ALLIED VETERANS involved 49 internet cafes making $300 million for “charity,” while giving less than 2% to “charity” and enriching its now-arrested leaders, including alleged “mastermind” lawyer KELLY MATHIS, a former Jacksonville Bar President, one of 61 people charged with hundreds of crimes (including the President and Vice President of the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police). The charges were initiated by the Seminole County Sheriff and a local-state-federal cooperative effort (first erroneously stated March 13^th to be a mainly federal effort). 

Let's learn from these two massive scandals.  They are a synecdoche, a part that stands for the whole -- a billion dollar strip mall casino industry and the re-writing of Florida law to inflict one developer's 607 acres of sprawl on Switzerland.

Inspired by our Founding Father's vision of limited government, let's re-write our State Constitution. Think of devilish MICHAEL S. BENETT, who said voting "should not be easy.” Well, neither should whoring.  You an use others terms. How about, "doing it the Tallahassee way?"

We need to know more about what other-directed, ethically-impaired energumen like MICHAEL S. BENNETT do with their time on our dime, doing in our rights "the Tallahassee way," with its Jim Crow Law presumption that corruption always prevails, and that law enforcement will cower to power.

Not this week.  Ask the Seminole County Sheriff and his staff, who deserve great appreciation.

We must work tirelessly, as citizens, in the spirit of  Federalist Papers No. 10, regulating "factions" (Big Money) and making corruption detection and citizen participation easier, and protecting the right to vote.

Read Florida Constitution, Article II, Section 8 (Ethics) and let's see how we can improve it. Look around. 

 Talk to people. Then think positively: how do we re-write our State Constitution to right the wrongs wrought by corruption, lucre and malice in Tallahassee.

Let's start with the public's right to be heard, which the St. Johns River Water Management District wrongfully denied my late friend Stetson Kennedy (and which Florida courts have not cured under the existing Constitution's Article I, Section 24).

Think of a State Constitutional Convention (under Article XI, Sec. 4) as being our second chance – a second chance for “We, the People” to get it right – for openers, to overrule SJRWMD's sleazy silencing of Stetson Kennedy, and many other substantive evils. (Proposed legislation on the subject may pass, but is more loophole than law).

We can watchdog government. Yes, we can!

We can increase transparency and public participation. We can work to eliminate governmental waste, fraud, abuse, sneakiness, secrecy, perfidy and venality.  We can assure better checks and balances, from City Halls to the State House.

MICHAEL S. BENNETT's 2012 sneak attack on St. Johns County's sovereignty was so typical of Tallahassee's corrupt, porcine “Pork Chop Gang” satraps – they exemplify “Gotcha Government.”

It will take more than arresting a few more crooks and cronies this time. Things are getting out of hand.
Studies suggest that Florida may be the most corrupt State in the Nation. The FBI has even taken out ads in some Florida daily newspapers asking for tips on official corruption.

Ultimately, “We, the People” of Florida must solve Florida's problems – Big Money is running our government. 

We are running out of time, for as the late U.S. Attorney General Robert Francis Kennedy said, “If we do not, on a national scale, attack organized criminals with weapons and techniques as sophisticated as their own, they will destroy us.”

“We, the People” have the right to call for a Florida State Constitutional Convention at any time. Let's do so. Let's win this one for the people.  Then let's promote healing, using a State Constitutional Convention to help cure the ills of a corrupt system, saving our democracy for future generations.  It's up to us.

Let the Constitutional Convention open government, so that legislators know "The Eyes of Florida Are Upon You."  To borrow the infamous words of Manatee County Supervisor of Elections, former State Senator MICHAEL S. BENNETT (below), it is corruption that “should not be easy.”

Welcoming Pope Francis to St. Augustine, Florida (on or about September 8, 2015) T

he first Roman Catholic Pope from the Americas – and our first Jesuit Pope – will soon be invited here to St. Augustine, to help celebrate the 450^th anniversary of St. Augustine, including the first Catholic Mass in North America, both on September 8, 2015.

The Argentinian-born Pope Francis is humble, dedicated to social justice, rides public transportation, lived in a small apartment, and cooked his own meals. He is an intellectual who taught psychology and other subjects and earned a Ph.D

He is an empathetic Jesuit scholar, one who ministers in the slums of Argentina, who excoriated those he called “hypocritical” priests who refused to Baptize the children of single mothers, who gave birth rather than "returning: their baby "to sender." We look forward to Pope Francis visiting here and teaching us here.

When he visits in St. Augustine in 2015, perhaps Pope Francis might dedicate a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, perhaps in association with the dedication of what we hope (and pray) will be our Nation's next National Park, the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. www.staugustgreen.com

Yes we can!

Honoring King Juan Carlos in St. Augustine, Florida

When King Juan Carlos comes to St. Augustine next, we need to dedicate our new $1.5 million breakwater to him. King Juan Carlos is a former Olympic sailor. He restored Constitutional democracy to Spain after decades of brutal, repressive dictatorship. It worked – Spain is now a vibrant democracy, something of which we can be proud. He stood up to coup attempts in 1981 and 1982. When Spain's legislators passed Gay marriage in 2005, he signed the law, stating to the press, “I am King of Spain, not Belgium” (referring to the Belgian king's refusal to sign a similar law). There are quite enough things named for Juan Ponce de Leon, including US 1 (and now a new Bridge, without meaningful public participation in choosing the PDL name. (Enough PDL stuff already!)

King Juan Carlos deserves the honor of a permanent legacy in St. Augustine – what better way than a sailing breakwater, suggested by City Manager John Regan Monday at night's meeting? It will be seen -- visited by tall ships (including Stanley Parris' ship, which he will soon sail around the world, solo).  King Juan Carlos deserves to see St. Augustine being transformed for the better, with his name on a permanent improvement that will make our town a better place for all of us.

Time to End Motoryclist Free Parking During Bike Week -- No Empirical Data Supports City "Tradition" -- Noise Mars Peaceful, Quiet Enjoyment of ur Historic Downtown 4% of Each Year

On March 8, 2013, I requested the City of St. Augustine and its PR man (PAUL WILLIAMSON, whose department gets $500,000/year), to kindly justify its policy of providing "free parking" for "Bike Week" motorcycle owners, who get free parking around our Plaza and Cathedral Basilica.  I asked for documents and asked questions.  A week has elapsed.  The City has nothing to offer in response.

There is no justification.

No cost-benefit analysis.

No memos.

No environmental impact statements.

No historic preservationist opinions.

No City Attorney opinions.

No lost parking revenue calculations.

No policy consideration of Fourteenth Amendment violations -- why grant free parking to the Wild Bunch?.

No discussion of the disquieting, noisy cheapening and of our Historic Preservation districts with rampant noise for four percent (4%) of each year -- in March and October.  During two weeks annually we and our St. Augustine visitors are deprived the peaceful quiet enjoyment of our historic downtown. Why?

No written justification, memos, cost-benefit-analysis or thoughtful policy consideration. None.  Zilch. Nada.

None.

The "Bike Week" free motorcycle parking decision was made without much thought, circa 2005.  It was was apparently based upon then-Commissioners' subjective preferences.  This was typical of the discredited, disrespectful decrepit good-ole-boy decision-making style during the Reign of Error of our former City Manager, WILLIAM B. HARRISS.

HARRISS is gone.  Yet is he still influencing events?

Our estimable City of St. Augustine spokesman PAUL WILLIAMSON was present at the creation of HARRISS' free parking policy.  PAUL WILLIAMSON is not talking.  He has the right to remain silent under the Fifth Amendment.  

For the past week, PAUL WILLIAMSON has ducked written questions and documents about Bike Week, providing no answers and no documents whatsoever.  PAUL WILLIAMSON  provided no information and no answers whatever --  while simultaneously offending democracy by emitting a snippy E-mail he blames on City Attorney RONALD WAYNE BROWN, who claims the E-mail was "legally required." (BROWN still has never had a performance evaluation, after five years on the job and despite   pledges that he would be evaluated).

Earlier today, WILLIAMSON stated in our CIty's weekly "News and Notes E-mail, stating it was a "tradition" to have free parking for "Bike Week."

That's one hideous "tradition."

Bike Week in st. Augustine's Historic Preservation neighborhoods is hellish for the non-bikers -- loud, obnoxious, ugly, trashy and crass -- a noisy "Wild Bunch"invasion of our "sense of place" in our Nation's Oldest City.   They're noisy and they scare horses, dogs and people (both children and adults).

Tradition?  People dying from malaria, yellow fever and smallpox due to government inactions were once "traditions," as once were people subjected to genocide, slavery, segregation and lynchings.  But we don't want those "traditions" back, either.  Do we?  We wouldn't listen to anyone rationalizing those plagues as desirable.  Would we?

Calling something "traditional" is  no substitute for thought.  In the words of the late United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., it is "disgusting" to have no other reason or a rule or law that it was "laid down during the reign of Henry IV."  But the reign of WILLIAM B. HARRISS?  How narcissistic.

Having Bike Week during two weeks each year in St. Augustine is like inviting ants to a picnic. Noisy ants.
Rich guys who never asked for free parking and don't need it.

Listen to the rumble and grumble of hundreds of noisy motorcycles during the twice-annual Bike Week and contemplate the words of the poet: "The world is too much with us, late and soon.  Getting and spending we lay waste our powers.  We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon." 

Let our muffler-impaired, often helmet-less motorcyclist guests enter and leave this quiet town the back way, using the parking garage.

Let us not invite our noisy "Bike Week" guests to vroom-vroom-vroom their way around our historic downtown all day without helmets, making walking and driving hazardous, sometimes getting killed and killing themselves (and others) as occurs so often and  forseeably in Daytona Beach, Florida and other "Bike Week" venues across America and in St. Johns County earlier this month.

Let the "Bike Week" guests show respect  Let the bikers kindly walk, saunter or sashay down St. George Street (and adjacent streets) like everyone else.  They don't need to have the rent-free use of our Plaza de la Constitucion, in front of our Cathedral Basilica to hawk their wares or show off their possessions.  How crass.

WILLIAMSON wrote the "tradition" includes an "unofficial display of a wide variety of motorcycles from around the county (sic) making it an attraction (sic) for visitors."  That's spin, not data.

WILLIAMSON's assumptions are contrary to the historic character of our downtown.

We don't consider noisy metal objects in our Nation's Oldest City's Historic Downtown to be the least bit "attract[ive]."

We don't consider dozens of imotorcyles parked at the Plaza to be compliant with Department of the Interior standards, or the reasonable expectations of an historic city.

Does anyone else?

The city has again created yet another problem at the Plaza.  Now it is with excessive noisy visitor parking -- that's why we have a $25 million Visitor Information Center parking garage (and the interest bills to show for it). Let's look to motorcycle enthusiasts to pay their fair share from now, instead of giving them any more "free rides" and uglification and nois-ification of our downtown. 

Enough "gaming the system" to grant government favors for owners of noisy vehicles.

Let us not invite noisy and even noisome nuisances to drive and park in our narrow historic streets.  And let us not give those nuisances them free parking by our historic Cathedral Basilica!

On Wednesday, March 13, 2013, the night Pope Francis was named, anyone wanting to pray in and enjoy our 1797 St. Augustine Roman catholic Cathedral Basilica had to breathe hog-smoke and step around $25,000 motorcycles to do so.  How distracting.  How unnecessary. How gauche. How inauthentic.

After a week without any data or answers, PAUL WILLIAMSON asserts vague public benefits from free parking for noisy machines, doing so in the City's March 15, 2013 "News and Notes."  In response to my March 8, 2013 E-mail, WILLIAMSON has had no documents, no answers and no data.

I reckon PAUL WILLIAMSON suffers from both: (A) a surfeit of logical fallacies and (B) acalculia (an inability to perform mathematical functions), both of which are not uncommon ailments. It sounds like WILLIAMSON sorta thinks he's still working for WILLIAM B. HARRISS and the Chamber of Commerce, unable to process information for our City leaders and citizens.  HARRISS and WILLIAMSON used Jim Crow Law to outlaw painting and singing on St. George Street, hating creativity, basing their law-breaking lawmaking on "obstruction of traffic." At the same time, they welcomed traffic-obstructing motorcyclists.  Expecting HARRISS and WILLIAMSON to make logical sense is asking too much, I reckon -- what do you expect from a pig but a grunt?.

WILLIAMSON is kinda stuck on himself, writing on his Linked-in page that he is "An effective communicator in both the written word and all public speaking forums. Especially skilled in issue development and information delivery and marketing through print, the electronic media and face-to-face meetings; special project management, from concept to completion, including those involving meeting management, marketing of issues, products or programs, and all aspects of public relations."  Except he can't answer questions or provide documents on Bike Week.

We in the "reality-based community" reject nonsense, cant and flummery from government.  This is our government.  It does not belong to PAUL WILLIAMSON or motorcycle riders (or groups or gangs of them).  It is up to us, not them.


Let's insist our leaders base City of St. Augustine public policy on real facts and good science.  OK?

Let's reject and be done with oleaginous PAUL WILLIAMSON's rote invocation of "tradition," one without factual foundation.  If it were ever to be deemed by some to be a "tradition"  it is one that is only eight (8) years old, in a City that is more than 447 years old!  That's not much of a "tradition." But do remember the words of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: how "disgusting!"

Let the ostentatious "idle rich" and their noisy machines violate eardrums and aesthetics elsewhere.   Not in our Historic District, please.

Let the visiting motorcycle enthusiasts park somewhere besides the Plaza.  Let them pay like everyone else. They can afford it.  There is no public benefit, only burdens on the rest of us to endure their nasty noise.  In the words of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, "Not one penny for tribute."

No more free riders, please.  Our Nation's Oldest City is about history and authenticity -- not trashy Bike Week.  Let Bike Week patrons park away from our Cathedral Basilica from now on, please!

What do you reckon?

 Photo credit: J.D. Pleasant (and a cast of thousands). Former City Manager WILLIAM B. HARRISS (a/k/a "WILL HARASS") is gone -- so why does PAUL WILLIAMSON still act like he's City Manager, blocking Open Records requests and arrogantly insisting that "Bike Week" free parking is good for our community?  It's long past time for PAUL WILLIAMSON to go, and with him his slothful work habits and bad attitude toward democracy.  Like BAGHDAD BOB and SADDAM HUSSEIN, PAUL WILLIAMSON and WILLIAM B. HARRISS were two of a kind -- HARRISS is gone. PAUL WILLIAMSON needs to be gone, too.