Come to May 18-20 Budget Hearings by St. Johns County Commission

So controversial St. Johns County, Florida Sheriff "Spends-a-lot" DAVID SHOAR's political machine plans to hold untelevised Budget hearings all day, May 18-20, 2016. SHOAR's henchman, County Administrator MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK, refuses to televise and video-archive the hearings, walking away from me after less than a minute on May 3, 2016. In the words of the late Wm. F. Buckley, Jr., "Why does baloney reject the grinder?" Come watch. Ask questions. Demand answers. Expect democracy.
Current plans:
Won't be in County Administration Building Auditorium (Taj Mahal).
Why?
Won't be televised.
Why?
Won't be videotaped.
Why?
To be held in a conference room in this fancy-bears $16 million building.  (Below).
The "Gauze Mahal."
Why?

Because Sheriff "Spends-A-Lot," DAVID BERNERD SHOAR, f/k/a "HOAR," wants it thattaway.
He and his political machine disrespect your Right to Know.
Rights our Founders established.
Rights in our Florida Constitution.
I've filed a complaint against his henchman, County Administrator MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK. See below.

St. Johns County's all-Republican Commissioners, Administrators and Sheriff "Spends-a-Lot" DAVID SHOAR with $140 pair of scissors at dedication of $16 million County Health and Human Services Building.

-----Original Message-----

From: easlavin
To: coc ; bsimmons
Sent: Wed, May 4, 2016 12:53 pm
Subject: Investigation of St. Johns County Administrator MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK's Refusal to Broadcast Budget Hearings May 18-20, 2016

Dear Messrs. Conrad and Simmons:

Please investigate Mr. Wanchick's refusal to broadcast our County Budget Hearings on our $629,000,000 budget -- a violation of ADA and Sunshine, constituting waste, fraud and abuse.

It's our money.   

We, the People have a right to televised Budget Hearings.  All other County Commission meetings are televised. 

As the authors of the Fundamental Laws of West New Jersey wrote in 1676, (Sec. 23): "Justice may not be done in a corner, nor in any covert manner."

Please see below.

Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am, 

Sincerely yours,

Ed

Ed Slavin

www.edslavin.com

904-377-4998

-----Original Message-----
From: easlavin <easlavin@aol.com>
To: mwanchick <mwanchick@sjcfl.us>; mryan <mryan@sjcfl.us>; pmccormack <pmccormack@sjcfl.us>
Sent: Wed, May 4, 2016 11:47 am
Subject: Request No. 2016-177: Your Denial of Service Attack on Our Democracy and Public Participation Rights: Your Refusal of Sunshine & ADA Reasonable Accommodation and Refusal to Hold and Televise May 18-20 Budget Hearings in St. Johns County Auditorium

Request No. 2016-177:  Your Denial of Service Attack on Our Democracy and Public Participation Rights: Your Refusal of Sunshine & ADA Reasonable Accommodation and Refusal to Hold and Televise May 18-20, 2016 Budget Hearings in St. Johns County Auditorium

Dear Mr. Wanchick:

1. Yesterday, May 3, 2016, at about 1 PM, during a break in the SJC BCC meeting, in the County Auditorium, you spoke to me (for less than one minute). 

2. I inquired about:

A. Your denial of an ADA reasonable accommodation; and

B. Your refusal to televise St. Johns County's May 18-20, 2016 Budget Hearing on COMCAST & AT&T cable television (SJC Government TV channel) and GTV live streaming video on the Internet.

3.  Yesterday you claimed that you were "in compliance" with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), you did not articulate any valid legal reason for not televising and not video-archiving three (3) days of Budget Hearings on a $629,000,000 annual budget, then you abruptly turned your back and you walked away.    Our discussion was not finished.  Please call me today.

4.  Your curt behavior in response to my ADA and Sunshine "compliance" concerns yesterday showed a lack of compassion and decorum on your part --- and a lack of dignity, respect and consideration for First Amendment protected activity.   How gauche and louche.  

5.  Please send me today all documents on your consideration (if any) of my ADA and Sunshine request, your consultation with the County Attorney and Commissioners, and all research, e-mails, legal advice and research leading to your maladroit and dismissive response and to Mr.  Ryan's written response to Mr. Reynolds dated May 2, 2016 .

6. Are you willing to agree to mediation by Florida Assistant Attorney General Patricia Gleason?

_____ Yes    _______ No

Thank you for your prompt response today.

With kindest regards, I am, 

Sincerely yours,

Ed

Ed Slavin

www.edslavin.com

904-377-4998

-----Original Message-----

From: easlavin <easlavin@aol.com>
To: pmccormack <pmccormack@sjcfl.us>; mwanchick <mwanchick@sjcfl.us>; mryan <mryan@sjcfl.us>
Sent: Wed, May 4, 2016 8:24 am
Subject: Request No. 2016-176: Photo, fire marshall occupancy rating and diagram of SJC HHS Building Conference Room, including furniture, electrical, PA, telecommunications and camera outlet locations

Please send.  Thank you.

-----Original Message-----

From: easlavin <easlavin@aol.com>

To: mwanchick <mwanchick@sjcfl.us>; pmccormack <pmccormack@sjcfl.us>; bcc1jjohns <bcc1jjohns@sjcfl.us>; bcc2jsmith <bcc2jsmith@sjcfl.us>; bccd3 <bccd3@sjcfl.us>; bccd4 <bccd4@sjcfl.us>; bccd5 <bccd5@sjcfl.us>; coc <coc@sjccoc.us>; arimel <arimel@sjcfl.us>; mryan <mryan@sjcfl.us>
Sent: Mon, May 2, 2016 2:43 pm
Subject: ADA Reasonable Accommodation and Sunshine Law Request on St. Johns County Budget Hearings May 18-20, 2016; Request No. 2016-175

Dear Chairman Smith, County Commissioners and Messrs. Wanchick, McCormack and Ryan:

A. No response to my 5/1 requests.  Why?  

B. I just received the response Mr. Ryan sent to Mr. Reynolds e-mail today.

C. His pretexts are at best facetious and "not worthy of belief."  DeFord v. TVA, 700 F.2d 281, 283 (6th Cir. 1983).

D. Your "historically" holding meetings at inconvenient times and places is a stench in the nostrils of our Nation.

E. What County ordinance allows or requires such evasion of television?

F. Why hold a meeting in a cramped conference room instead of the County Auditorium?

G. This is undemocratic and a blatant attempt to avoid public scrutiny.

H.  One of you (Commissioner Morris) publicly insulted and stigmatized me at the June 16, 2015 meeting on the proposed 16.66% sales tax for opposing waste fraud and abuse but not attending the untelevised Budget Hearings.   Once again, BCC is still holding Budget Hearings away from tv scrutiny.  Why?  Again:

1. Please assure that there is live streaming internet, live cable TV video and archived video of the May 18-20, 2016 Budget Hearing of the St. Johns County Commission.

2. Why is the important annual budget meeting not being held at the County Commission Auditorium?  Please explain and provide documents.

3. This is a request for reasonable accommodation pursuant to ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and for using best available technology to comply with reasonable expectation of probity under Florida's Sunshine laws, enacted pursuant to Article I, Section 24, Fla. Constitution by vote of 3.8 million people (83% of voters) in 1992.

4. Please honor your duties under your constitutional oath, pursuant to Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, to "support, protect and defend the Constitution and laws…."

5. Please send all documents concerning this and my prior ADA and Sunshine requests to open all public meetings to public scrutiny via live streaming video and archived video. 

6. St. Johns County has a custom, usage, practice and procedure violating First Amendment rights by holding BCC and Board meetings at the most inconvenient times and places,  so that we won't be able to go and discuss government actions, just as our Founders complained in the Declaration of Independence (1776), listing the offensives against democracy of King George III.  

7. Why do you hold meetings that are not televised?   Please explain and provide documents.

8. Why are virtually all of your meetings during the workday?   Please explain and provide documents.Please call me to discuss.

Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

Ed Slavin

www.edslavin.com

904-377-4998

-----Original Message-----

From: Tom Reynolds <thomasfreynolds@yahoo.com>
To: Ed Slavin <easlavin@aol.com>
Sent: Mon, May 2, 2016 2:12 pm
Subject: Fw: Budget meetings

On Monday, May 2, 2016 12:51 PM, Michael Ryan <mryan@sjcfl.us> wrote:

Mr. Reynolds,

Thank you for contacting St. Johns County with your inquiry about the Administrator Budget Hearings. Mr. Wanchick asked me to respond on his behalf due to my involvement in the division that operates GTV. Because the design of BCC Auditorium is not conducive to the round table discussions that occur during the Administrator’s Budget Hearings, the meetings have historically been held at other County facilities. The hearings mentioned in your email will be held in the Health and Human Services building conference room. The County does not currently possess the technology or equipment to live broadcast off-site meetings. In addition, while we can video record in the field, we do not have the capabilities to capture audio at an off-site meeting that would be adequate for a rebroadcast on GTV. The Administrator’s Budget Hearings are open to the public and will be noticed in the media, on the St. Johns County website, and through a variety of other communication tools. We look forward to seeing you there. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any additional questions regarding GTV.

Thank You,

Michael Ryan

Director of Communications

St. Johns County, Florida

Office: 904.209.0549 / Cell: 214.493.2983 / www.sjcfl.us

From: Tom Reynolds [mailto:thomasfreynolds@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2016 9:29 AM
To: Michael Wanchick
Cc: Commissioner Jeb Smith; Commissioner James K. Johns; Commissioner Bill McClure; Commissioner Jay Morris; Commissioner Rachael Bennett; Patrick McCormack
Subject: Budget meetings

To: Mr Michael Wanchick, County Administrator of St Johns                County, Florida

From: Tom Reynolds, a very concerned Citizen, St Johns County,               Florida

Re: Budget Hearings 

Mr Wanchick, will the Budget Hearings that are going to be held starting May 18th 2016 and going through May 20th 2016 going to be Televised on our County GTV ? 

Thank You,

Tom Reynolds   

-----Original Message-----

From: easlavin <easlavin@aol.com>
To: mwanchick <mwanchick@sjcfl.us>; pmccormack <pmccormack@sjcfl.us>; bcc1jjohns <bcc1jjohns@sjcfl.us>; bcc2jsmith <bcc2jsmith@sjcfl.us>; bccd3 <bccd3@sjcfl.us>; bccd4 <bccd4@sjcfl.us>; bccd5 <bccd5@sjcfl.us>

Sent: Sun, May 1, 2016 3:44 pm
Subject: ADA Reasonable Accommodation and Sunshine Law Request on St. Johns County Budget Hearings May 18-20, 2016; Request No. 2016-175

Dear Chairman Smith, County Commissioners and Messrs. Wanchick and McCormack:

1. Please assure that there is live streaming internet, live cable TV video and archived video of the May 18-20, 2016 Budget Hearing of the St. Johns County Commission.

2. Why is the important annual budget meeting not being held at the County Commission Auditorium?  Please explain and provide documents.

3. This is a request for reasonable accommodation pursuant to ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and for using best available technology to comply with reasonable expectation of probity under Florida's Sunshine laws, enacted pursuant to Article I, Section 24, Fla. Constitution by vote of 3.8 million people (83% of voters) in 1992.

4. Please honor your duties under your constitutional oath, pursuant to Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, to "support, protect and defend the Constitution and laws…."

5. Please send all documents concerning this and my prior ADA and Sunshine requests to open all public meetings to public scrutiny via live streaming video and archived video. 

6. St. Johns County has a custom, usage, practice and procedure violating First Amendment rights by holding BCC and Board meetings at the most inconvenient times and places,  so that we won't be able to go and discuss government actions, just as our Founders complained in the Declaration of Independence (1776), listing the offensives against democracy of King George III.  

7. Why do you hold meetings that are not televised?   Please explain and provide documents.

8. Why are virtually all of your meetings during the workday?   Please explain and provide documents.Please call me to discuss.

Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

Ed Slavin

www.edslavin.com

904-377-4998

Two Tallahassee Lobbying Firms Merge

GrayRobinson, Cannon firms merge

BY THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

In a move that will combine two prominent Tallahassee lobbying shops, the GrayRobinson law firm is merging with Capitol Insight, a firm founded by former House Speaker Dean Cannon. Under terms of the merger, Cannon will serve as statewide chairman of government affairs and executive vice president of GrayRobinson. Cannon, an attorney, worked for GrayRobinson from 1995 to 2007. "The merger blends the power and experience of Capitol Insight into the statewide footprint of politically charged GrayRobinson," GrayRobinson President and Managing Shareholder Byrd F. "Biff" Marshall, Jr. said in a prepared statement. Also joining GrayRobinson as part of the deal are are former House Speaker Larry Cretul, Rheb Harbison, Cynthia Lorenzo, Richard Reeves, Kirk Pepper and Joseph Salzverg. Cretul seved as House speaker in 2009 and 2010 and was followed in the job by Cannon.

Stop bigotry

FBI Investigating Local Hater, JOAQUIN MARIANO DEMORETA-FOLCH

A local extremist hater, "property rights" advocate JOAQUIN MARIANO DEMORETA-FOLCH,  is under FBI investigation.

He had planned to be "judge" at Malheur NWR occupation kangaroo court grand jury.

In 2011, JOAQUIN MARIANO DEMORETA-FOLCH accused County Commissioners and activists of "treason" for considering St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. He accused St. Johns County Commissioners of "treason" at the November 1, 2011 Commission meeting, where he and other extremists opposed the proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore.  As we reported in January:

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Local Man to Preside at Malheur NWR Kangaroo Court

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that the armed terrorists occupying Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have invited JOAQUIN MARIANO DEMORETA-FOLCH, a St. Johns County resident, to be the "judge" at a kangaroo court "grand jury" attacking federal government land ownership. 

http://www.opb.org/news/series/burns-oregon-standoff-bundy-militia-news-updates/oregon-occupiers-common-law-grand-jury/

JOAQUIN MARIANO DEMORETA-FOLCH has a habit of filing bizarre, seemingly meritless rambling legal filings -- he is not an attorney.  Sample here:  http://scannedretina.com/2014/06/18/public-notice-joaquin-mariano-demoreta-folch-common-law-grand-jury-administrator-announces/
For good reasons, U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales dismissed DEMORETA's deluded lawsuit in 2015, writing:

This case is before the Court on a complaint filed by Joaquin Mariano DeMoreta-Folch in the name of "We the People Statewide Common Law Grand Jury, Florida." (Doc. 1; Complaint). The Complaint names employees of Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) and several government officials, accusing them of various crimes and acts of wrongdoing apparently arising from FPL's attempt to replace DeMoreta-Folch's residential electrical meter box with a smart-meter. This Complaint is part of a troublesome trend, whereby citizens purporting to act as "common law grand juries" file frivolous or non-cognizable complaints in federal court. These frivolous and patently misleading filings burden the judiciary and hinder its ability to administer justice in truly meritorious cases.

Upon review, the instant Complaint fails to articulate a cognizable claim for relief. District courts have "the inherent authority to dismiss a patently frivolous complaint." Cuyler v. Aurora Loan Services, LLC, 2012 WL 10488184, at *2 (11th Cir. 2012) (unpublished) (citing Fitzgerald v. First East Seventh Street Tenants Corp., 221 F.3d 362, 364 (2d Cir. 2000)). The courts have that authority whether the complainant has paid the filing fee, as here, or not. Fitzgerald, 221 F.3d at 364. Additionally, the Complaint fails to articulate the basis of the Court's subject matter jurisdiction.¹ Because this Complaint is patently frivolous and fails to state any claim on which relief can be granted, it is due to be dismissed.

Ordinarily, the Court would give a pro se litigant, such as DeMoreta-Folch, leave to amend the complaint before dismissing it — if "it appear[ed] a more carefully drafted complaint might state a claim upon which relief can be granted[.]" Bank v. Pitt, 928 F.2d 1108, 1112 (11th Cir. 1991), overruled in part by Wagner v. Daewoo Heavy Indus. Am. Corp., 314 F.3d 541, 542 (11th Cir. 2002) (en banc) (overruling Pitt's holding only where the litigant is counseled, and the litigant neither moved to amend nor requested leave to amend). Upon review of the Complaint, the Court is convinced that DeMoreta-Folch could not state a cognizable claim for relief even if the Court gave him leave to amend, and therefore granting such leave would be futile.

Accordingly, it is hereby

ORDERED:

1. Complainant Joaquin Mariano DeMoreta-Folch's Complaint (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED.2. The Clerk of Court is directed to close the file.3. The Clerk of Court is further directed to remove the .pdf of the Complaint from the electronic filing system and maintain it in paper format.

DONE AND ORDERED.

FootNotes

1. Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and therefore have an obligation to inquire into their subject matter jurisdiction. See Kirkland v. Midland Mortgage Co., 243 F.3d 1277, 1279-80 (11th Cir. 2001). This obligation exists regardless of whether the parties have challenged the existence of subject matter jurisdiction. See Univ. of S. Ala. v. Am. Tobacco Co., 168 F.3d 405, 410 (11th Cir. 1999) ([I]t is well settled that a federal court is obligated to inquire into subject matter jurisdiction sua sponte whenever it may be lacking."). "In a given case, a federal district court must have at least one of three types of subject matter jurisdiction: (1) jurisdiction under a specific statutory grant; (2) federal question jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331; or (3) diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)." Baltin v. Alaron Trading Corp., 128 F.3d 1466, 1469 (11th Cir. 1997). In the event this threshold requirement is not met, the Court must dismiss the action if it "determines at any time that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction." Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3). Although DeMoreta-Folch alleges that FPL violated various constitutional rights, he does not allege that FPL is a state actor, or that FPL was acting under color of state law when it engaged in the conduct of which he complains. Therefore, the Court has no basis to assume that it has federal question jurisdiction merely because DeMoreta-Folch alleges constitutional violations by FPL, a private company.

http://www.leagle.com/decision/In%20FDCO%2020150710C91/DeMORETA-FOLCH%20v.%20RODRIGUEZ

For good reasons, after a case filed by DEMORETA-FOLCH was dismissed by St. Johns County Circuit Court Judge J. Michael Traynor, in 2010, the docket notes:

10/14/2010

******DO NOT ACCEPT OR TIME STAMP ANY PLEADINGS BY MR FOLCH UNLESSSIGNED BY AN ATTORNEY. *****

On November 1, 2011, JOAQUIN MARIANO DEMORETA-FOLCH, a local Tea Party advocate who lives near St. Augustine, publicly threatened St. Johns County Commissioners with "treason" charges if they supported the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore.

JOAQUIN MARIANO DEMORETA-FOLCH was the Tea Party's lead dog speaker on agenda item 1, our proposal for St. Johns County to support the proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore, first proposed by Mayor Walter Fraser and then Senators Pepper and Andrews in 1939.  

Speakers in favor included the late environmental activist Ms. Robin Nadeau, Ms. Judith Seraphin, 2008 Democratic Congressional nominee Faye Armitage and former County Commissioner Sarah Bailey.  The discussion spanned some ninety minutes.  While proponents were speaking JOAQUIN MARIANO DEMORETA-FOLCH's his allies made gun noises and gun gestures and accused those of us who wanted to promote a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore (particularly me) of being Nazis and Communists in the spirit of Hitler, Stalin and Goebbels.  

Five all-Republican St. Johns County Commissioners were not given any staff advice or memorandum. Their then Assistant County Administrator, JERRY CAMERON, is a Tea Party supporter who has appeared in Patrick Henry costume at Tea Party meetings; CAMERON retired in 2015 and is now the developer-supported candidate running for County Commissioner, with more than $56,000 of contributions. 

With significant encouragement from CAMERON, the Commissioners were terrorized by the Tea Party and voted against supporting the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore.

Their logic was as specious as the Tea Party's sophistry.  Although Commissioners have a civility rule, they never enforced it, despite being asked to do so.
Read DEMORETA's bragging of his influence on the vote here: http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2011/11/in-haec-verba-st-augustine-tea-party.html

Links to St. Augustine Record story and my responsive Sunday column are here: 

http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2011/11/blog-post.html

http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2011/11/st-augustine-record-guest-column.html

www.staugustgreen.com

View video here (my opening statement November 1, 2011 County Commission meeting). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpGJHDyA_pU

Time to Cut Pretense of "Decorum"

St. Johns County's all-Republican Commissioners, Administrators and Sheriff "Spends-a-Lot" DAVID SHOAR with $140 pair of scissors at dedication of $16 million County Health and Human Services Building.

We don't need lectures on "decorum" from five all-Republican County Commissioners who refuse to do their jobs without fear or favor of corrupt contractors and developers and inept county bureaucrats.

County Commissioners May 3 repeatedly tried to cut short the presentation of Treasure Beach residents about the breach of contract, breach of warranty, bad dredging work, inept County supervision of its contract, bad contract-writing, flummery, dupery, noncompoopery, waste, fraud, abuse, misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance of County Project Managers, who referred concerned neighbors to the County Attorney.  Maladroit County Commissioners praised their awful staff and insulted the concerned Treasure Beach residents, each assessed $10,000 for $3,000,000 worth of bad contractor work by GATOR DREDGING.  Residents were lectured pompously about how they should not applaud (which is protected activity under the First and Ninth Amendments).  Later, Commissioners airily insulted the residents for having shown a lack of "decorum."  Decorum is not the issue -- it's a failure of democracy when County Commissioners show such shameful, disdainful bias.

Time to Cut the Foolishness at County Commission

St. Johns County's all-Republican Commissioners, Administrators and Sheriff "Spends-a-Lot" DAVID SHOAR with $140 pair of scissors at dedication of $16 million County Health and Human Services Building.

Watching five all-Republican St. Johns County Commissioners "investigate" a documented Sunshine violation is like watching a duck try to make love to a football.

This is what you end up with:


(Art by Chuck Rowland)

Discussion was pitiful May 3, 2016 of the documented Sunshine violation by DICK WILLIAMS, County PZA Chair, in writing Commissioners.

County Attorney PATRICK McCORMACK -- who has delusions of adequacy -- asked WILLIAMS leading questions -- questions suggesting the answer -- in a transparent and unethical effort to try to coverup and paper over the documented Sunshine violation, with WILLIAMS stating in haec verba that he and the other Board members -- who had no legal meeting -- now supported putting BRAD NELSON back on the Planning and Zoning Agency.

Worse, the St. Augustine Record censored the truth, with a very shallow discussion (see below).

Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve putting BRAD NELSON back on the Planning and Zoning Agency, approving the Sunshine violation

What's going on here?

You tell me.

Play the tape -- it's here:  http://stjohnscountyfl.swagit.com/play/05032016-545  (click on agenda item 7)

Time to Cut the Pretension of Democracy -- No SJC BCC Answers on Public Questions

St. Johns County's all-Republican Commissioners, Administrators and Sheriff "Spends-a-Lot" DAVID SHOAR with $140 pair of scissors at dedication of $16 million County Health and Human Services Building.

When St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Shaver or St. Augustine Beach Mayor Richard O'Brien (or prior Mayor Sherman Gary Snodgrass) have presided over meetings, and people ask questions, they get answers.

When St. Johns County Commission Chairs preside in recent years, there are no answers to public questions.

Stop pretending we have a democracy, Commissioners.  Jimmy Carter says we have a corrupt oligarchy.

I agree.

Either answer public questions and hold Budget Hearings on television, or prepare for consequences. 

Our former Vice President and Oscar® and Nobel Prize winner Albert Gore, Jr. has rightly compared Americans to a dysfunctional family in dealing with environmental issues, quoting Sir Winston Spencer Churchill, who said:
The Government simply cannot make up their minds, or they cannot get the Prime Minister to make up his mind. So they go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.... The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.
[Winston Churchill before the House of Commons, November 12, 1936 regarding appeasement of Nazis, quoted in Albert Gore, Jr., Earth in the Balance (1992) at 196 in context of desuetude and indecision in U.S. environmental policy.]

There has been no discussion by St. Johns County Commissioners of the proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore since the infamous date of November 1, 2011, when five craven Commissioners let gun-gesturing bullies, cowards and bigots call us "Nazis and Communists," comparing me to "Hitler, Stalin and Goebbels" for wanting to protect our public lands from developers and the likes of Governor RICHARD LYNN SCOTT.

Without speaking of "decorum" or invoking their "civility" rule.

Lyin' Chamberpot Propaganda Against Arbitration Rule

The St. Augustine Record shares office space at 1 News Place with the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, part of the right-wing Chamber of Commerce of the United States, a/k/a "Chamberpot."
 
Very revealing.

Here's the Chamber of Commerce of the United States Institute for Legal Reform propaganda directed against the rule against cramdown mandatory arbitration by adhesion contract (see post below):

CFPB's Anti-Arbitration Rule Will Protect Plaintiffs' Lawyers over Consumers The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will announce a new rule today to prohibit companies "from including mandatory arbitration clauses in financial contracts that deny consumers the right to join class action lawsuits," reports The Hill.  "It sounds like it's intended to protect consumers by allowing them to sue companies for damages, but the result actually works against them," writes ILR President Lisa A. Rickard and U.S. Chamber Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness President and CEO David Hirschmann in a Politico op-ed. "It will effectively eliminate arbitration for many consumers and replace it with class action suits, which do a poor job of compensating consumers and a great job of enriching plaintiffs' lawyers." "The CFPB is proposing to give the biggest gift to plaintiffs' lawyers in a half century," said Rickard and Hirschmann in the Associated Press. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Chamber warned in a letter to the CFPB that "the rule would force companies to stop using arbitration clauses altogether, eliminating an option that is 'cheaper, faster and more effective at delivering relief to consumers.'"

Victory for Consumers Against Cramdown Arbitration Agreements

Mandatory cramdown arbitration (by unconscionable "contracts of adhesion") is a cynical device invented by wicked evil corporations for hoodwinking, cheating and euchring consumers, as Judge James L. Guill and I documented in our 1989 American Bar Association Judges' Journal article, "A Rush to Unfairness -- the Downside to Alternative Dispute Resolution." Three cheers for this victory. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/05/business/dealbook/consumer-agency-moves-to-assert-bank-customers-right-to-sue.html?_r=0

RECORD OMITS A LOT FROM COMMISSION STORY

Looks like Jake Martin's reporting as St. Johns County Commission correspondence was heavily censored and martially altered. He took thorough notes all day long, sitting next to me, only to have the "news hole" swallowed up by murders in another county. Watching the St. Augustine Record management trying to cover up for St. Johns County crooks is like watching a duck try to make love to a football.

St. Johns County Commission approves PZA picks; Treasure Beach residents air out complaints over dredging
Posted: May 3, 2016 - 11:49pm | Updated: May 4, 2016 - 4:41am

By JAKE MARTIN
jake.martin@staugustine.com
St. Johns County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved the appointment of Brad Nelson to his old seat on the Planning and Zoning Agency for a partial term expiring Sept. 2, 2018.

Also approved were the reappointments of current members Jeff Martin and Jon Woodard, who will be serving full four-year terms expiring Oct. 4, 2019.

Nelson resigned from the board in October so he could file to run for St. Johns County property appraiser but withdrew from the race in February.

His decision to re-apply for the PZA following his campaign exit set the stage for controversy when the PZA backed away from its initial recommendation of St. Augustine Beach Planning and Zoning Board member Karen Zander for the open position.

Further complicating matters, Nelson and Zander both missed what the county said was a Nov. 25 deadline.

Zander’s application made it to the PZA for consideration after it came to the county on Nov. 30. Nelson’s application didn’t arrive until Feb. 12, four days before the County Commission was scheduled to vote.

Zander on Tuesday said she was “flabbergasted” when county staff at the Feb. 16 commission meeting said her application was late. She claimed the story was a fabrication executed with the goal of restoring Nelson to his former seat.

“Brad Nelson has shown that he is not willing to hold himself accountable for his own willful decision to resign from the St. Johns County PZA,” she said during public comment. “This board, then, must do it for him.”

A county spokeswoman had said because the county accepts applications for boards like the PZA year-round, Zander wasn’t given any sort of immediate notification she missed the deadline earlier in the process.

In a Feb. 14 email to commissioners, PZA chair Dick Williams said he and fellow PZA members would “fully support” Nelson’s return as a senior member of the board. That message was followed the next day by several emails from PZA members to commissioners in support of Nelson’s re-appointment.

Williams on Tuesday addressed questions raised during public comment as to whether members of the PZA violated the state’s Sunshine Laws when they threw their support toward Nelson without a formal recommendation. Williams said there was no coordination and that his email to commissioners only assumed fellow members would share his position.

Citing concerns with the application process and potential makeup of the PZA with scheduled leaves and pending retirements, commissioners on Feb. 16 voted 4-1 to postpone the vote to fill the vacancies and re-advertise. Commissioner Bill McClure had voted alone in dissent, saying there were plenty of qualified candidates who turned in applications on time.

Commissioners on Tuesday also unanimously approved the appointments of St. Augustine Beach Commissioner Andrea Samuels and Todd Hickey, general manager at Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa, to the Tourism Development Council.

One of the available seats was required to be a city of St. Augustine Beach representative and the other was required to be an owner/operator of a tourist accommodation subject to bed tax.

Samuels will serve a four-year term expiring April 1, 2020. Hickey will serve a partial term due to expire Feb. 4.



Treasure Beach

Commissioners also heard a presentation regarding a canal dredging project at Treasure Beach that residents say was not done properly.

Residents said they paid to have the canals dredged to a 5-foot depth but that there were at least 16 locations where corrective action was needed due to silting. Many homeowners in the State Road A1A South development said they’re having trouble moving freely to the Intracoastal Waterway.

A previous dredging of the canals lasted almost 15 years. The latest dredging was done by Clearwater-based Gator Dredging between May and December 2014 via a contract with the county.

The County Commission on Aug. 6, 2013, had voted in approval of establishing a Municipal Service Benefit Unit — essentially a designated taxing district — at Treasure Beach in order to raise $3 million to dredge about 5.5 miles of canals. Homeowners in the area committed to paying about $10,000 per house over 15 years to pay for the effort, according to a previous St. Augustine Record report.

While some residents say they don’t believe the dredging was done as specified in contract documents, county officials say payments were made because a surveyor showed the work was in compliance with the contract.

Many residents said during public comment Tuesday they don’t want a fight, they just want the canals fixed.

Damon Douglas, project manager for the county, said that could cost up to $200,000.

Who’s responsible for what, however, has yet to be determined.

Commissioner Jimmy Johns said the discussion was in danger of drifting into murky waters.

“There’s a legal document and there’s an expectation, and I don’t know that the two matched,” he said, adding there are many technicalities and variables that will have to be examined.

McClure, whose District 3 seat encompasses the Treasure Beach community, said he will bring a specific request to commissioners as to how to fix the canal situation within the next 30 days. He said he would include all three parties — the county, affected residents and Gator Dredging — in that solution.

Other business

Commissioners voted unanimously to send proposed changes to the Land Development Code to the PZA for further consideration. The changes are meant to bring the code into compliance with newly adopted state and fire regulations.

One proposed change would create supplemental provisions for restaurants that want to allow dogs within a specified outdoor area. Other changes exempt beekeeping from requirements of a special use permit; eliminate and clean up language regarding provisions and restrictions for outdoor firing ranges; and bring several fire regulations up to date with the Florida Fire Prevention Code.

The PZA will hear the changes at its June 2 meeting and, upon approval, send those back to the County Commission for approval on July 19.

Extremist Rep. RON DeSANTIS SUPPORTS TRUMP

In the immortal words of the late New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison in the movie JFK, "What do you expect from a pig but a grunt?"

Rep. RONALD DION DeSANTIS (R-FL6/KOCH INDUSTRIES)

FROM FLORIDA POLITICS:

RON DESANTIS CALLS FOR GOP TO “UNITE” BEHIND DONALD TRUMP

May 4, 2016

By A.G. Gancarski

Ron DeSantis issued a statement Wednesday evening calling for party unity behind Donald Trump to defeat Hillary Clinton.

“Electing Hillary Clinton will continue America’s journey down the wrong track and will lead to more of the same: a stagnant economy held back by government bureaucracy, an exploding debt, crippling health insurance premium increases due to ObamaCare, the steady advance of Islamic terrorists, the acquisition of a nuclear weapon by the militant regime in Iran, the appointment of left-wing judicial activists to the courts, rampant inside-the-Beltway cronyism, and the disgraceful treatment of our veterans by the VA,” DeSantis wrote.

“In light of the exit from the race by Ted Cruz and John Kasich, it is now clear that Donald Trump will accumulate the delegates necessary to be nominated by the Republican Party. If we want to defeat Hillary Clinton and have a chance to change the trajectory of our country, we need to unite behind the Republican ticket this November.”

Stop 32 Granada Street Demolition May 19th

Lee Geanuleas posted in St Augustine Residents Count.       Lee Geanuleas May 4 at 8:18pm   32 Granada St - A short story The demolition request for 32 Granada St is on the HARB agenda for the May 19th meeting.  Mr. John Arbizzani owns 32 Granada as well as the lots on either side. All three lots are zoned Commercial Low Intensity 1 (CL-1). The owner has stated his intentions to build a family dwelling on the combined lots, but we know that intentions and statements on the record have no bearing on what could be developed on the three lots. Only the underlying zoning matters. On the lot at 32 Granada stands a two story frame vernacular structure built between 1893 and 1899. The structure is not in a historic preservation district, but faces HP-4 directly across Granada St. Although not located in a National Historic Register District, 32 Granada is recorded on the Florida Master Site File as architecturally and historically significant. In 1987, the property’s owner, Don Chapman, tried unsuccessfully to have 32 Granada listed on the National Historic Register as an individual site. His application was intended to save the structure from demolition to allow a city parking lot; a parking lot that was never built. While the State Historic Preservation office (SHPO) denied Chapman’s request, it notes that the failure of St Augustine’s HARB to make a recommendation either for or against was a significant factor in the SHPO’s denial of the application.  Previous owners include Louise Melville, a widow and retired high-wire artist, Antonio Vedovelli, an artist and laborer, Kenneth Dow (as an investment property), Charles Marston, an antiques dealer who helped Otto Lightner set up the museum across the street and Don Chapman, Marston’s nephew.  While the previous owners are not historically significant figures and nothing of historical import happened at 32 Granada, the structure itself has retained its original form and likely contains many original materials and finishes. Portions of the existing cedar shingle siding may be the original siding documented on the 1899 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Through perhaps a combination of chance, good fortune and benign neglect, 32 Granada St has, amazingly, retained its original appearance. That, alone, makes it worth saving. It should not be demolished. In its response to the demolition request city staff notes, “Located on the periphery of the city’s most extensive Victorian neighborhood in northern Lincolnville, this structure represents a significant period of St Augustine’s development in connection with the Flagler-ear tourism boom of the late 19th century. The loss of this building would be a detriment to the historic and cultural record of the city and should only be approved if there is no other feasible alternative and/or a financial hardship to rehabilitate, adapt for continued use, or relocate.” Save 32 Granada St. Let HARB know how you feel. Show up - speak up!

$50 million from ratepayers for FPL misfeasance? City Manager BILL HARRISS forced 30 year franchise renewal

Big mistake in 2009 for City of St. Augustine to renew 30 year franchise with Florida Power and Light.

Now we're on the hook for the cost of FPL's fraud, waste, abuse, misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance, flummery, dupery and nincompoopery,

From Eye on Miami blog:

Saturday, April 30, 2016

FPL's Mike Sole Tortured Me for an Hour with Jabbering. By Geniusofdespair

The chocolate chip cookies they provided at the meeting were very good but you had to hide them if you wanted to bring them in. That was the highlight of the meeting yesterday in Homestead. The hour and half in traffic to get there was SOOO not worth it. The icing on the cupcake: WE are going to pay the $50 Million for fixes for FPL's Cooling Canal fiasco that is increasing salt water intrusion to our drinking water. Yes we will be shelling out the bucks for their stupid strategy!

Mike Sole droned on and on for an hour as the apologist for FPL and he got light ball questions from the panel. It was such a colossal waste of time. The Miami Herald wrote an article. Read it.

I took Photos, Gimleteye left early.

The combined panel of State Senators and Representatives

Apologist Mike Sol from FPL also on the Board of Directors of the Everglades Foundation (former head of DEP)

From Jenny Staletovich of the Miami Herald:
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava, who asked for the county report that revealed the radioactive tracer tritium in the bay, said the canals were “poorly conceived” when they were created in the 1970s, should be abandoned for more modern technology. Cava pointed out that canal conditions worsened after nuclear reactors were uprated to increase power output. While tritium has been detected at levels well below health standards, its presence indicates the canals also are likely leaking water tainted by high levels of ammonia and other contaminants into the bay.

The uprating project was only supposed to increase water temperatures by about 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit but canal temperatures following the expansion spiked, forcing the reactors to twice power down as they approached operating limits.

University of Miami hydrologist David Chin, in a report to the county, concluded the increased power caused the problems. But FPL blamed a regional drought, along with algae and sediment collecting in the canals after they were briefly shut down during the expansion.

“The plant needs to be modernized,” Cava told lawmakers, pointing to more modern reactors which rely on cooling towers. “The technology is not revolutionary. It’s already been adopted. It’s not even cutting-edge technology.” Cava also took state environmental regulators to task for not acting faster.

Me: The DEP said they issued a violation not just a warning letter to FPL.

County Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava

Engineer Ed Swakon (a former Division Chief at DERM) and Rock Miner Steve Toricse

What everyone was doing except those listening

DEP Speaker Paula Cobb

Rep Rene Garcia asking a softball question.

Mayors Cindy Lerner (Pinecrest) and Philip Stoddard (South Miami) taking notes.

Lee Hefty of Derm Speaking

State Rep. Katy Edwards doesn't look happy to be back in Homestead.

Not only couldn't you bring cookies and water into the meeting, you couldn't bring solar panels. Jonathan Ullman of Sierra Club tried.

This is so typical (from the Miami Herald):
But when asked by Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, if the state had ignored an administrative law judge in February, DEP deputy secretary Paula Cobb complained that the judge overstepped his authority.
"The department did not sidestep the findings of the administrative law judge," she said. "The administrative law judge tried to dictate the exact actions…and honestly I need every tool I can get."

Deferred Bribe: FPL Hired Ex-FDEP Secretary

Ralph Nader would have called this a "deferred bribe." Sick.

My late friend David Thundershield Queen said DEP stands for "Don't Expect Protection."



Former DEP chief Mike Sole takes job with Florida Power & Light
Mary Ellen KlasMary Ellen Klas, Tampa Bay Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Monday, October 4, 2010 12:07pm

Former Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Sole has landed a high-paying job at Florida Power & Light, the state's largest electric utility company. Sole, one of the longest-serving agency heads under Gov. Charlie Crist, will be vice president of state governmental affairs, lobbying the executive branch, except his former agency, according to sources close to the company.

Sole will report to Eric Silagy, the FPL vice president and chief development officer who got into hot water last year for allowing staffers to conduct a campaign to discredit Public Service commissioners Nancy Argenziano, Nathan Skop, David Klement and Steve Stevens. Silagy was also called out for meeting with Sole and legislators last year without registering as a lobbyist.

With salary, stock and bonus, Sole will be paid more than $350,000, sources said. Attempts to reach Sole and FPL for comment have been unsuccessful so far.

"FPL has a history of hiring highly placed governmental officials to help them have policy written in a way that benefits their shareholders," said Susan Glickman, an environmental consultant lobbyist for the National Resources Defense Council in Florida. "Mike Sole is well-respected, and they are wise to capture that good will."

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