The St Johns County Civic Roundtable is a group of citizens that come together to discuss and influence the quality of life in St Johns County.
On January 8, 2024, Commissioner Roy Alaimo was the guest speaker at the Roundtable meeting. The format was Q&A, and the Vice Chair did an excellent job of posing some difficult questions that are on the minds of citizens.
The commissioner answered gracefully and, while he did miss an opportunity to better explain his vote on the proposed 14-point tree ordinance, he came across as sincere and interested in what citizens are saying.
When the Vice Chair opened the questions to the audience, an individual asked, “Will you commit to not taking developer contributions for your upcoming campaign?”
The question was appropriately closed, as the Roundtable is not a venue for political campaigning, but the question got me thinking.
Who can/should contribute to a local political campaign?
I supposed that if we were living in Utopia, no one would have to work for a living, food and other products would magically appear on our doorsteps and there would be no cost to any of it.
While we can dream on, it isn’t and will never be reality.
The reality that we face is that we live in a country that is well established in an economy where we all must earn a living, which means that there need to be jobs and other methods of making money. Without the ability to earn a living, we would not have a home over our heads, food on our table, cars to drive or other necessities and possibly luxuries.
But it is more than that. We need an economic structure that facilitates all of that. We need homes to live in, roads to drive on, stores to shop in. Our country has evolved well beyond the time when folks could homestead a piece of property to grow their food and raise a family.
There are times that I think that we have, perhaps, grown too far – become too complicated, too dependent on money to buy the goods and services that we need. I could easily wax philosophical about the need to go back to a simpler life.
But, as the old saying goes, it is what it is.
Which brings me back to my question, but slightly rephrased…who do elected officials serve?
Let’s look at Florida election law: (14) “Person” means an individual or a corporation, association, firm, partnership, joint venture, joint stock company, club, organization, estate, trust, business trust, syndicate, or other combination of individuals having collective capacity. The term includes a political party, affiliated party committee, or political committee.” Section 106.011(14), F.S.
That pretty much says that a business (including developers) may offer a contribution to a local candidate.
So why would a resident ask a commissioner to commit to not receiving contributions from a stakeholder who is entitled under the law to contribute?
Residents are not the only stakeholders in our county, and it would be a mistake to think that our elected officials should serve only and do only what residents want, without a broader look at the County as a whole. I can only imagine how inadequate our infrastructure would be were that the case.
Campaign contributions are limited by Florida Statute. If you would like to read more about campaign finance in Florida, here is the link.
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