In the show Hamilton, Aaron Burr makes an observation after he shoots Hamilton in the infamous duel. He says, “I should have known the world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me.”
Both men – Burr and Hamilton – were reportedly so grounded in their own narrative and angry at the other for disagreeing that they held a duel. Hamilton died.
The show Hamilton is filled with jealousy, envy, backstabbing and political mischief. Kinda like today.
Not Welcome
The acrimony exists even at the local government level.
I have been told that I am not welcome on the Facebook page, Fight for St. Johns County – a page that seems to be established to push a “slow development” agenda at the County. The page admin said it was because I do not allow comments on my blog posts and therefore I should use my own blog and was not welcome on her page. She’s right – I don’t allow comments on my blog, so it’s fair that she shuts me out of her Facebook page. She suggested that I share my thoughts on my own blog. I agreed.
I tried to field comments when I first began the blog back in December 2023. Naively, I thought it would be possible to host “respectful and productive dialogue.” After over 90 comments, many of which repeated the same tired stories and offered no opportunity for real dialogue, I took them all off – both positive and negative. I felt that was the only fair way to handle it.
Are we all stuck in our own paradigm?
I am so tired of the stories that twist every single commissioner statement or decision into corruption. I am tired of being told that I have a vendetta simply because I voice disagreement. I am tired of being told that I attack someone because I disagree. I am tired of a cadre of residents believing that the way to influence change in our community is through accusations, nasty memes and distorted data out of context.
That’s why the Hamilton quote got my attention. Shouldn’t we all know that the world, our country, and yes, our county, is big enough for everyone?
Who is running the campaigns?
As I consider the vitriol and anger that is omnipresent on Fight for St. Johns County and often spills over into Facebook pages of candidates running for County Commissioner, I have to ask – who is running the campaigns?
There are two individuals running against the incumbents for District 1 and District 5 in the upcoming election. Yet I have to wonder, who is really running those campaigns? The campaign platforms are identical, both endorsed by Commissioner Joseph, and both routinely run the same nasty memes and posts we see on Fight for St Johns County, run by Nicole Crosby.
In March, Commissioner Joseph made a very odd inquiry during a Commissioner Meeting where the new County Administrator contract was introduced for approval. Commissioner Joseph asked for clarification about how many votes it takes to fire a County Administrator. In my blog post of March 20, I mused about the possibility of a hidden agenda.
It’s not really a secret that Nicole Crosby was instrumental in the election of Commissioner Joseph last year and is aggressively supporting “the Anns” this year. So, with a 3 member Board of County Commissioners majority, Joseph, Taylor, Evans – Commissioner Joseph wants to be able to fire the County Administrator.
Yikes. Who would they hire?
I have two very important questions about all of this.
First, when a campaign devolves into nastiness, is that the way that the candidate would run the County, if elected?
Second, should there be only one platform that one, two or three commissioners, long before a proposal is brought to the Board for decision, agree to vote on? Isn’t that a little like…collusion? Don’t we want every proposal reviewed on its merits?
We can get stuck in our paradigms and end up in a metaphorical duel, or we can figure out where there is common ground.
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