about my county st johns county florida

In a recent social media post, Commissioner Arnold was called out as not being willing to “vote to allocate just $200,000 to Fort Mose which is the site of the first legally sanctioned free African settlement in what is now the United States.”

That is an unfortunate and misrepresentative accusation against Commissioner Arnold, who responded to the social media post that she believed that the Tourist Development Council – on which she sits – would have allocated more than the requested $200,000 and that she was in no way unsupportive of this project.

I watched the meetings where this was discussed (linked below) in order to better understand the issue.

Commissioner Voting Process

In local government, as in most large organizations, there are established processes in place to ensure that experts on a particular public policy provide their expertise to the Board of Commissioners, and that the public has an opportunity to hear the policy proposal and provide input.

Commissioners have only one place where they can debate policy decisions – on the dais in a public meeting. Most commissioners explain how they plan to vote, so that the public can understand the reasoning.

Here is what happened during the Board of Commissioners meeting where the funding for Fort Mose was proposed and approved.

Fort Mose

On August 15, 2023, Commissioner Joseph read a seemingly prepared statement with a request for the Commissioners to provide $200,000 from the Tourist Development Council to Fort Mose for the reconstruction of the Fort. This was a good start to the process.  The Commissioner received consensus for staff to research the request and the funding and return to the Board for decision.

On October 3, 2023, staff provided an overview of the project, the funding received and needed, along with the options available to the board, which included:

• Provide a motion to allocate funds,
• Request a project review and recommendation from the Tourist Development Council,
• Provide further direction to staff, or
• Take no action.

Public comment was in favor of the funding.  Commissioners Alaimo and Arnold suggested that the Tourist Development Council provide input and approval of the use of Tourist Development tax dollars before the Board vote.   

It appeared that, rather than joining her fellow commissioners in open debate about the wisdom of having the TDC review the proposal and potentially identify options, Commissioner Joseph pushed for immediate action.

Twisting the intent of the vote

Commissioners Alaimo and Arnold voted No – not because they did not want to fund the reconstruction of Fort Mose – but because they wanted the Tourist Development Council involved as part of the process detailed in Florida Statute 125.0104.

It is unfortunate that Commissioner Arnold was described as “not willing to vote to advocate just $200,000 to Fort Mose” in that social media post, when that was clearly not the intent in her comment.