about my county st johns county florida

There are two musical lyrics that capture the essence of the St Johns County Candidate Forum on July 9, 2024.

Promises, Promises

The first is the song “Promises, Promises” from the Broadway musical of the same name.  The lyrics go something like this:

“Promises, promises
I’m all through with promises, promises now”

It’s an anti-love song, but still fitting.   Last night two of the candidates made promises that seem impossible.  There may have been more, but these are the two that stuck with me. 

Ann Taylor, candidate for Commissioner District 5, promised that if she is elected, she will never close the beaches as happened with COVID.  The moderator had to remind the audience not to clap.

[Editorial comment: So in a future emergency where the beaches become dangerous, one Commissioner will force a decision?  Not sure it works that way or should work that way.]

Michael McDonald, candidate for Commissioner District 3, promised that if he is elected, St Johns County residents will have all the services they’ll ever need.

[Editorial comment:  Really?]

Mrs. Robinson

The second lyric that keeps popping into my head is part of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson”.  It goes:

“Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you’ve got to choose
Every way you look at this, you lose.

I would have stopped at the last line, but I’m sure someone would have called me out for leaving it out. 

But here’s the thing

Electing candidates who selfishly promote their own agenda without recognizing that every resident of the County may not share that agenda is a loss for all of us.

Today, the day after the Forum, there was a Facebook post crying foul that the Candidate Forum host set the rules to the advantage of the incumbents because the challengers were not allowed to mention or refute other candidates on the stage.  [Scroll to the bottom of this post to read the rules.] There are two problems with crying foul…

1. They had to agree to the rules before they were allowed to join the Forum.  To raise this issue after the Forum is over tells me that they may have been setting things up to cry foul.  Why else would they agree to the rule, and then complain about it?
2. Everything the incumbents said is public record.  The challengers could have done better research and found the same facts, but that wouldn’t have served their purpose. Maybe they were upset that they couldn’t refute the incumbents with alternative facts.

So I’m all through with promises, promises and I’m trying not to laugh about the fact that apparently the only way the challengers can win is by attacking the incumbents. 

But heck, they’ve been doing that for months.

The Rules