County Commissioners
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Is This the Future St Johns County Needs?
It was interesting to see two candidates for St Johns County Commissioner publish their three-point platform on their own. They indicate that they, “with the support of Commissioner Krista Joseph, propose a three-point initiative called Save and Protect St. Johns County.” It was refreshing to see this come from the candidates, and not their “campaign Continue reading
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The Vote for Fort Mose Funding in October 2023
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 Continue reading
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Should political candidates stand on their own?
Political candidates often have campaign managers whose responsibility is to find the right media to share their candidates’ words. They don’t typically write the candidates’ words or fashion their political stance. And then, there are some who do just that. The campaign manager There are two candidates running for County Commissioner who are working hard Continue reading
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When, and why, did the St Johns County Commissioner Election turn so negative?
Between the memes and the statistics, one might think that St Johns County is such a mess, with such overwhelming development that the entire county is now asphalt. I get hyperbole – using more colorful words to make a situation seem far worse (or better) than it is. I remember the first email I received Continue reading
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Is the world wide enough for all of us?
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 Continue reading
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Thoughts on a Commissioner’s Role
I want to share what I have learned about Commissioner Henry Dean. I have called on him for help and have worked with him for about 3 years in his role as a County Commissioner for St. Johns County District 5, where I live. I don’t like the way he is being treated right now. Continue reading
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What are you going to do differently?
St Johns County has three Commissioner seats up for reelection, and the campaigning is already lively. It appears that there is a particular campaign focus – overdevelopment. The current Commissioners are being blamed for too much development which has put stress on our schools, our roads and our infrastructure. As I read statements from the Continue reading
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This bitterness and divisiveness isn’t new but somehow it feels more powerful
We have either forgotten or (like me) we went through life without realizing “stuff” that was going on all around us, thinking that our world was calm and relatively peaceful and, for the most part, people engaged in thoughtful and respectful dialogue. Vietnam and the era of protests came and went while I was in Continue reading
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A Great County is St. Johns!
St Johns County Board of Commissioners Chair Sarah Arnold spoke to John Bachman at Action News JAX this week to share how the Board is working to deal effectively with the significant growth of the County. She opened the interview by saying, “The secret is out,” meaning, they’ve found out how totally great it is Continue reading
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Property Rights
This post skims the surface of the issue of property rights but given that this topic is important when talking about development, it seemed appropriate to do some research. More to come…. When I first moved to Florida, I kept hearing people say, “Florida is a property-rights state.” Makes sense to me. Someone buys the Continue reading
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