government
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Commissioner Candidate Forum
This 2024 Commissioner election is important. Not to sound overly dramatic, but the viability of the county’s future is at stake. If you have not been following this election season, the Ponte Vedra Community Association and Palm Valley Community Associations hosted a candidate forum for the eight candidates. This was a forum, not a debate. Continue reading
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Important business not getting the County’s attention
The July 16, 2024, Board of County Commissioners’ meeting was a perfect example of how to waste time. Three gentlemen, all fishing charter captains, spoke at the 11:30 public comment about the challenges they have with keeping their businesses afloat because they have been told that they are not allowed to use the public docks Continue reading
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How can we condone this behavior from an elected official?
On June 20, 2024, Commissioner Krista Keating-Joseph posted this on her personal Facebook page. Apparently, “them” are the three County commissioners up for reelection, Commissioners Henry Dean, Christian Whitehurst and Roy Alaimo. Yes, I realize that the threshold for courtesy and respect has plummeted, and professionalism has been redefined to mean, “anything goes.” But is Continue reading
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Are you prepared to vote?
At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, the coming primary election on August 20 is crucially important to the healthy future of St Johns County. And now that all the primaries are closed, registered Republicans will most likely select our elected officials. It would be easy to just ignore it and either not vote or 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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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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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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It Could Happen Here
Earlier this year, Nassau County settled a lawsuit with Riverstone Properties, Inc. What happened there is a good lesson for those of us in St Johns County who want our Commissioners to reject or slow development. It is important to know about a Florida Statute called the “Bert J. Harris, Jr., Private Property Rights Protection Continue reading
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