By: Editorial Board | The St. Augustine Record
THUMBS …
DOWN: For rising residential impact fees, which are making construction of workforce housing nearly impossible in St. Johns County. Neighboring counties have residential impact fee rates of as much as 60 percent less than St. Johns. Here there’s as much as a $12,000 fee for a modest two–bedroom, home or apartment. While residential rates skyrocket here, commercial rate and concurrency requirements have been slashed.
UP: To Flagler College. Flagler College was ranked second in U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Colleges guide for the Best Regional Colleges in the South, behind High Point University in North Carolina. Flagler also moved up one spot to fifth on the Best Value list in the South regional category, and was first for colleges in the South with a Strong Commitment to Undergraduate Teaching and second for Most Innovative Schools among Southern colleges.
… & QUOTES
“Nowadays people don’t give them the kudos they deserve. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be sleeping in my house tonight.” Resident Linda Powell who lives on Green Acres Road, speaking in a story about a murder early Thursday morning and how she called 911 to report suspicious people in her yard, which turned out to two of four suspects sought and caught.
“Florida, however, is at an advantage over many states in that it has a dedicated source of funding. The Sadowski Act sets aside doc stamp dollars for affordable housing initiatives — about $314 million in 2018. … The bad news is state lawmakers continue to pilfer this “dedicated” fund by “sweeping” much of it into general fund or other spending areas. Since 2009, of the $2.3 billion raised, only $833 million has ended up supporting affordable housing.” Excerpt from an editorial Thursday titled “The chasm between a living wage, and living.”
“What is considered age appropriate is not really for someone else to decide. … I am raising my own children in a certain way and I need to make those decisions.” Danielle Gustafson, whose sons attend R.B. Hunt Elementary, speaking in opposition to videos being shown to the county’s students as required viewing and depicting active shooter scenarios. Parents are not allowed to view the “age appropriate” films. The Record’s request to view the films was also initially denied.
“I am not convinced in my heart that the video presented is the right thing. I realize the sheriff’s department has a role … they have a role to protect people, their role isn’t to figure out what is best for kids.” School Board member Patrick Canan speaking in a meeting at which mandatory active shooter videos for all county school students was discussed.
“It was not intentional on our part to cause parental concern and anger with us. We didn’t want to leave parents out … it was a matter of do things now, do them fast. … That made me uncomfortable”School Board member Bill Mignon speaking in the same meeting, He described the video shown high school students as “graphic” and the three for lower grades “age appropriate.”
“The last thing I wanted to do is present something that doesn’t look transparent, but in balancing the highest level of safety and security versus transparency, I am going to ask for forgiveness and grace on this. But we will get better.” County School Superintendent Tim Forson speaking of the active shooter videos currently being shown in county school, kindergarten through high school.
“Frankly, we don’t see how that is possible because the department heads have already reduced their capital requests. Projects, such as the new City Hall roof, piping the Mickler ditch, and the Mizell retention pond weir replacement, need to be done; a new sanitation truck must be purchased to replace an older vehicle, though the payment for the new truck will be made over several years; and police vehicles and computer upgrades also need to be purchased.” St. Augustine Beach City Manager Max Royle explaining the need for a millage rate hike sought by the commission. It would raise an additional $311,000 in revenue to the city in the coming fiscal year.
“And we just waited for victims and casualties — and no one came out. … We’d go in and search the grounds and there was nothing. … It was eerie, it was silent. … There was just nothing you could do but help clean up.” Resident Bill Brennock, retired from New York City Fire Department, recalling his thoughts following the 9/11 tragedy. He was on scene, helping set up a medical triage. He was speaking a local ceremony Tuesday on the 17th anniversary of the dark day.
“I foolishly bought right into Colin Kaepernick from the beginning. I believe there is racial injustice in this country and saw him as a crusader for civil rights. People compared his kneeling during the national anthem to Martin Luther King’s peaceful protests. Then he sold out to the sneaker company. This quarterback is dead to me now.” Excerpt from columnist’s Bob Tis’ weekly offering, Smooth Sailin’
“We’re coming in with good vibes and good energy, and we’re coming in with our vision to breathe new life in this market … We’re just going to make it bigger and even better.” Julie Olsson, speaking in an interview Monday. She and partner Sloan Doucette are residents who run the farmers market at Marineland, and have now taken over the Wednesday farmers market at the County Pier on St. Augustine Beach.
Article last accessed here on September 17, 2018. A print-ready PDF is available here.