Wednesday, May 01, 2024

Ed Slavin response to Sierra Club on St. Johns County Commission Seat 5

Here's my response to the March 2024 Sierra Club questionnaire: 


Good evening:
Thank you for your patience!  Excellent questions. 


Questionnaire to Candidates for St. Johns County 
County Commission 2024

Please provide answers to the following questions below, or on a separate sheet:

1. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being the least important and 10 being the most important), where do
environmental issues rate when compared to other critical issues facing St. Johns County and
Northeast Florida? Please include a brief explanation of your rating.

Most important: 10.  Our frail planet, our city, county, state and nation are all threatened by pollution and climate change. Overdevelopment is destroying our quality of life.

2. What are the most significant environmental issues and challenges in St. Johns County? 

* Proposed St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore deserves our County's support.  First proposed by the Mayor of St. Augustine, Walter Fraser, both U.S. Senators and our Congressman in 1939, this is an idea whose time has come.  https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2023/10/support-st-augustine-national.html
* Developers demanding to be free of fair impact fees.  

* Secretive PACs and campaign contributions, corruption and conflict of interest. Corruption, as Al Gore wrote in 1992, in Earth in the Balance, often leads to environmental devastation.  

* Proposed 25 ideas for local government reform in 2022, one (1) heeded (County Sheriff body-worn cameras and dashboard cameras, long opposed by Sheriff David Shoar). County Commission has STILL not responded to 25 suggestions on government reform. Why not?




+ Support meritocracy amidst one-party rule by mediocrities in St. Johns County Commission





3. What actions have you taken in the past to demonstrate your concern or interest regarding our environment?
 

  2. Helping end pelagic whaling of endangered sperm whales by promoting development of jojoba oil seed crops, an exact duplicate for the oil of the sperm whale. The market system worked. (Working as intern and staffer for Senator Ted Kennedy, 1974-76).  
  3. Helping defeat coal slurry pipeline eminent domain legislation in U.S House of Representatives, helping preserve and protect precious scarce water from Madison Formation aquifer.  (11,500 word Crossroads Magazine (formerly Coal Patrol) investigative article, inserted into Congressional Record by U.S. Rep. Joe Skubitz, Republican of Kansas, except for parts on campaign finance).  July 19, 1978: House Defeated Coal Slurry Pipeline Eminent Domain Legislation



  4. Exposing U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority purchasing and policies that encouraged steep slope strip-mining, corruption, coal quality fraud, antitrust violations and and conflicts of interest. With support from Fund for Investigative Journalism, helped secure GAO investigation verifying  concerns of Appalachian activists, led by Save Our Cumberland Mountains.  TVA's Coal Procurement Practices--More Effective Management Needed



  5. Winning declassification of world's largest mercury pollution event (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and testifying about it in Congressional investigation.  July 11, 1983: Al Gore's Mercury Pollution Hearing in Oak Ridge, Tennessee -- Largest Mercury Pollution Event in World History (4.2 Million Pounds). 



  6. Security clearance reforms protecting environmental, nuclear anjd other whistleblowers, and LGBTQ, people working for federal agencies and government contractors.  Helped win American Bar Association House of Delegates vote in February 1990, endorsing security clearance reforms that were implemented under President Clinton, halting a proposed Bush Executive Order that would have erased rights to fair hearings and due process.
  7. Environmental whistleblower law victories and precedents at U.S.Department of Labor, including landmark whistleblower case protecting federal environmental crimes investigators against retaliation for recusals or refusing to coverup wrongdoing.  FBI, HUD, EPA Senior Special Agent Robert E. Tyndall (Ret.), R.I.P.



  8. Exposed intimidation of nuclear weapons plant whistleblowers. February 5, 1992



  9. Questioned aerial pesticide spraying program and winning reversal of illegal, no-bid SJC Mosquito Control Board purchase of $1.8 million luxury Bell Jet helicopter unadorned by nozzles, tanks, pilots, hangar or any plans for aerial spraying, winning 100% refund of deposit.
  10. Defeat of multiple unwise development projects in St. Augustine and St. Johns County,
  11. Adoption of employee whistleblower policy and sexual orientation nondiscrimination policies for Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County. 
  12. Successfully reported City of St. Augustine illegally dumping a landfill in a lake to National Response Center, resulting in fines and consent decree, after City Manager William B. Harriss had said he would not agree to put the contaminated solid waste in a Class I landfill without a court order.  2008 Folio Weekly cover story by Anne Schindler called me an "environmental hero."
  13. Reported City of St. Augustine illegal sewage pollution to National Response Center, resulting in fines and consent decree.
  14. Helped elect Nancy Shaver as in St. Augustine Mayor and Krista Keating-Joseph as County Commissioner, defeating pro-developer incumbents. 
  15. Helping secure preservation of historic iconic Fish Island as city park with state funds, rejecting proposed ruinous development by D.R. Horton, with fifty (50) witnesses, including former St. Augustine Beach Mayor Sherman Gary Snodgrass.




4. What organizations do you belong to? 

1000 Friends of Florida
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Democratic Party
St. Augustine Historical Society
Fort Mose Historic Society
Florida Historical Society
Sierra Club
Investigative Reporters and Editors  
American Assn. For Advancement of Science  
Florida Adventures in Railroading
WJCT

5. What is your position and suggested solution on these key issues affecting our county?   
- Climate change and sea level rise
+ Support federal, state and local legislation to preserve and protect us from carbon and methane pollution, protect our coasts and wetlands, promote biodiversity, restore balance,
+ Support County's acceptance of federal grants on climate change. 
+ Oppose Florida Governors' attacks on environmental protection, with frequent blog posts.
www,cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
+ Support a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. Spoke to every St. Johns County Legislative Delegation meeting since 2006 on National Park and Seashore.


- Growth management and development
+ Strongly support reform of our Land Development Code as we know it.  
+ We must have fair hearings, with full disclosures, lobbyist registration, expert testimony, cross-examination of all witnesses and background investigations of developers.  
+ Are our current local and state procedures are a honky-tonk medley of "regulatory capture," farce and kabuki dance?
+ James Madison wrote, "A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. "
+ Affordable housing: we must reject "snob zoning," and allow duplexes and other auziliary dwellling units, preserving land and advancing affordable housing. 
+ We must adopt a Public Housing Agency.
+ We must comply with Fair Housing Act.
+ Let's start by re-writing our LDC and quasi-judicial hearing procedures.
+ For transparency, Commissioners must never meet with zoning applicants ex parte.  
+ St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Shaver refused such meetings during her 1550 days as Mayor (making an exception when an applicant was allegedly being treated unfairly).
+ What kind of administrative judicial system lets zoning applicants meet secretly with elected officials?
+  Reject this corrupt system and will not be embroiled by it. 
+ We must require fuller corporate disclosure and better data. 
+ Require background investigations on zoning applicants -- know your customer! 
+ Are any zoning applicants involved in money-laundering,  
+ Environmental violations by zoning applicants must be researched by County staff and discussed publly in hearings.
+ We need full information on ex parte contacts with Commissioners, disclosed before hearings.
+ All ex parte meetings with Commissioners and staff must be videotaped and made a public record.  
+ As Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "Secrey is for losers, for people who don't understand the value of the information.


- Trees and the proposed 14 point tree ordinance
+ Support proposed tree protection ordinance and spoke in favor of it, as did dozens of residents.  
+ I objected to four Commissioners' harsh response to First Amendment protected activity, evident retaliation against reform Commissioner Krista Joseph..

- Management of traffic and infrastructure
+ Support transit, impact fees and reform of zoning and planning as we know it.

- Septic tanks
+ Explore ban on new septic tanks in new construction
+ Monitor septic tank inspections and code enforcement.




6. What is your motivation for running to be a County Commissioner?
+ My first American ancestor escaped the British government-caused Irish potato famine in 1849, immigrating to Philadelphia with Irish neighbors at age six, the rest of her family died in famine.  My father taught me, as JFK's father taught him, that "if you don't stand up to people in power, they walk all over you."   JFK was killed 22 days after I proudly wore a JFK costume on Halloween, at age six. At age 17.5, I went to work for his brother, Sen. Ted Kennedy, the day before my first Georgetown class, inspired after hearing Ralph Nader speak on August 28, 1974 (Feast of St. Augustine).   
Love this magical place. We need to preserve what we know and love, with National Park Service help.  http://www.staugustgreen.com 
Moved here November 5, 1999, after falling in love with St. Augustine when we visited in August 1992, right after first environmental whistleblower trial against Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  
Faster than a speeding dump truck, what we love about St. Johns County is being destroyed. 



7. If you are elected or re-elected, what initiatives would you introduce or promote to protect the environment of St. Johns County?
* St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore
* Environmental Regulatory Commission.
* Independent environmental impact statements for government project, as under NEPA.
* Lobbyist registration and background investigations.
* Video of every County Commissioner "ex parte' meeting with putative "developers."
* County whistleblower protection ordinance
* Reform zoning and planning as we know it. 

Thank you. 
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
www.edslavin.com
(904) 377-4998


Posted by at 15 comments:

ANNALS OF DeSANTISTAN: Florida prepares for one of nation’s strictest abortion bans to take effect. (WaPo)

So much for DeSANTIS's propaganda about Florida as a "Freedom State."  Malarkey.  Please join me in voting for Amendment 4, the Florida reproductive rights constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024. From The Washington Post: 


Florida prepares for one of nation’s strictest abortion bans to take effect

By 
 and 
Updated April 30, 2024 at 1:08 p.m. EDT|Published April 30, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Abortion rights advocates hold a rally in downtown Orlando on April 13. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel/AP) 
7 min
Add to your saved stories

Clinics, patients and abortion rights activists in Florida are bracing for the impact of a new law that will transform the state overnight from one with the fewest restrictions for the procedure in the South to a place where it will be all but banned.

The six-week abortion law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year and confirmed by the Florida Supreme Court earlier this month takes effect Wednesday. In the days leading up to the ban, clinics have seen a surge in demand. Meanwhile, advocates have started getting the word out on how to access abortion pills by mail.

“People are scrambling to get in before the deadline,” said Kelly Flynn,the president and chief executive of A Woman’s Choice, a network of abortion clinics. “We’re telling them, ‘Hey, it’s going to be busy.’ We don’t want them to walk in blindsided.”

The law’s enactment and an abortion referendum that will be put before Florida voters in November have turned the Sunshine State into one of the most consequential battlegrounds for women’s reproductive rights since the fall of Roe v. Wade.

Skip to end of carousel
(The Washington Post)
End of carousel

Last year, more than 84,000 people got abortions in Florida, more than in almost any other state. Many of those patients traveled from other states in the South where strict abortion laws were enacted following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision upending access to the procedure.

Florida’s strict new ban will leave women in the South with ever fewer options: The closest abortion clinic for someone living at Florida’s southernmost tip will be a 14-hour drive away in Charlotte. A patient whose pregnancy has progressed beyond 12 weeks, the point at which North Carolina bans abortion, will have to drive 17 hours, to southern Virginia.

Meanwhile, a Florida Supreme Court ruling authorizing a referendum on whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution has re-energized what was expected to be a chronicle of a presidential election foretold. Democrats in the state, which has increasingly veered right, see abortion as a winning issue in November.

President Biden’s reelection campaign has already begun directing its attention at Florida. The president visited Tampa last week, blaming former president Donald Trump for the overturning of Roe. Biden noted that abortion rights initiatives in other states have been successful, adding, “this November, you can add Florida to that list.”

Vice President Harris is scheduled to appear in Jacksonville on Wednesday for a speech about abortion bans.

“If you want to protect democracy and freedom across the entire country, then you have to come to the belly of the beast, which is here, in the state of Florida,” Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, said Tuesday. “Democrats have been on that front line.”

The Trump campaign has reiterated the former president’s comments that the issue should be left up to the states.

DeSantis on Tuesday called the six-week ban “a noble effort,” and praised the state Supreme Court for approving the measure. He said the court “dropped the ball” by allowing the amendment to codify abortion access in the state constitution.

He also said he’s not worried about Democrats making abortion a focus of election efforts in Florida.

“I welcome Biden-Harris to spend a lot of money in Florida. Light up the airwaves. Do it. Light it on fire,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Tampa. “We are fine with you doing that here. But I can confidently predict that you’ll see Republican victories not just at the top of the ticket, but up and down the ballot.”

Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani has been warning her constituents for months about the consequences of the new law, and on Monday she posted advice from the group Progress Florida on how people can navigate the ban. They include tips on how to get abortion pills by mail, where to find legal help, and a link to a website chatbot named “Charley” that says “I can help you get or manage an abortion.”

Eskamani said the abortion landscape in Florida is “horrifying” for both people in the state and those who would have traveled there for the procedure.

“This is by far one of the cruelest abortion bans in the country,” said Eskamani, a former senior director at Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.

The new abortion ban includes exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking, but requires supporting documents from doctors or law enforcement agencies in those cases, and is only legal up to 15 weeks. The new law also makes exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies, so long as the pregnancy has not advanced to the third trimester.

An abortion can also be performed beyond six weeks if a woman’s life is at risk, or in the event that she faces a “substantial and irreversible” physical impairment.

The law could, in theory, could be in effect for less than a year. If 60 percent of voters approve the abortion referendum in November, it would take effect in January and obviate the six-week ban. To reach the 60 percent mark, referendum supporters will need to enlist the support of Republicans and those not affiliated with any party. Democrats make up about 32 percent of the state’s voters.

In the final days before the six-week ban takes effect, clinics across Florida were expanding their hours to see as many patients as possible.

At a clinic in the Fort Lauderdale area, director Eileen Diamond has been frantically calling patients who did not show up for their appointments last week. Diamond knows women frequently cancel or don’t show up because they don’t yet have enough money to cover the cost of the procedure — and now she’s worried some might not know they have a deadline.

“I’m calling then, reminding them about the law,” said Diamond, who works at Benjamin Surgical Services International. When she can’t reach someone, she said, “it feels very debilitating.”

“I feel like this might have been their last chance to get an abortion,” she said.

Many patients just hearing about the law for the first time are shocked, she added.

“They’ll say, ‘I knew it was coming. I just didn’t know it was now.’”

Supporters of the new law say they’re relieved that a ban on most abortions is about to become a reality.

“It’s a fantastic milestone, and we’re extremely grateful for it,” said Aaron DiPietro, legislative political director for Florida Family Action, which has lobbied for the ban for years. “But I think, just as in any civil rights movement, it’s just the next step.”

In the lead-up to the referendum vote, DiPietro said his group and others will argue to Florida voters that the proposed amendment “is deceptive” and “out of touch with the vast majority of Floridians.”

Health care providers are continuing to work up to the last minute before the ban kicks in. A Woman’s Choice in Jacksonville had between 70 and 80 patients on the schedule for Monday, said Flynn, the head of the abortion clinics network.

The clinic usually sees between 10 and 15 patients a day.

Flynn’s network includes locations in North Carolina and Danville, Va. — where she expects to see an immediate spike in patient traffic.

“We’re going to find a way to make this work. My staff has even said, ‘Well, what if we worked Sundays?’” said Flynn. “We’re just going to do our best.”

U.S. abortion access, reproductive rights

Tracking abortion access in the United States: Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, the legality of abortion has been left to individual states. The Washington Post is tracking states where abortion is legal, banned or under threat. 

Abortion and the election: Voters in about a dozen states could decide the fate of abortion rights with constitutional amendments on the ballot in a pivotal election year. Biden supports legal access to abortion, and he has encouraged Congress to pass a law that would codify abortion rights nationwide. After months of mixed signals about his position, Trump said the issue should be left to states. Here’s how Biden and Trump’s abortion stances have shifted over the years.

New study: The number of women using abortion pills to end their pregnancies on their own without the direct involvement of a U.S.-based medical provider rose sharply in the months after the Supreme Court eliminated a constitutional right to abortion, according to new research.

Abortion pills: The Supreme Court seemed unlikely to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone. Here’s what’s at stake in the case and some key moments from oral arguments. For now, full access to mifepristone will remain in place. Here’s how mifepristone is used and where you can legally access the abortion pill.

Show more
By 
Lori Rozsa is a reporter based in Florida who covers the state for The Washington Post. She is a former correspondent for People magazine and a former reporter and bureau chief for the Miami Herald. Twitter
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)