Letter: Boost a bloated bureaucracy

Dear Editor:

The foxes are about to be handed the key to the hen house, not to mention the horse stables.

Three of the next five Mondays will determine whether one of the longest standing St. Augustine institutions will survive until the Oldest City’s 450 year celebration arrives in four short years.

Mayor Boles, his city attorneys, and a majority of the Commissioners, are focusing only on how much revenue will be brought into the city coffers when they pass Ordinance No. 2010.

To a St. Augustine carriage company with a 134 year tradition, this City ordinance, if it had been enforced in 2010, would have exacted from them $4,000 or $5,000 more than they had left over at the end of the year.

Just as bad, taking away thirty-two of their licenses, and leaving them with only ten, is limiting them to half the bare minimum number of carriages they need to survive.

Even then, after investing in thirty horses and twenty-five carriages, they will have no assurance any licenses will be awarded to them initially, let alone again every two years.

The absolute power to issue these licenses falls to the License Czar, formerly known as the City Manager and possibly one other individual.

Free market is about to become a thing of the past in St. Augustine. If they can pillage and plunder the oldest continuously operating carriage company in the country, what is to stop them from regulating the demise of yours?

Whoever said “the power to tax is the power to destroy” must have witnessed Mayor Joe Boles style of “governing” before.

At the first City Commission workshop on Monday May 24, the large meeting room was filled with concerned citizens who were “riled up” as the mayor later called it.

The Commissioners seemed reluctant to face the crowd. They backed away from the code. Joe Boles spoke of having a meeting with the carriage officials and trying to work something out.

A meeting was staged in which all the carriage officials were allowed to speak. The meeting was a ruse. Not one of their suggestions was implemented; instead the Mayor reintroduced the same Ordinance No. 2010 at the July 26th workshop.

There have been rallies and protests, many phone calls; but, still the City Commissioners push on against the will of the people in St. Augustine, and the wishes of tourists.

The code from Charleston is causing the industry to die a slow death in their community. The City seizes around a million dollars of potential profits each year.

The only way the carriage companies make it, is there are no trains or trams to compete with. The horse and carriage is the official way to tour the city.

C.B. Hinson, who owns a license and has been in the carriage business for decades, points out in St. Augustine a train can take 80 passengers at a time and only requires one driver. On horse and carriages, to take those 80 passengers would require 20-30 horses, carriages and 20-30 drivers.

The expense per passenger on horse-drawn carriages is considerably more than it would be on a train.

Past City Commissions have seen the carriage business as part of the ambiance of the ancient city and a huge draw for tourism.

Until the City of St. Augustine is prepared to ban the trains, the code, which is called “slow death” by the carriage operators in Charleston, would be immediate execution to the carriage trade here.

A fun thing about a vacation is planning your activities spontaneously and on a whim. From now on tourists will have to plan their activities early as the carriage companies are required to send their list of special pick-ups 24 hours in advance. This will cause great disappointment and frustration to visitors.

You would think Commissioners of St. Augustine would be savvy when it comes to accommodating vacationers in a tourist town.

The City Commissioners want to impose their regulations on the horses. Regulations so ridiculous they have proven themselves far too ignorant to be granted such authority. Unless they strike this regulation from the ordinance, a horse can be kept out on the street as long as the heat index is below 125 degrees.

Horses must be offered water as soon as they get back to the stand after a tour. If the horse is hot, he needs to cool down before he drinks. These regulations can make horses sick and even kill them.

On Monday, February 28 there will be a 3:30 p.m. workshop in which the Commissioners will discuss Code No. 2010. According to the City Clerk’s office, March 14th will be the first reading and March 28th the second; after which they can make the bill final.

Three strikes and the horses are potentially out. Can you attend one or all three, let your voice be heard, and stand up to one more power grab by our Mayor and certain of our City Commissioners.

At my last count, two Commissioners had reservations against the code. Your voice, your presence could mean the difference. Or, are we willing to let a great industry, one of our oldest traditions and part of the very soul of our city, to be taken from us?

Terry Herbert
Brunswick, GA