Letter: Where were the incumbents?

Letter: Where were the incumbents?

Eric West, President
St. Johns County Republican Assembly

Dear Editor:

On July 26th the St. Johns County Republican Assembly hosted its convention to hear from the candidates for the Board of County Commissioners and School Board. A straw poll was held and the membership endorsed candidates in the primary. Results can be found at www.sjcra.org.

Senator Thrasher participated in a State Senate District 6 forum, U.S. Congressman Ron DeSantis held a town hall meeting and most of the local candidates attended. Candidates were asked to answer the same questions. There were no “gotcha” questions. Our desire was to educate the Republican voters of St. Johns County.

Missing were the incumbents for all of the contested races, Districts 2 and 4 of the St Johns County and School Board Districts 1 and 3. All were invited multiple times. All had “other commitments”.

We also hosted public forums on May 7th for the County Commission and on June 4th for the School Board. None of the incumbents attended. Why? Are they afraid to answer questions from Republican voters?

Or does incumbency mean that you do not have to face the voters and defend your records? Could it be that Commissioners who have raised property taxes and proposed a tax increase twice in the last 6 years don’t want to have to answer why? Could it be that School Board members who voted to impose Common Core, a very unpopular federal mandate, on the number one school district in Florida, which lowers some of the standards our students were held to, don’t want to have to answer why?

Incumbents, if you want to be re-elected then you should answer for your records. Just showing up at an REC meeting and making a statement about how great things are in St. Johns County is not enough.

When you vote this month, by mail, in early voting starting in a week, or at your precinct on August 26, remember that the incumbents raised our taxes and imposed Common Core on our children.