Letter: Commissioners and staff behaving badly

Letter: Commissioners and staff behaving badly

Patti Henderson
St Johns County, FL

Dear Editor:

First, I’d like to say I respect the St Johns County Commissioners for what they sat through at Tuesday’s meeting. After being there much of the day, I felt like I had put in a long day of work.

The most disappointing part of the day was to witness the disrespect that Chair Rachael Bennett paid to Commissioner Bill McClure…on several occasions. Ms. Bennett, your disdain for Mr. McClure is far too obvious for citizens to witness. I was so disappointed in your lack of professionalism, civility and decorum. At the point that Mr. McClure had overheads that were not available as he sat in his chair, you gave him no choice but to go to the podium and operate these himself. Then, you had the nerve to chastise him publicly that he should have never left his seat. How embarrassing, and I believe that you owe Commissioner McClure a public apology.

There was a similar incident when Commissioner Ken Bryan was Chair of the BCC, and he listened to Ben Rich totally annihilate Commissioner Cyndi Stevenson (of whom I was no fan, but she deserved respect) in a meeting, and neither the Chair (nor any other Commissioner) uttered one single objection. It cost Ken Bryan in the eyes of those present and I, as well as others, addressed all of the Commissioners for allowing this. (I know there were others who wrote, only because of the article that later appeared in the Record.) Bryan announced in the next meeting that there would be more civility shown in these public meetings. I trust that you, Chairperson Bennett, will do the same.

Thank you, Commissioner McClure, for bringing your suggested solution to the meeting. As Commissioner Smith noted, you were the only one to do so, other than those in the audience.

Another such incident today was when Commissioner Morris chose to call out a Board member of the Republican Executive Committee for his objection to the tax increase last Thursday evening, followed up by an email. You, Mr. Morris, did not use his name, but anyone watching both meetings knew exactly of whom you were speaking.

Also, Mr. Morris, you referred several times as to how the “three” of you could raise our property taxes, gesturing toward Commissioners Smith and Bennett, as though Commissioner McClure were not even there. Or…could that be because you know that he is not known for voting to raise our taxes? At any rate, it is time for you and Ms. Bennett to behave in a more professional manner.

Mr. Wanchick, my own thought is that you are paid a healthy salary to figure out solutions to a budget shortfall … if there truly is one. You are provided a great staff, and it is not the citizens’ responsibility to tell you where to cut spending.

Over two years ago, we addressed the 501c3 programs (which none of us believe should be collecting taxpayer dollars), along with 99 other suggested cuts. We saw many areas that we believed could be cut, but you refused to listen to us, even when we came to you with solutions! Please don’t continue to pass the buck; you work with these numbers daily. So, please … you figure it out.

Looking forward to better meetings, whether I attend in person or watch on GTV.