Green side up!

About a dozen St Augustine Public Works Department employees spent the last week removing and re-installing roughly 25,000 sq. ft. of Bermuda sod in the Plaza de la Constitution.

Each year, at the conclusion of the Nights of Lights stampede, workers from the Streets and Grounds Division go about the task of cutting up what’s left of the grass in one of St Augustine’s most recognized and photographed city parks.

Historic City News learned that around $8,000 was paid for the sod; but, since installation is provided by city employees, the annual cost of labor is not broken out.

Now, if we only had something interesting that could provide a cultural enhancement for the Plaza, like plein air artists, for example, taxpayers wouldn’t feel like they are throwing that money away on a public park that some jackasses in City Hall are keeping out of the hands of the public.

What would Pedro Menendez have done to the city manager or his chief of police if they tried to arrest Diego Velazquez, El Greco, or Francisco Ribera?