Letter: The Irony of Nicole Crosby

Carol Anderson

St Johns County, FL

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Judge Kenneth Janesk, of the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, just ruled on a lawsuit brought against Nicole Crosby, “the Anns” handler/campaign manager/marketing advisor.  The lawsuit (type in case #CA24-0665), brought by Plaintiff James Higbee, alleges defamation of his character in social media and says that the defamation had a direct impact on his career.

In response to the lawsuits, Crosby made two motions.  The first was to dismiss the case. The second was to protect “the Anns” and Commissioner Krista Keating-Joseph from being deposed.  Both motions were denied on August 9, 2024.

Now, on August 26, Commissioner Joseph, Ann-Marie Evans and Ann Taylor will be asked under oath about their knowledge of Ms. Crosby’s lies.  Were they complicit?  I guess we’ll find out, but I wonder why it was so important for Nicole to protect them from deposition?

On October 2, the suit against Crosby will be adjudicated.  If the judge finds for the plaintiff – in other words if he agrees that the evidence points to Crosby having slandered Higbee – she could face a penalty of up to $600,000.

Wouldn’t that cause a person to rethink their actions?  Apparently not, because the lies keep on coming in social media, mailers and blast emails.

The irony is overwhelming. 

For the past year, Crosby has slandered more individuals than Higbee.  She has trashed the reputation of four sitting commissioners with her memes and statistics that tell only the story she wants to tell.  She has called them corrupt, liars, and has used her marketing skills to convince many residents that the sitting commissioners are “paving over” the County and approving residential development simply because they are “in the pocket” of developers.

She has photoshopped their heads on bulldozers while listing campaign contribution and development approval data.  Never mind that the data is completely out of context of what could and should be approved.

She photoshopped their heads in a pickle-jar (not totally sure why), but that is mild compared to sending a group of protesters to a commissioner’s home.

I learned what it feels like to be the target of slander when I found my head photoshopped across Crosby’s Facebook page simply for disagreeing with her.  Defamation and slander ARE her modus operandi.  

She is fronting “the Anns” just as she fronted Commissioner Joseph and is ready to take control of the Board of Commissioners with a majority of her puppets on the Board.

It’s not just individuals she has wronged

Besides the obvious slander toward people, she has done our County a grave disservice by convincing several residents that the county is (in her words) “a mess”.  The county is NOT a mess.  It is growing rapidly.  That growth is putting stress on the infrastructure.  

The current Board of Commissioners have taken aggressive action to protect our land, hold developers accountable and create a strong economy.  They (at least four of them) care deeply about the county, work their butts off 24x7x365 and make decisions in the best interest of ALL of the county, not just the residents who show up at Commissioner meetings to complain.

The fifth commissioner is more concerned about her personal agenda than about working for the good of the county.  Nicole is a danger to St Johns County’s future, as are any elected officials under her thumb.

Lies or spin?  Does it make a difference?

I recently received two blast texts in support of “the Anns” (most likely authored by Crosby) claiming that a “brutal, vicious election” with “non-stop lies” about “the Anns” have been made by opponents. Each linked a video of one Ann’s perspective on the County. 

In her video, Ann-Marie stated that her opponent voted to raise sales tax by a “whopping 15%.”  In Ann Taylor’s video, she repeats the misinformation about her opponent voting for a sales tax increase. Both said that the Commissioners voted to approve a sales tax.

Well hold on just a minute. That is a lie.  

The commissioners voted to place the proposed sales tax on the ballot and let the voters make the decision.  This is what Nicole does.  She looks for a concern among residents and exploits it with a barrage of misinformation and lies.   

Residents are concerned with the cost of living?  Blame the incumbent commissioners.  Residents see too much growth in the county?  Blame the incumbent commissioners.

When anyone calls out her lies, she creates a nasty meme, trashes them and simply says their claim is wrong.  No evidence, just her claim.

I’m tired of her and frightened for my county

I choose my words carefully.  In my profession, I coach leaders not to use “charged words” – words that immediately create defensiveness and quickly devolve into a fight.

I’m not saying she provides misinformation anymore.  She lies. And she and her puppets will destroy this beautiful county.

Vote carefully.