New Republican leaders joining local political scene

A Jacksonville attorney who resides in St Johns is among the newest members elected to the St Johns County Republican Executive Committee during their regular business meeting last night.

Accompanied by his service dog, a black standard poodle named “Rocket”, 48-year-old John R. Capra, who attended with his wife, Sandra, will serve as a Precinct Committeeman for Precinct 105. Capra has been a registered Republican voter in St Johns County for the past eleven years.

Capra was one of about a dozen Republicans who have contacted local party officials in the past thirty days for information about serving on the executive committee, according to Vice-President William Korach who made the introduction.

Republican Primary Elections are heating up quickly, as two local county commission seats are up for grabs. Most other seats locally on various boards and the cities of St Augustine and St Augustine Beach, are non-partisan contests where the Republican Party traditionally supports the Republican candidate.

Elected officials attended, two of whom are up for re-election and were given time to address the other party members. Contestants Dan Abel and Denver Cook are challenging Commission Chairman John H. “Jay” Morris. Each of the three men spoke briefly to the audience.

Morris spoke about improvements to the Standard and Poors rating of the county; one of the components used to decide the rate of interest the county pays when they borrow money. Cook spoke about his concerns that the candidates are not laying out their plans, going forward, for St Johns County; saying, “We’ve heard a lot about where we’ve been and where we are — but nobody is talking about the county’s vision for the future.”

Cook’s comments prompted a response from Morris, asking the chair for an opportunity to rebut claims made by Cook during his remarks. Chairman Sean Mulhall overruled the request; confirming that there will be opportunities for the candidates to debate one another at a later date.

Abel, who is a Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in Ponte Vedra Beach, and Certified Retirement Planning Counselor by the College for Financial Planning, focused his remarks on unkept promises to veto tax increases. Abel says increasing the county’s debt is not the answer — spending less money is the only way to add the financial strength necessary to lower taxes. “Regardless of the county’s S&P rating, you can’t borrow your way out of debt,” Abel told Historic City News at the conclusion of the meeting.