St Johns County Administrator update
Michael Wanchick

This year was a busy one for the Board of County Commissioners and staff as new projects began, economic development increased, and we all worked to provide a superior level of service while continually maintaining a financially conservative approach to funding priorities and the County’s budget.

Michael Ryan, St Johns County spokesman, reported to Historic City News in St Augustine that all county offices, library branches and the Pet Center will be closed Monday, December 24 and Tuesday, December 25 in observance of Christmas.

The City of St Augustine has announced their Christmas and New Year’s holiday schedule to Historic City News, including office closures and rescheduled solid waste collection.

Amy Graham reported to Historic City News that St Johns County’s new representative in Congress, Ron DeSantis of Ponte Vedra Beach, has recently received his committee assignments for his first term in office; which officially begins when he is sworn into office on January 3, 2013.

Communications Manager Michael Ryan provided local Historic City News reporters with an executive summary of action items that came before the St Johns County commission at their regular business meeting yesterday, Tuesday December 18, 2012.

Historic City News reported that millions of voters turned out in Florida to cast their ballots on Tuesday, November 6, but they did not re-elect President Obama; in fact, the entire state only has 29 votes in the decision of who will be the next President and Vice President of the United States for the next four years — and that vote is taken today.

Historic City News has been outspoken in its criticism of the practice of using a “consent agenda” to dispose of matters of business before the county and city commission; without much public attention to the items being approved — many of which involve substantial amounts of money.