Category: Government

Fiscal Year 2013-2014 begins on October 1, 2013 for local governments, and the City of St Augustine has announced to Historic City News the dates set for public meetings related to its budget for that accounting year.

Requests from 28 applicant organizations to fund various events during Fiscal 2013-14 will have to be pared by the St Johns County Tourist Development Council before the requests can be approved by the Board of County Commissioners; because Historic City News has learned that only $550,000 is allocated and the requests total $720,582.

Does the government have the right to quantify your constitutionally protected right to free expression? Some members of the St Augustine Tea Party are telling Historic City News that they believe controlling where you can speak will soon turn into controlling what you can say — and when.

Historic City News has learned that Isabelle Lopez, Assistant City Attorney for the City of St Augustine, has been recognized by her peers among the “2013 Legal Elite” — one of 60 other governmental attorneys, according to the tenth annual survey conducted by Florida Trend magazine.

Communications Specialist Danielle Berke, announced to local Historic City News reporters that all departments of the St Johns County Board of County Commissioners, St Johns County Administrative offices, branches of the Public Library, and the Pet Center will be closed Thursday, July 4, and Friday, July 5, in observance of Independence Day.

The US Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, has ruled that a landmark law of the Great Society era, the Voting Rights Act, does not reflect today’s racial progress; giving states like Florida a chance to show that it can run fair elections for the first time in decades.

The St Johns County Board of Commissioners has canceled their next regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, July 2, 2013, due to its proximity to the Independence Day holiday and the absence of county staff due to summer vacation schedules.