After about 16-years of volunteer service on the Planning and Zoning Board of the City of St Augustine Beach, its chairman Jane West and vice-chairman Elise Sloan have resigned their highly visible positions; leaving the board that advises the Commission on a variety of development matters without their seasoned leadership.

The latest move to recover about $800,000 in embezzled funds from local taxpayers and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Benevolence Fund at the hands of Sheriff David Shoar’s Director of Finance, Raye Annette Brutnell, came Wednesday this week when Shoar brought a civil lawsuit against Brutnell in the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court for St Johns County.

Florida currently has 1,159 exemptions to its open government laws.  Every exemption makes government less transparent.  Historic City News is tracking 114 Bills during the 2020 legislative session that will either create new open government exemptions or extend current exemptions.

Ever wonder what it means when someone refers to “Sunshine Law” or why you must give your name and address before speaking during public comment at a City Commission meeting?

With four-of-five St Augustine city commissioners showing no interest in overturning their unanimous 2018-decision to protect the now 121-year-old memorial to Confederate soldiers in the city’s Plaza de la Constitucion, commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline seized the opportunity during Monday night’s meeting to betray her false commitment to historic preservation.

A proposed ordinance at Monday’s City Commission meeting to add regulations to city parks and other public and semi-public venues prompted a series of suggestions for naming parks and streets.

The 60-days to come will be perilous for taxpayers in Florida, because the legislature is in session.  State senators and representatives will be advancing their favorite Bills while the hallways of the Capitol become a campground for lobbyists.

Mayor Tracy Upchurch and city attorney Isabelle C. Lopez were placed on notice this month that should the city attempt to impose weekly minimum rental requirements on short-term rentals, they will go afoul of state law and open the city to the cost of otherwise avoidable litigation.