Tag Archives: Q&A
Q&A with St. Johns County Commissioner Jimmy Johns (District 1)
Q: Can you shed any light on the latest status of Hallowes Cove, the pristine area of the St. Johns River within the RiverTown development on State Road 13?
A: This is the second or third time the subject of a marina at this location has come up. Years ago,the Development of Regional Impact (DRI) for RiverTown was approved with a prohibition of any marina being built here. When Mattamy bought the property, they bought it with this approved DRI. Now it seems they want to build a 250 slip marina on the passive riverfront park at the mouth of Hallowes Cove.
Q&A with State Attorney, 7th Judicial Circuit, R.J. Larizza
Q: What can you tell us about fraud in our area?
A: Florida is arguably the leader in the country in fraud. This is partly because we have a lot of senior citizens who have worked their whole lives and then retire here — they’re natural targets for scammers who want to prey upon the vulnerable. Also, with the state’s booming economy, construction fraud is prevalent.
I’d like to take this opportunity to tell people to protect themselves against fraud. We are good at prosecuting, but we’d prefer to prevent fraud from happening. Don’t be a victim.
Q&A with St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes
Q: Can you dispel some of the myths surrounding Vote by Mail?
A: One of the biggest myths surrounding Vote by Mail ballots is that they are only counted when an election is close. The fact is, they are the first to be counted. Vote by Mail ballots are opened and processed by the canvassing board starting a week prior to Election Day, as they come in to our office. We use the high speed counter, which is different from the machines used at the precincts. We keep the results secure until 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Q&A with St. Johns County Commissioner Jimmy Johns (District 1)
Q: What is the latest news from the County Commission?
A: Right now, it is raining requests for money — everything from beach renourishment to the School Board to people requesting their drainage issues be fixed. We are in budget season and our Office of Management and Budget is saying we should not spend all of our cash reserves. For instance, we have only received one-third of the reimbursement amount we expect to receive from FEMA from the hurricanes. This reimbursement process is working, but it is working slowly … so we have a cash flow issue. So we are looking at the budget for next year and asking, where is the money going to come from?
Q & A with St. Johns County School Board Member, District 1, Beverly Slough
Q: Can you give us an update as of today (June 15) about what the St. Johns County School District is doing to comply with the school safety act?
A: We just had a joint meeting with the Board of County Commissioners where we presented our plan and asked for their help. Currently we have 15 Youth Resource Officers that the school district and the sheriff’s office jointly pay for. This leaves us a gap of 28 officers in order to have one on each school campus.
