Rancor and hostility have become hallmarks of the deeply riven St. Johns County Board of Commissioners.
But Tuesday’s episode of what sometimes resembles a municipal telenovela delved into recrimination and argument in record time.
Board chair Krista Joseph opened the proceeding by noting the absence of her colleague Sarah Arnold, who called into the meeting and planned to participate remotely.
Unless she was in the throes of an emergency, Joseph argued, Arnold could not vote on the day’s matters.
“I’m here,” Arnold said over speakers in St. Augustine’s St. Johns County Auditorium.
“Do you have an emergency, ma’am?” Joseph asked Arnold in phrasing reminiscent of a 911 call.
“No, Commissioner Joseph,” Arnold replied from parts unknown.
“If you don’t have an emergency you can’t vote,” Joseph said. “But if you’d like to partake in the meeting that would be fine.”
Arnold quickly requested an opinion from Interim Town Attorney Rich Komando.
“Does Commissioner Joseph have the legal authority to prevent me from voting?” she asked. “I believe that’s my constitutional right as granted to me by the voters.”
Komando rappelled into the fray, telling Joseph that state law doesn’t bar an elected official from remotely casting votes as long as a physical quorum is present.
Joseph returned fire, asserting that Arnold was setting a dangerous precedent.
“i just don’t want to start something where we’ve never had someone who can go on vacation and call into this meeting,” she said. “Because the constituents deserve to have their person here.”
Board member Clay Murphy — a retired state trooper turned successful restaurateur — waxed unintentionally philosophical.
“Mr. Komando, what does ‘present’ mean?” he asked at one point.
Despite the county lawyer’s protests, Joseph tried to bring the matter to a board vote — but insisted that Arnold could not vote in the vote about her ability to vote.
Komando dove back into the crossfire, alleging that Joseph was flouting rules.
“You don’t have the legitimate authority to infringe upon the constitutional rights afforded to each commissioner,” he said. “Just like she couldn’t do it to you. Just like you can’t tell the sheriff who to arrest.”
Since the matter was broached publicly, Joseph opened up the discussion to civilian meeting attendees, who were largely split on the issue.
Board meeting fixture Charlie Hunt offered a succinct appraisal of Arnold’s absence during the spring break meeting.
“You volunteered to be elected,” he said. “Do your job.”
Speaker Kerri Gustavson echoed that opinion, telling the board that commissioners should not enjoy privileges unavailable to the public.
“I’ve lived in this county for ten years,” she said. “I’ve never been able to call in to even give a comment. To see that we might be changing things up today because somebody went on vacation — I don’t think that’s fair.”
Public speaker Jackie LeBlanc said commissioners should be required to attend meetings in the flesh.
“These people didn’t show up to see empty chairs,” she said. “We show up here to see you, and hear you and look at you.”
Speaker Travis Minch backed Arnold’s right to vote, arguing that Joseph was motivated by political animus rather than procedural principle.
“We’ve got a county commissioner who is doing what she can to participate,” he said. “I would question whether her political beliefs are being measured on whether or not she should be able to participate. If you don’t like her vote that doesn’t mean she that she should be denied the right to vote.”
Helen Breeding told the board that it should have never scheduled a meeting during spring break to begin with.
“I think this meeting should have been delayed knowing that it was spring break,” she said. “We know that some of the commissioners — and staff as well — have children and they are having to not go on vacation with their children to be here.”
Breeding urged the board to adopt a less acrimonious tone overall.
“This hate and divisiveness we have going on here is so unprofessional,” she said. “It’s so undignified. And so unnecessary.”
Joseph eventually relented, saying she would defer to Komando’s counsel.
With that, she called for Pastor Jason Cullum of Christ Church to perform the invocation that is normally given at the start of the meeting.
Having waited for the unexpected 40-minute debate to finally conclude, he walked to the podium.
“Let us pray,” he said with a smile.
