A divided St. Johns County Board voted to reinstate the production of detailed meeting minutes Tuesday after a tense exchange between rival panelists.
Chair Krista Joseph said County Clerk Brandon Patty abruptly stopped publishing summaries of public comments made during board meetings — and did so soon after her election.
The move, she intimated, was intended to shield certain interests from having critical viewpoints memorialized online.
Joseph said she canvassed other local boards to see how they handled meeting minutes — and said St. Johns was the only jurisdiction to not publish summaries, however brief.
That practice began, she said, on Nov. 2, 2022.
“I wonder what happened between Nov. 2, 2022 and 0ct. 18, 2022,” she said. “I think I was elected. I’m not sure why this changed this quickly. But I think we need to go back. to more detail.”
Joseph backed the publication of brief synopses of public comments — including chosen topics and support or opposition to proposed resolutions.
“We are eliminating public input from our decision-making process,” she said. “I can’t find any other panel that does it in such a minimal fashion. We’re better than that.”
St. Augustine resident Ed Slavin said the jettisoned online summaries used to directly link to the place in posted videos where the comments were made.
Commissioner Christian Whitehurst rebuked Joseph for suggesting that Patty nixed the practice after her election — and said she had refused to schedule a meeting with the clerk on the issue.
“I just don’t think it’s fair to accuse not only the clerk Brandon Patty but his staff of politicizing their duties without ever having taken a meeting with him,” he said.
Joseph noted that she asked for representatives from his office to appear at Tuesday’s meeting, but that none showed up.
Whitehurst asked Interim County Attorney Rich Komando if the board could legally compel Patty to change his practice.
Komando said it couldn’t due to a “separation between constitutional officers and the board of county commissioners” — a position Joseph disagreed with.
In the end, Joseph, Ann Taylor and Clay Murphy voted for a resolution to request the resumption of public comment summaries in official minutes
Whitehurst — who said he couldn’t support the resolution without additional input from Patty — voted no. Board member Sarah Arnold joined him in opposing the measure, and it passed 3-2.
