Published by the Department of Public Affairs, City of St. Augustine. Florida April 27 2010
|
|
Regan named city manager |
 Chief Operations Officer John Regan was unanimously selected by our City Commission Monday to be our new city manager, subject to contract negotiations.
He will succeed Bill Harriss, who is retiring after twelve years as our chief executive officer, capping a 25-year career with our city.
Mayor Joe Boles opened discussion with praise and support for Regan, quickly followed by Commissioners Leanna Freeman - "This is not a tough decision," Nancy Sikes-Kline - "He is well-known, respected, and highly professional," and Don Crichlow - "He's demonstrated creativity and ingenuity as an engineer as well as managerial skills in running his departments."
Commissioner Errol Jones suggested the process might have included an opportunity for others in the city's "excellent staff" to apply, but cast his vote for a unanimous decision.
Regan, contacted after the vote, said, "I'm honored and happy that so many people appreciate my commitment to the city. I'm really humbled."
Mayor Boles will represent commissioners in Regan's contract negotiations.
|
|
|
 |
Our Castillo was prison for pirates, Indians, and English in our earliest years, American patriots in the British Period, Seminoles in the early 1800s, and western Indians in the late 1800s.
No record of German POWs here during World War II, but there were some 250 POW camps in the south, holding thousands of the 380,000 Germans imprisoned throughout the US.
That forgotten chapter is told in a "buseum," a bus converted into a museum and 21-seat theater. The traveling exhibit will be parked in our sponsoring Historical Society parking lot on St. Francis Street Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for free visiting. |
|
|
'My point man on
tough assignments' | |
Regan, 48, joined our city management team twelve years ago and quickly rose from utilities director to chief operations officer for the city. Harriss often acknowledged, "John's my point man on the tough assignments."
Among those assignments: the Riberia Street landfill move and restoration, West Augustine infrastructure plans, Visitor Center parking facility, seawall south of the Bridge of Lions, Riberia Street project, and Aviles Street redesign.
Known for his easy-going nature and ability to draw diverse elements together to find solutions, John was asked if moving to the main seat might lessen his value in effectively working behind the scenes.
"We have one of the most professional teams I've ever worked with," he replied. "I look forward to continued great progress with our team."
Regan came to our city from positions as environmental engineer with the Alachua County Department of Environmental Protection and senior environmental engineer with Gainesville Regional Utilities. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in Environmental Engineering with a minor in Environmental Science.
He and his wife Felicia, a teacher at Otis Mason Elementary School, live in Davis Shores. Son John Jr., a graduate of North Florida University in computer science, works with the PGA Tour, while daughter Michelle is completing landscape architecture studies at the University of Florida.
|
| BOOM!! Residents recoil at cannon |
The Fountain of Youth Park will continue efforts to reduce the impact of daily cannon firings after Water Street residents complained to commissioners that efforts so far aren't enough.
Park Manager John Fraser said he hopes a smaller amount of charge and higher baffle walls will satisfy concerned residents.
Obviously piqued that residents went to police rather than him, he said, "I'm easily accessible. My family since 1927 has foregone development to keep it the way it is, as an asset to the city."
City Attorney Ron Brown reported to commissioners later in Monday's meeting that, after the commission discussion, he met with Fraser and the residents, "phone numbers were being exchanged, and it appears there will be better communication among neighbors - which is the way it should be." |
|
|
|
| Heritage plan, resolution online | The complete documents of our city's Business Plan for the Heritage Tourism Department, and City Commission resolution outlining its commitment to the plan, are now available on the 450 Community Corps website.
The business plan details improvements now under way for our Colonial Spanish Quarter, Government House, and retail operations. 
The resolution, passed by our commission two weeks ago, lists its commitment to the 34 state-owned historic properties here and requests repeal of state legislation turning management of our heritage program over to the University of Florida.
Our community is being urged to contact University of Florida President Bernard Machen to support our request for repeal. The city would then seek a 30-year lease with the state and develop public/private partnerships to repair the properties.
The rationale: neither the state nor the university has the funding to dedicate to repair costs estimated at between $16 and $27 million.
Our city would leverage interest in our commemorations to draw international support from nations and organizations to sponsor hospitality venues in our historic buildings. |
|
| |
How about $3 for a quality book?
 Wanna get a great book, brand new, for $3? Check out the book store just inside our main library on US 1. Friends of the Library's Dulcy Freeman says an anonymous donor appears periodically with cartons of current books, which are shelved by category for browsers.
With limited volunteer help, the book store is open only Mondays 10-7 and Saturdays 10-5. Proceeds support the Friends of the Library programs.
Yuletide's joy is a spring misery
 Notice those clear droppings last month that stuck to your car like epoxy? Or perhaps more recently, fallen limbs with clusters of greenery? It's the advent of that popular yuletide favorite - mistletoe. No Virginia, mistletoe is not a tree, but rather grows on trees - much to the disdain of arborists. It's a parasite, quite comfortable on trees in our subtropical climate, and 'tis the season to bloom in February and March, later producing berries in December.
You'll see these mistletoe clumps on a variety of trees, like the tree pictured at our Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind along Macaris Street. Wind or birds carry the sticky mistletoe berries to host trees, from which the plant draws its nourishment.
Fine dining continues as city hallmark
Three St. Augustine restaurants have won Florida Trend's 2010 Golden Spoon awards, while five others are among the magazine's Best 500 Restaurants in Florida.
95 Cordova, Opus 39, and The Tasting Room were among its 40 Golden Spoon choices, while A1A Ale Works Brewery & Restaurant, Café Atlantico, Gypsy Cab Company, Le Pavillon, and Saltwater Cowboy's ranked among Florida's top 500. Complete listings here.
|
Another era remembered at National Cemetery
"Our ceremony is simple, yet moving. Sadly these men have been forgotten in our Nation's collective memory. While others may not remember, we do."
 With these words, Col. Steve Abolt, commanding a contingent of the 7th Regiment of United States Infantry Living History Association,
laid a wreath Saturday at the monument to 1,468 soldiers killed during the Second Seminole War of 1835-1842, and entombed beneath three coquina pyramids at our NationalCemetery on Marine Street.
The 7th represents America's military of the early 1800s, a force tested in its first guerrilla warfare against a foe that was never defeated - the Americans simply stopped fighting.
This, and the annual West Point Society of North Florida ceremony honoring the Seminole and Miccosukee Indians, soldiers, and West Point graduates who perished in the Florida Indian Wars, are strengthening efforts to bring this period of history into the mix as we plan our commemorations.
The 7th is celebrating its 175th Anniversary, and its living history unit is also part of the Dade's Battle reenactment at Bushnell in January. | |
|
History's Highlights
Ceremony here ended Seminole Indian Wars
One in a series of historic features as we prepare for our commemorations, drawn from research by George Gardner
August 15, 1842, seven wagons, each draped with an American flag and drawn by five elegant mules, carried the remains of the American war dead to the Post Cemetery at St. Augustine.
In the first and second wagons, the remains of Major Francis L.Dade's command; in the third and fourth wagons, soldiers and officers killed in battle, and in the fifth, sixth, and seventh wagons, officers who died in Florida. In all, remains of 1,468 soldiers killed during the Second Seminole War of 1835-1842, the longest and most costly Indian war in American history. A war without declared victory. Simply ended.
 Steve Abolt, whose 7th Regiment living history contingent memorialized these fallen last Saturday, said, "In August, 1842, the American government decided hostilities were over, and ordered the gathering of soldiers' remains and reinterment here as its formal declaration.
The great Seminole War Chief Osceola died four years earlier, in prison at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina. Military authorities inscribed on his simple marble grave marker, "Osceola, Patriot and Warrior, Died at Fort Moultrie, January 30th, 1838."
His compatriot, Coacoochee, aboard a ship in Tampa Bay in July, 1841, awaiting transport to an Oklahoma reservation, heard the words of Colonel William J. Worth, Florida military commander: "You have been a mighty leader of your people. You have fought bravely for your beliefs. I admire you. But both sides have suffered enough."
And Coacoochee responded: "We know but little; we have no books which tell all things; but we have the Great Spirit, moon, and stars; these told me, last night, you would be our friend. I gave you my word; it is the word of a warrior, a chief, a brave, it is the word of Coacoochee. It is true I have fought like a man. So have my warriors. But the whites are too strong for us. I wish now to have my band around me."
Three distinctive pyramids would be constructed of native coquina stone at this cemetery, and covered with white stucco, while nearby several plain white markers would designate the graves of Seminole Indian scouts.
Photo by moultriecreek on flicker
|
|
The St. Augustine Report is published by the Department of Public Affairs of the City of St. Augustine each Tuesday and on Fridays previewing City Commission meetings. The Report is written and distributed by George Gardner, former St. Augustine Mayor (2002-2006) and Commissioner (2006-2008) and a longtime newspaper reporter and editor. Contact The Report at gardner@aug.com | |
|
|
|
