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Published by former Mayor George Gardner July 31 2013
The Report is an independent publication serving our community.
Contributions are greatly appreciated.
or mail to
George Gardner 57 Fullerwood Drive St. Augustine FL 32084
Click to order St. Augustine Bedtime Stories -
two sets of twelve, $15 each set
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$417,838?
City awaits county vote on Mumford support
It was a new figure dropped on city commissioners last week, but it's been there all along, just not presented that way.
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Litzinger describes shuttle routes
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The figure is for all anticipated city expenses for the September 13-14 Mumford and Sons Gentlemen of the Road concert. What's been discussed was a $129,485 shortfall in expected city revenue. City officials hope that will be covered with a county bed tax grant.
New is a $50,000 additional expense for county "expertise" and $6,400 city staff overtime for the Mumford concert.
Both the $129,485 Tourist Development Council grant to the city and interlocal agreement for $50,000 from the city go before the County Commission August 6 for approval.
City Comptroller Mark Litzinger, handling a park and shuttle program for the concert, said bids from bus companies will be opened August 8. That portion is estimated at $220,523, along with $140,915 in Francis Field prep and public safety, and the $50,000 county "fee" and $6,400 city staff overtime, to total $417,838.
On the revenue side, the city expects a $15 wristband on 10,000 shuttle riders parking their cars at the regional airport to raise $150,000, with another $81,953 reimbursement from concert promoter EC Entertainment for Francis Field prep and public safety, and the $129,485 bed tax grant if passed, to total $361,438. That's short $56,400, the amount of latest additions for the county "expertise" fee and city staff overtime.
(Ed. Note: City/county antipathy is legend. It plays out in plans for the Mumford Gentlemen of the Road stopover. "It's your show," says county, dismissing the filling of rooms, restaurants, and shops outside the city. "And we're happy to help - for a price.")
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Honor to
the Dead
Honor to the Dead, reenacting ceremonies in August, 1842, when more than 1,000 American officers' and soldiers' remains gathered from battlefields of the Seminole Indian Wars were reinterred beneath three coquina pyramids at St. Augustine's post cemetery, will be held Saturday, August 24.
A reenactor encampment will open at 9 am on the parade ground at St. Francis Barracks on Marine Street to begin this 6th annual ceremony organized by the West Point Society of North Florida, sponsored by the 450th Military Commemoration Committee, and supported by the Seminole Wars Foundation.
At 11 am a procession to the nearby cemetery will be followed by ceremonies at the pyramids commonly called the Dade Monuments for the commander and men who fell in ambush to ignite the Second Seminole War in 1835.
Honor to the Dead was the period newspaper's headline of the reinterrment ceremonies.
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How Guthrie and Troy
are faring with stopovers
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Guthrie OK and Troy OH are the other two US cities on the Mumford and Sons Gentlemen of the Road tour.
Guthrie (September 6-7) a city of 10,000 and part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex, is home to the annual Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival in its Cottonwood Flats
 | | Troy's 10,000 seat
Memorial Stadium
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Recreation Area.
Troy Ohio, (August 30-31) 25,000 population, is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area and has a 10,000 seat stadium.
The Troy website says "Mayor (Michael) Beamish recognizes that allowing alcohol in downtown Troy, the river corridor, and at the Troy Memorial Stadium is a new concept. His support of this event is based on:
* The proven track record of the sponsoring organizations involved in hosting a quality and well-controlled event, including strictly regulating alcohol sales and consumption within narrowly defined areas only;
* The responsibility that will rest solely on the event sponsors for arranging and funding event details;
* The fact that the event is cost neutral to the City of Troy and the Troy City Schools; and,
* The potentially huge positive economic impact on local businesses and local non-profit organizations."
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Picasso's bulls running
in red as exhibit ends
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The Picasso Art and Arena exhibit will end its half year stay here August 11 an estimated $146,369 in the red, according to figures supplied by City Comptroller Mark Litzinger.
 The loss is about $5,000 less than the deficit of $151,331 in an accounting after the exhibit's first two months. Then the City Commission authorized an extension of its stay from May 11 to August 11.
Ticket prices, originally $10 adult, $8 senior, and $5 ages 7-12, have been cut to $5 adult, $4 senior, and $3 ages 7 to 12 for the exhibit's final two weeks.
450th Director Dana Ste. Claire said in a handout to the St. Augustine Record, "The run of the Picasso Art & Arena exhibition has been tremendous. ... We are thrilled to have been able to bring this exhibition to the United States, to our St. Augustine community and visitors."
Plans for the exhibit prompted a $1.5 million remodeling of the Visitor Center into a state of the art exhibit hall.
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Community garden for Fullerwood?
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Gina Burrell, whose civic and financial contributions to beautification in the city include trees along San Marco Avenue between Ballard and Williams streets and assisting landscaping of the city-owned former car wash at King Street and US 1, says she has ten folks interested so far in establishing a community garden at Fullerwood Park off Hildreth Drive.
"It would be in limited space between the children's play area and basketball court, so we'd use the square foot gardening method," says Gina, referring to a method of calculating plant size and spacing for greatest production. She anticipates 16 bed areas.
Interested? Contact Gina 825-6746 or Tawny 377-9075.
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Open spaces - for now
 Work has begun on the former Kmart site at Seabridge Square on US 1.
According to an application filed with the county, "Project consists of demolishing the existing K-Mart store and reconstructing new in line retail space within the existing building footprint. The owner intends to increase the depth of one of the proposed tenant spaces by 18 feet."
And Flagler College's controversial plan to build a 400-student classroom complex at Cuna and Cordova streets began last week with demolition of its one-story communications facility.
Looking at the empty site in the shadow of his Carriage Way Bed and Breakfast (left in photo), John Johnson mused, "It'd make a nice pocket park."
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Commentary
Helpless in St. Augustine
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The City Commission purchased a former car wash at US 1 and King Street in February 2010 for $233,000, to replace an eyesore with a park for the western gateway into the city.
The City Commission purchased the M&M Market in Lincolnville in December 2010 for $305,000, to protect against continued criminal activity after its former owners were arrested on criminal charges.
In both cases, details of the properties' ownership, financials, and contacts were gathered easily by the city in its official capacity.
The intersection of San Marco Avenue and May Street has a market value in county records of $410,666. Its development as a 7-Eleven store and gas pumps would further intensify an already congested intersection with an "F" rating.
It could be purchased by the city through eminent domain. But Mayor Joe Boles replied to the most recent plea by residents, "It has not come to us to vote on, we cannot bring it up to us, we can't do anything 'til it gets to us. I'm sure you're poised and ready with your activist neighborhood for an appeal."
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History's highlight
Varela 'taught us how to think'
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2 years, 1 month, 9 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary
Father Felix Varela, Cuban priest and human rights activist, was born in Havana in 1788 and raised in St. Augustine.
As a priest, he returned to Cuba where he was elected a deputy to the Spanish Cortes of 1812 and became one of the most innovative thinkers on the island. Father Varela was the first to propose the abolition of slavery and complete independence for Cuba. 
He spent the last thirty years of his life in the United States, a prolific writer and an advocate of civil rights for Native Americans and immigrant groups.
In 1837, Father Varela was named Vicar General of the Diocese of New York, and also served as a theological consultant to the committee of American bishops which drew up the famous Baltimore Catechism, which began a standard teaching tool for Catholic children in the nation until the mid-20th century. He was later awarded a doctorate of Theology by St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland.
He returned to St. Augustine in 1849 where he died in 1853. The chapel in Tolomato Cemetery was built by Cubans in honor of Father Varela. Fifty-three years later his remains were moved from the cemetery to Cuba where he was enshrined in a monument proclaiming him a national hero.
Cuban patriot Jose Marti, who was born the same year Father Varela died, visited his mortuary chapel during his travels throughout Florida to pay tribute to, as he put it, "the man who taught us how to think."
The plaza's Constitution Monument was erected in 1814 to commemorate the Spanish Constitution of 1812. Father Varela served in the Spanish Cortes (parliament) under this new constitution which gave Cubans new rights and freedoms.
Father Varela attended mass at the Cathedral of St. Augustine as a child and officiated many services there later in his life. In the south courtyard of the cathedral is a monument to Father Varela, one of our earliest civil rights advocates.
In 1997 the United States Postal Service honored Father Varela with a 32-cent commemorative stamp. He is being considered for canonization as a Catholic saint, and was declared a Servant of God, recognizing his life as a devoted Catholic and a model for others in and out of the faith, and officially beginning the process.
If canonized, he would be the first Cuban-born person to be honored by the Catholic Church.
The Tolomato Cemetery is open the third Saturday each month from 11am to 3pm for self- and docent-guided tours.
St. Augustine Bedtime Stories - Dramatic accounts of famous people and events in St. Augustine's history - in booklets designed for quick reads before bed. Information here.
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The St. Augustine Report is published weekly, with additional Reports previewing City Commission meetings as well as Special Reports. The Report is written and distributed by George Gardner, St. Augustine Mayor (2002-2006) and Commissioner (2006-2008) and a former newspaper reporter and editor. Contact the Report at gardner@aug.com
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