Musings, opinions, observations, questions, and random thoughts on island life, Fernandina Beach and more

Musings, opinions, observations, questions, and random thoughts on island life, Fernandina Beach and more

Talking to Local Liberals Like Debating Victims of Attention Deficit Disorder

ArguingwithLiberalsFernandina Beach City Commissioner Johnny Miller, who is very skilled in his use of social media to express his opinions and display his left-leaning ideology, took to that media to voice his displeasure of my last two blogs.

His annoyance concerning my comments on the possibility of the City Commission violating the Sunshine Law (Is No Public Discussion of $1.8 Million Lawsuit An Example of Shady Local Government?) November 28, 2014) prompted him to send a copy of the blog to City Attorney Tammi Bach, who responded to it with a detailed retort in which she copied all the other city commissioners and numerous city staff  while soon-to-be-former Commissioner Sarah Pelican had it read into the commission’s proceedings. Mr. Miller’s initiative caused this blog to receive more local attention than I could have ever hoped to generate, including producing a slew of new subscribers.

His postings voicing his displeasure about my blogs make more sense than a recent Commissioner Miller Facebook question where the vegetarian commissioner asked his followers: “If you were a vegetable which one would you like to be?” Maybe at the next commission meeting his supporters can all go dressed as their favorite edible plant.

In his online arena Mr. Miller silently endorsed false allegations concerning his invited speaker, Ms. Erin Handy, an environmentalist for Oceana, an organization vehemently opposed to seismic sound testing in the Atlantic Ocean to locate oil and natural gas deposits. I wrote that the presentation was a waste of time (Fernandina Beach City Hall Political & Legal Antics Make “Blazing Saddles” Look Tame), December 5, 2014) and that the commission needed to focus on more pressing local issues, which the commissioners were elected to watch over. I also questioned that fact that Ms. Handy’s presentation didn’t present opposition views.

And here is where Commissioner Miller began to go off the rails, not because of what he posted but because of what he knowingly saw posted on his Facebook thread, and then sat back and remained silent about. I didn’t mind his following comments about the blogs when he posted : “David Scott’s blog has officially entered the realm of TMZ. His reply to my suggestion that he would loose creditability by posting that his city commission was illegally meeting out of the sunshine was, “I didn’t say that you did, I said that’s what I heard!” Bless his heart. I like the guy, but his rants have officially lost my respect as a source of information and has become a source of humor. Those comments made it abundantly clear what he thinks of my opinions and he has every right to express those thoughts and he should continue to make his views known.

What did bother me, however, was his silence when his wife, Lori, and his other Facebook allies posted false allegations about me following Ms. Handy’s presentation such as: “How could he l(Dave) like the meeting when during the majority of it he was in the parking lot harassing the speaker. Why did he not voice his opinion at the meeting instead of criticizing after the fact,” posted Lori Green Miller. Not only did Commissioner Miller not object to this nonsense, but he clicked a “like” on the accusation, which was blatantly false.

From there is just got crazier, and when I objected I realized I was dealing with lemming-like group thinkers suffering from severe Attention Deficit Disorder when someone named Sherry Carter Garbarini posted : “I walked her to her car after she came back inside scared and rattled. The speaker gave the description of the harasser. That information was passed to the officer. The officer stated your name. No one came after you Dave but next time you might want to curb your obnoxious behavior. You never know who you are going to be pissing off next time.”

Despite my protestations of innocence these folks continued to make paranoid accusations based on their own neurotic impulses and persisted in accusing me of harassing a middle-aged lady in a city parking lot with Ray Hetchka posting “Dave…was that not you following her across 2nd St headed toward the parking lot? I was in the grey FJ40 at the stop sign waiting for you to cross.” And someone named Art Sanchez saying: Seems to me that a “line up” is in order here! We should have the accuser pick the culprit from a line up! That should settle this matter! Make sure you are wearing the same clothes Dave!! LOL.” and then adding: Hey Dave!!! No one owes you an apology! You put yourself out there with your opinions now you get opinions back! Put your big boy pants on and relax!!

It became obvious that there was no use trying to rationalize with these folks as they are all about shouting and demagogy as they worked themselves up into a dervish-like state and continued to rant inanities.

So I decided to do something that never occurred to these spittle-spewing, raging folks seeking slobbering approval from each other, and that is talk to the police and Ms. Handy about this supposed incident.

According to the Fernandina Police Department a report about the alleged episode was never filed. Nope, nothing say the cops. So I called Ms. Handy, using the phone number she provided on her Power Point presentation at the City Commission meeting. I identified myself as Dave Scott, who attended her talk and as one who didn’t wholly agree with what she said. I added that I heard that following her talk, she was verbally accosted in a parking lot, and apologized for such behavior by anyone in our community.

Shouldn’t Commissioner Miller have done this earlier? But, I’m getting ahead of myself here.

Ms. Handy told me: ” ‘Accosted’ in too strong a word.” She said, after leaving the commission chambers, that she stopped on the sidewalk to retrieve her car keys from her purse and noticed a man behind her, who paused when she did. She said she turned and asked him “Can I help you?” and according to Ms. Handy he said: “Why wasn’t the other side here to present their views?”

At that point Ms. Handy said she told the stranger that he should contact the local mayor and she retreated back inside City Hall.

Apparently the lady is unaccustomed to having her opinions questioned and, as Ms. Garbarini said, this left the speaker “scared and rattled.” That’s understandable, particularly when the woman presented what she admitted was “anecdotal” evidence about the coming oceanic Holocaust she claims will be caused by oil companies using seismic sound testing. Her default argument is to holler “HELP” and then skedaddle.

When asked by me to describe her questioner’s attitude Ms. Handy said he was not really threatening, but more like “creepy.” Of course! How else do “Its-the-end-of-the-world-because-of-the-oil-companies” liberals describe someone who doesn’t agree with their point of view. Her other option was to hold her hands over her ears like a small child who doesn’t want to listen to Mother.

Oh, Ms. Handy also described her questioner’s appearance as “skinny, bald and sixtyish,” three things I am not.

On late Saturday afternoon I happened upon Johnny Miller’s delightful mom, Nancy, and her congenial husband, Stan, at Sandy Bottoms and expressed my displeasure and dismay about their daughter-in-law’s Facebook comments. I assume Nancy relayed my thoughts as later that evening Mrs. Miller did concede, posting: “I have to add that I did not personally see Dave in the parking lot. I heard it from other people and read it on a couple of facebook pages. I should not have posted it without asking him if it was true. For that, I apologize Dave.”

From Commissioner Miller so far — crickets!

***

The News-Leader’s Alternative Universe: Our local bi-weekly newspaper, the News-Leader is discovering that it has little influence beyond the parking lot of its 511 Ash Street location as both of  the candidates it, and all of its editorialists slavishly endorsed for the Fernandina Beach City Commission, lost. Editor Michael Parnell’s dreadful, misguided front-page hatchet job (Restaurateur seeks commission ‘seat’, Oct. 29, 2014) which lamely accused successful restaurateur and candidate Tim Poynter of a mish mash of phony ploys to skirt city rules and regulations backfired badly, as many, many people told me that it was that piece of lousy journalism that clinched their vote for Mr. Poynter. About the only thing Parnell didn’t accuse Mr. Poynter of was teaming with Charles Manson to club baby seals to death. Publisher Foy Maloy’s editorial endorsement of Charlie Corbett rang hollow and an opinion piece by frequent opinion-editorialist and former city commissioner Ron Sapp hilariously tried to convince readers to vote for Mr. Corbett because Mr. Sapp and Mr. Corbett played together as kids. One of the paper’s saddest and most absurd efforts to convince voters to reject Mr. Poynter came from fired City Marina Manager Coleman Langshaw, whose rambling disjointed screed made more sense when viewed by holding it up to a mirror. It is obvious this guy will never get over being canned from his marina job and based on his constant sour grapes editorial comments he desperately needs therapy. Steve Nicklas, who pens a “Steve’s Market Place” column, turned in a messy word jumble following the election (Where’s the fire? December 10,2014) saying the fire truck that roamed the city’s streets on loan from the Jacksonville firefighter’s union promoting Mr. Poynter, was a “fiasco, suspicious, questionable, unethical” and “satirical political theater” proclaiming that local firefighters are not united in promoting Mr. Poynter. Well, I’m sure the chief isn’t, but following conversations with many of these first responders, who legitimately campaigned on their own time,  it appears to me the majority were. (See  item below “It’s Heating Up At The Firehouse). In the middle of this muddle he somehow managed to insert how well St. Augustine was doing, calling that city’s confusion over displaying “The Nights of Lights” exhibit a “new and great initiative” suggesting that folks here could learn from it. Huh? He either got two columns mixed up or published an example of why writers shouldn’t drink prior to submitting their work. The paper should allow Pat Foster-Turley, one of the best writers in Northeast Florida, to write and edit all of its opinions because currently. instead of serious discussions about local issues, the News-Leader’s commentaries display all the subtlety of a professional wrestling match.

***

Speaking Of Commissioners: In the past I’ve been skeptical of folks waving signs bearing  their candidate’s name during elections assuming they don’t generate votes, but the Tuesday, December 9 runoff for city commissioner between Charlie Corbett and Tim Poynter has changed my mind. I actually talked to folks who told me they forgot about the election and only voted because they saw the sign-wavers. I also had a lady approach me in a local market when she saw my “I Voted” sticker on my coat lapel and ask “Is today the  runoff election?” I assured her it was and urged her to get herself down to her local precinct pronto and vote for Mr. Poynter, which she enthusiastically said she would do with her husband in tow. “And call your neighbors,” I yelled after her. And speaking of forgetting, one of my favorite bar room signs is “If you’re drinking to forget, please pay in advance.” But I’ve also discovered that bars are fertile recruiting grounds for forgetful voters, and encouraged many tipplers this past Tuesday to get themselves down to their local precincts before the 7 pm cut off time, but to pay their tab and back up a happy hour drink or two first. Also, if in the future, newly elected commissioner Poynter wants to encourage vegetarian Commissioner Johnny Miller to vote for his positions, he doesn’t need to hold out the proverbial “carrot on a stick” as one from the back yard garden will probably serve as all the enticement necessary.

***

It’s Heating Up At The Firehouse: I’ve heard from a large number of local disgruntled firefighters who are very unhappy with what’s happening within their ranks and vocally expressed their displeasure over the firing of Fernandina Beach Human Resources Director Robin Marley, who they tell me was one of the most unbiased and honest folks on the city’s staff. “She didn’t always agree with us and fought hard for her positions, but she was always fair and well respected,” said one who asked to remain anonymous. It’s not just four or five unhappy firemen who are stirring the pot as one city commissioner told me, but it appears to be a majority. I’ve even had retired firemen tell me how serious the situation is, and when we have unhappy first responders, it is not at all good for the community and its citizens. This is a serious issue and maybe the two new commissioners, Robin Lentz and Tim Poynter, with the help of Mayor Ed Boner, can help make this issue one of the city’s priorities.

***

Dining, Dancing & Drinking: If you haven’t tried the $6.00 taco special featured each Monday at Sandy Bottoms then you’ve missing out on one of the area’s best bargains, as you are served three tacos and an order of black beans and rice which can be washed down with $2.00 happy hour beers between 5-7 pm. I can’t think of another place where you can eat and drink for eight bucks and if you can then please tell me. Also, look for the return of 50 cent wings on Wednesday nights at the Bottoms this coming week. Call ’em at 904/310-6904. If you have an urge for Mexican food and have kids 12 and under then you have hit the jackpot if you head to Barberitos Mexican restaurant on Sadler in the Publix shopping center after 4 pm as junior and sissy eat fee on Tuesdays, if mom or dad buys a meal. Call ’em at 904/277-2505. Elizabeth Point, an elegant boutique hotel on the Atlantic on Fletcher Avenue and within sight of Sandy Bottoms, is now open to the public for brunch on Sunday from 11:30-1 pm and lunch other days. If you haven’t had an opportunity to sit on this wonderful establishment’s porch, enjoy lunch or brunch, read the newspaper or a magazine or just look out over the ocean then you have a special treat in store as this is not a place to sit and stare at your cell phone. Call ’em at 904/ 277-4851. I’m told that the empty Murray’s Grill building in Yulee has been purchased by a national chain that will be opening an eatery there sometime next year. I also hear a new restaurant called Indulgence is planned for the house across the street from the US Post Office and next door to the downtown library and that a lease has finally been signed for The Beech Street Grill location. I also understand the new movie theater in Yule will serve beer and wine and patrons will be able to enjoy a meal while watching films. I’ve been told that feasibility studies were conducted at the now closed theatre location on the island’s 14th Street and the prospects for another theater there are dim. A Taste of Wine By Steve will conduct a special Champagne tasting this evening from 5-7 pm along with live music at their 4924 First Coast Highway location for only five bucks a person. Call ’em at 904/557-1506.

 

 

  • Comment (15)
  • For another affordable option check out Tuesday Taco Night at the Salty Pelican. $2.00 for either a fish or chicken taco! It’s a great deal.

  • I had the “Tuesday Tacos” @ Salty Pelican… Sadly those are less than half the size of their normal ones… tastes great just like their normal size ones, but it takes 3 of them so not a savings

  • Well you certainly know how to rattle the commissioners, one and all if need be. I was also happy to see that city residents by-passed the News Leader endorsements and voted in Robin Lentz and Tim Poynter. I have lived here 20 years and not much surprises me anymore. Just so glad we have not become a Little Miami yet with condos and high rises dotting the beachfront!

  • Repeating…just keep Commish Miller ‘in the ocean” and away from the Fernandina Beach Municipal Golf Course. Not a wing man (try to eat fresh and locally caught fish) but had maybe the best ever last Friday eve at the Salty Pelican. They offer wings soaked in Guinness and covered with a tasty specialty sauce. I will order again.

  • Great job as always Dave. Don’t always agree with you – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you are wrong!

  • As a former newspaper editor myself and as a former boss of the irrepressible Dave Scott, I would strongly recommend to publisher Foy Maloy and editor Michael Parnell that they swallow their pride and offer Dave his old column back. It is always better to have the angry camel inside the tent pissing out than the other way around.

  • I may not always agree but I love the blog.

    Besides being totally inappropriate for a council meeting, Ms. Handy’s remarks represent a real danger to Florida.

    With certainty, we can say that the pendulum will eventually swing back to frequent hurricanes. We know that the state funds to pay property owners and recover government facilities will not be sufficient in the face of repeated or large hurricanes. The current plan is to use the funds available then to borrow many billions more. And then to hope there won’t be any more hurricanes. The actual outcome will be all the above and then a ‘temporary’ and ’emergency’ and ‘small’ state income tax. Which like all state income taxes will become permanent, general fund supporting and large. And then we get to watch economic activity in Florida grind to a halt. (I lived in New Jersey and Connecticut when they introduced their temporary, emergency, and small income taxes that stayed and grew.)

    The answer for Florida is to become more like Texas. Allow off shore (over the horizon) drilling and use the proceeds to prepare for hurricanes and to recover afterwards. Texas Oil and Natural Gas production taxes were over $4.5 billion in 2013. With 2 coasts of opportunity as well as some land based options, the Florida opportunity is likely in the billions. Yes oil production will have an occasional accident. And with proper laws, the accident recovery will be prompt and permanent. But without funds from new sources, Florida will run out of money for hurricane recovery and the unfixed devastation (property and people) will be far worse than any oil spill ever recorded.

    I really believe my choice will be an economy killing income tax or learning to live with unrepaired devastation (and the negative economic impacts of this).

    Well meaning people like Ms. Handy and her enablers like Mr. Miller are setting up my state for an economic collapse (remember Louisiana and New Orleans). We’ve wasted 8 years and are now set up for what will be called ‘bad luck’.

    We should stop one sided ‘discussions’ about nonsense issues of coastal ‘sonar’ and our political leadership (including local) should be focused on real issues like what will the state do when it needs money to handle huge hurricane damage.

    And maybe we could also use the time saved at our local meetings to better understand why every year or so our council is paying out some millions to someone for something ‘we’ did wrong.

    I live in Fernandina Beach and I always wonder what it is that I get for the couple of thousand dollars I pay in extra taxes that some of my friends on the island don’t pay because they are not in the city. Maybe the council members can tell me, using the time that would have been devoted to unnecessary and inappropriate presentations.

    Dave, keep up the good work.

  • Please consider raising the bar for some of the gibberish discussed. Also, check your spelling/grammar.

    It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt

  • Mr. Scott, I must disagree with you. I believe Steve Nicklas’s article concerning the firefighters was spot on. He was right in saying the off-duty firefighters should stick to fighting fire. This is especially true seeing that police and firefighters are civil servants without the rights of full citizens. Most of them do not mind this condition as it is an honor for them to live and die for the city they serve. Those few off-duty firefighters could have been arrested and their contracts sold to another municipality, even as far as Alaska. Mr. Nicklas does raise some important concerns, such as the small group of firefighters causing the trouble. I have heard from some that at least eight of the thirty firefighters have written statements accusing the chiefs of assault, public humiliation, unlawful interrogations, and dereliction of duty to name a few. Supposedly the other firefighters have backed up these accusations, but I find the City Manager’s idea, that all the firefighters don’t want to follow the law, to be correct. Also, these few troublemakers have tricked all of the department, besides the chiefs, into joining a communist organization called the International Association of Fire Fighters. According to my sources this communist group has its roots in China. Their purpose seems to be to convert America to communism by corrupting their heroes. Beano Roberts wrote an editorial in the local paper that alluded to this. I believe he is on to something as well. He mentions that the firefighters fought vigorously for Mr. Poynter and so he too must be part of this Chinese plot. I trust Mr. Roberts in this matter, as I have seen how devout he was when he aired his own church’s dirty laundry in the local paper in an attempt to bring Robin Marley’s demonic behavior to light. I also believe Commissioner Gass wasn’t blowing smoke when she told Manager Gerrity that he should interrogate more firefighters and fire them. This is prudent. These civil servants have been bought by the city and they need to know that they are servants. They can find whatever justice they think they deserve when they have died in the line of duty or their contract has been completed.

  • Dear C.S.
    I can assure you everything that has been stated by the fireman regarding the two Chiefs and accusations towards them are true! Especially not meeting job qualifications. But don’t take my word for it. Do a public information request start with the Chiefs qualifications from three years ago and the now soften qualifications which the city manager pushed through which they (the two Chiefs) still don’t meet, my exit interview, the exit interviews of two previous firemen, next the internal investigation / interviews / inquiry, which the city manager instructed the two intervewers and gave them narrow parameters in which interviews would be accepted and don’t forget Robin Marleys notes. If you need more inspiration please let me know. I’ll be happy to let you know to request the information. You have to be precise on your public information request or city hall will not send it. Inquiry is the key word to use to recieve a copy of the so called investigation.
    In my 34.5 years as a firemen with the City of Fernandina Beach Fire Department the fire department never got this deeply involved in politics. The men had no choice and it was their right! They are being retaliated against and their statements to the city manager was falling on deft ears. Something had to be done. 99% of the department are united and want change with the Chiefs as well as being fairly treated, no more or no less, not a few as you stated. As stated by a city commissioner ” The Truth will set you Free” Finally I again encourage you to make the public information request as well as anyone else and you we’ll see where the truth lies.
    Tommy Spicer
    Retired Captain
    Fernandina Beach Fire Department

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