Congratulations to former St. Johns County Commissioner Joseph Kenneth Bryan (2008-2012), who was on March 17, 2020 elected to Flagler Beach City Commission, after a pointless Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation filed by a developer.
Ken Bryan and Deborah Phillips Win in Flagler Beach, Shupe Is Out; John Rogers and Tonya Gordon Win in Bunnell
Marshall Shupe, who had first been elected in 2011 and had won re-election twice since, lost his Flagler Beach commission seat, pulling in the fewest number of votes out of four candidates. Paul Harrington came in third.
The Flagler Beach commission will have two new members, as Commissioner Kim Carney opted not to defend her seat but run for a county commission seat instead.
A little more than 30 minutes in, after Polletta spoke and just before turning to a Q and A segment, Bryan took the mic again (it’s minute 34 in the recording embedded here.)
He told the audience that while the question cards were being collected there were “a couple of points that I think you should be aware of. This particular company, Sunbelt, last month–I’m from originally from Maryland (sic.), having lived in St. Johns County and St. Augustine for 13 years prior to moving here. About three or four weeks ago I got a call from one of my friends in St. Augustine. This particular company went in to a particular piece of property that they own near the airport on Old Gun House Road I believe it is. They moved [inaudible] they moved their equipment in on a Friday, and they started clearing land right after all the county employees had left. And they continued to clear land until Sunday night, when they were finished. By the time the county found out what happened, they had clear-cut this entire property. So, you say, well, what’s going to happen? Well, they got fined. They got fined [inaudible] a total of $7,000. That’s just the cost of doing business. And I’m just making you aware of this because, pay attention to what’s going on. I mean, I’ve worked here, you know, Elizabeth [Hathaway]’s husband has an incredible drone, so we keep an eye on [laughter drowns out his words].” He asked supporters to “be vigilant” and give members of the group a call if they see anything out of place.
Polletta, Arnoff, Elizabeth Hathaway and Barbara Revels, the former county commissioner, along with Bryan, all fielded questions during the Q&A.
“He made the statements knowingly that they were false, and they caused damages,” Chiumento said of the “clear-cutting” and “cost of doing business” portions. (Though there was land clearing, it was selective, not “clear-cutting,” Chiumento said.)
Tanner, who said he’ll be just one of the attorneys representing Bryan, didn’t see “any substantial basis” for the complaint, which he said doesn’t allege “intentional malice.” Bryan’s statement, just for being inaccurate, “still doesn’t make it an intentional misrepresentation.”
There’s also the matter of damages: “What provable damages if any have you incurred, and how can you prove they directly relate to this one comment by a citizen who simply tried to explain his opposition as a citizen to a development?” Tanner said. “This suit appears to be an attack upon a citizen’s right to oppose this development and more importantly, an attack upon free speech.” (Bryan, a former county commissioner in St. Johns, is a candidate for the Flagler Beach City Commission in the March election.)
Tanner added: “We’re looking forward to getting in court. I hope it won’t be a long litigation, it looks like it will be fairly straightforward and we’ll file a response within 30 days.”
