A.G. Gancarski
Everyone wants good schools, but getting people (and politicians) to pay for them is a different matter.
In St. Johns County, they may have found a way forward … despite the resistance of powerful politicians and “civic leaders” who stood in their way.
In November, a referendum passed resoundingly in St. Johns County.
It was the first sales tax referendum to pass in a quarter century.
St. Johns County’s half cent sales tax referendum, which was polling with 53 percent approval in September, toppled resistance to pass by a nearly 22 percent margin … a mandate by any measure.
Kevin Sweeny, who directed the referendum effort, started with a “big push in the city limits” of St. Augustine. The effort then expanded its outreach toward the beach, the southern part of the County, and so on, to overcome resistance in rural areas.
St. Johns County, increasingly less centered around St. Augustine, may be driven going forward by growth in new subdivisions and areas. It is entirely possible, in that context, that this could be one of the last victories driven by traditional areas of population concentration.
As well, this is a victory for traditional schooling over charter schools. As opposed to Duval County, where charter schools dominate, St. Johns County has been able to resist that trend … in part because of the nationally recognized excellence of its schools.
For the next decade, the referendum guarantees such resources will be there.
And such a movement may move a county north. A December poll shows seven of 10 Duval County residents would pay more taxes for better schools.
If that number is accurate, Sweeny may have more work in 2016, pushing a referendum through in Jacksonville.
The most overlooked political story of the year in Northeast Florida? Quite possibly.
