ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — There’s division on the St. Johns County Board of Commissioners, as the new board chair puts her imprint on the commission a year after her future on the board was in doubt.
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Krista Joseph was sworn in Tuesday. Here are some of the changes she has announced:
- All proclamations are currently on pause until further notice as the county reviews its policy and procedures
- The St. Johns Veterans Council will no longer lead the invocation and pledge and instead use county staff
- The county will look to replace County Attorney Rich Komando. He’s currently a law partner of Sam Garrison, who is slated to be Florida House Speaker from 2026-2028.
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Action News Jax first told you last November Joseph’s actions had raised concerns during a flag-waving incident on the dais, where she was accused of violating election law by making election-related comments. She was eventually censured by her fellow board members, which led to a federal lawsuit where a judge cleared her of any wrongdoing.
Board member Sarah Arnold sent Action News Jax’s Ben Becker a statement that reads in part:
“I am extremely disturbed by the decision to eliminate the Veteran’s Council as the organization that leads us at each board meeting in the pledge of allegiance. This change, along with many other changes I have heard are in place, such as eliminating public safety updates, infrastructure and legislative updates are extremely concerning and take us away from the transparency I have spent the last year striving to bring to our meetings for the benefit of our residents.”
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Becker has reached out to Joseph and received this statement:
“We have the Pledge of Allegiance before every county commissioner meeting, and I consider that the single most important part of our meeting. As a Gold Star mom whose son died for his country, I made a proposal to extend the list of people who can LEAD the Pledge of Allegiance at our commissioner meetings to include staff members who are veterans and Gold Star families. My goal is to be inclusive of MORE people who have sacrificed for our country. Saying the Pledge of Allegiance is how we honor our flag, our liberty, and the unity of our country. I certainly hope that that giving more vets and Gold Star families the privilege of leading the pledge is an honor that every resident will support. We have MANY veterans working very hard for the people of St. Johns county and I think it’s time to include them.
“I find it puzzling that Commissioner Arnold says “long-standing traditions are being tossed aside” when she herself refused to return public comments to the beginning of BOCC meetings where they were for many years – until Covid. She staunchly resisted moving public comments back to the beginning of the BOCC meetings, where the public has been clamoring for them to be returned, and has inconvenienced hundreds of residents by forcing them to wait until 11:30 to give public comment, during the entire year she was Chair. Now that I am Chair, they can finally give public comment early and get on with their day or get to work without taking a half a day off.
“I will also see to it that summaries of the public comments are returned to the minutes where they were completely removed two years ago. Commissioner Arnold never took steps to return them despite many complaints that there was no written record in the minutes of what public commenters said.
“Regarding her objections to my efforts to streamline the meetings so we can get down to business, the public safety updates can be posted on the County website and they can also be sent out by our PR department, but we really need the time at our BOCC meetings to focus on business, especially when a meeting can last eight hours or more. I’m taking practical measures because we don’t have unlimited time. If there’s a major public safety item, then obviously we would address it on agenda item number one.”
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