Clay’s Priorities for a Stronger St. Johns County

Issues

Slow the growth and make it pay for itself

For too long, development has enjoyed a near “free ride” while the rest of us get stuck in traffic and get stuck with the bill. It’s time the County Commission starts representing US - the current residents of St. Johns County!  It’s time for an infrastructure-first approach to growth.  Development needs to pay its own way.

  • Require more public notice to nearby residents who are impacted in a timelier manner.  It’s time for the County to start operating by the “spirit of the law” by looking out for the citizens, not doing the least required by merely meeting the “letter of the law.”

  • No more DRIs (Developments of Regional Impact) without major concessions, like donated land for schools, parks and sensitive green spaces. Roads need to be improved and built before the houses are all built.  We can’t keep playing “catch up” when it comes to our schools and roads.  

  • Reform clear-cut policies to preserve more trees and buffers between developments.

  • Require more park and sensitive environmental area set-asides.

  • Protect St. John’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan from changes that would accelerate growth even more by allowing the county to use 25+ year growth projections to open thousands more acres to development now.

Prioritize traffic and transportation solutions

We’ve been playing “catch up” for too long.  While there’s no “quick fix,” the St. Johns County Commission needs to do more to prioritize transportation solutions for St. Johns County. That starts with budgeting, in every decision involving growth and development and in our representation on the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization. St. Johns County is a great place to live, but who wants to spend more and more time commuting because of poor planning.  It’s never one bad decision, but rather hundreds of small decisions that adversely impact our families years down the road.

Prevent crime and promote safety

As a retired law enforcement officer, Clay knows firsthand that we cannot play “catch up” when it comes to public safety. The price could be the loss of life.  Clay dedicated his career to keeping our roads safe as a State Trooper.  He’ll do no less as our next District 3 County Commissioner.  Maintaining and improving St. Johns Quality of life starts with safe communities, safe schools, and safe parks for our children.  Prevention is key!

  • Back the blue and our first responders!  Attracting dedicated and qualified first responders starts with valuing them as a person and professionally. Unlike liberal cities up north, Clay will ensure St. Johns County continues to support for our first responders with competitive pay and with the respect they deserve.  

  • Make public safety a budget priority. If government must cut spending to balance the budget, Clay will make sure it’s not at the expense of our safety.

  • Inventory streets and sidewalks for proper lighting, ADA compliance and safety hazards.

Lower taxes and diversify the local economy

St. Johns County must not continue relying on residential growth to fund essential government services.  We can lighten the tax burden on homeowners by diversifying our local economy.  Through a balanced and targeted approach, we can attract new and desirable industry and businesses to St. Johns County, which will in turn enable us to decrease the property tax on residents.

Improve parks and preserve rural areas, beaches and natural resources

Part of what makes St. Johns County such a great place to live is our natural beauty.  St. John’s parks, beaches, marshes and rural areas must be preserved and protected.  When new development comes in, the county must negotiate better land donations for parks and preserves.  The Comprehensive Land Use Plan must include long range rural and sensitive land preservation targets and disallow frequent changes without public involvement.

Defend our time-honored American values
and prevent woke ideology from infiltrating county government

America is one of the most tolerable countries in the world, as it should be. Our Constitution protects our individual rights from being trampled by the majority. Recent years, however, we have witnessed woke ideology using misguided DEI policies to intimidate people of faith and patriotic Americans into silence.  It is hurting our schools and dividing our communities.  We must keep a watchful eye to prevent such policies from infiltrating local government.