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Letters to the Editor: SOE: please reconsider voter purge


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SOE: please reconsider voter purge
I hope you have had time to reconsider your planned action as reported in Clay Today and Passagemaker on 7/7/2018 to disenfranchise thousands of St Brendan’s Mail Service users who have filed Declarations of Domicile in Clay County.
Why you want to waste taxpayers money on this endeavor is beyond me. Do you think we all vote one way on issues, you do not approve of our lifestyle choice, we are too white, have too much money, too many retired military or some other incorrect belief?
Having spent 11 of the past 21 years cruising on my sailboat and having met literally many hundreds of St Brendan's Mail Service users around the world their diversity of knowledge, incomes, political views, ethnicity & intentions are the equivalent of any American city.
If you believe the users of St Brendan’s Isle Mail Service will take this lying down you are sadly mistaken - this will be tied up in the courts for years. Clay County taxpayers will not appreciate the legal fees you burden them with.
In addition, the county will lose around $1 million if the 3,500 users yearly fees are similar to mine and we are forced to change our domicile. I chose St Brendan’s Isle Mail Service because of their reputation and efficiency, then chose to domicile in Clay County as I no longer owned properties in Clearwater or Tampa where I previously lived. I concur with St Brendan’s owners Doug Moody and Scott Loehr that your actions would lead to closure or movement to another welcoming Florida county.

Again, please reconsider your planned actions.

Bruce A. Senay, M.D.
114 Walnut St.
Green Cove Springs


Rethink voter purge
I use St Brendan’s Isle Mail forwarding service. As a live-aboard cruiser who spends 10 months a year overseas I find this an extremely valuable service. Please note I am a resident of Pennsylvania and NOT registered to vote in Florida. So, the legal controversy does not affect me.
If St Brendan’s Isle is driven out of business then I will take my business to a different state, probably Texas, which is more friendly. I will not use any Florida alternative for fear they may also be driven out of business and changing all forwarding addresses is not something I wish to do.
I have spent time in Green Cove Springs and have used the services of the local marina for maintenance, repairs and storage in no small part because of the proximity to St Brendan’s Isle.
I would like to add I find the ruling curious. We live in a culture where homeless folks are encouraged to vote and given an address.
If this interpretation were to go into effect everywhere, be universally accepted, a whole class of folks would be disenfranchised from the voting process. I understand the localities confer about having no apparent local interest to vote. I get that, it is an uncomfortable feeling. But it is not unique to this jurisdiction except perhaps in quantity.
It also brings up the definitional question of how much connection is enough? To provide one example, a serviceman may be absent from his home jurisdiction for decades, with no more ties than a cruiser, but his right is retained. SBI serves a necessary function for many occupations which require long deployments civil or governmental. It really starts to ask what constitutes being a citizen. Which I thought was regulated at the federal level. Frankly, it’s a fascinating and complicated question. I hope you find a way to resolve it that does not punish St Brendan’s Isle or the local business community.

Howard Peer
114 Walnut St.
Green Cove Springs


Former user questions voter scrutiny
I am a former user of the mailing service St. Brendan’s Isle and plan to do so again in three years when my wife and I retire from our jobs in Florida and go RV’ing. Indeed, they are a linchpin of our travel plans.
As to voting, I have no real desire to vote using St. Brendan’s Isle as my domicile nor will I vote elsewhere in Florida as we will be traveling.
My question then is do registered voters at St Brendan’s Isle also serve jury duty? Being registered to vote in Monroe County where we live requires we participate in the jury process too. Is it different in Clay County?

Sincerely,
Michael Beattie
Key West

St. Brendan’s customer: ‘Unbelievable!
So, this is how you people stop residents of the USA from voting! Unbelievable.
We do not have anywhere else to vote. We are not residents of any other county or state in the USA. So, if this goes forward we will be unable to vote anywhere in spite of the fact that, under federal law, we are eligible to vote. This is gerrymandering on a new scale.
How can you do this? How do you define “eligibility”? Over 18 and a U.S. citizen is all it takes. You are intending to remove a fundamental right I have as a United States citizen.

Roberta Fynn
114 Walnut St.
Green Cove Springs


Stop the voter investigation
After reading the above referenced story, it is quite clear of your intention to prevent liveaboard’s and RV travelers from voting. I can only surmise that you don’t want the mostly conservative voters, that are retired and cruise the ICW and other waterways about Florida and the Bahamas, from voting!
Your actions are criminal and I will be doing my best to spread the word to have you removed!

Steve in California,
but soon to retire and cruise the Florida area.