This Week in Jacksonville - Controversial plan for 9 Florida state parks is pulled

a week of controversy when Florida's plan for Parks became public the push back has been pointed and passionate this is an egregious overreach of state government a plan that sought no local input whatsoever Today We Stand United not just as residents but as stewards of the very essence of Florida the mayor of St Augustine Beach joins us one of the most vocal local leaders opposed to development in state parks like Anastasia and getting to the bottom of what happened in Pennsylvania the Congressional task force taking on the assassination attempt of former president Trump Florida's Michael Waltz explains what he's looking for on this week in Jacksonville glad you're with us today so a plan to put hotels pickle ball courts other development into nine state parks across Florida appears to be dead in the water at least for now this after public outcry by residents Community leaders and lawmakers following the announcement by Florida's Department of Environmental Protection locally those plans had included a three 50 room Lodge at Anastasia State Park I spoke this week with St Augustine Beach mayor Dylan rumrell your initial reaction to this plan that we learned about a week or so ago with the parks and developing there what what did you first think about that first of all we were blindsided I was blindsided and everybody I talked to in the local community were all blindsided local officials I called represented Stevenson uh Senator Hudson I'm like hey is this what's going on is it real and and uh it it was real I thought maybe it was a mailer that came out you know it happened the same night as the election so I was like oh God something came out a little late in the mail but no it it was real and it was unfortunate so nine different state parks kind of on this plan that we saw from Department of Environmental Protection uh here we are after you guys held a news conference and after the governor was asked about it the governor saying wait a second the back to the drawing board I think is some of the word he used what's your take on this did the the governor's name was on the initial stuff that we saw coming out from Department of Environmental Protection you know it's it's interesting I'm first of all I'm thankful that he came out and said what he said today but importantly I tell people all the time it's conservation over politics this isn't a political issue this isn't Democrat vers Republican vers independent this is what's right and we stood up for what was right and and I will stand by it every day I may agree on 99% of the things with the governor except there one issue and and I'm okay with that we we have a right to have a difference of opinion and my constituents they're calling me my local people are calling me and look I'm a local representative I'm home rule I got to take care of my people well you said first thing I heard you say at the news conference that you held this week was this is personal to me feel personal to you it did you know my family's born and raised here I'm a generational Floridian my kids are born in St Augustine um and and it is personal right I've gone to that Park my whole life my my kids have gone to that Park we've kayaked we fished we've gone through to the beach and it it's personal right I'm a capitalist at heart I want people to make as much as they possibly can however there's a place and a time to do it correctly this probably won't surprise you but so we've been asking our viewers hey we want to hear from you and the overwhelming majority no no no don't develop at our state parks there was at least one person who wrote in and said hey we've seen this work in other states some states they can uh put in something that makes camping easier or uh has a a park within the park to draw more visitors does any of that sit with you there things that we need to do to develop within the state park to draw more guests I think a lot of people come to our state parks in Florida for the passive side of it right it's old Florida you walk around Anastasia State Park you have go for tortoises you have all these different animals that are running free you have the Anastasia Dune Mouse which is the only Dune Mouse in all of America only found in Anastasia Island and so I think people come for that they come for just the peace and quiet that old Florida feel and I don't think we should do anything look if you want to do something business one-onone is to raise if you want to raise revenue $30 a night change it maybe to $60 a night let these campers that are there and just raise revenue i i people come to the parks it's 18 months out to get a a spot for your camper 18 months out you can't get reservations there's enough people going to the parks and mayor you're answering some of this but we saw the uh Florida Department of environment they revealed plans to develop a 350 room Lodge disc golf course pickle ball courts more of this kind of stuff is there room for that a little bit or is there just no room for it at a state park like Anastasia you know I like the passive side of parks right i' I've said that I like the passive side of it but I'm okay maybe if they want to put a couple cabins you know Princess Place Park State park has a couple cabins you can stay in that that's low impact 350 room Hotel would be the second largest hotel in St John's County the embassy suite's right next to it's just low over 200 World Golf Village is just low over 300 we haven't even talked about the parking surface what is that going to look like the infrastructure so I'm just very thankful we had great leaders like Rory diamond step up we had other folks the beaches Mayors step up from Jacksonville County Commission Island marada morer mayor came up I'm just so very thankful that that that the governor did what he did that we did what we did and now we're we're back to square one I know you're a leader at the municipal level the local level there in St Augustine Beach how do you think that happened from a state level the governor said oh this was leaked uh he didn't really have a a desire to have that happen but how do you think that came from this Florida state agency suddenly sprung on you and and the other people across the state who said no we can't do this it's a million dollar question you know we'll never know that answer I don't know if I ever care to know that answer all I know is that we fought it was Floridians fighting for Florida and right now we are we we we came to a compromise things are done they may revisit it and you know keep Vigilant and I think people again it's it's conservativism conservation over politics it sounds like you and a lot of other folks were stunned to see this coming down from the state without a conversation first well and that's the thing is that maybe next time just hey come to us and say hey local officials what's the temperature cuz we don't want to embarrass anybody as elected officials we don't want be embarrassed and we clearly don't want to embarrass anybody else Governor santis referred to the plan as a leak but the Department of Environmental Protection released the plan on its own website August 19th and posted Maps detailing the plan the following day the governor responded to questions about the plan this week and he tried to create a lot of distance so this was something that was leaked it was not approved by by by me I never saw saw that uh it is um they're going back to the drawing board talk to your local communities here's the thing I'd rather not spend any money on this right I mean if people don't want improvements then don't do it um and so that'll be something that citizens can be able to do they're not doing anything this year they're going to go back and basically listen uh to folks a lot of that stuff was just half-baked and it was not ready for prime time when it was and it was intentionally leaked out to a left-wing group to try to create a narrative so local state leaders they quickly push back on the parks development plan and so did national leaders I asked Congressman Michael Waltz for his reaction action this is what he told me prior to the governor saying that the plans were going back to the drawing board yeah I have some serious concerns I mean we have Anastasia State Park it's one of the most beautiful places in the entire I to say the entire country uh one of the longest stretches of unspoiled uh original kind of Florida dunes and beaches that many of us remember from our childhood uh I have real concerns that this has really been thought through and I'm hearing it loud and clear from our Mayors our city council uh our County Commissioners uh they they are certainly opposed I think that uh the state department of environmental policy has a lot of explaining to do uh it is a state issue not a federal one but I'm a proud Floridian too and I don't want to see our state parks become overdeveloped representative walz is part of the Congressional task force investigating the attempt on former president Trump's life at that outdoor rally in Pennsylvania in July my conversation with him on the secret service next on this week in [Music] Jacksonville you're watching this week in Jacksonville with Kent Justice the FBI shared new information this week about the gunman in the assassination attempt of former president Donald Trump FBI officials confirm Thomas Matthew Crooks searched online for events of both Trump and President Joe Biden officials are saying that Crooks saw the July Pennsylvania campaign rally as a target of opportunity Congress formed a task force to look at what happened and how crook had such an opportunity to attack Michael Waltz is a member of that task force well Kent I see this as kind of three major areas number one uh I know from agents who have reached out reached out to me personally that President Trump's core protective detail the one that's with him all the time has been requesting more resources from Secret Service headquarters and from the Department of Homeland Security for years now and been denied and the reason apparently was that uh the Secret Service headquarters only budgets once you become a former president uh for a much smaller detail than when you're a current but they don't make the distinction whether you're Jimmy Carter or W bush painting in his barn or someone uh who's pretty unprecedented like President Trump who's still a candidate has multiple residences doing these big rallies and importantly has foreign threats uh in addition to the domestic ones from Iran so that's an issue obviously what happened that day and the security plan that had huge failures in it is uh issue number two and then I think there's a broader set of issues training recruitment uh does the Secret Service have the budget and the resources it needs uh to protect uh our people uh and our senior officials uh and so that's what we're looking to get to the bottom of uh I still have a heck of a lot of questions of the FBI and the Secret Service that I I think K they're moving too slowly uh in this investigation so bipartisan task force here uh congressman moscowitz from down south Florida kind of a counterpart to you he pushed back on some statements that you had made you are saying as I understand it hey you're concerned about whether or not this really was a loan wolf shooter who attacked the president there uh and Congressman Moscow would saying H we don't know that or it's Grand standing or or whatever um bipartisan nature of this task force are you guys going to be able to work together and really come to some conclusions that we can all say yeah that's what happened yeah I well we certainly should be able to my issue has been to up till now both the FBI and the Secret Service are saying we don't know motive uh there's there very little social media presence which I find it in itself very odd uh for a 19-year-old uh and that we really just don't know much about his uh background how did he get trained to make three IEDs how did he have a remote Detonator why does he have three uh encrypted accounts in three different foreign countries that they still haven't been able to get into but yet the FBI is very quick uh to say he acted alone I mean that what I'm questioning how on the one in the same breath they could say we don't know much but yet we know we acted alone and when you overlay that with foreign plots the Iranians literally are plotting and planning to kill President Trump a Pakistani National with ties to Iran was after putting a down payment on Hitman to kill President Trump so I just think uh I just question how they've come to that conclusion so quickly it may be the right one but I wonder why you know broadly speaking think most Americans say boy Secret Service agents they are going to step in the path of an attack they are going to put themselves between the president the protecte and whatever harm might fall to them but obviously a lot of Americans right now are saying boy the the secret service failed here what kind of changes do you want to see happen there and you talked about budget a moment ago is it just budgeting and Recruitment and those sorts of things what kind of changes can make a difference in the future well I want to be very clear the Secret Service agents on President Trump's detail and I know some of them personally did in the way of boet it wasn't just that first were seven uh more fired um and which uh killed uh an individual and wounded another and uh they completely body the president and got in arms way like their train this was a failure of planning uh and I do believe this was a failure of resources and perhaps even priorities another thing that we know is of the local field office that provides additional supplemental agents to a big event like a rally uh they sent 12 additional agents to President Biden's wife Dr Jill Biden's event which was indoors but only three additional agents to a huge outdoor rally with a much higher threat profile against President Trump why was that uh and what happened there that makes the Secret Service more relying on local law enforcement who we all love but aren't trained to the same level uh as uh Secret Service when it becomes to protective details so uh there's a lot of questions this is about headquarters and planning and resources from what I've seen so far not about the Valor of the individual agent the director of The Secret Service there has already stepped down and taking some accountability do there more accountability that needs to be taken in the failures of planning Etc that you just described oh I think so who approved the security plan that day for Butler Pennsylvania that left the building uncovered that made the secret service bearing reliant on local law enforcement that doesn't have the same tactics training Communications gear uh and otherwise who approved 12 agents to Dr Jill Biden but only three to president Trump when it came to supplementing uh the core detail so there were a lot of you know fingerprints on this planning failure in between the director who's resigned and the Agents on the ground that's who we will be seening uh for the uh task force uh and and I believe there's more accountability to come so it's a bipartisan task force there with other house members from Florida that includes Laurel Lee and Democrat Jared moscowitz all right so there are a lot of ways to watch this election unfold in the coming two months is there something we can learn from history and the leadership of past presidents that's a topic our next guest is an expert on stay with us on this week in [Music] Jacksonville you're watching this week in Jacksonville on Channel 4 the general election and the culmination of vote 2024 it's fewer than 70 days away what are you looking for when it comes to leadership from your presidential candidate that's part of our focus in this final segment today joining us remotely author talage Boston one of the things I I love about Mr Boston is that he writes about baseball uh we're going to focus however on presidential history if we start here um tell us a little bit about the the book that you've got here that's called how the best did it and then how we might be able to view the current presidential candidates in light of that my book is how the best did it Leadership Lessons from our top presidents it came out in April of this year my eight top presidents George Washington Jefferson Lincoln both Roosevelts Eisenhower Kennedy and Reagan the target audience is anybody who is or aspires to be a leader in any organization these leadership traits that these eight presidents demonstrated each chapter Dev voted to a president an average of three traits per President a total of 24 traits for the book can be applied by any leader in any organization and the book explains how they use their specific traits to have success at the end of each chapter I have a series of questions for the reader to ask him or herself how am I doing in using these leadership traits in my organization yeah but obviously no American history has studied more than presidential history and that's why our the lives and lessons from our top presidents are so important and Tage one of the things that stands I've read individual books uh Reagan on leadership Lincoln on leadership and so your title and what you're working on caught my attention there what do you think we can learn from these presidents that you've focused on and apply to how we're as voters going to choose who our next president is going to be when we have that vote in November well we have a real Challenge on our hands because uh Donald Trump and comla Harris thus far have not demonstrated major leadership traits uh the most important leadership traits are obviously uh Integrity uh the ability to build consensus the be able the ability to persuade effectively not just to your base but across the board to the country uh these are the traits that that our greatest presidents had that thus far in 2024 the the nominees have not demonstrated that they have they're obviously very good when they talk to their bases they're all targeting what's now about a 10% undecided independent group that will determine the outcome of the election in the swing States obviously Comm has a real surge going after the Democratic Convention tonight she has this very important interview with Dana Bash on CNN her first real interview since she became the presumptive nominee and interestingly she chose not to do it by herself but has brought in her running mate Tim walz The Wall Street Journal today says what is that about is he a crutch is she afraid to be interviewed by herself yes we've had prior president vice presidential candidates who've been interviewed but only in the context of where the presidential candidate had had several interviews by himself previously and we don't have that right kind of a new new uh new opportunity really for this new candidate in the race let me ask about this debates coming up I love debates uh we know the the last debate between uh Mr Trump and Mr Biden was very consequential in what we're seeing right now what do you think the next debate can show us because it's going to be vice president Harris and former president Trump it's going to show us about the two candidates as far as Harris is concerned uh can she go deep and explain her policies explain her changes of positions on major policies explain that the Biden Harris presidency which in many respects is not particularly great in the areas of border security inflation foreign policy the Afghanistan withdrawal the the lack of clarity about their priorities in the Israel Gaza War uh what's her position on changes in the Supreme Court uh why has she changed her mind from wanting a ban on fracking to where she's not not wanting a border wall and now she does there's all kinds of things she needs to explain and hopefully Dana Bash both tonight and and in the debate she'll be able to explain that in a way that makes people believe that really can be the commander-in-chief and the president as far as Donald Trump goes is he going to back off all of the name calling all of the pettiness all of the claims that the election was stolen and actually Target the areas in which the Biden haris presidency is so vulnerable with specific uh statements about these issues that he should be able to win on but if he isn't focusing on them he's going to go nowhere and continue to sink in the polls so so this debate on September 10th is going to be incredibly important it it really will be I appreciate getting some of your Insight there I'm looking forward to reading more of your books including those ones on baseball Talmage Boston thanks for your time today my pleasure thanks Ken all right and I'm Kent Justin thanks for watching on air on Channel 4 in the cw17 and online you always find us at newsfor jacks.com and streaming on newsfor jaacks plus next time Jacksonville mayor Donna Degan is joining us and check out our weekly podcast this week in Jacksonville Business Edition this week's episode looks at black business month and the tools and opportunities available right now and also the biggest challenge you can find new episodes every Thursday at 9:00 a.m. and you'll find it right now on news for jaacks plus under the channel this week in Jacksonville it's also available wherever you find your [Music] podcasts see why every day more people are choosing news for Jack Northeast Florida and South Georgia's number one source for local news [Music]