Does Gov. Ron DeSantis really want to pick a fight with the good people at John’s Island, where the posh, seaside community is overwhelmingly populated by Republicans?
You wouldn’t think so.
Then again, you wouldn’t expect a Republican governor to so easily abandon the party’s long-held principles of free-market capitalism, limited government and local home rule.
Certainly, you wouldn’t expect a professed conservative to embrace the flagrant government overreach of a state prohibiting private businesses, clubs, schools and other organizations from taking measures necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19.
But that’s what DeSantis has done.
Last week, in fact, John’s Island Club was among the 100-plus private and public entities – including Orlando’s Amway Center, Carnival Cruise Line and the Miami Marlins – under review by the Florida Department of Health for possibly violating a recently enacted state law banning vaccine passports.
The offenses, if proven, could result in hefty fines more suited for doing actual harm, rather than for protecting people from a potentially deadly pandemic.
Just so you know: The state’s list of alleged violators also includes St. Edward’s School, but school spokesperson Monica Jennings said the Health Department was mistaken.
“We never had a vaccine mandate and don’t plan to,” Jennings said. “We don’t know how we got on the list, because it was never even a discussion.”
The Health Department’s response?
We didn’t get one, despite leaving a phone message and sending an email to its communications staff, so the details pertaining to John’s Island Club and St. Edward’s School being listed as violators remain a mystery.
According to one longtime John’s Island resident, however, members were notified by management last month that the Health Department was investigating the club’s requirement that anyone using its facilities be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The club also required all employees to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15 to keep their jobs.
“A lot of the members have been gone for the summer, and things can change pretty quickly,” the resident said, “but I don’t think anyone really had a problem with the vaccine requirement.”
Someone did, however.
Perhaps it was a staunch DeSantis supporter or, more likely, a disgruntled employee, but somebody must’ve contacted the Health Department and filed a complaint – something anyone can do via email at vaxpassfreefl@flhealth.gov.
“We’re a private club,” another John’s Island resident said. “We should be able to decide for ourselves.”
Both of the John’s Island residents interviewed are registered Republicans who agreed to speak only on the condition they remain anonymous, but at least they were willing to talk.
John’s Island Club General Manager Brian Kroh, who had always returned my calls in the past, didn’t respond last week to two phone messages, a text and an email seeking comment on the vaccine-passport situation.
“I doubt you’ll hear from him,” the GM of another island club told me. “He can’t talk about this.”
That’s understandable.
Not only are there legal and financial concerns – the so-called vaccine-passport law signed by DeSantis in May carries penalties of $5,000 per violation – but Kroh probably isn’t eager to speak against a Republican governor.
The same goes for the many John’s Island members who identify as Republicans but oppose this law. Don’t be surprised, though, if more than a few – many of them generous contributors in the past to GOP campaigns – remember this embarrassing situation when DeSantis seeks re-election next year.
“I’d hate to speculate how much money that otherwise would go to DeSantis’ campaign might not be there,” a prominent John’s Island Republican said. “He’s a smart guy, but sometimes I don’t understand why he does things.”
The Health Department last week publicly released a notice issued to Leon County that it was being fined $3.5 million for requiring 714 employees to provide documentation of their COVID-19 vaccinations and firing 14 people for their refusal or failure to comply.
How, exactly, does that help the people of Leon County?
How will these silly fines help anyone?
“It’s completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply be able to participate in normal society,” DeSantis said at a news conference in April.
He ignored – and continues to downplay – the strain on our health-care workers, serious illness and loss of life caused by this ongoing pandemic, which has been allowed to persist because too many people refuse, for no good reason, to get vaccinated.
Truth is, the vaccine-passport ban, much like DeSantis’ emergency order prohibiting school districts from imposing mask mandates on campus, is as wrongheaded as it is un-Republican.
Real free-market, capitalist Republicans would allow private businesses, clubs and schools to choose for themselves. They’d resist big-government overreach. They’d make the personal decisions that directly impact their lives and livelihoods at home, or at least in their local community.
That’s what John’s Island did.
The members opted to adopt a vaccine policy that allowed them to fully enjoy the club’s amenities while experiencing some sense of pre-pandemic normalcy – without having to worry about a neighbor unknowingly infecting them with COVID.
Hard to understand why DeSantis is opposed to that.
