Tony Steve tendered his resignation from the Town of Orange Park Nuisance and Abatement Board after the Town Council bypassed the opportunity to appoint Eddie Henley as the new mayor.

Generally, the position of mayor rotates among the members of the council. Henley, who is Black, was the Vice Mayor last year, but the council decided not to follow the customary rotation. Council members John Hauber, Susana Thompson and Randy Anderson didn’t vote for Henley. Anderson was selected to serve a second term as the Town’s mayor.

In response, Steve sent the following letter to Hauber:

Dear Councilman Hauber,

I am tendering my resignation immediately as a member of the Town of Orange Park Nuisance and Abatement Board.

My thanks to you for having me on this board.

My reason for resigning is in response to the town council overlooking Vice-Mayor Eddie Henley and keeping the rotation that is used by municipalities across the state. The Town of Orange Park has now gone 143 years without a person of color in the seat of mayor. Whether I agree with policy choices by a member of the council is an opinion, but, when it was clear that (the) government in the sunshine was placed behind a wall of deception it is clear that something was afoot. In fact an audience member told me it was going to happen ahead of time). You voted with Ms. Thompson and Mr. Anderson in blocking a historic moment in the town of Orange Park, in voting with them you all lost my vote. Yes, I did vote for you in the last election.

The worst part of this snapshot of local politics is watching as five people that should serve the people serve another master, that is your apparent preceptor.

As a person that grew up in Orange Park during the 1960s the revisionist history of an idyllic hamlet on the mighty St. John's River is a myth. Those in power have always controlled the town. If you want to look back to where today's complaints find a seminal moment look no further than the councils of the 1970s and 1980s that allowed unfettered growth without planning. You can research the names, some will be familiar to residents even today.

You did not take a stand for what is right and I cannot in good conscience work with those that do have my trust.

The American composer/philosopher/raconteur Frank Zappa said it best:

“What something is depends more on when it is than anything else.”

The vote tonight by Ms. Thompson, Mr. Anderson, and you said what "something is" from your viewpoint, that "something" is control and overt racism.