Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Navigating Regulations
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Navigating Regulations
Navigating Regulations
Host
Joshua Black
Description
Joshua gets a glimpse into how much more burdensome our government is than God has commanded it to be.
Listen
Transcript
Welcome to the 8th edition of the St Petersburg Florida Area News podcast for the year 2019. I’m your host, Joshua Black, and this episode will cover the city council committee meeting and the full council meeting that took place on February 21.
The only committee of the day was the Cosponsored Events Committee. I hadn’t heard the term “co-sponsored events” until I saw a facebook post a few days earlier by a man named Corey Givens, Jr., a local preacher and frequent guest at City Hall, complaining about tax dollars not being properly accounted for when dispensed for non-profits. Councilman Steve Kornell commented on that post that the term “cosponsored” does not mean that the event holders receive tax funding. They receive city services (fire, police, etc), and the city decides whether they receive a bill or not, as well as how much that bill represents of the total cost to the city. As far as I can tell, these are events that are held on city-owned outdoor properties, like streets and public parks.
With only three council members in attendance, Charlie Gerdes was selected to continue as chair, Ed Montanari was selected for vice chair, and Darden Rice joined the committee as a new member. The good thing about Rice being new to the committee was that the staff and other council members were patient with explanations of terms and concepts.
Cosponsored events are required by ordinance to benefit a nonprofit. That requirement can be waived by council. Any outdoor event planned for city owned property that plans to serve alcohol, charge admission, or raise money must be a cosponsored event. Only a nonprofit can apply to hold a cosponsored event, unless council waives that requirement, too. Selling alcohol requires one more waiver, and selling hard liquors requires a second waiver after that. This is on top of two additional meetings with staff from various departments being required after council approval of the event. All of this is explained throughout a 16-page application.
It sounds reasonable, if you accept the premise that government has a legitimate reason to own properties that aren’t devoted to finding justice for victims. I don’t accept that premise, because it is excluded by the instructions given to government in Romans 13:1-8. If someone is not doing harm to his neighbor, it really isn’t the business of the government.
Most of the main council meeting was similar: lots of regulations and debates about things that would not exist if we had a Bible-sized government. Remember that God only gave Israel 613 statutes to follow, and Jesus rescinded up to 2/3rds of them with His death and resurrection. The chapters in the ordinance code of the city of Saint Petersburg are far more than 613, and that’s just the chapters, not the sections, subsections or paragraphs.
View all episodes
By St. Petersburg, FL Area News | Reconstructionist Radio Reformed Podcast NetworkNavigating Regulations
Host
Joshua Black
Description
Joshua gets a glimpse into how much more burdensome our government is than God has commanded it to be.
Listen
Transcript
Welcome to the 8th edition of the St Petersburg Florida Area News podcast for the year 2019. I’m your host, Joshua Black, and this episode will cover the city council committee meeting and the full council meeting that took place on February 21.
The only committee of the day was the Cosponsored Events Committee. I hadn’t heard the term “co-sponsored events” until I saw a facebook post a few days earlier by a man named Corey Givens, Jr., a local preacher and frequent guest at City Hall, complaining about tax dollars not being properly accounted for when dispensed for non-profits. Councilman Steve Kornell commented on that post that the term “cosponsored” does not mean that the event holders receive tax funding. They receive city services (fire, police, etc), and the city decides whether they receive a bill or not, as well as how much that bill represents of the total cost to the city. As far as I can tell, these are events that are held on city-owned outdoor properties, like streets and public parks.
With only three council members in attendance, Charlie Gerdes was selected to continue as chair, Ed Montanari was selected for vice chair, and Darden Rice joined the committee as a new member. The good thing about Rice being new to the committee was that the staff and other council members were patient with explanations of terms and concepts.
Cosponsored events are required by ordinance to benefit a nonprofit. That requirement can be waived by council. Any outdoor event planned for city owned property that plans to serve alcohol, charge admission, or raise money must be a cosponsored event. Only a nonprofit can apply to hold a cosponsored event, unless council waives that requirement, too. Selling alcohol requires one more waiver, and selling hard liquors requires a second waiver after that. This is on top of two additional meetings with staff from various departments being required after council approval of the event. All of this is explained throughout a 16-page application.
It sounds reasonable, if you accept the premise that government has a legitimate reason to own properties that aren’t devoted to finding justice for victims. I don’t accept that premise, because it is excluded by the instructions given to government in Romans 13:1-8. If someone is not doing harm to his neighbor, it really isn’t the business of the government.
Most of the main council meeting was similar: lots of regulations and debates about things that would not exist if we had a Bible-sized government. Remember that God only gave Israel 613 statutes to follow, and Jesus rescinded up to 2/3rds of them with His death and resurrection. The chapters in the ordinance code of the city of Saint Petersburg are far more than 613, and that’s just the chapters, not the sections, subsections or paragraphs.