ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Tensions between the St. Johns County administrator and one county commissioner continued to show on Tuesday during a discussion on whether or not the county should extend the administrator’s contract.
Despite the pushback, commissioners voted 3-2 to extend the contract for St. Johns County Administrator Joy Andrews an additional three years until 2030.
Commissioner Christian Whitehurst said he added an agenda item to discuss the terms of Andrews’ contract after it was revealed she applied for the same position in Palm Beach County.
Andrews said she later withdrew her application and wants to remain in her current position.
“I made a decision that you know, regardless of the differences of opinion about me and what my role, or how I’m performing on this board, my hope is that I can show my commitment to my staff, my children, my community, who have shown up today that I’m here to stay,” Andrews said.
Whitehurst said he wanted to extend her contract for six years as a way to stabilize the volatility, but eventually, a vote to extend it by three years was formally proposed.
Objecting to the extension, St. Johns County Commission Chair Krista Joseph said Andrews still has a lot to prove.
“So in my opinion, if you get the FCC [trash hauler] thing solved, and we have hurricane season coming, which is not done yet, you get this [comprehensive] plan done, you get the tree code done, you get the World Golf thing on the right track, maybe in September when these things are finished, I’d be all for talking about this, but right now, performance is more important than stability, and stability comes with good performance,” Joseph said.
Earlier this year, Joseph moved for a vote of no confidence against Andrews in January.
Joseph said then that Andrews’ leadership had been unsatisfactory during the county’s botched rollout of its new solid waste provider last year, as well as in 2023 when Joseph pushed St. Johns County to adopt stricter tree preservation guidelines, and she repeated some of those claims on Tuesday.
Joseph and Commissioner Ann Taylor both voted against extending Andrew’s contract.
Before the vote, multiple community members, as well as Whitehurst and commissioners Sarah Arnold and Clay Murphy, spoke in support of Andrews.
“Keep her here. We had a diamond in the rough, in our midst, and then she flourished. Let her do what she does, get the job done. She cares. Her name is Joy for a reason,” community member Ken McClain said.
“Joy has been more than an administrator. She’s been a partner. Her support for projects like the Hastings Community Center library, a fabulous building under construction, reflects her genuine investment in our community’s well-being,” Leonard Freeman said in support of Andrews.
Many community members noted that Andrews is dedicated to the county and is accessible to them. But there have been criticisms of Andrews from community members in the past who attribute the rapid growth of the county to her.
News4JAX is working to find out the terms of the contract extension. Andrews was hired in 2023 at a salary of about $300,000 and has worked for the county for about 20 years.
