An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed a quote to James Clasby. The quote has since been removed. Hometown News apologizes to Mr. Clasby and regrets the error.<\/p>\n
By Donald Rodrigue<\/p>\n
For Hometown News<\/p>\n
FORT PIERCE \u2013 The Jan. 13 decision of the St. Lucie County Commission to lower the 2026\/2027 millage near the end of its fourth budget workshop quickly became overshadowed by a Facebook clip posted online the same day of District 5 Commissioner Cathy Townsend apparently criticizing some vocal members of her District during a redistricting discussion afterward.<\/p>\n
The Hometown News received a copy of that homemade clip late the same day, which stops and starts in a jerky attempt to splice two unrelated conversations together from the early and later segments of the meeting. The video, which was forwarded to the paper from the Facebook paging belonging to District 1 Commissioner James Clasby, begins with a powerful statement accompanied by uppercase subtitles.<\/p>\n
\u201cLakewood Park people are extremely needy and have big mouths that like to lie, a lot of them,\u201d said Townsend in the video.<\/p>\n
The clip starts with a sentence Commissioner Townsend said that was extracted far from its original context and repeated twice for effect by the creator.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s crazy because it\u2019s hard for me to be at Becker Road and be at Lakewood Park,\u201d the clip continued. \u201cLakewood Park people are extremely needy and have big mouths that like to lie, a lot of them. They must be friends with Clasby, but anyway I do think we need to look at this. There\u2019s no reason why somebody\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The jerky clip then jumped from the very last discussion on potentially redrawing Townsend\u2019s district next year to the middle of a conversation that Townsend had with Commissioner Clasby much earlier in the meeting about the latter\u2019s desire to cut funding to the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommissioner Townsend, I\u2019m only going to tell you this one time,\u201d Clasby said in response to her encouraging him to meet with EDC staff. \u201cYou need to stop trying to educate other people on the Board. Other people on this Board have been involved in the county for a long time. We\u2019ve seen what you\u2019ve done as a commissioner. You on this Board and the policies you\u2019ve supported, the developments that you\u2019ve supported, is partially the reason why I ran for office. So, don\u2019t try and educate me about what I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not going to claim to know everything, but I know quite a bit. I have an education, I have an opinion, so I don\u2019t want you dismissing every single thing I bring up on this Board. I\u2019m not going to stand for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not dismissing you, James,\u201d Townsend responded. \u201cI\u2019m just saying you need to have a conversation with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioner Clasby, however, still had a barb up his sleeve.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you need to realize that the people put me here to oppose some of the policies that you\u2019ve long-time supported,\u201d he retorted.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s okay, you don\u2019t have to agree,\u201d Commissioner Townsend replied.<\/p>\n
At that point, the video cuts Chairwoman Jamie Fowler off in mid sentence as she tries to rein in her two sparring colleagues.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s just take a break for a moment,\u201d she said before returning the conversation to the EDC funding portion of the proposed 2026\/2027 Fiscal Year Budget.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Commissioner Townsend told the Hometown News that her initial comment \u2013 which she admitted was not appropriate \u2013 was taken completely out of context by the video creator.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be clear what I meant,\u201d she said via text on July 14. \u201cI was not referring to the residents of Lakewood Park as a whole. I was speaking out of frustration about a small group of individuals who repeatedly spread misinformation, make personal attacks and create unnecessary division. My comments were directed at that behavior, not at an entire community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Townsend was forced to go on the defensive shortly after the meeting, however, when local media outlets got wind of the Facebook video.<\/p>\n
CBS 12 News posted two separate news clips online afterward, even interviewing some offended Lakewood Park residents.<\/p>\n
That community just north of Fort Pierce is part of Townsend\u2019s disjointed district, which cobbles together much of the unincorporated sections of St. Lucie County.<\/p>\n
The commissioner, on the Board since November 2016, decided last year to not seek re-election but is instead running for supervisor of elections against incumbent Gertrude Walker.<\/p>\n
Townsend defended her relationship with Lakewood Park despite her controversial comment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who knows my record knows how much I have supported Lakewood Park over the years,\u201d she said. \u201cI have worked hard to advocate for projects, funding and improvements because I believe the families there deserve the same opportunities and quality of life as every other part of St. Lucie County. I\u2019m especially grateful for the many Lakewood Park residents who have worked collaboratively with me over the years. Because of those relationships, I would have hoped they knew my comments were never directed at them or at the community. If anyone in Lakewood Park felt personally hurt or insulted by my words, I sincerely regret that because it was never my intention. I encourage anyone interested to watch the entire meeting and judge my remarks in context.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Hometown News also reached out to Commissioner Clasby on July 14, who promptly denied having anything to do with the video.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have seen the video, which now has more than 1,000 reactions and 600 shares,\u201d he said via email. \u201cHowever, it is not my video; it was not posted by a Facebook page I control; and I did not post it, share it or ask for it to be posted. Residents have tagged me in the comments multiple times, but I do not control what other people post online.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioner Clasby concluded his email defending his stance on cutting EDC funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern is whether the county should continue providing the EDC $325,000 annually while we are attempting to cut another $2.6 million from the proposed FY27 budget to achieve the General Fund rollback rate,\u201d he explained. \u201cI believe the organization could continue operating without county funding, regardless of whether the EDC agrees.\u201d<\/p>\n