July 25, 2016 7:00 a.m.

Editor’s Note: A Fernandina Observer Town Hall Meeting involving candidates for the Ocean Highway & Port Authority scheduled for July 15, was cancelled due to a tragic accident that claimed the life of an employee at the Port of Fernandina. Since scheduling another Town Hall within a short period of time was not possible, we presented candidates with five questions and asked for their written responses. Each day this week, we will post their answers.

OHPA District 1 Candidates

Edward T. Coop, Pat K. Gass, Robert “Bob” Sturgess

1. Why do you support or not support changing the current OHPA charter?

“I support amending the charter as it was originally enacted in 1941-pre war era.  Due to current operating conditions the charter should be reviewed and amended as needed to reflect the current market environments.  While I am not a legal scholar I would seek appropriate counsel in the revision of the charter and the potential actions of the Authority against the citizens of Fernandina. ”

1. Why do you support or not support changing the current OHPA charter?

“I support updating the charter to the extent that we can, it is a document that can only be changed at the state level, I feel that updating the language is prudent to reflect our ever changing world. As the OPHA Charter reads today it provides immeasurable economic opportunities for the county and I feel that we should seek out new ventures that can benefit all citizens of Nassau County.”

1. Why do you support or not support changing the current OHPA charter?

“I support changing the Charter. There are at least two provisions of the current Port Authority Charter that can harm us and our cities. The “current” Port Authority (OHPA) Charter, in its overly broad Section 12, states,

It shall not be necessary for the authority to obtain any certificate of convenience or necessity, franchise, license, permit, or other authorization thereof from any county, municipality or political subdivision of the state, and this act shall be full and complete authority for the powers granted in this act.

I have four responses to the question presented. First, OHPA is an arm of state government, and it is doing what governments tend to do – consolidate power within their own orbit. In fact, the Port Authority is already talking about how it’s going to run Nassau County after the bond is paid off. These discussions often take place behind closed doors, as the minutes reflect. The Port Authority believes its Charter allows it to act at will, regardless of whether we and our cities consent to the OHPA actions on your or your neighbors’ property. I do not support this overreach.

Second, there may be serious liability implications of claiming control of every inch of the land and water (navigable and non-navigable) in the County. The Port Authority does not have complete sovereign immunity, pursuant to its limited waiver for state agencies and subdivisions in sections 331.328 and 768.28 (Florida Statutes). Other unsupportable issues regarding the language of the Charter are less significant, such as antiquated language from the Charter’s 1940s origins and subsequent revisions. I do not support the Charter in this regard.

Third, when it comes to a city’s right to govern itself without state interference, some folks put it in terms of ‘self-determination’, others in terms of ‘city control’, and still others in terms of ‘home rule’. Regardless, it is a misstatement to say that city involvement and self-government is something citizens are trying to impose onto the Port Authority’s Charter. The concept of a city’s right to self-determination is, in fact, already a Constitutional right under Florida Constitution Article VIII, section 2(b). The people adopted the rights of cities in 1968, and the Legislature adopted the Constitutional section in 1973.

Hilliard and Callahan and Fernandina Beach, for example, should have the right to self-determination by virtue of Florida’s Constitution, but the Port Authority Charter impedes that right. That is, the Charter infringes on cities’ rights, not the other way around. No other Port in Florida has these powers, and I do not support such dominance for any form of government.

The fourth and final issue involves Constitutional Due Process. The United States Constitution’s Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments expressly identify three components of freedom – life, liberty and property. Those are the three elements worthy of the protections of due process and the administration of justice.

Some government powers can ‘take’ or ‘condemn’ your property (also known as eminent domain). The process is twofold – prove a public purpose to a judge (i.e., a needed road), and demonstrate just compensation for the property owner to a jury. Section 8 of the Port Authority Charter states, “The purposes for which the Authority . . . is authorized to carry out are hereby declared to be public purposes . . . .” The Port Authority Charter, therefore, allows it to hurdle the first step of the condemnation process – demonstrating a public purpose. It allows the Port Authority, in other words, to bypass the administration of justice for property owners in OHPA’s sights. I object again.

This and many other powers of the Charter are – in OHPA’s opinion – virtually limitless, with few exceptions. The Port Authority Commission’s current position is something to the effect: ‘we would never really do anything with those powers’. But if you try to take those powers away from the Port Authority Board, they tighten their grip like a youngster on his first bull ride (or first roller coaster ride, for those of you from middle Florida). So in answer to the question, I do not support the above-quoted portions of the Master Plan and would work to change or redact them. I’d loosen the grip of power.”

Click here to view press release submitted to the Fernandina Observer.

District 2 Candidates

Jimmy Dubberly, Incumbent Danny Fullwood

Why do you support or not support changing  the OHPA Charter?

“I do not support the current OHPA Charter as it should align with the local municipalities.  For example, the OHPA Charter should align with the City of Fernandina Charter in regards to hazardous material.  OHPA should also adopt HOME RULE like the other Ports in the state of Florida.”

Click here to view Dubberly Press Release submitted to the Fernandina Observer.

Why do you support or not support changing the current OHPA charter?

“I fully support changing the current OHPA charter. In December 2015, I began creating a format that created the OHPA Charter Revision Committee.  This committee was assigned with the task of looking at every word in the OHPA charter and making suggestions on how the charter could be revised legally. The committee was made up of community members from across the county appointed by the local governments of that part of the county with additional members from the City of Fernandina in whose area the port resides as well as other appointees.

As of this month the committee has completed its work and the Authority will now have workshops in every area of the county to present the changes to that area. We will then have public hearings as required before approving the final changes in November and presenting it to the Nassau Delegation to approve and take to Tallahassee.”