By Mike Lednovich
Qualifying for the Fernandina Beach city commission election has ended, with six candidates, including two incumbents, running for three commission seats in November.
In addition, two sitting commissioners – James Antun and Darron Ayscue – will run for Mayor.
Here are the candidates and their respective commission seats.
Seat 1
Mayor Bradley Bean’s term expires in December. He was elected to the city commission in 2020 and was elected mayor in 2022. Bean is employed by RYAM.
Phone: 904-415-5181
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Treasurer: Bradley M. Bean
Joyce Tuten is a retired AP Environmental Science teacher and a NOAA Climate Steward Educator.
Phone: 301-471-9531
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Treasurer: Joyce Tuten
Deputy Campaign Treasurer: James E. Tuten
Seat 2
Vice Mayor David Sturges was elected to the city commission in 2020, and his term expires in December. Sturges owns a residential construction company and multiple properties in Fernandina Beach and Nassau County.
Phone: 904-624-4596
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Treasurer: Kelly Sturges
Genece Minshew is a retired BellSouth executive with more than 35 years of experience in all phases of customer operations, customer relationship management, product management and field operations.
Phone: 404-314-0148
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Treasurer: Genece Minshew
Deputy Campaign Treasurer: Angela Hall
Seat 3
Commissioner Chip Ross’ term expires in December and he is termed out.
Former city commissioner Tim Poynter (2014-2017), is a high-profile downtown business owner with restaurants, a putt-putt facility, a duckpin bowling establishment, and two other projects in the works.
Phone: 904-415-6533
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Treasurer: Steven Filkoff
Christy Kelly is a Fernandina Beach resident, who provided no background information on her candidacy.
Phone: 904-557-4482
Email: [email protected]
Campaign Treasurer: Christy Kelly
A third candidate, Tony Morris, withdrew from the race.
We are very fortunate to have two smart, sensible, and accountable candidates running for commissioner seats – Joyce Tuten and Genice Minshew. Both appreciate the natural beauty that we love in our area and will implement smart growth policies to balance development and conservation. Neither are in the back pockets of developers. Please support their campaigns.
The city commission is a governing body–not a conservation society or a platform for activism.
Bean and Sturges have and will continue to do a great job for the City!