Press Release
Editor’s Note: All city commission candidates were offered the opportunity to submit press releases to our news blog. The Fernandina Observer does not endorse candidates.
Johnny Miller thanks voters, urges community to turn out for runoff election December 10
FERNANDINA BEACH, FL Johnny Miller, who garnered the majority of votes in a four-way run for a seat on the Fernandina City Commission this past Tuesday, and faces a runoff election Tuesday, December 10 with the second place candidate, asked for continued support from those who voted for him and requested others to follow their lead in the runoff. “I would like to thank the people who aided my campaign and I ask for their continued support,” says Miller.
Miller, a retired US Navy veteran and long-time Amelia Island hospitality employee, says his platform of “preserve and promote” incorporates what citizens and business people in the community have told him are important to the long-term health of the community – a balance between local businesses and tourism. “To encourage entrepreneurs, help current businesses and provide a comfortable environment for our residents and visitors, we need to examine the things we are doing wrong and stop them; do more of what we are doing right; and explore new ideas and concepts provided by locals as well as other successful municipalities.”
The former parks and recreation and law enforcement employees continued to stress that “equitable fees, understandable and fair regulations, faster permitting, unraveling unfair impact fees, and clear communications between the city bureaucracy and its constituents are elements that will help businesses prosper, attract new enterprises and residents, and provide a comfortable place to live and play.”
“The downtown library, the Shrimp Festival, and the old Post Office building are a few of the issues currently on the table that are generating heated debate among the local population, “says Miller. He says “the downtown library is a positive for everybody, despite the fact that it is perceived as a community perk, it’s a city revenue generator as many, many of those folks that frequent it shop locally when they visit. The old Post Office building is another issue that is sticking out like a sore thumb and needs some creative thought.”
Miller continued to emphasize that he wants to see more city communication and community input particularly on issues such as the Shrimp Festival, including cleanup, dates of the festival parade and sales of alcoholic beverages. “I don’t see any evidence of the current commission taking a position that generates a sense of cooperation,” he says. “When I talk to business owners and residents here they tell me that when they send suggestions to city hall it’s like dropping a coin in a bottomless well…they never hear a splash, they hear nothing.”
He went on the say that some 25 percent of all area residents work in the hospitality industry and he better than any other candidate understands how important tourism is to that constituency. “We must never forget that whether they work at Rayonier, RockTenn, the Ritz Carlton, the Omni Resorts or the city’s many smaller businesses, all employees have a vested interest in this community and want to see it run efficiently and prosperously.”
Miller, who has been a resident of Fernandina Beach for the past seven years, retired from the US Navy, where he served in a variety of positions including Navy SEAL training, firearms instructor, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as anti-piracy actions off the coast of Africa and counter-terrorism functions in the Philippines. Following his military service he worked as a police officer at the Naval Station in Mayport and as a lifeguard and water safety instructor for Fernandina Beach. He also worked at Café Karibo and the Crab Trap, as a manager at the Green Turtle Tavern, and is currently employed by Sheffield’s at The Palace. He is married and he and his wife of 25 years, Lori, have two children, John, who is enlisting in the US Navy, and Summer, a junior at Florida State University in Tallahassee. His mother, Nancy Arnott Fishburn, and stepfather, Stan Fishburn, have been Fernandina residents since 2003.
Miller can be contacted by phone at 904/556-3299 or by email at [email protected].
November 10, 2013 3:00 p.m.