Philip Chapman, Candidate
City Commission Group 2
“I WILL listen to you”
904-624-5978
[email protected]
October 2, 2017 8:00 a.m.
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Who is Philip Chapman?
I am a retired educator and administrator.
I have twenty plus years’ experience in retail.
I am a husband, father and grandfather.
I am a citizen of an amazing town, called Fernandina Beach.
Why am I running for City Commission?
I will take each point from above and explain why I have decided to run…..
As a retired educator of thirty-eight years, I am more than capable of speaking and working with people of all ages and needs. This is something that I feel may be a missing part of our town. I want to change this and get a conversation going that includes all and allows them to put their thoughts and wants out there and feel that they will be listened to.
With twenty plus years in retail under my belt, I know that I can relate to and work with the merchants in our town. I promise to listen to what they believe will make us the very best that we can be! There are areas which have been neglected or overlooked, such as the marina and the waterfront. Those need to be brought back to life sooner than later and working towards that goal, all the businesses both on and off the water, will enjoy even more success.
My role as husband, father and grandfather has given me insight into the thoughts, wishes, hopes and dreams of those I care for. With this in mind, and knowing how much I care for the people of Fernandina, I will be able to take the ideas of the people of our town and move towards a more unified and involved community where everyone knows they’ll be listened to. The more we listen, the more our citizens will know they can have input into what takes place in their community.
I knew from day one as a citizen, that Fernandina would be our forever home. Upon settling into life after retirement, I knew that I wanted to get involved in the everyday working of this amazing place that we all call home. I began to volunteer with different organizations on the island and realized how amazing our home is! I decided to get involved even more by joining a community Board and other groups who truly care about and want the very best for our city. Over the past three years, I committed to attend every Commission meeting and have spoken at most. The knowledge that I have, and which after talking to many people who live here, is that they are not listened to! This is sad as those people are throwing their hands up in the air and giving up on the things that are truly important to them. It’s the same verbiage every time, “Why go to the meetings where we plea about our wants and needs, only to be ignored”. You will not be ignored any longer, I WILL listen!
We have an incredibly beautiful island which we all call home. Our beaches are world renown, our Historic Downtown is unlike any other and is envied by many, our maritime canopy is the jewel of our island but is in danger every day from irresponsible development, our waterfront and marina while in complete disrepair at this time must be made the destination that it once was! Please remember, that Fernandina is the FIRST marina in Florida as boaters’ head south! We should be and need to be the very best representation of what a working and leisure waterfront can be. Most importantly are our people. We have the most incomparable collection of talented, smart and caring people anywhere in the world! We must listen to everyone and by doing so will have an island paradise which we all came here for.
Chapman faces incumbent Tim Poynter in Group 2.