By Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
December 20, 2019
At a recent joint meeting of the City Commission and the Charter Review Committee, the members of those two bodies mulled the impact of the most recent change to the City Charter. The City Charter is the City’s local “constitution,” and changes to the document can only be implemented with voter approval, making those changes somewhat infrequent.
In November, 2015, City voters approved the change from three-year Commissioner terms to four-year Commissioner terms. This change occurred shortly before I was appointed to serve in Fernandina Beach, but it has been explained to me by many that the intent of the change was to promote stability on the City Commission and to align the City elections with Nassau County elections (thereby eliminating the cost to the City of odd-year elections).
The transition to four-year terms necessitated changes to the terms of the City Commissioners in order to sequence the elections properly in line with four-year terms. The election of 2015 resulted in the election of Commissioners Len Kreger and Roy G. Smith to three-year terms expiring in 2018. The four-year term provision was approved as part of the same election, so the three-year term for Commissioners was still in place at the time of the election.
In 2016, Mayor Johnny Miller was elected to the first four-year term. Due to the fact that he had been previously elected in 2013 and that the City Charter also provides for a two-term limit, Mayor Miller is not eligible to run in the 2020 City Commission election. If interested, though, he is not prohibited seeking election to the City Commission at a later date.
An election was required in 2017 because Mayor Lentz and Commissioner Poynter had been elected to three-year terms in 2014. The implementation of four-year terms only affected future elections to the City Commission. Because the election cycle had to get synchronized for four-year terms, the seats held by Mayor Lentz and Commissioner Poynter were for only three-year terms so that the subsequent election would be conducted in 2020. The 2018 election saw Commissioners Ross and Chapman elected to the City Commission.
With 2018 being an even-year, the seats of Vice Mayor Kreger and Commissioner Roy G. Smith, originally elected in 2015, were up for election, but now for four-year terms. Vice Mayor Kreger and Commissioner Lednovich were elected.
This year, 2019, was the first year that no election was scheduled due to the transition to the four-year terms. The election to fully complete the alignment of City elections with four-year terms will occur next November.
The November, 2020, election will have, for the first time but will become regular, three City Commission seats up for election. It was this “quirk,” a consequence of the transition to four-year elections, that sparked some of the conversation at the joint meeting of the City Commission and the Charter Review Committee. What, theoretically, would be the impact of the City Commission being “flipped” by a bloc of three successful candidates?
I offered comments based upon my experience as a Town Manager in Connecticut. In Winchester, Connecticut, all seven Board of Selectmen (City Commission) seats were up for election every two (odd) years (and those elections were partisan-based). It was possible to have seven new Selectmen every two years. In one instance, 2013, the Board was actually “flipped,” going from five Democrats/two Republicans to five Republicans (I didn’t realize Connecticut even had five Republicans)/two Democrats. Even with such a “flip,” the basic policies of the Selectmen changed little.
Consider my experience here as another example of the impact of change on the City Commission. Although occurring over the course of four years, only one current City Commissioner who was part of the City Commission that hired me remains: Mayor Johnny Miller. The City Commission otherwise has been “flipped” with four new members. Have the issues or focus changed significantly?
Through the wonder of the internet, I went back four years to see what the primary concerns of the community were as the search for a city manager was being conducted. As reported by local media, in 2015, the recruiter for the city manager position highlighted the three biggest concerns: the conflict between “old” residents and “new” residents, the inaction on the Amelia River waterfront, and municipal infrastructure (specifically stormwater). It is fascinating to read articles and comments from 2015 now that I’ve had four years of experience with the issues and the residents.
Don’t worry about the effect of “flipping” the City Commission. Focus more on your efforts to elect good people to the City Commission. I applaud the willingness of residents to serve this community.
REMINDER: Community Christmas Day Pot Luck Dinner, 2:00-5:00 PM, Nassau County Council on Aging, 1901 Island Walk Way. Everyone welcome.