Dale Martin
Fernandina Beach
City Manager
May 24, 2019 12:00 a.m.
While the City Commission is the most visible and active board, many other boards advise and assist in the direction and operations of the City. The seats on these boards are filled by volunteers who wish to serve their community. With very rare exceptions, these volunteers are required to be residents of the City.
The City has a nearly unquenchable need for volunteers to serve on boards. It is a commitment to serve, mostly requiring participation in one monthly meeting, but also additional preparatory time to read and review items pending for consideration. It is not intended to be a full-time job, but it definitely requires, on average, a few hours each week to adequately perform the duties of the position.
The primary qualification to serve on a board is simply a level of interest. It is your neighbors and co-workers that hear issues brought before the boards. Of course, some additional background or experience is helpful, but you do not need to be an architect to sit on the Historic District Council, a pilot to sit on the Airport Advisory Commission, or an attorney to sit on the Board of Adjustment. Diversity of background, education, and experience serves the City well on boards.
If you want to learn more how the various boards operate, all board meetings are conducted at City Hall (204 Ash Street). By being at City Hall, the meetings are recorded. Until recently, the meetings were broadcast or streamed live, but due to legal issues related to closed captioning, only the City Commission meetings will continue to be live: although all other boards still be recorded, the requirement for (post-production) closed-captioning will delay the availability of the board meetings for three-to-five days. This delay is the direct result of cost: post-production closed captioning is a mere fraction of the cost of live closed-captioning (which is approximately two-to-three dollars per minute).
Agendas, including additional documentation, for all meetings are published one week prior to the meeting. If you wish to follow a specific board, you can visit the City’s web site, click on the “Notify Me” button, and select the board(s) you wish to receive an email message when an appropriate agenda is published. If you’d rather follow meetings more informally, at the bottom of the City’s home page is a calendar that includes the scheduled meetings and a link to the published agenda. The City’s agenda management system is entirely electronic, so no paper agendas are prepared.
The City can routinely make use of volunteers interested in specific projects. In those instances, unlike a board appointment that requires City Commission approval, it is possible to work directly with City staff on an informal basis. Simply advise me or the appropriate department director of your interest, and we can find something for you to do that matches your interest. It is hard to say “No” to someone that wants to serve their community.
With the onset of hurricane season, one of the more interesting opportunities to serve may be to assist the City during emergencies. During emergencies (such as a tropical storm or hurricane), City staff, especially senior staff, is occupied with managing the impending event from an operational perspective. Logistics and planning for post-emergency operations are often neglected as the community mobilizes for the emergency.
Nassau County Director of Emergency Management Greg Foster has met with City staff and has encouraged the City to seek volunteers interested in working in the County Emergency Management Center (EOC; located on the County campus near I-95) during EOC activations. Specific training for people interested in such service would be required- emergency protocols, software, etc. In the event of intense emergencies when many people evacuate the area, these volunteers would be expected to remain to support twenty-four hour EOC operations (sometimes housed in temporary facilities if access to home is limited).
In our discussions, Mr. Foster has placed an emphasis on post-emergency recovery preparations. It is always underestimated how long it truly takes for a community to recover from a disaster. Having people trained on how to initiate the long-term recovery process can greatly assist in the immediate aftermath.
As previously indicated, this community relies on volunteers. It is often a thankless effort, but highly appreciated by City Commissioners and City staff. In a previous community, the City hosted an annual dinner to acknowledge the service of board volunteers. I’d like to start a similar program in Fernandina Beach to give a small token of gratitude to the volunteers.
Finally, please take time this weekend to commemorate Memorial Day and all those who served our nation. That would be a small token for those heroes.