Why don’t the Chamber of Commerce and Main Street publicly support their constituency and membership against paid parking?
Isn’t their role to increase business traffic, encourage shopping, assist business owners, provide a welcoming atmosphere, and create an open and friendly environment?
Don’t local businesses contribute annual fees to these two organizations?
Unless I’m missing something, I haven’t seen or heard anyone from either of these two impotent groups do diddly squat to assist Fernandina’s business community in the “Paid Parking” brouhaha. Please correct me if I’m missing something here.
Main Street’s absence is somewhat understandable since it is a city function, and four City Commissioners are all in for paid parking. Even so, what purpose does Main Street serve if it doesn’t fully support the businesses that populate “Main Street”? The City Commission wants to populate Main Street with parking meters that the business population has openly and rabidly exclaimed they do not want and claim will hurt them financially.
On its web site Main Street says: “As stewards of economic vitality in our historic downtown, we are committed to fostering economic growth.” OK, then explain how paid parking does that.
The only business owner downtown I know of that is for paid parking is – inexplicably – City Commissioner Tim Poynter, who owns several downtown business operations that depend on a continuous flow of customer traffic. If he’s creative enough to open all these businesses why hasn’t he been creative enough to produce options to paid parking, a project the entire community (business and otherwise) has vocally and voraciously exclaimed it does not want? He’s not a stupid person, so what’s he up to?
The other three eager meter greeters – Genece Minshew, James Antun, and Joyce Tuten – are not exactly the brightest bulbs on the city’s Christmas tree. The angel on the tree is Commissioner Darron Ayscue, who firmly opposes the paid quartet.
The Chamber is conspicuous by its silence so what’s its story? It’s entire purpose is allegedly to support the companies that are its members. But all it ever does is run and duck for cover at the slightest sign of controversy.
Since I’ve lived here the only obvious support I’ve witnessed that the Chamber has ever provided its members for their annual dues are an occasional ribbon cutting ceremony, a grip and grin picture in the local paper, and a serving of rubbery cheese cubes and cheap wine. The entire organization is a scam as I’ve never had anyone explain to me how they have benefitted from a Chamber membership. A chamber pot serves a more practical and useful purpose than the Chamber of Commerce.
The now resigned head of the local group here, Regina Duncan, left an angry crowd of Nassau County fist-shaking politicians in her rearview mirror. She intentionally pissed off the entire Nassau County Commission by writing an opinion editorial in the June 13, 2025 News Leader newspaper labeling the county “Not business friendly,” a description that aptly describes the city of Fernandina Beach, NOT the county.
Apparently this clueless gal never read local news outlets and has never attended a Fernandina Beach City Commission session. How did she hold that job for so long?
Every County Commissioner I’ve spoken to was unhappy with Duncan, while the Fernandina City Commission was happy to have the county taking fire and not them.
If and when the parking issue goes to voters it’s likely to receive a massive thumbs down. Any of the four City Commission meter-huggers that voted for the mechanical pickpockets will meet the same fate if they run for reelection or if a recall derails them first.
They are currently the most despised group of people hereabouts. Dale Carnegie and Will Rogers would avoid these four like the plague.
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Sound Suggestions: Local resident, keen observer and very smart hombre, Jerry Decker, has some thoughts on how the city can raise money without fleecing taxpayers and wrecking downtown’s business community.
I’ve proposed in the past that the city trim its bloated overpaid staff, cut department budgets by 10-15 percent, and merge the redundant building, police, and fire departments with the county? It could also unload some of its millions of dollars’ worth of nonperforming and untaxed real estate assets that are nothing more than swampy mosquito sanctuaries?
Decker gets specific.
This week, Decker, who boasts a PhD in mathematics from the University of Chicago, did some number crunching and suggested the following.
He asked: “If The city needs $2 million+ for annual debt service on loans planned for infrastructure projects why is paid parking the only way?”
He proposed several other logical options be considered. “How about downtown businesses/property owners pay for any downtown reimagination or flood remediation? How about Brett’s removal be paid for by a developer as part of marina revitalization? How about the city sell some assets to raise money?
“Assess the downtown businesses for the debt service on whatever is updated on Centre Street–that will better focus on what’s really needed,” he says.
“To do this,” added Decker, “Main Street could establish a “My Fernandina” fund-raising campaign and work with the businesses to find the best/fairest way for each to contribute. They could add an optional “revitalization fee” to customer purchases to cover their share, or some other approach—the point is the beneficiaries pay, and if they go with a per-ticket fee (optional, this is not a hidden tax) residents can opt in-or-out on each purchase and tourists will not object given the good cause.”
“Offer a long-term (intelligently designed) Brett’s lease to demolish, construct, and operate a new water-side restaurant. Brett’s was much loved and a landmark. A new landmark is needed—not just trees and grass.”
Decker logically and intelligently concludes asking: “Why increase taxes on everybody or force through something no-one wants when other avenues are possible?”
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Wait! What? Listening to Fernandina’s four paid parking City Commissioners prattle on endlessly uttering nothing but blithering piffle rather than answers gives me an opportunity to repeat a clever letter to the Wall Street Journal many years ago remarking on Bill Clinton famously saying: “It depends on what the meaning of “is” is?
Like the City Commission, Clinton used word play, seeking to confuse the issue even further. The Journal letter writer cleverly wrote:
“Wait! Is is still is? Or is is no longer is?
Because if is is no longer is, what is is?
Is is now was?”
The Commission pro-paid parking quartet treat locals like idiots also offering nothing to chew on but word jerky. Based on the current outcry, a potential recall and their reelection hopes may be shattered, spelling the end of them and the endless piffle they blither.