Joey Ledet has only been in town six weeks, but his influence is already being felt.

Colson Hillier, Amelia River Golf Club’s director of marketing, invited me to join him and Joey at the Surf for lunch Wednesday for a friendly chat and I learned a couple of things very quickly: 1- Mr. Ledet certainly knows the restaurant business and; 2- his enthusiasm is contagious.

The 46-year-old New Orleans native was hired by Wes Sheffield as director of operations for The Amelia Island Hospitality Group (AIHG includes The Palace, Surf, Hammerhead, Dog Star, Sheffield’s, Amelia River Golf Club, etc.) in mid-May and based on my brief meeting with him, we’re going to see a lot of positive and fun activity within that organization.

Walking into the Surf at 1 pm, the first thing I noticed was a two-deep crowd surrounding the deck-top tiki bar manned by former Sandy Bottoms day-time outside bartender Artie Steinig, who was hired by Joey last week, and who hosts his traditional Breakfast Club crowd from 9 am to 5 pm every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Mr. Ledet, who has been in the hospitality business his entire working life including stints at such prestigious establishments as New Orleans’ Antoine’s, the circa 1840 restaurant renowned for its French-Creole food and impeccable service, is introducing a refreshing new look to the Fletcher Avenue Surf that included some very tasty crab-based items that he, Colson and I sampled Wednesday such as: Crab Imperial, Crab Au Gratin and a Crab Fluff, that I’m betting with become a Surf trademark item. There’s no need to explain these items folks, just go order them and enjoy. They are chock-a-block full of crab meat and the tiny hush puppies, just-right coleslaw and fries perfectly compliment the new trio. They’re not on the menu yet so ask your Surf server.

Joey also said that he plans to update the decor at the Surf with new tables as well as exploring additional new items for the menu.

While I couldn’t get him to confirm it, I’ve heard rumors about the opening once again of the BBQ restaurant behind the Fletcher Avenue and Sadler Road Hammerhead with plans for seafood as well as pit BBQ. He did say, however that this coming July 4, folks at the Hammerhead will be treated to free hot dogs.

If you have an opportunity to meet Mr. Ledet, you’ll be treated to a personable, talented individual bubbling over with enthusiasm for his new job and Amelia Island, and you’ll walk away energized and feeling good about where you live. He’s a one-man chamber of commerce and good will ambassador that both AIHG and the island are lucky to have among us.

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Speaking Of Being Energized: Did you know that the cost of each empty store front in downtown Fernandina Beach is $400,100? I didn’t either until I saw a presentation by the city’s Community Development Department Director Adrienne Burke at the Tuesday morning meeting this past week of the Historic Fernandina Business Association (HFBA). The $400,100 includes lost sales, profits, payroll, bank deposits, taxes, and more and was a factor that spurred HFBA to pass a motion to support the Main Street USA Program with a $3,000 pledge on top of the City Commission’s unanimous resolution to pledge $40,000 over three years to help fill up downtown’s remaining empty storefronts.

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Things I Wish I Had Said: “There are three types of baseball players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happened.” — Tommy Lasorda

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Full Disclosure: A couple of readers of this blog have made it clear in written comments posted here while others have verbally told me they think my recent criticism of Fernandina Commissioner Johnny Miller is too harsh while others say it’s not harsh enough, but both sides say that the remarks contradict my previous support of both his political and bartending skills. As a matter of full disclosure, I worked with Johnny to help get him elected and aided in the construction of his pro-business platform. I have always admired his bartending skills and still consider him one of the best, most creative, and personable barkeeps on the island. However, during his successful 2013 campaign for the commission Johnny ran a very strong pro-business campaign and confirmed that position to me, in his literature and in public forums. In an October 2013 press release he declared: “I have heard from both concerned citizens and business people that the city is not addressing a variety of bureaucratic issues that are necessary to help the current business community grow, as well as attract new enterprises and residents. For example, I can’t count how many times I’ve heard from both business people and residents how inequitable, harmful and confusing the current method of collecting impact fees is to current and prospective businesses.” His campaign promises included a strongly worded statement promising the local business community his full support saying: “The business community doesn’t end with the downtown historic area. It extends down both 14^th and 8^th Streets and along Sadler and Fletcher, among other areas. It is the job of the commission to take a more proactive leadership role to aid all Fernandina’s businesses by encouraging a more coherent and efficient regulatory and permitting environment. We must never forget that employees, whether they work at Rayonier, RockTenn, the Ritz Carlton, the Omni Resorts or the city’s many smaller businesses, all have a vested interest in this community and want to see it run efficiently and prosperously.” WOW! I think that’s very clear. There’s more, but it is obvious that Johnny has abandoned the  local business community, donned a Chicken Little costume and is running up and down Centre Street warning folks that the sky is falling; the ocean is doomed; the climate is warming; plastic bags, seismic testing, big oil and the local mills are out to kill us, etc. He is using his commission seat as a platform to promote a  variety of his left-wing, feel-good causes ranging from banning plastic bags and seismic testing, non-existent puppy mills, and horse poop, and to promote dogs dining on restaurant patios, backyard chickens, and more. His disdain for the business community was very apparent when his was the only vote to promote a measure which would have restricted the RockTenn and Rayonier mill’s processes and their economic viability, two significant companies that provide an enormous tax base, employ hundreds of locals, contribute generously to local causes and provide collateral jobs. His poorly thought out plan to hold a press conference in front of CSX Railroad’s Jacksonville HQ didn’t sit well with those folks who now say Fernandina is one of that firm’s least favorite places to do business. All of this not only contradicts the promises he made during his campaign, but he appears to have turned anti-business with a vengeance. As the mill folks at the commission meeting said following Commissioner Miller’s anti-mill vote last week, “We won’t forget this Johnny.” In fact I think “Don’t Forget!” might make a good campaign slogan for Mr. Miller’s opponent in the next campaign if the “Chicken Little” commissioner decides to run again.

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The Get A Room Department: It has been reported that at a June 8 meeting the Nassau County Commission approved Sheriff Bill Leeper’s request to raise the daily rate to house federal detainees at the Nassau County detention center to $72 from $40.10. The higher rate allows for a new agreement with the U.S. Marshal Service says the online Mary Maguire edited newspaper ncflIndependent.com. Apparently the sheriff stopped housing federal prisoners several years ago because the rates were not sufficient to cover costs, and now the higher per diem makes the agreement beneficial to the county. However, in a competitive world and in a era of public-private partnership I went online and found two motels on Highway 17 in Yulee near the county’s detention center located close to the courthouse in Yulee off William Burgess Blvd., that provide lodging for $45 and $55 per night respectively. Toss in a couple of McDonald’s Happy Meals each day and these two outfits would be more than competitive. Just put the locks on the other side of the doors.

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Woods In The Weeds: Some 153 golfers competing in the U.S. Open in University Place, Washington last weekend, including many who didn’t make the cut, have something they can proudly boast about to their grandchildren even if they never play another competitive round, and that is they beat Tiger Woods. Woods shot the worst two rounds of his career and finished tied for 154th out of a 156-man field, and was sent packing after missing the cut. Duffers take notice as during his two days of shooting 80 and 76 respectively, he lost a club and topped a ball. His chances of tying Jack Nicklaus for 18 major tournament wins are beginning to look more and more remote.

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Things I Don’t Get: Call me an old fuddy-duddy but I don’t get tattoos. I know a number of very pleasant and very intelligent local folks who have them and are planning on adding more, including some very attractive women and a few men who appear to me to have run out of space for additional ink. Unlike most fads, which usually come and go, tattoos just keep coming, and I have never understood why people would put pictures on their skin they’d never consider hanging on the walls of their homes. And what possesses black men to adorn their arms and bodies with tattoos that on dark skin look like something that didn’t wash off in the shower? Just asking.

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More Things I Don’t Get: Apparently some restaurants seem to think that its diners want to watch the activity taking place in the kitchen, at least that was the case at a number of eateries when we lived in Atlanta, Houston, and other large cities. I can stay home and watch that as well as listen to pots and pans clanging, cooks hollering, and leave the kitchen smelling like the stuff that was cooking there. In fact a couple of up-scale very expensive restaurants in Atlanta even offer — for a special price — its guests a table right smack in the restaurant’s kitchen. I go out to get away from that. Other restaurants must think their patrons left the house so they could come to their place and cook and even supply them with gas grills on their table and a pile of raw meat and vegetables. You are supposed to pay these people to allow you to cook your meal in their restaurant? What the heck’s up with that? Banker David Hannum in his criticism of P.T. Barnum was right when he said: “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

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Cost Of Government: Liberals are constantly telling us that they’re the ones providing safety nets for the neediest and most vulnerable Americans; what they neglect to mention, however, is that it’s their economic programs and regulations that necessitate all those nets in the first place. For example, federal regulation and intervention cost American consumers and businesses an estimated $1.88 trillion in 2014 in lost economic productivity and higher prices, according to “Ten Thousand Commandments,” by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. If U.S. federal regulation was a country, it would be the world’s 10th largest economy, ranking behind Russia and ahead of India say the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. The best places for economic opportunity for minorities are, “neither the most liberal in their attitudes nor had the most generous welfare programs,” according to NewGeography.com. “Instead they were located primarily in regions that have experienced broad-based economic growth, have low housing costs, and limited regulation.” For African-Americans, 13 of the top 15 cities, including No. 1, Atlanta, were in the South.

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Energy fact: The Bakken shale oil formation in North Dakota (named after the farmer who owned the land where it was initially discovered) has grown so fast that the state now produces more oil than OPEC member Ecuador says EnergyandCapital.com.

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Sun Setting On The UK: The Britain that once boasted that the sun never set on its empire, is rapidly shrinking from the international scene as a viable world power. The Washington Post reported recently that after a 300-year-run as a world power, the British army is expected to shrink from its current 80,000 men to 50,000, the same size as the New York Police Department and its navy that once ruled the waves, operates today without a single aircraft carrier. For this once strong ally and bastion of freedom to shrink into international irrelevance is not good for America or the rest of the world.