Races to be decided on the Nov. 2 ballot
St. Augustine Mayor
St. Augustine's mayoral seat -- a two-year post on the St. Augustine City Commission -- is on the Nov. 2 ballot. In the race are incumbent mayor Joe Boles and challenger Don Heine, a retired land use planner.
Boles is seeking his third two-year term as mayor -- Seat 3 on the City Commission. He has been a resident of St. Augustine since 1967 and is an attorney. While in high school, he got his first taste of heritage tourism by working as an interpreter for the then-Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board in what is today's Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum.
Elected to the City Commission in 2004, Boles is the city's cheerleader when it comes to heritage tourism, the upcoming 450th anniversary celebration, 2013-2015, now spun off into a private group, First America Foundation, and the continued improvement of the Spanish Quarter, the city's living history museum. He supports the proposed joint Visitor Orientation Center for the city and the Castillo de San Marcos and wants a joint ticket arrangement to get Castillo visitors across the street to the Spanish Quarter. He envisions, too, a 16th century village being created on a city parking lot on Cordova Street.
He says the city needs more revenue generators noting the new mooring fields in the Matanzas Bay and Salt Run are key to managing transient dockings and the city's related services. Another projected money maker, Boles said, would be creation of an exhibition hall in the city's Visitor Information Center.
But he has not ignored the modern necessities of the city saying it needs utility upgrades, street repairs and improved water quality. He continues to seek ways to create a full service shelter for the homeless and to reduce, as much as the city can, downtown panhandling.
Heine has lived in St. Augustine almost six years and is a retired land use planner. At one time, he worked for an outside firm doing land planning work in the city. He believes the city has not used its money wisely in recent years and cites unnecessary city-funded projects including a skate park, the mooring fields, and funding of the 450th birthday (now under a private foundation).
Heine supports the development of business corridors throughout the city not just downtown to create diverse commercial opportunities. He said the city needs more involvement from religious leaders community wide to get their members better connected to the city and its issues.
Considering Boles's passion for the city's history and his knowledge of and years of involvement in city, government and community affairs, we support his reelection as mayor.
St. Augustine City Commission, Seat 4
The race for this four-year open seat is between Bill Leary, a retired federal agency manger and former member of the city's Planning and Zoning Board, and Michael Gold, editor of Historic City News, a daily online news journal. Gold declined an invitation to interview with The Record.
Leary, a resident since 2005, offers an impressive background of government experience -- writing legislation for the Florida House of Representatives and later working for the U.S. Senate, the Department of Interior and as director of Natural Resources for the White House Council on Environmental Quality. He is a consultant nationally on water quality and the environment. Leary has already served our city well acting as a liaison between the city and Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar with regard to the appointment of the federal 450th Commemoration Commission.
While on the planning and zoning board, Leary took on a project that involved interviewing people throughout the city regarding present issues and future needs. He found that by listening to people, he learned not only the perspective of residents but also their perception of government's response to the city's needs. He said that project, which he also detailed in columns on The Record's opinion page, helped him better understand the community and led him to run for the commission.
We believe Bill Leary is the best candidate for City Commission Seat 4.
Comments (3)
Michael Gold new
Wonder why he wouldn't interview?
Isn't he the one who's got the online "news service" paid for by the Issues Group (the powerful developers and politicos of the county)?
Don't forget... new
The infamous racist/homophobic Plazabum website that has been cleaned up since Mr. Gold announced his candidacy. I guess once he has lost the election, he'll go back to showing his true self. He chastised candidates for not answering his questions on his news service website so why can't he answer questions from a legitimate news source?
The Scene Is Set! new
"We believe Bill Leary is the best candidate for City Commission Seat 4."