Former St. Johns County commissioner Miner considering run for Congress
Posted: May 21, 2015 - 2:51pm
Posted: May 21, 2015 - 2:51pm
Mark Miner, a former chairman of the St. Johns County Commission and an Iraq veteran, speaks during The St. Johns Veterans Council's meeting at the Elks Lodge in St. Augustine in April. DARON.DEAN@STAUGUSTINE.COM
DARON.DEAN@STAUGUSTINE.COM
Mark Miner, a former chairman of the St. Johns County Commission and an Iraq veteran, speaks during The St. Johns Veterans Council's meeting at the Elks Lodge in St. Augustine in April.
By THE RECORD
Former County Commissioner Mark Miner plans to decide within a couple of months whether to run for U.S. Congress. He would seek the seat Rep. Ron DeSantis is giving up to run for U.S. Senate.
For Miner, the decision depends in part on whether another candidate comes forward with the right qualifications, he said.
“If the right person surfaces, I’d be happy to support them,” he said. “If not, we’ll see how things play out.”
The right person would be someone with roots in the district, not someone who transplants just to run, and someone who has a demonstrated interested in serving the community, he said.
When Miner was first asked a few weeks ago about running, he was not interested, he said. Conversations with friends and family changed his mind.
Miner, 32, moved to St. Johns County with his family about 15 years ago and began attending Bartram Trail High School. He served on the County Commission from 2008 to 2012, a time of heavy budget reductions because of the recession.
After that, he went to flight school for the U.S. Army, he said.
Miner is a Florida Army National Guard helicopter pilot, and he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He works as a financial adviser.
If he runs, he will bring to the table the perspective of a veteran and an understanding of government as well as the private sector, he said.
“I think being a veteran is obviously important,” Miner said. “We’ve got a lot of issues with the veterans organization.”
Some of his top priorities are addressing national security issues, including border security and foreign policy, as well as addressing national debt and spending.
“I think our fiscal house is in disarray as a nation,” he said.
He and his wife, Cheryl, have two sons. They live in St. Johns County.
Miner backed local laws protecting children, including an ordinance prohibiting sexual offenders and predators from giving out candy on Halloween.
Miner is part of several local organizations, including the American Legion Post 194, the St. Augustine Rotary Club and the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, according to a news release. He is also vice president of the board at Home Again St. Johns, which is seeking to bring a more than 100-unit homeless services facility to St. Johns County.
Miner has served on the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Florida Institute of Technology.
Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford, who will be leaving the post soon because a new sheriff has been elected, recently announced he plans to seek DeSantis’ seat.
Share on emailShare on twitter
Follow This Article
5
Your rating: None Average: 5 (1 vote)
Comments (3) Add comment
ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Posts and comments do not reflect the views of this site. Posts and comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.
sonshine kid
MORE
41
POINTS
sonshine kid 05/21/15 - 05:24 pm 41Miner for Congress
Run, Mark, run!!!!
The Muse
MORE
1172
POINTS
The Muse 05/21/15 - 06:46 pm 41Yes!
FANTASTIC news! A superior man for the job!!!!!
seminolesam
MORE
667
POINTS
seminolesam 05/22/15 - 10:03 am 20So when do we get started?
I agree with posters above.....Mark is an ideal candidate....one who truly understands the 'serve' part of public service! We watched him closely as a young commissioner--respectful, thoughtful, willing to help all of his constituents.
No comments:
Post a Comment