City Advisory Boards Reorganization Pitched

The city of Fernandina Beach may soon reduce and reorganize its advisory boards in an effort to cut costs, streamline staff work, and eliminate redundant efforts.

City Commissioner Genece Minshew proposed the reorganization at the end of Tuesday’s city commission meeting. The commission supported the idea “in principle” and directed city staff to review her plan.

 

Minshew’s proposal would eliminate about 30 board meetings annually. The city currently has 13 active advisory boards, and under the plan, some would be consolidated while others would be eliminated altogether.

 

For example, the Airport Advisory Board could be disbanded entirely, and the Golf Course Advisory Board could merge into the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. Additionally, Minshew suggested creating a new Waterfront Advisory Board to replace the Marina Advisory Board and the Community Redevelopment Advisory Agency Board, which she said have overlapping responsibilities.

 

“We have multiple boards stepping on each other down at the waterfront,” Minshew said. “This gives us the opportunity to have one board that would do that.”

Her plan also proposes transferring the responsibilities of the Board of Adjustment — currently tasked with adjudicating variances to the city’s building code — to the Planning Advisory Board. The Code Enforcement Board would also be eliminated, with a magistrate assigned to handle cases instead.

 

The proposed changes could save the city between $20,000 and $25,000 annually, primarily by reducing expenditures on an outside company that records board meetings.

 

“We could take those savings and probably fund a lifeguard at the beach,” Minshew said.

 

Vice Mayor Darron Ayscue voiced strong support for the initiative, stating, “I absolutely love this idea. I've asked staff many times, this is an inefficient way of doing our boards.”

 

However, the plan was not included on the commission’s published agenda, and chairs of the affected boards were not in attendance to comment. The next step is for city staff to review the Minshew plan and return to the commission with recommendations on restructuring the advisory boards.