State Representative Janet Adkins addresses Port Authority elections

Editor's Note: In a report sent to the Fernandina Observer on Florida State legislative actions, Representative Janet Adkins included a letter to the editor sent to the News Leader. The following is a portion of her letter reporting on recent activity before the Local Government Affairs Commission, HB 1201 involving the Nassau County Ocean Highway and Port Authority bill to allow partisan elections.

State Representative Janet Adkins

April 4, 2015 7:45 a.m.

"Wednesday morning I had another early bill presentation before the Local Government Affairs Committee. HB 1201 deals with the Nassau County Ocean Highway and Port Authority (OPHA). The bill allows for partisan elections of the OHPA board members.

Since the creation of its charter in 1941, the elections of OPHA board members have been partisan. It was not until just recently that the Supervisor of Elections learned that the charter needed to be amended to

allow the continuation of partisan elections in order to be compliant with state law. The OPHA board had passed a resolution requesting a local bill for this change and the Nassau Delegation approved the request this past January.

The OPHA board elections are often considered to be “down ticket” races on the ballot. They are located rather far down on the ballot and often voters have little information about who the candidates are. While there are some that believe that these races should be non-partisan, I believe that the party affiliation is helpful to voters in that it gives some additional information on the ballot about the candidates.

We had two individuals who travelled from Nassau County to speak on the bill. OPHA board member Robert Bruce spoke in support of the bill and Michael Harrison spoke against the bill. The bill passed with a vote of 10 yeas and 3 nays.

After the bill was heard, the three of us enjoyed a cup of coffee in my office."