JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – With the election less than two months away, campaigning for mayor of Jacksonville Beach is in full force.
Incumbent Charlie Latham said he wants to continue leading the city to a debt-free status. His opponent, engineer Cory Nichols, wants more transparency.
"We've got our pensions at 85 to 90 percent for police fire and general funds," Latham said. "We worked really hard with the state to get $30.2 million allocated to us for our drainage issues."
"I feel like everything should be available to the public, I think they should know what's going on," Nichols said. "I believe there's been a tendency to circumvent Sunshine Laws, not necessarily break them, but avoid using emails, avoid other documentations that could be available to the public through public-records requests."
Both candidates believe that downtown development is important and want more cornerstone businesses.
"I've heard some discussion recently about turnover," Latham said. "There's a lot of things we really can't control. One of the unfortunate byproducts of being successful in developing this into being a really nice destination is the people that own the properties and lease to businesses tend to raise their rates. There's ways to do that better, and we really need to take into account the impact on the residents and businesses when we're creating those plans and specifications."
Another issue in the campaign is parking.
Nichols is pushing for a parking garage to be built in the near future. Latham said a new lot with about 100 spaces is planned to open this fall near the Brix Taphouse on Second Street, adding that parking is only an issue during the peak seven months of the year.
Latham's campaign has raised more than $30,000 so far, and Nichols reported $62,000 in donations. Latham discounts the difference, noting that Nichols donated almost half of the money his campaign has collected.
Latham is proud that he has the endorsements of the elected officials he works with, including the mayors of Neptune and Atlantic Beach and Jacksonville City Councilman Bill Gulliford, who's District 13 includes Jacksonville Beach.
Nichols has his own endorsements, including one from the Jacksonville Beach Fire Department.