Editor's note: This forum was originally assigned to another Beach Gazette contributor, who was reassigned prior to publication after commenting publicly on the candidates in question. Beach Gazette’s Publisher covered the forum for this report based off the recording.
Four candidates vying for two seats on the Atlantic Beach City Commission answered questions on budget planning, tree loss, parking and government transparency Wednesday night, September 2, at a candidate forum hosted by Beaches Watch, a nonpartisan civic organization, at the Beaches Branch library. The forum was well-attended.
Mayor Curtis Ford, seeking a third 2-year term against challenger Dr. Nancy Staats, and Commissioner Seat 4 candidates Lisa Herrold and Jennifer Lagner fielded questions on Amendment 3's potential effect on city revenue, the future of citizen advisory committees, the city's mitigation fund for lost trees, chronic parking shortages and the long-debated redesign of the Mayport Road five-way intersection. The general election is Nov. 3.
Maria Mark, president of Beaches Watch, moderated the forum, which the organization said would be posted to its website and YouTube channel.
BUDGET AND AMENDMENT 3
Asked how the city would absorb lost revenue if the statewide Amendment 3 homestead tax proposal passes, Staats said Atlantic Beach is fiscally well positioned because homesteaded properties account for only about half of the city's ad valorem revenue, a lower share than many Florida cities. She said rising property values would largely offset the loss, leaving a net gap of roughly $500,000 to $600,000, and said she wanted more clarity on which departments would see staff reductions before taking a position, adding she would oppose cuts to public safety.
Ford said the city is already planning for the change and is targeting a roughly $500,000 budget reduction, just under the estimated first-year impact. He said the reductions would not touch public safety staffing and pointed to the elimination of an interim human resources director position as an example. Ford noted the city gained an estimated $630,000 in tax revenue this year from rising property values alone, which he said would offset any Amendment 3 impact in the near term. He said Atlantic Beach has held or reduced its millage rate in each of the past three years and has the lowest property tax rate in Duval County.
Lagner said the city's more than $56 million budget should be reviewed for efficiencies before any service cuts, citing staffing levels and benefits, including whether paid time off is competitive with other municipalities. Herrold agreed public safety and infrastructure spending should not be touched and credited the commission's planning for the city's current financial position.
CITIZEN COMMITTEES
Panelists were asked what criteria should govern which issues go before voters that affect policy, and about the commission's rejection of a Charter Review Committee recommendation on the qualifications and size of citizen boards.
Herrold said she was disappointed when the Environmental Stewardship Committee, or ESC, was reduced in size this year, arguing its scope, covering trees, marshes, beaches and construction materials, warranted more members, not fewer. She said she would support more commissioner involvement in the board review process and would like to broaden the applicant pool for citizen boards.
Lagner said Atlantic Beach residents are engaged and called for clearer public information about board vacancies and time commitments. She said she disagreed with the commission's decision not to send the Charter Review Committee's recommendation directly to voters.
Ford, who chairs the city's board member review committee, said the process relies heavily on the input of the sitting board chair for each vacancy and said appointments are not politically motivated, citing his appointment of Staats, his election opponent, to the Community Development Board. He said residents interested in serving should volunteer or ask a commissioner for a nomination.
Staats disputed the characterization that citizen engagement faces no obstacles, saying the ESC had unfilled seats for extended periods, in one case nearly two years, before the commission required the committee to reduce its membership from 11 to nine seats. She said the board review committee lacks a formal meeting schedule and said leadership of the committee, which she said Ford has chaired since taking office, should rotate.
GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY
Asked to assess the city's transparency, Lagner said communication has improved over time but said the city website is difficult to navigate and said individual commissioners, not just the commission as a body, should hold their own town halls.
Herrold and Staats both pointed to the departure of former City Manager Bill Killingsworth as an example of a communication breakdown, noting a special meeting was called on one day's notice, which Staats said met the legal minimum under Florida's Sunshine Law but left residents without adequate information. Herrold said she also had concerns about the process that led to the appointment of Kevin Hogencamp as city manager, saying commissioners had been told a search firm process would be followed before the appointment was made without one.
Ford defended his handling of Killingsworth's departure, saying Florida's Sunshine Law prevented commissioners from discussing the matter outside a noticed meeting and that Killingsworth had asked that the circumstances of his resignation remain private. Ford said three other commissioners joined him in voting to accept the resignation. He said the city ultimately did not use a search firm to hire a new city manager because he believed, after working with the internal candidate for five months, that hiring him directly was in the city's financial interest.
Staats also called for the city to complete a long-pending interlocal service agreement with the city of Jacksonville, saying Atlantic Beach pays about $750,000 annually for fire service while Neptune Beach pays nothing, and said the city is paying an outside consultant from South Florida to help negotiate terms she believes could be resolved directly between the two mayors.
TREE CANOPY AND MITIGATION FUNDS
All four candidates said the city's tree mitigation fund, which has grown to roughly $600,000 to $660,000 from fees paid when trees are removed, should be used to plant replacement trees on both public and private property. Herrold said the city lost 74 inches of tree diameter in 2025 and supports allowing residents to request new trees for their yards through an existing giveaway program.
Ford, who said he authored the city's recently passed tree ordinance protecting trees 20 inches in diameter and larger, said the city plans to spend an estimated $450,000 to $500,000 of the fund this year and is exploring planting in front yards and using larger nursery stock to establish canopy faster.
Staats recalled data presented to the commission in August showing the city lost 12,690 inches of tree diameter in 2025 while planting only 2,000 inches, and said young saplings have roughly a 50 percent survival rate and take decades to replace mature canopy.
PARKING
Staats, the first in line to address the parking question, focused on parking in the Beaches Town Center for her two minutes, but then was informed by Marks the question focused on residential parking. Marks gave an additional minute for Staats to address the original question, but Ford raised the fairness of one candidate having an additional minute to answer the question. Marks allowed all candidate to speak for three minutes.
Ford was hemmed in when after concluding his parking answer, continued to discuss another priority. At that time, he was cut off by the moderator informing him that the three minutes was only given to discuss parking policy. He then used his remaining time to discuss parking.
Addressing the question, candidates described residential and commercial parking as a persistent problem. Staats proposed a parking structure near the Kmart Plaza that could serve visitors and restaurant employees, freeing residential spaces for residents, though she acknowledged retention and construction requirements complicate the idea.
On residential parking specifically, Ford pointed to a new pilot program allowing residents to install turf-block parking pads adjacent to their homes, split 50-50 between the resident and the city.
Herrold said she supports property owners' right to park vehicles, boats or recreational vehicles on their own property, including in yards, when on-street parking is not legally available. Lagner, who served on an earlier parking committee a decade ago, called for stricter enforcement of existing parking rules and said the city should collect fines rather than waive them.
On Beaches Town Center parking, all four candidates described the current paid parking system as confusing, especially in light that Atlantic Beach resident can park for free, but only within the city. The Beaches Town Center is positioned at the end of Atlantic Blvd. with Atlantic Beach on the north side of the road and Neptune Beach on the south. Residents can park for free in the parking spots their respective cities.
Lagner and Herrold both said they avoid parking there because of the complexity of the system. Staats reiterated her support for a parking structure, and Ford said the city has discussed potential sites, including underused private property, with Neptune Beach officials but has no immediate solution.
MAYPORT ROAD AND THE FIVE-WAY STOP
Staats and Ford both supported the Florida Department of Transportation's "road diet" project narrowing Mayport Road from three lanes to two between Atlantic Boulevard and Dutton Island Road, adding a bicycle lane and an 8-foot sidewalk. Ford said the project, expected to finish in fall 2027, will also reduce the speed limit to 30 mph near Atlantic Boulevard. Lagner raised concern that slower traffic on Mayport Road could push drivers onto parallel residential streets such as Main Street.
On the long-discussed redesign of Atlantic Beach's five-way stop, Ford said the city has secured $630,000 from the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization for a design study of a double-roundabout, or "peanut," configuration, plus an additional $3 million for construction, all funded outside the city's general fund. Staats said she wants to see safety data, particularly involving pedestrians and cyclists near Atlantic Beach Elementary School, before supporting the design, and questioned how a free-flowing roundabout would accommodate school-zone foot traffic. Herrold said she has mixed feelings, noting a design without stop signs could increase traffic volume on residential streets such as Seminole Road, where she lives. Lagner said she supports continued study of the concept, noting it is not funded by city tax dollars.
CLOSING STATEMENTS
In closing remarks, Lagner cited her three decades of human resources and operations experience and her service on the city's original parking committee and Charter Review Committee. Herrold emphasized her 50 years as an Atlantic Beach resident and said she would make service to the city a full-time commitment. Staats said she has not accepted campaign contributions from developers, realty companies, political action committees or special interest groups, and called for protecting the city's tree canopy, public schools and public safety. Ford closed by outlining a proposal to begin financing an overhaul of the city's stormwater infrastructure, which he said is largely 70 years old and was designed for a smaller population.
