Melissa Ross
The political newcomer challenging incumbent Maria Mark for an Atlantic Beach City Commission seat says he got into the race after an emotional debate over the 2014 passage of a comprehensive human rights ordinance in the coastal community.
Mark led that charge, but her opponent John Stinson on Wednesday called the ordinance “poorly written and poorly implemented.”
“During the HRO debate, I heard the comment that ‘some things are too important to let the voters decide,'” Stinson said during an appearance on WJCT’s First Coast Connect. “I was always taught that my vote was important, and it mattered.”
Stinson, a black-cowboy-hat-wearing businessman from Texas who relocated to Atlantic Beach four years ago, elaborated.
“I am not really in favor of the HRO as written. We don’t have a judicial system in place to handle these claims. Let me qualify that by saying I don’t support discrimination. But we could have written it more broadly to cover a whole host of people,” he said.
That prompted an immediate social media reaction from Mark, who posted a strong reply on First Coast Connect‘s Facebook page.
“That is WRONG!! the CM is not involved in the HRO process!! He does not even know what’s in it…he’s relied on mis-information!” she wrote.
Mark made her name on support for the HRO in Atlantic Beach, a measure the city of Jacksonville, controversially, has yet to adopt.
Stinson took a veiled swipe at Mark’s tenure when asked why he’d be a better choice for the seat:
“It’s a difference in philosophy. Once politicians assume office they take that as a mandate to pursue their agenda. If I’m elected, I’ll have 13,000 bosses telling me what direction to go. It’s not my agenda, it’s theirs.”
Stinson also expressed opposition to dredging the St. Johns River to accommodate bigger ships, and strong support for continued funding of the St. Johns River Ferry, which he rides regularly.
“How we lost a million dollars in funding in Tallahassee is beyond me. It’s a state highway. We have to work to preserve that ferry,” he said.
The primary election in Atlantic Beach has several races on the ballot and is set for Aug. 25. Because Atlantic Beach is the first community in Northeast Florida to pass an updated HRO covering LGBT residents, how voters respond to the Mark-Stinson matchup is something political observers of all stripes will be watching closely.
