In the 2024 general election, voters in Atlantic Beach will face choices on six referendums, each proposing changes to the city’s charter.

City Manager John Regan has announced his retirement -- effective Friday, June 2, 2023 -- after 25 years serving the city of St. Augustine.

In addition to the Alachua County ballot questions on the November ballot, Gainesville residents will also be asked to vote yes or no on the following city charter amendment:

Charles Albert sat on the City Commission for eighteen years and served as Mayor in 1978. NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – The Honorable Charles L. Albert, Fernandina’s first and only African American mayor, passed away on Sunday. Mr. Albert sat on the City Commission for 18 years and served as mayor in 1978. “This will provide an opportunity for Mayor Albert to be formerly honored and remembered at the Feb. 2 City Commission meeting,” the City of Fernandina Beach said. The City of Fernandina Beach Government listed these ten fun facts about Mr. Albert in 2018:

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – One after another, residents frustrated over flooding in St. Augustine gave members of the City Commission an earful Monday night. “My home flooded during Matthew, Irma, Dorian, a nor’easter and now heavy rain,” Vidal said. Heavy rains submerge car lot in St. AugustineAs committee members listened to the issues virtually, St. Augustine’s Public Works department responded, saying that it has been working on the problem long before this recent flooding. That includes design and construction dollars dedicated toward flood and mitigation,” said Reuben Franklin, director of Public Works. The latest project in the works is designing a 7-foot bulkhead with a pumping station on the south end of Lake Maria Sanchez.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Six weeks after St. Augustine’s City Commission voted to move the 148-year-old Confederate monument from the Plaza de la Constitucion in downtown St. Augustine, City Manager Reagan has reviewed proposals for where to relocate it and is recommending a site at Trout Creek Fish Camp on State Road 13 being offered the property’s owner, Randy Ringhaver. A request to move the monument to the National Cemetery adjacent to the National Guard Headquarters was denied by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. The city executed a $230,000 contract with New York-based Progressive Construction to move the memorial either to the city Public Works compound where it would be temporarily stored or to a final location. Mobilization and relocation of the Confederate memorial is expected to be completed within three to four weeks. Another Confederate memorial in downtown St. Augustine -- a bust of Gen. William Loring -- is owned by the state of Florida and is managed by the University of Florida.

ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. – Masks will now be mandatory in St. Augustine Beach. Just days after opting to strongly recommend people use face coverings rather than mandate them within the St. Augustine Beach city limits, the City Commission instead passed a mask mandate during Monday night’s regular commission meeting. The vote was 3-2 with Commissioner Dylan Rumrell and Commissioner Maggie Kostka again declining to approve the resolution mandating face masks. A simple majority of 3-2 was enough during Monday night’s regular meeting, however, meaning anyone in St. Augustine Beach will now be required to wear a face mask indoors or face a fine. “I’m 66 and my husband is 67, and I don’t want to come down with it.”The news was still trickling out to business owners and residents in St. Augustine Beach on Tuesday.

In response to the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in Florida and in St. Johns County, City Manager John Regan prepared the resolution and requested the emergency City Commission meeting Friday morning. READ: Resolution by St. Augustine city manager and city attorneyRegan told the commission that several businesses have been forced to close because of the coronavirus and have asked the city to require masks and that more than 80% of 336 emails the city received supported the face-covering requirement. Matt Stevens, general manager of the St. Augustine Distillery, said every member of his staff wears a mask and they have handed them out to visitors all along. If you’re older or for sick people -- it’s more important for sick people,” said Cheyenne, who was visiting St. Augustine from Franklin, Georgia. Read Lauren Verno’s Trust Index story to learn what’s real and what’s not about the benefits of wearing face masks.

In response to the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in Florida and in St. Johns County, City Manager John Regan prepared the ordinance and requested the City Commission meeting, which began at 9:30 a.m. Friday. The ordinanceAt the county level, St. Johns County commissioners on Wednesday urged local businesses to mandate masks through new a program called Pledge St. Johns County. Commissioners do not currently have plans to mandate masks themselves. In most public places, people wearing masks seems to be split. At a news conference Wednesday, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said he has no plans to mandate masks, but he did repeatedly ask people to wear them.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. A controversial Confederate monument in a St. Augustine plaza that sparked protests could be on the move -- depending on a vote anticipated Monday by the City Commission. The monuments fate now rests in the hands of the St. Augustine City Commission, which will discuss the removal of the monument at Mondays meeting. Clearly, the actions taken in Jacksonville have had a significant ripple effect down to St. Augustine, Upchurch said. I cannot conceive that the commission would ever vote to, quote, unquote, destroy the monument, Upchurch said. The meeting will be streamed from the City of St. Augustine website: Click here.

The annual Nights of Lights holiday celebration in St. Augustine will last even longer this year. The wildly popular annual holiday lighting program, which begins each year the Saturday before Thanksgiving -- will now last through Feb. 2. The City Commission voted unanimously to extend Nights of Lights an extra weekend. The Nights of Lights begins on Saturday, Nov. 23 with a ceremony in the Plaza de la Constitucin deemed Light-Up! For more information, including the best way to enjoy the Nights of Lights festivities, go to www.CityStAug.com/LightUpNight.

ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. – The city of St. Augustine Beach is seeking applicants for a vacant city commissioner position after the resignation of Commissioner Rich O'Brien. In a news release Wednesday, representatives said the city of St Augustine Beach is grateful for O'Brien's years of dedicated service. The city is seeking residents interested in serving on the City Commission to fill the vacancy. Citizens interested in serving are invited to send a letter of interest and resume to the city manager at mroyle@cityofsab.org or by mail at City Manager, 2200 A1A South, St. Augustine Beach, FL 32080. For more information, visit www.staugbch.com, The City of St. Augustine Beach Facebook page, and sign up for the monthly e-newsletter by texting CITYOFSAB to 22828.