Atlantic Beach Commission posts are nonpartisan and elected at-large, meaning all registered voters in the city can vote for candidates of all seats up for election, regardless of their district.
Three contested races are on the ballot in November: Mayor/City Commission Seat 1 and City Commission seats 4 and 5.,
Recommended Videos
City commissioners serve to four-year terms but the mayor is elected every two years.
News4Jax sent a questionnaire to each candidate asking about their background and their views on several issues. Scroll down to read the responses of those seeking your vote -- in their own words.
Note: Responses for each race are sorted alphabetically and are presented exactly as submitted, with no editing by News4Jax staff.
| MAYOR/CITY COMMISSION SEAT 1 CANDIDATES |
Brittany Norris
Party affiliation*: N/A (Nonpartisan race)
Occupation: Digital Director
Age: 34
Your family: (No response)
Education: (No response)
Political experience: (No response)
What do you see as the top three issues you’ll likely face while holding this office?
The top three issues are resiliency, connectivity, and transparency.
- Resiliency - Atlantic Beach is a wonderful city of neighborhoods, but we’re on a barrier island and as sea levels increase, we need to take every step possible to prepare. My goals include promoting sustainable development, prioritizing projects for stormwater management, and hardening our city infrastructure, along with supporting and increasing our tree canopy. Plus, I plan to advocate for this work in our city on the county and state levels to bring money home for our city.
- Connectivity - Residents of Atlantic Beach have the unique benefit of wonderful city parks, a lovely beachfront, and an amazing marshside for recreation. It’s on the city to get them there safely. We need to invest in more opportunities for biking and walking, calming streets, and connecting neighborhoods and businesses. This supports the quality of life our residents expect, supports healthy lifestyles, and lays the groundwork for a healthy local economy.
- Transparency - What happens at city hall should be news for everyone. From budgeting processes to equity and civility in city service and response. Our neighbors should be invited in on the decision-making processes that affect their day-to-day.
How can you help voters in a way that others running for this office cannot?
- I can hit the ground running. With a term under my belt already as a city commissioner, I understand the different challenges of neighborhoods in Atlantic Beach, I know city staff, the players downtown, and how to get stuff done. The mayoral term in Atlantic Beach is only two years and for folks who are new to the office, it can take that long to get in the loop, whereas, I’m ready to go.
What would you hope to be remembered for accomplishing after serving in this office?
- I hope to be remembered as a builder...someone who builds solutions for our neighborhoods, who builds coalitions for thriving community in our city, and builds a future for our residents and their children...one that we can be proud of and thrive in.
Campaign website: choosenorris.com
Campaign’s social media site(s): facebook.com/choosenorris
Sean Keane
Party affiliation*: Republican
Occupation: Retired US Military
Age: 51
Your family: Wife: Candy. Son: Keelan Dog: Tigger/Australian Shepard
Education: University of Florida BS Advertising.
Political experience: The World
What do you see as the top three issues you’ll likely face while holding this office?
* relaxing residential and commercial permitting.
* maintaining Atlantic Beach’s uniqueness.
* updating infrastructure for the long run.
How can you help voters in a way that others running for this office cannot?
- By bringing common sense leadership and 31 years of US Army Special Forces experience working at every level of government.
What would you hope to be remembered for accomplishing after serving in this office?
* setting the conditions of an improved infrastructure
* common sense approach to residential and commercial permitting
* improved parks and bike lanes/sidewalks
* Keeping Atlantic Beach the perfect beach town that it is
Campaign website: SeanforMayor.org
Campaign’s social media site(s): facebook.com/sean4mayor | instagram.com/sean4mayor
Curtis Randal Ford
Party affiliation*: NPA
Occupation: Retired
Age: 65
Your family: Wife Leah Ford, Sons Justin, Garrett & Christian Ford
Education: BSBA
Political experience: None
What do you see as the top three issues you’ll likely face while holding this office?
- Preserving, protecting and enhancing our quality of life
- Protecting our citizens
- Parking
How can you help voters in a way that others running for this office cannot?
- Mayor is no place for “On the Job Training”. My experience leading large, complex organizations will insure that I hit the ground running. I will provide good governance with fiscal responsibility and knowledge in budgeting.
What would you hope to be remembered for accomplishing after serving in this office?
- Mayor who listened and was proactive to the needs of the citizens of Atlantic Beach.
Campaign website: votecurtisford.com
Campaign’s social media site(s): (None listed)
| CITY COMMISSION SEAT 4 CANDIDATES |
Candace Kelly
Party affiliation*: NPA
Occupation: Retired Navy, retired educator
Age: 68
Your family: Daughter, grandson
Education: M.Ed UNF
Political experience: Commissioner 2017-2022
What do you see as the top three issues you’ll likely face while holding this office?
- Compliance with state mandate to eliminate discharge of treated wastewater into the waterways.
- Design of the new Lifeguard Station and Baker Center expansion.
- Continuing effort to recruit and retain City employees.
How can you help voters in a way that others running for this office cannot?
- Deep background on the plans and implementation of efforts to protect the City from the effects of sea level rise.
- Corporate knowledge of Environmental Stewardship Committee initiatives to protect our tree canopy, increase our LEEDs score, and complete a Marsh Baseline survey.
- Background knowledge of recent issues such as buying property, response to unfunded mandates from the state, parking solution discussions, 5G, COVID responses, waste contracts, etc.
What would you hope to be remembered for accomplishing after serving in this office?
- Collaborative efforts that agreed to implement Safe Streets policy, set financial management policy, created a Parks Master Plan, updated our Land Development codes, and practiced equitable spending allotments across the city.
- Focused on upgrades to parks and recreation facilities. Expanded programming at community centers and improved after school care.
- Protected private and City property by projects controlling flooding throughout to City and mitigating the effects of extreme weather conditions.
- Saved taxpayer money as the City applied for and received upwards of 5 million dollars in grants toward infrastructure and safety projects.
Campaign website: na
Campaign’s social media site(s): Kelly for Atlantic Beach
Jennifer Lagner
Party affiliation*: non partisan election
Occupation: Facilities Management
Age: 54
Your family: Spouse, Christopher Lagner, Mother Phyllis D. 2 rescue dogs Lucy and Gertie
Education: BS from University of Vermont, MHRM from UNF, MBA from UNF
Political experience: Member of COAB Parking & Pedestrian Safety Advisory Resource Committee (2017-2018) and COAB Community Development Board (2020-2022)
What do you see as the top three issues you’ll likely face while holding this office?
- Parking, continued focus on infrastructure and stormwater management, more focus on the budget
- How can you help voters in a way that others running for this office cannot?
- Everyone communicates in a different way. I am at times too direct, but I strive to listen and seek to understand what others are saying, often by asking a lot of questions. My true love for the city fuels my dedication to seeing this commitment through in an active capacity even during the tough conversations and representing all residents. The experience I bring lends itself to what this position needs including my financial acumen, digging for facts, people management, and creative problem solving.
What would you hope to be remembered for accomplishing after serving in this office?
- For being a strong leader, worked hard for the residents, timely resolution, reliable and had a track record of results.
Campaign website: jennlagnerforab.com
Campaign’s social media site(s): facebook.com/JennLagnerForAB
| CITY COMMISSION SEAT 5 CANDIDATES |
Kevin Nottingham
Party affiliation*: Non-partisan
Occupation: Teacher
Age: 41
Your family: Wife of almost 10 years, Megan and children Brysen (7), Rylen & Vander (4 year old twins)
Education: Graduated with Bachelor’s Degree from Jacksonville University, class of 2004
Political experience: Limited
What do you see as the top three issues you’ll likely face while holding this office?
- Foster public involvement in connecting the community on all issues
- Advocate for and protect our environment for us and future generations
- Ensure all individuals are heard
How can you help voters in a way that others running for this office cannot?
- I am very approachable and a great listener. I’ve been told I have never met a stranger, especially among neighbors. I was raised in a way that helped me understand the importance of human interaction, a handwritten note and a handshake go a long way. I also hope to instill these values in my children. I’ve learned the importance of getting involved in the community because we are all connected, which allows a small town community grow together. Being a teacher has taught me patience, that everyone deserves to be heard and that ideas come from the unlikeliest of places when you take the time to listen. While I do not have the experience of other candidates, the tools I’ve gathered during my journey will definitely guide me in the direction to continue to better our little slice of heaven.
What would you hope to be remembered for accomplishing after serving in this office?
- I hope to be the one everyone felt like they could come to to be heard. I want to make sure the community knows I am here for them, all of them, and for the environment. We have a lot to be grateful for and a lot worth protecting.
Campaign website: WhyNott.org
Campaign’s social media site: Facebook - Kevin Nottingham for Commissioner Seat 5
Jessica Ring
Party affiliation*: Republican (running for a nonpartisan office)
Occupation: Gifted Coordinator for Florida Virtual School
Age: 37
Your family: I was born and raised in Atlantic Beach and come from a long family legacy of Atlantic Beach residents. My grandparents first chose to settle down in Old Atlantic Beach in the 1950s. My parents, aunts and uncles grew up in Royal Palms throughout the sixties and seventies, attending middle and high school at the beaches. As a child, I walked through the nature trails, fished in this marsh, and learned to surf in the Atlantic Beach waves. Today, my husband and I are continuing that legacy raising our own children here in this beautiful beach town. We have three daughters, a dog, and two cats. My husband and I met on the first day of seventh grade at Landon Middle School and started dating in high school while attending Douglas Anderson. From school aged years to career development, and then into parenthood, our most treasured memories involve simple family time with our three girls here in Atlantic Beach. Be it bike rides, stops by Jack Russell Park, nature walks through Howell, and of course, beach visits at low tide when the girls can splash around in the tidal pools, our best memories are family ones in our beloved beach town. Our family attends church at Beaches Vineyard located in the Atlantic Theatre building and we love that we can get anywhere (church, school, stores, and restaurants) by walking, biking, or on a golf cart. It’s the beach life.
Education: Bachelor’s in Education from Rollins College; Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Government Leadership from University of North Florida
Political experience: I earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Government Leadership from University of North Florida in 2010. I have been serving as the Chairperson of the Atlantic Beach Mayor’s Council on Health and Well-Being this year. This ad hoc council that was formed to support the city’s vision for the future and the commission’s quality of life initiative. With the Atlantic Beach Mayor Ellen Glasser and ten other city council members, I have delved into topics that are crucial to our community: walkability in Atlantic Beach, senior programming, vulnerable populations, youth, mental health, diversity, and more. As a public educator, parent, and resident, I have invested a good deal into our community and would like to continue to do so as City Commissioner.
What do you see as the top three issues you’ll likely face while holding this office?
- Vulnerable populations and affordable housing: In the past five years, the average Atlantic Beach property value has gone up 12%, which is higher than the average increase for Jacksonville. The concerns of affordable housing and our vulnerable populations coupled with the rise of inflation basic living expenses (food security and gas prices) is one of the top issues I would like to focus on. How will the average family purchase a home in Atlantic Beach? How will seniors continue to afford a property tax increase with millage and the referendum that just passed (aging in place is a concern)? Lastly, we have longtime renters who are facing hikes in the rent because landlords are feeling the pressure of cost-of-living expenses and insurance hikes across our state.
- Stormwater management: Jacksonville Beaches are on a barrier island. With king tides, hurricanes and tropical storms, and newer and larger home construction, stormwater management is a critical issue. We need to invest in a strong stormwater management alongside renewal of our public water and works system that are outdated.
- City budget and fiscal responsibility: City needs to look carefully at the capital projects and costs going out to ensure that the necessity projects (infrastructure and especially stormwater management) are being funded.
How can you help voters in a way that others running for this office cannot?
First, it’s my heart and passion for public service. Twenty-one years ago, at the age of sixteen, a friend and I wrote a grant to organize a summer camp for underprivileged children off Caravan Road in Arlington. My friend was volunteering for a nonprofit who helped refugee families coming from war torn countries including the Middle East and Africa. Together we spent our summer writing the grant, planning, and then facilitating a beautiful summer camp experience for these children who you couldn’t begin to imagine what they had endured before their families made their way to America. This was an inspirational experience. As with most nonprofit work, naively I started out believing I would be the one to impact their life. On the contrary, it was me that would be the most impacted by the love and heartache these children so graciously shared with me during those summers. I owe it to them why I chose to become a teacher and then went back to school to get a Master’s in Public Administration and Government Leadership. When asked: why are you running for a political office and what is your agenda? I’m hard pressed to pull up this memory and the children who first gave me the passion for community and public service. I am not a politician. I am a mother, and I am a public educator who believes that it is through public service and sacrifice that we can make a difference in our community. I did this first as a teacher, then volunteering as Chair to the Atlantic Beach Mayor’s Council of Health and Well-Being, and now, I wish to continue this public service journey as City Commissioner; that is, if the people will have me.
Lastly, it’s my skill set that sets me apart: As a public educator and teacher lead, I have worked to incorporate strong lines of communication between school, families, and all stakeholders. Among my experience as a public educator for the past 16 years, I have worked as a gifted program coordinator in Duval Schools and now with Florida Virtual School District. My role in this position requires steadfast executive functioning and communication skills, the facilitation and writing of hundreds of educational plan meetings on a yearly basis, coordinating these meetings with multiple stakeholders (parents, teachers, school psychologists and ESE service providers), leading professional development for teachers and parents through informational sessions, as well as writing grants to fill the gaps in resources for our students and teachers.
What would you hope to be remembered for accomplishing after serving in this office?
- As one who gave back to this community and invested in the future. This is my goal as both a parent of three young girls and as a public educator. Not only do I care about the next four years of the City Commissioner term, but I care about the future of the community I will leave for my children and grandchildren to come. Investing in the future through an emphasis of our youth programing, and community engagement and partnership across Jacksonville Beaches and the city of Jacksonville. No matter how far this political journey takes me, I will always be a teacher at heart. A teacher who stepped into that career because she believed she could better this world through the youth and to give back to the community and our future.
Campaign website: ringju84.wixsite.com/jessicaringab
Campaign’s social media site(s): facebook.com/JessicaRingAB
* While Atlantic Beach elective offices are nonpartisan, candidates were asked their party affiliation in the questionnaire and we have chosen to provide their answers as another piece of information voters can use in making their selections.