Yet another Neptune Beach resident is speaking up

"My letter to the editor of the Beaches Leader. Let’s see of they publish it. This is in reply to Josh’s self-aggrandizing letter.

Did you know what Josh Messinger has really done for Neptune Beach in his 4-year term?

City Councilman Josh Messinger has been involved in budget overages and missed timelines in Neptune Beach since his term began in 2018. In his letter written on October 6, 2022, he took credit for all the wonderful things he THINKS he has accomplished since his term began. He neglected to tell you a few things...

Did you know? … Even though Josh stated the estimated cost to fix our infrastructure would be close to $100 MILLION over the next 40 years, the City has scarcely mentioned the word infrastructure in the last 4 years. In fact, the first Transportation and Infrastructure planning committee meeting took place on August 26, 2022. Since Josh Messinger is running for office, he wants citizens to think he now cares about addressing this critical problem.

Did you know?... Josh Messinger voted YES to spending $432,000+ of UNBUDGETED money on the Dover Kohl Vision Plan. What's even more unbelievable is that $60,000 of the cost for Dover Kohl came from the stormwater budget, and another $100,000 came from the water and sewer budget. The City Council took from the Infrastructure budget - our most critical issue if we are to be sustainable as a city. Councilman Wiley and Mayor Brown voted no to the Dover Kohl expense stating the City is rushing into something that new City staff has not had a chance to evaluate and advise Council on, in addition to lack of funding.

Did you know? ... Jarboe Park was Josh Messinger's project. Phase 1 of the park cost $1,340,751.28, and he failed to deliver on so many levels. Families feel the children's playground equipment is inappropriate and inadequately shaded, and there are no benches for the parents to sit on while their children play. There are 8 Pickleball courts - approved in backdoor meetings - that residents must reserve well in advance as instructors and leagues from all over Jacksonville fill up the courts. The Jarboe bathrooms are inadequately maintained. Neptune House at Jarboe Park is supposed to be an event space, but guess what? It has no kitchen. How do you rent an event space with no kitchen? Has anyone even been able to rent this space? We are over budget on the Jarboe Park project, and Neptune Beach residents put the park as the #10 priority on a list of 20 projects proposed during the planning process.

Did you know?... our proposed Senior Center has no budget allotted? This modular building and the $285,000 porch are over budget and well past the original timeline for completion. This center has received donations from NB citizens and the Eckstein Foundation, but our City has allocated taxpayer dollars to complete this project, costing almost $1,000,000. An entire multi-story office building on 3rd street was built in 8 months, and the Senior Center has been a work in progress for over a year and a half.

Did you know?... as NB residents, we have asked for limited FREE parking since the poorly planned paid parking program began? Atlantic Beach residents received FREE parking when the program started, but NB residents had to wait until an election cycle for this to happen. Interesting timing…

Did you know?... Short-term rentals less than 28-days - Neptune Beach policy - are not a runaway problem in NB? There are 33 total short term rentals out of 3,500 homes with less than 5 that are non-compliant. Josh wants to spend more dollars on software to address this and it is relatively easy to solve. Why are we just now addressing non-compliant short term rentals? Why wasn’t this outlined in our $432K "Vision Plan” or outlined as an issue? Why is it after 4 years in office, we only have a policy for short term rentals but no regulations for non-compliance?

Did you know?… Josh Messinger and his partner are building a house on a 40’ lot purchased from a local developer who was able to split his 80’ lot into two 40’ lots. Josh Messinger’s partner was on the Community Development Board when it was voted to allow the lot split, and later when Josh joined the City Council, he voted on a moratorium to stop others from building on 40’ lots. Coincidentally, Josh’s partner works for this local developer who held his mortgage until recently. Hmmm...

Did you know?... Josh Messinger told me he isn't paid enough to reply to our emails. I learned these facts while attending City Council Meetings & doing research into the inner workings of Neptune Beach. If you want to be an informed voter, I urge you to do the same.

Penny Kennedy "

#NeptuneBeach #corruption #wethepeople #neptunestrong