Ben Adams makes District 2 campaign official

St. Augustine resident, Ben W. Adams, Jr., has retired twice — but Historic City News learned last week that he has filed with the Supervisor of Elections; declaring his candidacy to become the next County Commissioner for District 2.

Adams is a lifelong resident of St. Johns County; having served the country or his state for most of his professional career.

As a member of the St. Augustine Planning Commission, Adams helped draft and complete the St. Augustine Comprehensive Plan.

He has also served as a member of the St. Johns County Industrial Development Authority and a part-time paramedic with the St. Johns County Rescue Service.

Adams has significant management experience including strategic planning, emergency preparedness and planning as well as public relations.

Adams first retired with the rank of Colonel in the Florida National Guard after 37 years of service. His experience ranged from administrative support to revising blueprints for rebuilding utilities at Camp Blanding.

Adams was appointed St. Johns County Administrator in 1997 where he served for 9 years before retiring.

One achievement Adams has been proud to claim is his vision for the Regional Cooperation Summit. It came into being as an informational resource for the residents, agencies, organizations and businesses within the seven surrounding counties.

Adams says that he held steadfast to his goal of providing a summit that has been free to all who attended. The summit addressed poignant issues affecting our region’s growth management, economic development, water resources and infrastructure, healthcare, veteran affair issues and averting terrorism, among others.

In considering a run for this commission seat, Adams says that he has been touring the county, meeting with civic groups and trying to determine on what issues he will focus.

Adams is a Republican. The commissioner who currently holds the seat, Ron Sanchez, was elected as a Republican in 2006, and says he is fairly sure he will run for re-election. However, a recent news article quotes Sanchez as saying, “We’ll just have to see what happens”. According to the article, Sanchez said. “I’m not going to let that become a priority.”

Republicans Randy Brunson and Alan Kelso have also filed to run for the District 2 seat. Florida is a “closed primary” state, so Republicans, county wide, will vote in the Primary Election to be held on August 24, 2010.

Whoever wins in the District 2 Republican Primary, and whoever wins in the Democratic Primary, should they run, will face Merrill Roland, who is registered as an independent candidate, in the General Election on November 2nd.

Photo credit: © 2010 Historic City News staff photograph