Shaver says St Augustine needs real choice for mayor

Nancy Shaver went to the Supervisor of Elections office Friday afternoon; and, largely because the Lincolnville resident says the City of St Augustine needs a better way to make decisions about spending, she threw her hat in the ring and is now running for Mayor.

She is a marketing consultant working with Experian, a global information leader, and is a regular fixture at City Commission meetings. Because her job involves a degree of travel, she says she is delighted with the new Internet access to live broadcasts of Board and special committee meetings held in the Alcazar Room at City Hall.

“As I am sure you know, this was not an easy decision,” Shaver responded to editor Michael Gold’s inquiry last week. “I am not a natural politician and I have no political aspirations, but I truly feel that the City needs a real choice for Mayor.”

Joe Boles has served on the St Augustine City Commission in Seat 3 for the past 10-years, and has been mayor for the last 8 of those years.

In a recent Historic City News poll that asked readers to vote for mayor from a mix of former executive director of the St Johns Council on Aging, Cathy Brown, City Manager John Regan, Vice-Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline, and Boles. Boles finished last.

Shaver shared what she says tipped her over the edge — it was an amazing hand written “thank you letter” for the work she has been doing. “It was from a woman I have never met,” Shave said. “She sought out my address in order to write to me.”

Thomas Jefferson observed that persons qualified for public office should feel some obligation to make that contribution. “If not, public service will be left to those of lesser qualification, and the government may more easily become corrupted.”

“I’m gathering signatures now and putting together the plan over the next few weeks,” Shaver told Historic City News.

Shaver is no stranger to investigating public fraud, waste and abuse. She is known for her efforts to keep St Augustine financial reports accurate and the city’s expenditures as transparent as possible. She helped expose the figures provided to and published by St Augustine Record that falsely indicated that the Picasso exhibit was a money maker. She worked tirelessly to identify fallacies in a city hall partnership with an aquarium developer for Riberia Point, and previously found that a proposed coral growing plan for the same location, lacked credibility.