by Julia Roberts
It is often said Fernandina Beach is a city with many moving parts. In addition to the same departments found in most small towns — utilities, streets, fire and police departments — Fernandina Beach also has beaches, a golf course, a marina, an airport and a downtown waterfront. Keeping all its facilities in working order could be called whack-a-mole, fix one problem and another pops up.
At the helm of the various projects undertaken by the city is a man new to the job, but not to working with, and in, city government: Glen Akramoff. And while he has only been with the city for a few weeks, he has gotten a feel for the town and how best to move forward.
Akramoff told the NewsLine that, as his wife Shari planned her retirement, they looked for a place to move after their children were raised.
“We drove up (South) Fletcher into Main Beach, and I said, ‘This is home,’’’ Akramoff said. “That was four and a half years ago. She retired last June, and we moved here last October.”
Unlike most people with an important title, the city’s new project manager doesn’t have a degree in engineering or government. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t have an advanced degree. He learned by taking advantage of opportunities.
“I started as a temporary maintenance worker,” he said. “Then, as a leader. What got me into project management, in addition to that experience, was working in a lot of newly-formed cities in Washington state. Of course they were understaffed, with a lot of stuff to do, and I just filled the gaps. It isn’t the easy way to go, but if you are committed to it, you can do it. My dad told me you can learn something from anyone.”
Along the way, Akramoff has filled various roles, such as maintenance manager, public works director and city manager. He spent 25 years in city government before founding his own consulting firm, which is still active. He said the knowledge and experience he gained from his business prepared him for his current role in Fernandina Beach.
“In my consulting business, … I cleaned up organizations that were in a rough spot. When they had exhausted everything they knew how to do, they called me,” he said. He said his last client was the Parks Department in a county government, where he helped leadership identify problems with what he calls an “operational assessment,” in which he gave the county recommendations and helped them implement those ideas.
There are several issues facing Fernandina Beach: A historic downtown that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors but is suffering from age; a waterfront that encompasses a city-owned restaurant the city plans to demolish; a marina owned by the city that faced a very public infrastructure collapse; the need for protection for the city’s downtown from flooding; aging buildings. Akramoff talked about what problems are the most pressing.
“I think, overall, the biggest problem facing the city is the fact that the infrastructure has deteriorated at the same time,” he said. “You’ve got the seawall, Brett’s, the marina problem from the Fourth of July, all of that is connected but not connected, just all three in the same area.” He said a proposed multi-million revitalization of downtown is much needed, even if the problems with streets, sidewalks, lighting, landscaping and infrastructure are not visible to an untrained eye.
“It’s a top priority because infrastructure is on the edge of failing. In some places, it is failing,” he said. “Most people don’t notice that. You might notice there’s a crack in the concrete. But for me, that’s my background.”
Akramoff says time is of the essence to repair the city. He said that, while most economic models work on the basis of 3% inflation, in his experience with capital projects, that number is 7%, to include supplies, labor and technology costs.
“The water, streets, sewer, all those are aging out,” he explained. “The city has 77 buildings to take care of, and almost all of them are at least 20 years old. The days of being able to prop it up and go on another year are almost over. That makes it difficult on the current staff but also on the community and the commission. They have to make very difficult decisions right now. Being in this business so long, I definitely have an appreciation for how difficult that is.” He added that he, along with other city officials, need the support of the community. “Public trust is the name of the game.”
“I have found that, most of the time, people are really good. They want to do good work. They don’t always know how,” Akramoff said. “I’ve worked in more than 30 local governments (consulting and moving around in my other career), so I’ve seen a lot of different things, what works, what doesn’t. I know where to go, what not to worry about. Most government employees don’t move around that much, so they don’t have the context of what works, what doesn’t, what other people are doing. Most of them have their heads down, trying to get their work done. It’s a lack of global perspective, is what I would say.”
In the meantime, while he has not run for public office “yet,” (“I feel, right now, that I can help the community more by doing this job, supporting the rest of the team than running for office”), he is getting to know his new community.
“I learned there are 100 local restaurants on the island, and we are working our way through those. We go to the Saturday farmers market, and usually breakfast goes with it. I go to the beach almost every day. I’ve gone out fishing once, but my guide doesn’t do weekends. We’re just getting to know the community, plugging in where we can.”
Akramoff said that while politics often becomes a blame game, there is no one to blame for an aging city and the work that will be required to fix it.
“Everybody wants to look for someone to blame,” he said. “The stuff has a life span. It’s served its purpose wonderfully, it’s just time to fix it.”
jroberts@nassaunewsline.net
