Candidate for City of Fernandina Beach Commission, Seat 4: Scott Inglis
The Nassau County Chamber of Commerce recently asked each candidate running for the City of Fernandina Beach Commission to answer a candidate questionnaire that we could share with members and the community. Answers to each question have been copied and pasted exactly as they were submitted.Â
For additional information or questions, please contact the Chamber at (904) 261-3248
2026 City of Fernandina Beach Candidate Questionnaire
EXPERIENCE & LEADERSHIP
1. Why are you running for the Fernandina Beach City Commission, and what experiences have prepared you to serve?
I am running because I care about Fernandina Beach and believe residents deserve a City Commission that listens, asks questions, and remembers who they work for.
My wife and I have been married for 33 years, and we have proudly called Fernandina Beach home for more than 24 years. We met here and were married at Main Beach. I am not a career politician. I spent 20 years in the United States Navy working in mechanical maintenance and repair, including submarines and surface ships. That career taught me how to solve problems, work with people from different backgrounds, manage limited resources, and understand that ignoring a small problem usually turns it into a bigger and more expensive one.
I have also spent years volunteering in this community and have served in leadership positions involving large budgets, volunteers, businesses, City departments, public safety agencies, and major events.
I am used to getting my hands dirty, asking questions, and seeing a project through to completion. I don’t walk into a room pretending I know everything. I want to hear from the City Manager, department directors, and, just as importantly, the City employees doing the work every day. The people turning the wrenches usually know where the problems are.
2. What do you believe are the three most significant issues facing the City over the next four years?
First is the City’s financial future. Property taxes, rising costs, aging infrastructure, and increasing demands on City services are going to require difficult decisions. We need to take a serious look at spending, priorities, user fees, grants, partnerships, and other revenue sources before automatically turning to City property owners.
Second is infrastructure. Our waterfront, roads, stormwater systems, utilities, parks, and public facilities require long-term planning. I support completing the waterfront seawall and improvements as funding becomes available and prioritizing projects based on need, public benefit, and available funding.
Third is managing growth and its impact on our quality of life. Much of the growth affecting Fernandina Beach is happening outside the City limits, but the traffic and demand on our roads, parks, beaches, public safety, and other services do not stop at the City line. The City must work more closely with Nassau County and other regional partners.
We cannot stop change, but we can stop pretending it isn’t happening.
3. What role should the City Commission play in supporting a healthy local economy while preserving Fernandina Beach's unique character?
The City Commission should create a fair, predictable, and reasonable environment for businesses while protecting the character that makes Fernandina Beach a place people want to live, work, and visit.
Businesses need to understand the rules and know that those rules will be applied consistently. The Commission should not micromanage businesses, but it should make sure City processes are understandable, efficient, and responsive.
At the same time, our historic downtown, waterfront, tree canopy, neighborhoods, and natural environment are economic assets. Protecting Fernandina Beach’s character is not anti-business. In many ways, our character is our business.
The goal should be responsible economic growth without turning Fernandina Beach into every other coastal town in Florida.
BUSINESS & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
4. What specific actions would you take to improve the business climate for existing businesses and entrepreneurs?
I would start by talking directly with local business owners and asking a simple question: What does the City do that makes it unnecessarily difficult to operate a business?
Then I would look at permitting, inspections, communication, fees, signage regulations, and other City processes to identify unnecessary delays or conflicting requirements.
I also believe the City should improve communication between departments. A business owner should not receive one answer from one department and a different answer from another.
I would support regular discussions between the City, Chamber of Commerce, Main Street, local businesses, and economic development organizations to identify problems before they become major issues.
Government does not need to hold a business owner’s hand, but it should not keep putting its foot in their way either.
5. How should the City balance economic development, tourism, historic preservation, infrastructure, and quality of life?
Balance starts by remembering that Fernandina Beach is a community first.
Tourism is important to our economy. Our businesses, restaurants, hotels, events, and attractions benefit from visitors. But the people who live here year-round are the ones paying City property taxes and dealing with traffic, infrastructure issues, and the everyday impacts of a successful tourist destination.
Economic development and tourism should help support the community rather than overwhelm it.
We must protect our historic character and natural environment while investing in the infrastructure necessary to support residents, businesses, and visitors.
Every decision will not make everyone happy. The Commission’s responsibility is to look at the long-term impact and ask whether a decision improves Fernandina Beach or simply makes it busier.
Bigger is not always better. Sometimes better is better.
6. What improvements would you prioritize for transportation, parking, utilities, and public infrastructure?
My priorities would be waterfront protection, stormwater improvements, roads and sidewalks, utility infrastructure, and better coordination of transportation throughout Amelia Island and Nassau County.
I support completing the waterfront seawall and related improvements as funding becomes available. We also need to continue addressing stormwater and drainage problems before they become even more expensive.
Transportation requires cooperation with Nassau County. Thousands of people travel into the City every day for work, recreation, dining, beaches, and events. We should explore shuttle systems and other smart transportation options that reduce congestion without simply building more parking lots.
On parking, I oppose the current downtown paid-parking program. I believe the City should have allowed residents to vote before implementing it.
Infrastructure is not exciting. Nobody takes a family Christmas picture next to a storm drain. But when infrastructure fails, everybody suddenly cares about it.
7. What is your vision for the City's relationship with organizations such as the Nassau County Chamber of Commerce, Nassau County Economic Development Board, Amelia Island Convention & Visitors Bureau, and other community partners?
The City should have a strong working relationship with these organizations while maintaining its responsibility to City residents.
The Chamber understands the challenges facing local businesses. The Economic Development Board understands regional economic opportunities. The Convention and Visitors Bureau understands tourism and marketing. Community organizations and nonprofits also bring experience and resources to the table.
The City does not have to agree with every organization on every issue. But refusing to communicate or work together accomplishes nothing.
I believe in partnerships where goals are clearly defined, responsibilities are understood, and City residents receive a measurable benefit.
We have a lot of smart people and strong organizations in this community. We should use that knowledge instead of constantly trying to reinvent the wheel.
HOUSING & WORKFORCE
8. Workforce housing continues to be one of our community's greatest challenges. What role should the City play in expanding housing opportunities while maintaining community character?
Workforce housing is a real problem, but there is no simple answer.
The City should review zoning, redevelopment opportunities, and appropriate public-private partnerships that may create additional housing options without destroying established neighborhoods or ignoring infrastructure limitations.
We also need to recognize that this is not solely a Fernandina Beach problem. Workforce housing is an island-wide and Nassau County issue. The City cannot solve a regional housing problem by itself.
I would support working with Nassau County, major employers, and housing organizations to identify realistic opportunities.
I do not support simply increasing density everywhere and calling it workforce housing. Any proposal should clearly identify who the housing is intended to serve, how affordability will be maintained, and what impact the development will have on roads, utilities, public safety, and surrounding neighborhoods.
Calling something affordable doesn’t automatically make it affordable.
GOVERNMENT & LEADERSHIP
9. How will you ensure transparency, accessibility, and public engagement throughout your term?
I believe one of the biggest concerns I hear from residents is that they do not feel heard.
Whether the issue is paid parking, City spending, growth, traffic, development, or major City projects, many residents believe decisions are already made before they have a meaningful opportunity to participate.
I will be accessible. I will answer questions. I will meet with residents, business owners, and City employees.
I also believe major projects should be discussed publicly early in the process, not after months of work and thousands of dollars have already been spent.
I will ask questions during Commission meetings. I am not going to sit quietly because asking a question might make someone uncomfortable.
Transparency is not telling the public what you decided. Transparency is allowing them to understand how and why you got there.
10. Earlier this year, the Fernandina Beach City Commission approved and implemented a paid-parking program for the downtown area. A citizen-initiated referendum concerning paid parking will now appear on the August 18 ballot. What is your position on paid parking, how would you respond to the outcome of the referendum?
I oppose the current downtown paid-parking program.
My biggest concern has always been the process. More than 1,700 residents signed a citizen petition seeking a vote on paid parking, and I believe the Commission should have allowed that vote to occur before implementing the program.
I understand the argument that people outside the City use City-funded services and infrastructure without contributing to the City property-tax base. That is a legitimate financial issue, and the City must explore ways to broaden who helps pay for services.
However, I do not believe paid parking should have been implemented before residents had their say.
The referendum is now scheduled for August 18. I will respect the decision of the voters.
If the voters support paid parking, then the City should operate the program transparently and clearly account for the revenue and expenses, and any money generated should be used for infrastructure improvements throughout the City, not just in the downtown area.
If the voters reject paid parking, the City Commission should fully implement that decision.
You don’t ask people to vote and then look for a loophole because you don’t like the answer.
11. Florida voters will consider significant property-tax reform on the November ballot that could provide additional relief to homesteaded property owners while reducing revenue available to counties and municipalities. Do you support the proposed reform? How do you believe it would affect homeowners, businesses, and local government services?
I support meaningful property-tax relief for homeowners, but I also believe we need to clearly understand the financial consequences of the proposal.
Many homeowners, particularly retirees and people on fixed incomes, are feeling the pressure of rising insurance, utilities, maintenance costs, and property taxes. Expanding the homestead exemption could provide significant relief to City homeowners.
At the same time, Fernandina Beach relies heavily on property-tax revenue to provide police, fire, public works, parks, infrastructure, and other City services. A significant reduction in property-tax revenue would require the City to carefully examine its budget and priorities.
My concern is that we do not simply replace property-tax reductions with a collection of new fees without first examining City spending and operations.
If elected, I want to sit down with the City Manager, every department director, and City employees. I want to understand what they do, what problems they are dealing with, what their budgets look like, and what they see coming down the road.
We need to identify essential services, find efficiencies, pursue grants and partnerships, evaluate appropriate user fees, and make sure people outside the City who use City-funded amenities are contributing where reasonable.
Property-tax relief sounds great. Paying for government after the revenue disappears is the hard part.
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE & PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS
12. Have you ever received, or do you currently receive, compensation, advertising revenue, sponsorship income, monetization revenue, consulting fees, in-kind benefits, or any other thing of value connected to online content in which you discuss local government issues, public policy matters, elected officials, candidates, or campaigns? If yes, please describe the source and nature of the compensation, the issue or candidate involved, and whether the financial relationship was publicly disclosed.
No.
I have never received compensation, advertising revenue, sponsorship income, monetization revenue, consulting fees, in-kind benefits, or anything else of value connected to online content discussing local government, public policy, elected officials, candidates, or campaigns.
My opinions are mine. I have no hidden agenda, I own one house, I have no business interests, and there is no personal gain for me by running for commissioner.
CLOSING
13. If elected, what would success look like after your first term?
Success would mean residents feel their City Commission listens to them and that City government is more transparent and accessible.
I would like to see measurable progress on the waterfront and seawall, improvements to our infrastructure, better coordination with Nassau County, stronger relationships with local businesses and community organizations, and a clearer understanding of the City’s long-term financial future.
I would also like residents to better understand where their tax dollars are going and why.
I am not going to promise that I can fix every problem in four years. Anyone who tells you that is probably trying to sell you something.
If, after my first term, residents can say I showed up, did my homework, asked difficult questions, listened, and made decisions based on what I believed was best for Fernandina Beach, I would consider that success.
14. Is there anything else you would like Fernandina Beach’s business community to know?
I understand that businesses are an important part of this community.
Small businesses create jobs, support local organizations, sponsor youth programs, donate to community events, and help give Fernandina Beach its character.
When I was Shrimp Festivals chairman, I started Nassau Place. This gave an opportunity for small businesses and nonprofits to have an audience to show off their small businesses and make people aware of nonprofits in the Fernandina Beach and Nassau County area. That section of Shrimp festival has now grown to two streets.
I also understand that running a business is not easy. Government decisions involving parking, fees, regulations, construction, traffic, and events can directly affect whether a business has a good month or a bad one.
I will not promise the business community that I will agree with them on every issue. I will promise to listen, ask questions, and explain my decisions.
I am not running to build a political career. I am running to serve the community that my wife of 33 years and I have proudly called home for more than 24 years.
I believe Fernandina Beach can support local businesses, protect our quality of life, and plan responsibly for the future.
But we have to work together, communicate, and occasionally admit that the person on the other side of the table might actually have a good idea.