Fair, 55°
Weather sponsored by:

Two square off for one OP council seat

Wesley LeBlanc
Posted 4/4/18

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Don't have an ID?


Print subscribers

If you're a print subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one.

Non-subscribers

Click here to see your options for subscribing.

Single day pass

You also have the option of purchasing 24 hours of access, for $1.00. Click here to purchase a single day pass.

Two square off for one OP council seat


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Voters in the Town of Orange Park will head to city hall next week to cast ballots to fill Seat 3 on town council.

Late last year, Mayor Scott Land announced that, following the end of his term, he would be moving to Orlando making him ineligible to run for council. This year, there are two candidates in the race to fill the upcoming vacancy – former council member Eugene Nix and political newcomer Roland Mastandrea.

Mastandrea is an Orange Park resident who has called the town his home for 14 years. He is a local business owner and has been for 26 years, serving as a JaxBizNet and Business Network International member. He’s served as a YMCA Board President, coach for multiple YMCA sports teams and as a Leroy Butler Foundation Board member.

Originally from Ohio, where he served as a councilman on his city’s council – over a city he said is three times the size of Orange Park – Mastandrea moved to Florida after helping his daughter and son-in-law find a place to live near Kissimmee. On the way back to Ohio, Mastandrea stopped in Orange Park, fell in love and soon after, moved there with his wife and eight children, six of which are adopted.

“On the way home, we stopped in Orange Park, loved every second of it, including the weather, and I looked at my wife and said, ‘why are we living in the cold?’ and the rest was history,” Mastandrea said.

One of the biggest draws of Orange Park for Mastandrea was the locality of hospitals and paramedics. With one of his daughters diagnosed with epilepsy and the other diagnosed with Idiopathic Anaphylaxis, a rare and severe allergy reaction that essentially has no identification of trigger, speedy ambulance service and a nearby hospital were a must. Because of this, Mastandrea has especially taken issue with the events that have transpired over the last week.

Last week, Clay Today reported that the Board of County Commissioners voted to staff Rescue 19 with Clay County staff, which resulted in the ambulance being removed from the Orange Park Fire Department. Once part of a partnership between Clay County government and the town, the ambulance once located in central Orange Park, was moved outside of town limits. Mastandrea, like many other vocal citizens, is disappointed by this action.

“They simply weren’t thinking,” Mastandrea said. “It was a petty move and a knee-jerk reaction.”

If elected, Mastandrea hopes to open a forum of direct discussion with the BCC – citing that what has occurred could be cleared up with some understanding from both sides. He said he wants to do what he can to get the BCC to reverse its decision.

“‘What if,’ I said to the [two commissioners that spoke with me], ‘What if a girl has a breathing attack and she has to be rushed to the hospital and Orange Park could get her there in five minutes but the county takes 11 or 12 or 15 minutes and she becomes brain dead by the time she gets to the hospital?’,” Mastandrea said, noting that this hypothetical is in reference to his daughter with Idiopathic Anaphylaxis. “‘Could you live with that?’,” I asked them and silence.”

“These things could happen but we must work to ensure they don’t and I think that happens by working together, not at odds,” Mastandrea said.

While police and fire services are his No. 1 priority, according to Mastandrea, he has other objectives going into council if elected. Among those is what he calls redevelopment. While a supporter of bringing new development in, Mastandrea wants to help reinvigorate the town by building current businesses up and officially recognizing buildings in town as historical, which opens up eligibility for special grants. These grants can be used to revitalize parts of the town that really need it, Mastandrea said.

Overall, Mastandrea describes himself as proactive rather than reactive and someone who is willing to put in the time to get things done. He believes that committees should meet more often and council meetings should be allotted more time.

“The committee is where you’re cooking and the council meeting is where you serve,” Mastandrea said.

Mastandrea’s opponent, Eugene Nix, might sound familiar and that’s because just a year ago, he was on the Orange Park Town Council where he served from 2014 to 2017.

Nix has been associated with Orange Park in some way since 1959. After graduating from Orange Park High, he started his own construction business, Nix Construction, which has been in town for 40 years. In 2001, Nix officially moved into the town of Orange Park and in what he calls keeping with the family tradition, became involved with the local government. He served six years on the planning board before being elected to Town Council in 2014.

One of Nix’s primary goals for Orange Park, if elected, is to continue work on town infrastructure.

“During my term as councilman and mayor, our concentration was primarily focused on long overdue road construction, resurfacing and infrastructure improvements,” Nix said. “Our 10-year plan for making these improvements and budgeting accordingly needs to continue without interruption.”

Nix said the Kingsley Avenue East Project has been his personal 13-year quest and will be complete within a few short months. Beyond infrastructure, Nix plans to work with the council to clean up the town and in doing so, maintain a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to code enforcement.

“Noticeably, many new businesses have sprung up bringing newly renovated buildings, as well as some new construction, to the town,” Nix said. “While serving on council, we accomplished a complete rewrite of our land development codes and regulations to assist in this [overall clean up] effort.”

Part of this clean up involved investing money into the parks throughout Orange Park.

“We must continue to invest money to maintain and enhance our existing beautiful parks and recreation areas so they do not fall into disrepair,” Nix said. “The vision of our town as set forth in our 2010 Comprehensive Plan addresses all of these elements and we need to continue on that path and work together to implement that vision to the betterment of our town for generations to come.”

“Orange Park needs to continue moving forward while also maintaining its village character,” Nix said.

Regarding the BCC’s decision to remove Rescue 19 from Station 19, Nix believes that while unfortunate, the moves the council have made since have been appropriate, he said. Believing fire and police services to be one of Orange Park’s most critical functions, Nix said the town must support the men and women of Station 19 and work to ensure those employees and the citizens of the town get the best service possible.

Orange Park residents are highly encouraged to vote by not only Mastandrea and Nix, but the entire council as well, citing its importance for the town. Election Day is Tuesday, April 10 and polls will be open at 2042 Park Ave. from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.