The city of Fernandina Beach has many moving parts that make it unique. The city owns a marina, golf course and airport and hosts numerous festivals. However, one of the most notable features of Fernandina Beach is its historic downtown, which has the charm of a 200-year-old town alongside an international port, working waterfront and industrial area. All those factors create a downtown that requires a great deal of management. While city government and a nonprofit such as Fernandina Beach Main Street have worked diligently to both manage the current downtown and update the area as needed, it has been a struggle.
Enter a new position within city government — Main Street district manager, which was put into the city’s budget in the 2024-25 fiscal year budget. And who would be better suited to take on the task than a person who has been working in the downtown for four years — Main Street Executive Director Lisa Finkelstein.
The description of the job listed by the city includes “project management, community programs, special events, project management and inter-departmental coordination for maintenance and repair activities. Reporting to the Deputy City Manager, this position serves as staff liaison to the Downtown Historic District and Waterfront Community Redevelopment Area along with Fernandina Beach Main Street.”
Finkelstein said her institutional knowledge will help make her transition from nonprofit to a governmental role run smoothly.
“When I look at it, I feel like I am moving over into a position that is very similar to the position I am leaving, so I will hit the ground running in terms of having the relationships with anybody form the city staff that I have worked with over the last four years to the elected officials to the other community partners like Keep Nassau Beautiful and Flowering Fernandina,” Finkelstein told the News-Leader. “It really is a benefit in that regard.”
Since the city has never had a downtown district manager, the first order of business will be mapping out the duties of the job.
“(Finkelstein will be) determining what this position is responsible for as far as making sure we understand what I will be handling as the downtown manager and what others will be handling,” she said. “There’s a lot of departments within the city that are involved in the downtown — streets, utilities, parks — so I will be relying on staff from those departments to accomplish what we need to do.”
Finkelstein said hitting the ground running is her plan, quite literally.
“What I’d really like to do is a walking tour and inventory the downtown as far as maintenance items that need addressed, whether it’s trash cans or the fountain or Pegleg Pete,” she said. “There’s been some things that we haven’t been able to handle at Main Street, that I think can be taken up by me in my new role and really get them done.”
The city’s downtown district is in the midst of a lot of work. The Amelia River waterfront is undergoing resiliency work as well as plans for a new park. The Alachua Street railroad crossing is undergoing construction to open to vehicular traffic. A revitalization project will update lighting, curbs and other features of the downtown. Up until now, there has not been a position with the city that could coordinate all the work being done in Fernandina Beach, as well as the day-to-day action in the city, with numerous festivals and events. Finkelstein said prioritizing will be the key to moving projects forward.
“Obviously, the waterfront park is underway. The resiliency wall is still out there but definitely impacts the downtown as far as protecting it from flooding,” she said. “Then, the big one is the downtown revitalization, which is much needed as far as infrastructure updates with lighting and wiring, sidewalks, street lights. It’s going to be a big project, so I think having somebody dedicated to really monitoring that and making sure it’s well coordinated and well thought out and planned is important, critically important.”
She said she has been involved with talks to obtain funding for projects and believes she will continue to have input, although “exactly what my responsibilities would be in those areas has not been determined.”
In her current roles in the city, Finkelstein chairs the Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board in addition to her job at Main Street. She said Main Street is currently receiving resumes, and she is looking to fill her position on the CRAAB.
“I am going to move into more of a staff liaison role with (the CRA) board. I will still be at their meetings and providing information on project updates and things like that,” she explained. “I am looking for somebody maybe within the Main Street organization that would be willing to fill that seat on the board to keep that close connection to Main Street until we get an executive director. It’s an important connection and we need to maintain that.”
In her role as Main Street executive director, Finkelstein said she worked closely with the city on items such as the landscape budget, which was under the purview of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, and she plans to bring that knowledge to her new role.
“It will be different in that I will provide closer oversight and have more control over the downtown. There’s been a downtown budget in the city budget for a long time, but it lives under Parks and Rec. So, there hasn’t been a dedicated person monitoring that budget or responsible for the contracts under that budget,” she said. “I will take that off the Main Street director’s plate. I have kind of been doing a lot of those types of things as the Main Street director, but this will allow Main Street to focus on other areas and not have to be so involved in those contracts that are really city contracts and should be managed by a city employee that has the ability to make decisions and bring them to the commission for approval.”
Finkelstein knows the downtown and will use her experience to help the city work with businesses and other stakeholders to ensure downtown Fernandina Beach gets the attention it needs.
“I will be focusing on the physical environment, upcoming projects and then, of course, continuing to support the downtown businesses” she said. “I think that will remove some of those things that Main Street has been having to advocate for over the years. Now, somebody will attached to them. That will be me.”