You Can Oppose Paid Parking Without Destroying a Man, his family and his employees

COMMENTARY

By Mike Lednovich/Editor

For months, downtown businessman and City Commissioner Tim Poynter has been publicly flogged for one thing: paid parking.

His businesses have been targeted for boycotts. Social media has turned him into a caricature of greed and arrogance. The anger has become personal, ugly and, frankly, unjust.

Disagree with paid parking all you want. More than 1,700 citizens did via petition.

Vote against it in the Aug. 18 referendum. Campaign against the commissioners who supported it. Attend meetings. Organize rallies. Protest.

That is democracy.

But what is happening to Poynter is something else entirely.

It is scapegoating.

Paid parking did not happen because of Tim Poynter alone.

Let’s start there.

Paid parking was approved by a majority of the Fernandina Beach City Commission. Four commissioners voted for it — not one. Outgoing Mayor James Antun first publicly floated the paid parking idea more than two years ago as a means to generate much needed revenue. The issue was studied, debated, workshopped, argued over and ultimately approved after months of public process.

Yet somehow, Poynter has become the singular face of public rage.

Why?

Because he owns businesses downtown.

Because he is visible.

Because hurting him feels personal.

And because social media always prefers a villain over complexity.

So now we have people proudly announcing they will never again step foot in Cafe Karibo, Timoti’s, Baba’s, miniature golf or duckpin bowling — businesses that employ local residents, pay local taxes, occupy and revitalize downtown buildings, and contribute to the vibrancy of the very place those critics claim to love.

Think about the contradiction for a moment.

People lament the loss of local character in Florida towns. They complain when communities become chains, corporate developments and soulless tourism strips.

Then they turn around and try to economically punish one of the very entrepreneurs who invested in Fernandina Beach long before many of these critics arrived.

Poynter didn’t build generic strip mall franchises. He built gathering places for everyone to enjoy.

His restaurants and entertainment businesses are part of the downtown experience residents proudly point to when visitors come to town. They employ cooks, servers, bartenders, managers, teenagers working first jobs, hospitality staff and maintenance workers — local people whose livelihoods have become collateral damage in a political revenge campaign.

And for what?

One vote?

A vote three other commissioners also cast?

A policy initially championed by a mayor now largely spared the same fury?

If residents want accountability, there is an election process. That is exactly what representative government is for. Commissioners should answer for decisions at the ballot box.

But trying to destroy a person’s livelihood because you disagree with public policy is not accountability. It is unwarranted punishment.

And it should concern everyone — regardless of where they stand on paid parking.

Because here is the larger question Fernandina Beach ought to ask itself:

Who would ever want to serve?

Seriously.

Why would successful business owners, civic leaders or community-minded residents volunteer for public office if this is the price?

You cast a difficult vote — one that half the city hates — and suddenly your businesses are targets, your motives are demonized, your family hears the attacks, and your reputation is dragged daily through Facebook comment sections.

What reasonable person looks at that and says, yes, sign me up for city government?

Healthy communities need good people willing to serve. That does not mean shielding elected officials from criticism. Criticism is fair. Accountability is fair.

Character assassination is not.

Economic retaliation meant to inflict personal pain is not.

Turning one commissioner into a public punching bag for a decision made collectively is not.

You may hate paid parking.

You may believe it should never have happened.

But let’s stop pretending Tim Poynter acted alone or deserves solitary blame for a policy debated for years and approved by a commission majority.

Fernandina Beach can disagree without becoming vindictive. We can oppose policies without trying to destroy people. We can hold elected officials accountable without turning neighbors into enemies.

What is happening to Tim Poynter is not civic engagement. It is scapegoating, personal destruction and misplaced anger directed at one man for a decision made by four commissioners and set in motion years ago.

And that is a stain on our community.