Elections come at turning point for St. Johns Airport Authority

Five candidates are running for two seats on the St. Johns County Airport Authority, a board that oversees the operations of the St. Augustine Airport. It comes at a time when the airport’s leaders are looking to move past the controversies of the past several years. 

Going into the November election, just one member on the five-person board was elected by St. Johns County residents: Michelle Cash-Chapman. All of the others were appointed to their seats by Gov. Ron DeSantis to replace officials who had stepped down. 

Three members of the board, Dennis Clarke, Reba Ludlow and Len Tucker, left the board last year after they were criminally charged, alleging they made backroom deals during illegal private meetings. Another, Jennifer Liotta, stepped down months later citing “ongoing governance failures” and ethical concerns surrounding a lawsuit filed by a company she co-owned against Clarke, Ludlow and Tucker. 

The governor appointed Daniel Bean, Jerry Dedge, Mario Dipola and Nick Primrose to replace the board members who had stepped down. Of that group, just Dedge is running to keep his seat on the board. Bean is not running for reelection, and the others will not have to run for their seats until 2028.

Moving the Airport Authority past forward

Of the five candidates running for seats on the Airport Authority board, two are running for the Group 2 seat and three are running for the Group 3 seat. All St. Johns County voters may cast their votes in both races.

In their responses to a voter guide produced by Jacksonville Today, each candidate stressed a focus on looking to the future, whether that is through new opportunities at St. Johns County’s local airport or by focusing on transparency and accountability to improve public trust. 

In the race for the Group 2 seat, the incumbent Dedge is running against John Wilson. Dedge brings aviation experience to the table. Before retiring, he served as a military aviator and worked as a pilot instructor and ground safety officer.

Wilson touts a different kind of experience. He previously was an assistant district attorney in New York and worked as a criminal defense attorney for years. 

Now living in St. Johns County, Wilson serves as the vice president of the St. Augustine Republican Club — a social club, not to be confused with the local Republican Executive Committee.

Wilson says his fresh set of eyes is a perspective the airport could use. 

Neither candidate has raised any money for their campaigns, and the official voter guide published by the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee recommends that voters choose either candidate for the position.

Three candidates are running for the Group 3 seat currently occupied by DeSantis appointee Daniel Bean: Christopher Cannan, Sean Collins Hess and Sean Griswold. 

Griswold, a 19-year-old registered Republican and vice president of the local Young Republicans group, has been endorsed by the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee. 

Griswold also received endorsements from a number of individuals currently sitting on the Airport Authority board, including Daniel Bean — whose seat Griswold is running for — as well as Jerry Dedge and Mario Dipola.

Griswold has raised more money for his campaign than his opponents have. His $3,400 campaign war chest (as of the start of October) includes donations of $100 from Ko Robins, the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee vice chair and a former St. Augustine City Commission candidate.

Griswold also received $1,000 from Realtors PAC, a political action committee representing Realtors across Florida, and roughly $1,000 from health care CEO Alan Levine, the chair of the Board of Governors for the state university system. 

Hess, a 57-year-old businessman and registered Democrat, has been endorsed by the local Democratic Party. He has raised $721.

Of that, $500 came from Reach Out Florida, a political action committee that, according to its website, supports “progressive and Democratic candidates for elected office in Northeast Florida and statewide.” The PAC has also donated in the District 18 state congressional race and in a race for the St. Johns County School Board. 

Cannan’s campaign had not raised any money as of the start of October.

The St. Augustine Airport’s future

November’s election comes at a time when the St. Johns County Airport Authority is looking to grow and change. 

For one, the board is looking to develop an additional 23 acres of land near the airport property. A report from St. Johns County notes that the development would be used to support “aviation-related economic development, infrastructure investment, and future aerospace opportunities.”

The board also has a permanent executive director for the first time in several years. The authority board tapped Courtney Pittman, who served as the airport’s interim executive director since 2024, to be its permanent leader earlier this year. 

Pittman has endured his own fair share of controversy. A former airport employee accused Pittman of sexual harassment, and, according to reporting from The Jacksonville Business Journal, he came under fire for working for an airport contractor at the same time that he was employed by the airport itself. 

Speaking to the Airport Authority board earlier this year, attorney Dennis Vacco, who presented the findings of an internal investigation into the board’s mismanagement, said Pittman’s employment complications had been remedied.

He did not lay the blame at Pittman’s feet, either. Had the former board communicated and properly reviewed his contract, Vacco said, the situation would have been remedied sooner. 

Going forward, Vacco said the board owes it to the community to be transparent and uphold proper ethical standards. 

“As long as the model will allow those that have self interest to sit in those seats,” Vacco told the board in February, “this dysfunctional governance model is not going to be fixed.”