A group of volunteers began forming in late 2019 and early 2020 to discuss issues on the island and how we could work with the county to focus on the long-term best interests of the island.
Over time, we realized we needed to have a more widespread discussion with our community.
As part of this outreach, we recognized that we needed to work with professionals with
experience in conducting community meetings and who were neutral in their approach. In
early 2020 we reached out to FSU’s department of Urban and Regional Planning. This
department has worked with other communities in Florida, including Dog Island on creating a
Special Taxing District. FSU agreed that they would assist and provide the necessary resources
to facilitate the community outreach. Covid prevented us from having these meetings in 2020,
but our group continued to work on gathering and researching information for the purpose of
having a detailed, well thought-out proposal for discussion in our community workshops.
Once we had enough tangible information, we started meeting with community leaders, island organizations, and the county commissioners. We met with Ricky Jones, Jessica Ward, and Bert Boldt. These meetings were all positive and they each said they supported the rights of our community to come together to discuss our future and possible incorporation. The other two commissioners did not respond to a meeting request.
To reach more of the community, volunteers created a public website and created a tri-fold
brochure that could be distributed. We also contacted the Apalachicola Times and asked if
they would publish a story with information on how people could get involved.
Below are the members of our core working group of volunteers. Others have been involved in the gathering of information as their schedule permitted but did not attend every meeting.
My husband David and I have lived on St. George Island for 8 years in May. We
vacationed here as a family for 20 years before purchasing our home in St. George Plantation
and moving here permanently.
In 2018 I started a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, St. George Island Paint Out, to promote art and
businesses in our area. I am a member of the Business Association of St. George Island and The
Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce, and the SGI Civic Club. I have been active in helping
plan, decorate and work at the Lighting Of the Palms on the island the last two years at
Christmas. I am a member of the Panhandle Players theatre group, occasionally performing on
stage, or doing backstage work for productions.
My family and I started visiting the island almost 30 years ago. I became a
permanent resident on SGI in 2014. Volunteer work and being active in the community are
especially important to me. One of my favorite events I help coordinate is the Santa and
Christmas Wonderland for the children of Franklin County. I am an active member of the Civic
Club, Business Association, and the Lighthouse Association.
My career background is as a Solution Specialist and Account Manager for large scale
corporations. My experience is with high-end complex business solutions and the coordination
of delivery teams.
My husband, Paul, and I have vacationed on SGI since the mid-1980’s
while living in Atlanta, GA, having moved there in 1978. In 2000, we bought our home on SGI
and moved to live permanently in 2002. We were fleeing the unbridled, high-density growth of
Atlanta over the 24 years that we lived there. Our quality of life dramatically went downhill
throughout those years due to unplanned, over-development. After buying our home in 2000, I
immediately became active in attending and participating in monthly County Commission
Meetings, County Planning and Zoning Advisory Board Meetings and meeting one-on-one with
County Commissioners and county staff over the years. I am still very active in doing these
things, in addition to serving as a board member of the Concerned Citizens of Franklin County
(www.abetterfranklin.com). My intentions for staying deeply involved in our county
government is to ensure that SGI and Franklin County has responsible growth and development
and our special uniqueness, low density, building height restrictions, critical habitat zones,
natural resources and quality of life are preserved and protected. I have had my own business
for over 26 years as a Small Business/Life Coach, small business consultant, developer of people
and meeting facilitator working with clients all over the country.
Shannon Bothwell and her husband Ken Stegina
purchased their property on SGI in 2020, several years after falling in love with the community
during their first visit. They enjoyed three years of full-time RV travel after retiring, visiting over
80 different national park service units, and have now made SGI their permanent home.
Shannon is a lawyer with experience in transactional and regulatory matters, including public
entities like special districts and community development districts. Ken is a finance professional
who has worked in community and regional banks, the mortgage industry, and real estate
investment funds.
Buena and her husband Frank Brown became official islanders when they
purchased their home in 2017. Buena is a graphic designer who specializes in print advertising
and web design.
Buena was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and raised in eight other states and Jamaica but spent
every summer in south Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. She is a fine arts graduate of
Auburn University, worked as an art director in advertising agencies in Maryland and Virginia
and operated her own design firm for over 20 years before moving to SGI.
Buena has been involved with the St. George Plantation Art Committee, St. George Island Paint
Out, The SGI Civic Club, The Apalachicola Chamber of Commerce, and The Franklin County
Complete Count Committee for the 2020 U.S. Census. She is also a member of the St. Joseph Bay Daughters of the American Revolution. Her fourth great-grandfather was Pvt. Aaron
Snowden (1767 – 1845), one of only a dozen patriots buried in Florida.
An avid tennis player, Buena serves on the St. George Plantation recreation committee and
coordinates tennis matches for residents and visitors.
Over 7 years ago, when I retired from a 40+ year career as a nurse, my
husband and I moved to St. George Island. His family goes back for generations in this area and
he spent many summers here as a boy. Never one to sit at home, I earned my real estate
license and work at Apalachicola Bay Realty. I volunteer on the SGI Lighting of the Palms
committee, I am an active member of the SGI Civic club, as well as picking up litter on my daily
walks like so many of us do!
I joined the volunteer, group because I was very concerned about where the island is going.
There are developers who, left unchecked, would turn this into another Panama City Beach.
This really IS a small precious bit of unspoiled Florida and I want to be part of keeping it that
way! I want the destiny of the island to be in the hands of the local community and not
developers and bureaucrats with no connection to our community.
Gail and I purchased our east end home in 2000. I sold my contracting
business in Atlanta and moved to SGI full time in 2002. I started a property management
company on SGI in 2002 and worked that business until 2008. In 2008 I became a manager at
the Blue parrot and worked there until my retirement in 2018. I was appointed to the Franklin
County Advisory Planning and Zoning board in 2012 and served on that board until 2020.
I have served as the Treasurer for the Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc. (CCFC) since
2007. The CCFC is a citizen-based government watchdog organization.
We purchased a vacant lot on SGI in 2009. In 2015, we began construction on our new home, and moved in on April 2016 as full-time residents. We love the people of SGI, Eastpoint, and all whom we have met throughout Franklin County. We attend some BOCC meetings, belong to the SGI Civic Club, are members of CCFC, and volunteer periodically where and when needed for SGI and Franklin County community activities. As we got to know our new Franklin County community, it became clear to us that incorporation of SGI, is the option to better control, and have a voice in, how our tax dollars are allocated, accounted for, and used to the benefit of SGI as well as Franklin County. Although we are not born and raised in Franklin County, we share with those who are, the concerns about services, jobs, environment, and maintaining the history and beauty of the area we call home.