An Apology for AllAn Apology for All.
I wrote the Beaches Leader last week and my letter was not published. Today, I am happy about that.
Some of that letter is still very pertinent and some of my comments, I have since learned, were
inaccurate.
So, in this submission, I want to address the inaccuracies and misstatements made by me.
Mr. Shane Corbin was made aware of my initial Letter to the Editor last week. He called me to discuss
the letter. During the discussion, we agreed to disagree on the subject of parking counts and
qualifications for beach dune restoration cost sharing.
Over the next several days, Mr. Corbin initiated, and we exchanged multiple emails, about our differing
understandings in this matter. Some of these emails from me to Mr. Corbin, were also shared with the
CoAB Commission. Somewhere near the end of these exchanges, I kept asking myself, “This is simple
math, and these are smart people. What is so difficult about this?”
This question rattled around in my brain and finally found its way to my frontal lobe. I went back to the
documents I had from my time on the Commission, and to those shared by Mr. Corbin. And the light
bulb went on!
I was wrong in my assessment of the distance one parking space or 4 bike racks covered to qualify for
cost sharing.
So, to anyone who my incorrect comments were shared with, I apologize most sincerely.
To the City Commission, please accept my error and actions as my true desire to bring a resolution to an
issue that plagued me as an elected official. I apologize to each of you for any trouble I may have caused
you all.
And to Mr. Shane Corbin, City of Atlantic Beach, City Manager, thank you sir. Thank you for persisting
until I understood. Thank you for not giving up on me. And my father would be sorely disappointed in
me if I did not publicly convey my deepest and heartfelt apology.
I was wrong about that calculation. Passionate, but wrong.
And you sir, Mr. Corbin, went above and beyond in working to bring me to clarity. That is a quality that I
very much appreciate, and I am glad is part of your character.
Mr. Reich, I still believe you deserve an apology. So, I am including you in my follow-up letter. I do
believe there is a solution that benefits you and your neighbors. But until I can come to that solution, I
apologize I never solved this issue in my time with the City Commission.
John Stinson