Past St. Augustine mayors talk about their role in city's history

For the St. Augustine's 450th in 2015, one of the city's biggest goals is to change the landscape of American history forever. When past mayors took office, they may not have been thinking that far ahead. But by addressing present day issues they ended up contributing to the future and helped St. Augustine become what it is today.

Beginning with Gabriel W. Perpall in 1821, each of St. Augustine's 118 mayors had a part in setting the foundation for the city.

Eight former mayors recalled their time in office and talked about their contributions.

Arthur H. Runk

Term: 1973-1975

Legacy: One of St. Augustine's oldest living mayors, Art Runk said his time in office was relatively smooth. "It went well for me," he said.

During his administration, Runk stated one thing that was very important to him: the Order of La Florida Award. Runk said the award's beginnings lay in the man who was the Major General of the Florida National Guard at the time.

"I felt like we needed to do something for him," he said.

Now, the award has been presented at least 17 times in the community.

Today: Retired and living in St. Augustine with his wife and considers himself a lucky guy.

Edward G. Mussallem

Term: 1975-1979

Legacy: Mussallem, a successful hotel and restaurant owner, saw the office of mayor as strictly a business. Now 90, he has no trouble remembering the contributions he helped make to the city during his two terms.

"When I took over as mayor, the city had about $200,000 in the bank. The two terms I was on we bought all kinds of big equipment. We bought front end loaders, police cars, and even a brand new fire engine.

"No one working for the city had a decent retirement plan then so we hired an actuary and we figured out a way to get good retirement plans and health insurance too. And we didn't have to raise taxes to do it. When I left we had $3 million in the bank. That's what being a mayor is all about. It's a business. It's big business," Mussallem said.

Today: Retired and living in St. Augustine.

Fred A. Brinkoff, Jr.

Term: 1979-1981

Legacy: Before Fred Brinkoff served as St. Augustine's mayor, he had already conquered quite a bit. Brinkoff said he established St. Johns County's first juvenille court.

Soon, Brinkoff was asked to to spread the juvenille courts to surrounding counties. For about 33 years, that's what he did.

"I was busy all the time and I loved every minute of it," he said.During his time as mayor, Brinkoff had a firm believe in being thorough and transparent.

So when P.E. Kinsey was hired as city manager, Brinkoff worked closely with him. Together, they analyzed all the different departments one at a time and made sure things were running smoothly. If things weren't the matter was taken to commission to be discussed during meetings. All in all, Brinkoff enjoyed his time as mayor.

"I enjoyed doing. I enjoyed being involved," he said. "I just enjoy people."

Today: Brinkoff and his wife are retired and sometimes vacation to their North Carolina home. He spends time with his three daughters and grandchildren and thinks today's city commission is doing a great job.

V. Noel Helmly

Term: 1981

Legacy: Noel Helmly first began working in the city in the 1960s during the time Mussallem was mayor and said he really enjoyed it. Problems didn't arise until Helmly became mayor himself.

During Helmly's administration, he said there was a little controversey about the new Police Chief at the time and city meetings that were held in private. With all of the controversey, Helmly decided to resign. He says it helped soothe the issue.

"I think it worked out right eventually," Helmly said.

In 1991, he agreed to run for City Commission and won.

Today: Retired and living in St. Augustine. Helmly and his wife are actively involved in a non-profit organization called St. Johns Ecuminical Ministry Food Pantry.

Ramelle Petroglou

Term: 1981-82; 1983-85.

Legacy: The first and only woman mayor in St. Augustine's history, Petroglou said she didn't feel that was so unusual. She was just happy the people had confidence in her to do the job.

Petroglou said the closing and refurbishing of St. George St. to vehicular traffic stands out as one of her accomplishments.

"We had so many tourists and really no place for them so we made St. George St. a pedestrian walking mall. It was a one-way street with very narrow sidewalks then so people were walking in the street and it was dangerous. The project worked out very well," Petroglou said.

The city also fixed the water main pipes below the street. Petroglou said they still had wooden water pipes below the street then.

Another project she recalls proudly is negotiating with the city to donate the land to the county for the St. Johns County Library Public Library. The old library was on Aviles St. and the county really needed a bigger facility with better public access, she said.

She was also instrumental in seeing that new wells were dug and a new deep-water aquifer was built for the city.

"I love St. Augustine. I really tried to do what was best for the majority, not just for a few or special interests," Petroglou said.

Petroglou was employed for 30 years by the Department of Military Affairs on Marine St., the headquarters for the Florida National Guard. She was elected to the St. Augustine City Commission in 1979 and was a very active volunteer in the community.

Today: Petroglou is retired and "just taking care of family" in St. Augustine.

Gregory E. Baker

Term: 1992-1995

Legacy: Greg Baker of Thompson Baker Agency did all that he could during his time as St. Augustine's mayor. Baker was mayor for two years and on commission for one.

"I actually ran for mayor and got elected. It was a two year seat and then I didn't run and I got appointed by the remaining city commissioners," he said.

His activities ranged from pioneering the visioining process that's still done today to establishing the initial relationship with Aviles, Spain.

"We contributed and anchor to them from the Spanish Galleon, the Atocha," Baker said.

The administration added parking, beautified the city and many other things.

For Baker, his time in office was stimulating."For me, it was really a stimulating experience," Baker said. He said he had a great staff and worked well with Joe Pomar who was city manager at the time. "He was a wonderful city manager," Baker said.

Today: Baker is chairman of the board for Thompson Baker Agency. The company will have been around 90 years in 2015. He is currently chairman of the nonprofit foundation within Florida Association Insurance Agents.Baker also provides financial counseling to singles and couples in the area alongside his wife Lillian through their Fiscal Fitness Center. The goal of the program is to help people who are incurring financial stress in their relationship.

Len Weeks

Terms: 1995-2000

Legacy: Weeks entered into politics essentially because of parking issues. When he owned the Florida Cracker Cafe on St. George St. he saw firsthand the parking woes visitors and locals dealt with. He became a founding member of the Parking and Traffic committee and then became progressively more involved. He was elected to the city commission in 1994, and then mayor in 1995.

He is most proud of being one of the founders of "Nights of Life," now in its 21st year. He also established the Sister Cities relationships with Aviles and the island of Menorca and is still president of the committee. Another accomplishment was upgrading the street lighting in Lincolnville.

Weeks helped lay the groundwork for the parking garage by relocating two softball fields. "The city purchased 75 acres off Masters Drive to build a new ball field facility. We partnered with the county on this and in the end we accomplished getting a bigger parking area, building Project Swing, and establishing a special events field."

The restoration of Bridge of Lions was also on Weeks' watch. "It is such an icon for the city," he said.

His most contentious decision was to ban street entertainers on four blocks of St. George St. Weeks said at the time entertainers numbered 60-70 a day. That ordinance still stands.

"The most important thing I did was try to listen to the needs of the people - the citizens, the business owners, the visitors -and try to be a bridge to a solution."

Today: Weeks is the owner of Len Weeks Construction, Design & Development, general contractor and co-owner of Panache Salon with his wife Kristy. Weeks is sactively involved with many nonprofit organizations and committees.

George Gardner

Terms: 2002- 2006

Legacy: Gardner said without question the thing he is most proud of during his two terms as mayor is the establishment of a neighborhood associations program.

"Giving our residents a greater voice in city affairs [is my legacy]. I'm also proud of successfully moving the plan for a parking facility from the historic district - behind the Lightner building - to the Visitor Information Center and creating a world class welcome center for our visitors. Among many planning and zoning issues, putting entry corridor guidelines into our city code stands out," Gardner said.

Gardner's varied career includes 16 years in newspaper reporting, photography, editing. St. Augustine Code Enforcement and planning and zoning boards, co-owner/operator Charlotte Street Toy Shop in St. Augustine historic district, commissioner 2006-2008, publisher, The St. Augustine Report, weekly email newsletter. Married, three adult children.

Today: Since leaving office in 2008 Gardner has continued his weekly email newsletter on city government and community activities.