St. Johns County Administrator, Michael D. Wanchick, and St. Johns County Sheriff, David P. Shoar, recently appeared before an audience of new County Commissioners from throughout Florida to discuss the benefits of County Commissions, County Administration, and the sheriff's office establishing and maintaining meaningful, positive, and long-term working relationships that allow them to better serve the community as a whole.

"We are all pieces of the same puzzle working together toward the same goal of providing a high quality of life for our residents," said Wanchick. "The whole of our working relationship becomes greater than just the sum of its parts and we can truly provide a higher level of service for the community when we work together and maintain a positive relationship." 

Speaking at the request of the Florida Association of Counties, Wanchick and Shoar addressed the crowd of approximately 30 new commissioners and staff members at the organization's annual workshop for incoming elected officials in Gainesville, FL. Wanchick and Shoar discussed the importance of public perception and how the behavior of elected officials, administration, and the sheriff can greatly impact how their employees, residents, and surrounding communities perceive the community as a whole. In addition, they offered examples of local governmental entities that had not maintained positive working relationships and the impact it had on their ability to efficiently and effectively serve the community

"In Florida, the Office of the Sheriff is both a constitutionally elected and independent office apart from the County Government.  This does not indicate that the entities should not operate with mutual respect and understanding for one another.  As we have seen elsewhere, struggles can begin that are not beneficial to the community as a whole, or do not lend themselves to a more effective and efficient continuity of government," Shoar said. "St. Johns County is in a far better place, because of the relationships we have fostered in order to serve our communities."

Speaking from more than 60 years of combined public service experience, Wanchick and Shoar discussed the benefit of having mutual respect for the difficulty of the other's position and working together even when they may not be on the same side of any particular issue. A shared understanding that their roles are fundamentally intertwined and the ultimate success of one side of the equation is dependent upon the support and success of the other, has created an unprecedented synergy in St. Johns County, according to Wanchick and Shoar. In addition, the partnership philosophy trickles down through both organizations as department directors and frontline personnel have modeled the behavior of cooperation, rather than conflict, and continually work together on shared projects.

The shared message of unity, respect, and professionalism, was well received by the up-and-coming freshmen County Commissioners. As a result, Wanchick and Shoar have been asked by the Florida Association of Counties to appear at an additional upcoming conference.

The St. Augustine Amphitheatre has been nominated by industry leaders for two prestigious awards - The 2014 Pollstar Concert Industry Award in the category of Red Rocks Award for Best Small Outdoor Venue and the 2014 Venues Today Hall of Headlines in the category of News.

Pollstar is the only trade publication covering the worldwide concert industry. Pollstar supplies in-depth information to every professional concert promoter, booking agent, artist manager, facility executive and every other entity involved in the live entertainment business. Every year since 1984, Pollstar has invited a small exclusive group of industry professionals to consider nominations in specific categories for the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards. The St. Augustine Amphitheatre was nominated by this exclusive group of industry professionals for the prestigious Red Rocks Award which recognizes the Best Small Outdoor Venue (amphitheater or festival concert site under 10,000 seats). Other venues nominated for the 2014 award are the Greek Theatre (Berkley, CA), Greek Theatre (Los Angeles, CA), Meadowbrook (Gilford, NH), Santa Barbara Bowl (Santa Barbara, CA), The Woods at Fontanel (Whites Creek, TN) and Filene Center at Wolf Trap (Vienna, VA). Winners are determined by votes from the international readership of Pollstar. The St. Augustine Amphitheatre was previously nominated for the Red Rocks Award in 2010.

The second industry award nomination comes from Venues Today, a leading international trade publication that covers the business side of entertainment and sports, particularly as it relates to venues. The Venues Today 2014 Hall of Headlines Awards recognizes headline-making people and events that changed the industry's thinking in 2014 in the areas of News, Bookings, Ops & Tech, Marketing and Concessions. The St. Augustine Amphitheatre was nominated for the News Award for "making headlines with an impressive economic impact on the oldest city in the nation... showing the venue's total economic impact of $17.3 million and $10.4 million in total value added." Other nominees for the News Award include Mike Cerha (VP of Venues & Entertainment OSEG, TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario), John Langford and Peter Duthie (Chief Executive and Director of Live Entertainment, SSE Hydro, Glasgow Scotland), Dave Scott (President of Comcast-Spectacor) and Doug Thornton (Executive VP of SMG). Winners are determined by Venues Today subscribers and the Venues Today staff. This will be the St. Augustine Amphitheatre's first Venues Today Hall of Headlines Awards nomination for News.

"We knew we were having a great year from the all amazing acts that we hosted and the record-breaking number of concert attendees and sold-out shows," said Ryan Murphy, General Manager of the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. "It's extremely exciting to add this level of industry recognition to the tremendous support we receive from the community and to the praise we hear time and time again from the artists, managers and promoters that visit the Amphitheatre."

Keep an eye on the St. Augustine Amphitheatre website and facebook page for updates on these nominations! The St. Augustine Amphitheatre is owned and operated by the St. Johns County Cultural Events Division, under the leadership of General Manager Ryan Murphy. Please visit www.staugamphitheatre.com for more information. 

The Main, Bartram Trail, Hastings, and Southeast branch libraries are now offering notary services. "Our patrons have come to expect that the library is a one-stop location for many types of services, and offering to notarize basic documents such as oaths, bills of sale, and acknowledgement of a signature, fits into that service model," said Library Director, Debra Rhodes Gibson. "Notary service easily folds into the many services offered at St. Johns County Public Libraries."

While the libraries strive to provide this service during all operating hours, it is recommended the public call ahead to ensure a notary will be available during their visit. A photo ID is required to have documents notarized, and a fee of $3 for each item is due at the time of service. Library notaries will not provide service if the customer, document, or circumstances of the request raise any issue of authenticity, ambiguity, or uncertainty. Library notaries do not offer legal advice, and they will not leave county property to perform notary services. For more information about this new service, visit the "Policies and Plans" link at www.sjcpls.org or contact Harold George at 904.827.6928.

Instagram, a mobile photo-sharing service, will enable the County to share pictures regarding local services and facilities. YouTube, a video-sharing website, will allow the County to share informational videos and public service announcements concurrently airing on GTV and the County's online streaming service. Those interested in connecting with St. Johns County through social media are encouraged to do the following:

• Subscribe to St. Johns County on YouTube
• Follow St. Johns County Government on Instagram
• Like St. Johns County Government Connection on Facebook
• Follow St. Johns County on Twitter