The 2008 Local Government Management Internship program was hosted by the city of Fernandina Beach, Florida (Mike Czymbor, city manager).  After an 11-year break, the small community located on Amelia Island (off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida) was proud to once again host the students from the Wittenberg University program. In close proximity to good seafood and sparkling seas, the students were happy to be there as well!

2008 LGMIs outside Fernandina Beach City Hall

The LGMIs attend a city commission meeting

Interns at Singleton's Seafood Shack

After taking some time to get used to the island community and its local government, the students became fully immersed in their coursework and projects. Some projects taken on included creating programming for a citywide cable TV access channel, performing a comparative analysis of green building policies, and creating a marketing package to include Fernandina Beach's airport, golf course, and marina. Most of the work had students coordinating with each other, as well as different departments within Fernandina Beach's local government. 

Almost immediately, the interns were able to attend a city commission meeting. This gave them an idea of the major issues on the agenda for the city, and showed them how the government operated. Detailed entries and more photos are available on the Wittenberg LGMI blog.

One of the interns' projects centered around the creation of a ferry system to provide citizen access to Georgia's Cumberland Island from Fernandina Beach. Currently, the only access point for travelers to Cumberland Island is located on the coastal town of St. Mary's, Georgia. St. Mary's relies heavily on its tourism industry, and they believe that the creation of a new ferry system from Fernandina Beach would negatively impact their economy. In a true "welcome to local government" moment, this debate made its way into the local papers - in the form of an article outlining the concerns felt by St. Mary's business people. The interns, with help from Fernandina Beach marina manager Coleman Langshaw, drafted a response to those concerns, which can be read here.

Though it may not appear so, the interns actually had some free time to enjoy themselves in Fernandina Beach and the surrounding communities. They were able to see a Jacksonville Suns minor league baseball game, enjoy fresh seafood at Singleton's Seafood Shack, and take a weekend excursion to the "controversial" Cumberland Island!

In an LGMI first, the current group of interns was visited by the "original" Fernandina Beach LGMI group!  Eleven years ago, 15 interns participated in the LGMI program in Fernandina Beach - in 2008 three of them returned for a long weekend vacation. All three alumni, now well into their government careers, were able to provide advice to the new interns and share their perspective on the community and the LGMI program.

The 2008 Wittenberg interns' service has come to an end, and can be considered a successful learning and bonding experience for all those involved. You can read the entire 2008 LGMI blog online. For more information about the program, visit the LGMI page at icma.org/nextgen. To learn more about hosting the Local Government Management interns in your community, contact Rob Carty at ICMA or Rob Baker at Wittenberg.