City Commission candidate Ko Robins says her experience as a flood insurance adjuster for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, her work in Tallahassee and her concerns about city spending are what motivated her to seek public office.
Robins is a candidate for St. Augustine City Commission Seat 4. She is running against Ashleigh Barnes and Cynthia Golos-Guergawi in a nonpartisan election for the seat occupied by Cynthia Garris, who has been elected mayor without opposition.
Unlike the Seat 5 election between Matt Brown and Julie Settle, this three-way contest will appear on the Aug. 18 primary ballot. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, then the top two vote-getters will face off in the Nov. 3 general election.
During an interview with the St. Augustine Record, Robins described a life before St. Augustine that included living in the Florida Keys and New Zealand following the Christchurch earthquakes. She returned to St. Johns County in 2016 shortly before Hurricanes Matthew and Irma hit Florida.
St. Augustine’s vulnerability to flooding
As a FEMA insurance adjuster, Robins helps homeowners recover after disasters by retrieving funds to rebuild in Florida, Texas and the Carolinas. She said that experience has given her a firsthand understanding of flooding, drainage issues and the importance of making decisions that impact not just homes, but entire neighborhoods.
While she said some of St. Augustine’s flooding challenges can’t be eliminated because of the city’s geography and vulnerability to tidal flooding and storms, she thinks that some of the city’s development decisions have worsened impact flooding.
“Elevated homes and road projects continue to alter drainage patterns and negatively affect neighboring properties,” she said. “Even though the city has made improvements since Matthew and Irma, it’s still not enough.”
Robins encouraged the city and its residents to prioritize drainage support, “maintenance is key,” pump station improvements, “I have one in my front yard,” and the necessary pursuit of FEMA and grant funding.
“The city needs to better understand flood mitigation and infrastructure planning for long-term resilience planning rather than short-term fixes,” she said. “Many residents underestimate the need and the importance of FEMA monies.”
The city’s growing budget
Robins also questioned whether residents are seeing proper returns from a city budget that she said has more than doubled in recent years.
“Our budget was $60 million six years ago,” she said. “Our budget as of 2025 is $126 million, but I don’t see double the infrastructure and double the services.”
If elected, Robins plans to conduct a closer review of city finances.
“Monies spent on travel, training, consultants and miscellaneous categories deserve greater scrutiny,” she said. “I will closely examine line-item spending and push for more transparency.”
Concerned about city finances, infrastructure and neighborhood conditions, Robins said St. Augustine’s appearance and maintenance, especially within its parks, has declined.
“And yet, the city budget has grown dramatically without residents seeing comparable improvements in services or infrastructure,” she said.
Robins is not concerned about the state’s effort to slash property taxes.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature have placed an initiative on the Nov. 3 general election ballot that would raise the homestead exemption on primary residences from $50,000, as it is now, to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. If passed by 60% of voters, it will significantly impact traditional revenue of local communities.
“We only have 3,000 homesteaded homes,” she said. “That’s less than 2%.”
Robins also pointed to her eight years of experience traveling to Tallahassee as a Republican State Committeewoman, saying she has developed relationships with lawmakers and local officials that could help secure additional grant and appropriations funding.
“The relationships that I have with people in the county and the state are important,” she said. “We want that money and those appropriations to come back.”
‘Tourism is critical,’ including Nights of Lights
She also expressed support for maintaining the city’s Nights of Lights celebration while continuing efforts to reduce the event’s impact on city residents.
“Tourism is critical to the local economy, so I don’t want to see Nights of Lights completely go away,” Robins said. “But traffic and the impact the event has on neighborhoods need to be better managed. I would like to see residents who want to come back and spend their money in the city.”
She said the “county and the city should be working together” for additional traffic control, parking solutions and transportation planning because “economic benefits extend well beyond city limits.”
Regarding public safety, Robins adamantly emphasized that the St. Augustine Police Department is understaffed, especially for a city that hosts a variety of major events that attract millions of tourists every year.
“We have about 63 police officers,” she said. “We should have at least 78, if not 100, in my opinion.”
According to Robins, additional staffing would improve morale and retention and would help officers avoid burnout caused by the city’s busy event schedule.
Cost of living in St. Augustine
St. Augustine’s cost of living and housing affordability also emerged as concern.
“I can’t tell you how many people I talk to that say they can’t afford to live here,” Robins said. “And these are people who had plans to retire here.”
She labeled Airbnbs as a problem.
“Residents have voiced concerns about quality-of-life issues and the loss of neighborhood character,” she said. “And some neighborhoods, like parts of Lincolnville and West Augustine, are really in poor condition. And our parks really need attention.”
Robins relayed a conversation that she had with tourists from Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, who described the city as “looking tired.”
Robins concluded by saying that she’s a candidate whose disaster recovery experience, state-level connections and emphasis on fiscal oversight would offer a different perspective on issues ranging from flooding and infrastructure to housing and tourism.
She said that she’s been giving back to the community for years, and she feels confident that she can do the same as a city commissioner.
Campaign finances
Robins has raised a total of $16,450, according to campaign finance reports filed with the St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections. The total includes a $3,000 loan from herself. She has spent $2,612.
This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Why FEMA adjuster Ko Robins is running for St. Augustine Commission
Reporting by Lucia Viti, St. Augustine Record / St. Augustine Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Lucia Viti, St. Augustine Record | USA TODAY Network
