Last night I went with some neighbors to hear Donna Deegan, the first woman mayor of Jacksonville, speak at the Ponte Vedra Democrats club meeting.

I haven't interacted much with Donna since she was elected in July. I left X(Twitter) immediately after that. We would occasionally correspond by DM during the campaign, much as we did during her campaign for congress.

Since then, I've been content to watch and admire her work as mayor from a distance, over here in Saint Johns County.

The room was filled, and I got to speak a little with a friend, Erica Connor, who is one of Donna's assistants in the mayor's office. Erica and I were on the Soil and Water Conservation District together, and she ran Donna's campaign for congress the same year I ran for state representative. I wasn't sure if Erica had to commute into the office every day, or if she got to work from home occasionally, but she does the daily commute. She loves her new job, and I'm very happy for her.

The meeting began, Donna was introduced and she began going over her prepared remarks. She's looking around the room as she's speaking and when she gets to me she stops mid-sentence and says, "Well hello, Dave!"

I'd say it made my night, but it'd probably be more accurate to say that it's made my year. At least so far.

A little later on I got another shout-out. Someone asked a question about what her agenda was for the beaches, and she talked about how important the beaches were to Duval County; and then she said, "You're just going to have to close your ears, Dave, because I know you don't believe in this," and then went on to describe the "beach renourishment" efforts. I had a good laugh.

For what it's worth, the problem I have with "beach renourishment" is that it is, ultimately, a waste of money. If it were part of a comprehensive plan, to "buy time" while we implemented a long term effort at managed retreat, I'd feel better about it. As it is, we're ignoring a rapidly approaching reality that will incur more cost the longer we delay. But, as she stated a couple of times, "It's a process."

In any event, Donna is very happy in her new role and it shows. I liked all that she had to say, though I wish I shared her optimism about the future in Florida. She's a genuinely remarkable human being, and the entire region of northeast Florida is better off for her efforts.