FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – After going more than three months without a city attorney, leaders in Fernandina Beach picked a new one Thursday.
The decision is crucial for the community as the new attorney will play a key role in guiding the city’s legal matters.
There were three finalists for the job, but Monika Swiecinska, a Jacksonville area associate trial attorney for Farmers Insurance Company, withdrew from consideration before Thursday morning’s one-on-one interviews.
Following the interviews, Fernandina Beach commissioners voted 3-2 to select Teresa Prince, managing partner for the law firm Tomassetti and Prince, who has a law degree from the University of Florida, to be the new city attorney.
She got the job over Rene Rogers, a staff attorney at Kentucky Real Estate Authority, who has advanced law degrees from the University of Miami and Regent University School of Law.
Prince replaces former city attorney Tammi Bach, who was fired in February.
News4JAX reported then that Bach was the longest-serving charter officer and highest-paid employee with the city at the time of her termination.
She became city attorney in November 2007.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to relieve Bach of her duties during a meeting in January. She did not address the commission during that meeting before the vote. She was on administrative leave for 30 days before she was officially terminated.
Harrison Poole has been serving as the interim city attorney since then on a part-time basis.
Fernandina Beach commissioners terminated Dale Martin as city manager in 2023 in a similar fashion.
Prince’s contract is being drafted, and commissioners will vote on it at their June 3 meeting.
