Gainer seeks school board seat
Port St. Joe resident Equillar Gainer has announced her intentions to seek election in the fall to the District 4 school board seat for the Gulf County Schools.
As it stands now, Gainer, 44, of 115 Liberty Street, will be facing off in the nonpartisan election against incumbent Marvin Davis, 69, of 324 Avenue B, and challenger Charles Gathers, 62, of 118 Liberty Street.
The candidate who receives the most votes in the Nov. 5 contest will emerge as the winner.
The following is an announcement statement provided by the Gainer campaign:
Hi, my name is Equillar “Gal” Gainer. I am running for Gulf County School Board, District 4 seat.
I am the daughter of Reverend Carl Bailey and Barbara Nelson Walker, both of whom graduated from Port St. Joe Jr.-Sr. High School.
I, too, attended Gulf County Schools, K-12 and graduated in the Class of 1997. After graduation, I attended Gulf Coast Community College with aspirations of earning a degree in education.
My husband is Johnny (J.J.) Gainer. We have shared a partnership and marriage for 25 years. I have three sons: Troy, who is employed by BCL Civil Contractors; Aiden is a sophomore at Florida Memorial College in Miami, as well as a licensed real estate agent; and Chance is a junior at Port St. Joe Jr.-Sr. High School. I am blessed with an amazing grandson, Blaze. And I have two stepsons: Rick and Jaylon.
I am currently employed by Gulf County Schools and Career Source Florida. During my 17 years at Gulf County Schools, I have worked as a cashier, bus driver, paraprofessional, and custodian. I also serve as vice president of the Gulf County Education Association (union) representing non-instructional staff. For 14 years at Career Source Florida, I have worked as an intern coordinator, early learners coordinator and a camp counselor. My previous work experience was with North Florida Child Development for six years as the Head Start Lead Teacher.
My husband and I have initiated and participated in countless community service efforts and recreational sports. I am a youth leader at New Life Christian Center. J.J. coached the Gene Raffield Football League for 12 years and coached Dixie Youth Baseball for nine years. Together, we have organized several community kickball events. Additionally, we have spearheaded community clean-up projects. We took great pride in transporting the varsity football players in their zeal to help community residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael.
Thank you for taking time to get to know me better. I look forward to meeting each of you face to face to ask for your support in my endeavor to serve and to occupy Gulf County School Board’s next District 4 seat.
Respectfully,
Equillar “Gal” Gainer
Each candidate for elected office in Gulf County is provided with the opportunity to run one announcement of their campaign in The Star free of cost. These announcements are submitted by the candidates’ campaigns and must be submitted in advance of qualifying week, June 10 through 14.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.