What’s your name and what fills your time?

Chris Hoffman. So I go by Chris but anyone who knew me growing up calls me Chrissy! My dad was in the Navy…we moved to Jacksonville when I was 5 and I was lucky enough to be in the 2nd year of Neptune Beach Elementary School! We moved away when I was 10, back at 15 and I went to Fletcher High School.

My claim to fame was being in the marching band which I continued in to college at the University of Florida! I moved back to work for the American Cancer Society’s Jacksonville Beach office in 2002. So while I’ve had the benefit of moving around and the adaptability that the Navy brings, military families can pick their home town and we picked Jacksonville Beach!

Anything special going on for this summer?

Well, for anyone who hasn’t turned on the news recently, it’s an election year! I’ve been honored to serve as the Mayor of Jacksonville Beach—the first female mayor!—since 2020. I am now running for my 2nd term and the summer is prime time for getting out, meeting voters, knocking on doors, etc. It’s also a busy time for the City as we review our annual budget, revise our Land Development Code…ok,

I know this doesn’t sound fun to everyone but I really love it. We live in a great city and for any fault or flaw you may find with it, you find a million more things to love about it!

While I don’t do it often enough, one of my favorite things to do in the summer is a sunrise SUP. When it’s “Lake Atlantic” and there are dolphins everywhere, it’s just the best place on earth. I’ve only had one shark encounter but if you just chant “stay on the board, stay on the board” to yourself, you’ll be fine! I am also in discussions to (finally) learn to surf!

I worked at Aqua East Surf Shop in high school and college but somehow never took it up! I’ve heard it’s never too late but I’ll be the judge of that!

Any hobbies or interests worth telling us about?

I love to travel. Last year we went on a cruise to Antarctica and this year we are going to the Arctic. It’s perfect for summer when I’m about done with the heat and humidity here! I try to have a little bit of adventure when I travel and I’m really big on trying local and possibly unusual foods!

I’d really like to pick up a solid hobby—I’ve had a few false starts with golf so I feel like that’s the most likely to stick someday! Just like Aqua East, I worked at TPC Sawgrass for 6 years and still managed to not pick it up!

What’s one thing (funny, different, cool) that many might not know about you?

I was on Jeopardy! I come from a family with a long tradition of playing Trivial Pursuit for fun and we watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy after dinner every night growing up! For many years, we also had a trivia team that got together every week at a local restaurant. We were normally “in the money” and it was a really fun way to get together regularly with friends. In fact, our team name was a nod to Saturday Night’s “Celebrity Jeopardy.” (You’ll have to ask, I’m not volunteering it!)

Anyway, I was in the mood to check off some bucket list items. ALL I wanted to do was audition, I definitely didn’t want to actually be on the show! But I did the online quiz and a few months later got called to a test in Clearwater. Six of us (out of about 200) passed and we were “eligible.” Again, that was a mission accomplished for me but a few months later, got the call and off to Sony Pictures Studios I went! It was a VERY cool experience…I lost but I really treasure the opportunity to have met Alex Trebek and been a part of this household institution!

How do you like living on the First Coast?

I love coming across the bridge back to the beach. The Intracoastal is so beautiful and seeing all the way down to the ocean is just an incredible gift that we have here. I love that flip flops are totally acceptable really anywhere and I can get most places I need to go on a beach cruiser. I’m a big fan of supporting our amazing local businesses and I’m always so proud when I see our businesses supporting each other.

Anything else that you would like to tell the community?

I’ve been the Executive Director of the Beaches Museum for 10 years. I’m SO proud of this organization, our volunteers, staff, programs, exhibits, etc. It’s SUCH a gem in our community but is still relatively undiscovered. Admission is FREE and I really hope anyone reading this will use this as an excuse to come visit!

Our next capital campaign will be to redesign our “permanent” exhibit which is all about our beaches! We expect to need about $1 million to do it right and we know it will be something the entire community will be proud of.

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Mike Kaufmann

Mike is a native First Coaster and was a leading figure in surfing and skateboarding for most of his life. After promoting music for many years on the local music scene, Mike now brings a unique perspective to FirstCoast.Life as a contributing writer.

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