JACKSONVILLE BEACH | In his third month as the Beaches newest part-time mayor, businessman Charlie Latham sat down with the Times-Union Thursday to talk about his early days in office, issues of concern and following in the path of his late father, two-term mayor Bill Latham.

Whats it been like to walk in your dads footsteps?

Its going to take me a while to earn a tenth of his reputation, but Im working real hard to do that.

Is there more to being mayor than you thought initially in terms of the amount of time it takes?

I expected to work this hard. But I expected also that Id be able to transition into it a little bit quicker. Theres a lot to read. Theres a lot to do. Theres a lot of people to meet. You cant really do that from your [business] office.

Whats the thing thats most concerned you that youve seen so far?

I would say probably the biggest concern I have right now is the relationship with Jacksonville. Im watching from the perspective of my two sister cities, Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach, going through this tipping fee issue [for hauling trash to the county landfill]. Jacksonville doesnt seem to be real responsive to their needs. Theyre talking about seven hundred and some thousand dollars in tipping fees implementing out of the blue. Who can do that in this economy? There needs to be more proactive leadership from Jacksonville to deal with these issues down at the beach.

Youve instituted having workshops [on city priorities]. What do you think the importance of them are?

One of the problems I think weve had in Jacksonville Beach is perception. I think weve got a great staff and theyve done a great job. But we need to make sure everybody understands that were actively engaged in their concerns and that were taking their concerns in when we make the decisions to govern Jacksonville Beach.

Tell me what your thoughts are on pension reform.

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The Beaches newest mayor talks about the job and the future