John P. Regan
John Patrick Regan joined the City of St. Augustine in May 1998 as the Utilities Director. He was promoted to Chief Operations Officer in November 2003. As the Chief Operations Officer, he worked in all areas of public administration, but his greatest challenge was parking and traffic management issues. In April 2010, John was promoted to City Manager by a unanimous vote of the City Commission and retired from this position in June 2023. He is well regarded for his innovations and creativity in reducing the costs of government operations and public consensus building.
John came to the City from Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) where he worked in engineering, management, and administration over a ten-year period. Between GRU and previous work experience, he has extensive expertise in hydrogeology, water resource planning, water and wastewater treatment, utilities and construction. John is a professional engineer licensed with the State of Florida and has published numerous articles on research and development of engineering technology and public utility management issues.
A native of Miami, John graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering and a minor in Environmental Sciences in 1985.
John is active in the community in his service on the Board of Directors for the United Way of St. Johns County, the Rotary Club of St. Augustine and as a member of the Board of Advocates for the University of Florida Historic Preservation Department. Previously, he served on the Board of Directors for the St. Francis House, a homeless shelter.
In 2004, John was presented with the Annual Award for the Preservation of St. Augustine, Inc. This award was in recognition of outstanding service in the field of historic preservation.
In 2016 John was awarded the medal of the Order of Isabella the Catholica by King Felipe VI, Spain. This recognition was for his continuous work on the cultural relationship between the United States and Spain culminating in the 450th anniversary of the founding of the City of St. Augustine.
Within the last few years, John has been actively lecturing on the importance of historic preservation in its relationship to other municipal issues such as taxation and fighting crime. He will talk with anyone who will listen.
John has been married to Felicia Regan for 32 years; they have two adult children.