Mini Blog, Council Meeting Lee Delivers Slapdown to Corrine Brown

[sheclown]

What happened with the hens?

[Cheshire Cat]

Not sure about the hens, but here is some info on the Gateway issue. 

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-08-13/story/jacksonville-city-council-votes-move-elections-site-out-gateway

By Steve Patterson   

A divided Jacksonville City Council voted to move an elections center at Gateway Shopping Center to Imeson Park Boulevard, a shift that opponents condemned as discouraging minority voter involvement.

"It is clear to me that this is an attempt to disenfranchise African-American voters in Duval County," U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown told the council before it voted 13-6 to lease a site at One Imeson, a former Sears catalog center.

Brown, who has operated a campaign office elsewhere at Gateway, said she would look for ways to stop the shift to Imeson, including the chance of suing, but said her next move was unclear.

Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said he would try to lease space at Gateway for an early-voting site during next year's elections.

Holland has been paying $51,000 a month operating the center with no lease.

He told the council he could save $3.3 million by signing a 10-year lease at Imeson, though Gateway's owner, Terranova Corp., offered steep cuts in its current rent if the agency would stay.

"Taxpayers will save. That's the good thing about either proposal," Councilman Clay Yarborough said.

Holland and Mayor Alvin Brown's office disagreed over which would be the best deal for taxpayers, using different frames of measure that showed both options were within less than $100,000 over a decade.

The mayor hadn't decided Tuesday night whether to sign the lease ordinance, veto it or let it become law without signing, said Chris Hand, his chief of staff.

Holland said he wants to give Terranova 30 days' notice and leave Gateway by Sept. 30, staging the center's equipment at Imeson while work goes on to finish the warehouse site. He said the Imeson center should be ready to open by Feb. 1.

Holland said only three or four people work at the election center most of the year, making it mainly a warehousing operation where poll workers are trained before elections.

There's no reason moving the elections center should dampen voter turnout, Holland said. He said the city owns property within a half-mile that could be used for early voting if a deal can't be reach with Terranova. He said leasing space for early voting should cost only about $1,500 per year, because at early-voting sites, his office leases only a few hundred feet for a couple of weeks.

Gateway advocates saw the move more gravely.

"It's not necessary, it's not required, nor is it smart to move this facility," Councilman Reggie Brown said.   "...Voter suppression is never a good thing, whether it's the appearance, or whether it's a fact."

Voting with Reggie Brown to oppose the move were Greg Anderson, John Crescimbeni, Kimberly Daniels, Johnny Gaffney and Warren Jones.

Gateway is in a largely African-American area a few miles from downtown and the veteran congresswoman said moving the elections center would send exclusionary messages to neighborhoods that have history of voter ballots being discounted.

Before the vote, about 25 ministers and members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference stood behind Corrine Brown to show support for her arguments.

The congresswoman recounted the number of federally funded projects she has supported to Jacksonville's benefit, and asked lawmakers to consider that.

"Partnership. That's what government is all about," she said.

Asked later about the message the vote sent, she answered: "Lose my number."

steve.patterson@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-08-13/story/jacksonville-city-council-votes-move-elections-site-out-gateway#ixzz2bxmTP7In

[Cheshire Cat]

And this video from New4Jax


http://www.news4jax.com/news/congresswoman-fights-against-vote-to-move-election-center/-/475880/21460730/-/qifqwv/-/index.html

[Intuition Ale Works]

What happened with the hens?

Still has to go to Planning Commission, LUZ and then the whole council

[Cheshire Cat]

That is what happened last night Ben.  Full council voted for the Imeson legislation.  Now it goes to Alvin who can sign the legislation, veto it or let it sit without signing it until it becomes law on it's own.  This one decision will be politically volatile for Mayor Brown and I do believe will impact his next election no matter what his decision is. 

This goes beyond the building site and even beyond "disenfranchisement".  What has folks worked up, especially Corrine is that her methods for moving minority voters and organizing them to action have now been understood as problematic to some.  I see this really as a challenge to Corrine and her style of leadership which is pretty much "do as I say".  She has been a backroom "Kingpin" in local politics for decades and that has made not only some political players who oppose her influence in Black politics very unhappy but others within the community.  The chagrin that is felt toward her methodology is not just coming from the non Black community but from within it.  There are many who have tired of Corrine telling everyone who should run for what office, when and what will happen to them and their careers if they do not do as they are told. She is her own little "demigod" in Jacksonville.  This issue is forcing another that runs deep.

[Cheshire Cat]

Quote:  Denise Lee

The process has been political and was punctuated by Council member Lee's final comments before the vote. She voted in one of three committees that heard the legislation and sat in on the other two, each time in favor of One Imeson.

"It is unfortunate that the economic facts and merits of this issue have been lost in the devious game of politics," she told her colleagues.

She said the behind-the-scenes discussions have led to political threats on her from groups that favored Gateway, saying she would "suffer the consequences" if she didn't choose the site.

"Shame on anyone to turn this into a racial issue when it is absolutely not," Lee said


http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=540250

[Debbie Thompson]

The hens....I tuned in during the end of this discussion.  A couple ill-informed people talked about being overrun with loud messy hens, diseases, poop and shelters being overburdened with hens (Hello? Have they noticed the thouands dogs and cats people abandon? Or allow to run wild and poop on neighbors lawns?)   

Others refuted that hens are quiet, go to bed without being asked at dark, are easy to care for, eat kitchen scraps and bugs, and are overall wonderful pets.

No vote last night, but if this is important to you, be there at the next public hearing.   The opponents are weighing in heavily with misinformation and the very badly prepared Planning Department report which criticizes the ordinance without citing any data from other Florida cities who allow backyard hens.  (At least according to Hens in Jax.)  People are throwing around the "public safety" card as if hens are somehow more dangerous than pit bulls and rottweilers, which are not banned in Jacksonville. 

If I had to choose between my neighbors having four hens or a large, cranky dog with (to use Crissie Cudd's joke) poop the size of Buicks...I'm choosing the hens.

[Intuition Ale Works]

That is what happened last night Ben.  Full council voted for the Imeson legislation.  Now it goes to Alvin who can sign the legislation, veto it or let it sit without signing it until it becomes law on it's own.  This one decision will be politically volatile for Mayor Brown and I do believe will impact his next election no matter what his decision is. 

This goes beyond the building site and even beyond "disenfranchisement".  What has folks worked up, especially Corrine is that her methods for moving minority voters and organizing them to action have now been understood as problematic to some.  I see this really as a challenge to Corrine and her style of leadership which is pretty much "do as I say".  She has been a backroom "Kingpin" in local politics for decades and that has made not only some political players who oppose her influence in Black politics very unhappy but others within the community.  The chagrin that is felt toward her methodology is not just coming from the non Black community but from within it.  There are many who have tired of Corrine telling everyone who should run for what office, when and what will happen to them and their careers if they do not do as they are told. She is her own little "demigod" in Jacksonville.  This issue is forcing another that runs deep.

Diane-

I was responding to the question about hens.

[sheclown]

Quote:  Denise Lee

The process has been political and was punctuated by Council member Lee's final comments before the vote. She voted in one of three committees that heard the legislation and sat in on the other two, each time in favor of One Imeson.

"It is unfortunate that the economic facts and merits of this issue have been lost in the devious game of politics," she told her colleagues.

She said the behind-the-scenes discussions have led to political threats on her from groups that favored Gateway, saying she would "suffer the consequences" if she didn't choose the site.

"Shame on anyone to turn this into a racial issue when it is absolutely not," Lee said


http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=540250

Who owns the shopping center? 

[Cheshire Cat]

I see Ben.  Pardon me!   

For everyone's enjoyment.  Chicken Peace Keepers   http://www.wimp.com/chickenpolice/

[Cheshire Cat]

Quote:  Denise Lee

The process has been political and was punctuated by Council member Lee's final comments before the vote. She voted in one of three committees that heard the legislation and sat in on the other two, each time in favor of One Imeson.

"It is unfortunate that the economic facts and merits of this issue have been lost in the devious game of politics," she told her colleagues.

She said the behind-the-scenes discussions have led to political threats on her from groups that favored Gateway, saying she would "suffer the consequences" if she didn't choose the site.

"Shame on anyone to turn this into a racial issue when it is absolutely not," Lee said


http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=540250

I believe she threatened to take her favors elsewhere.  "Lose my number"?  Usually statements like this are made in whispers, not broadcast city-wide.

HELLO!  lol  Funny but not.

[carpnter]

I think going out an buying an existing urban core warehouse that has access to major bus routes makes the most sense long term. Since that wasn't an option, assuming everything holds up, Imeson does need better bus service because voter access to that site is about as limited as it can get.  Gateway also needs a makeover.  It's got great visibility to I-95 and basically anchors the Northside's largest commercial corridor.  If we can get it right, it could help spur the revitalization of the entire Norwood strip. Yet, I'm not sure that makeover is sustainable with the old JCPenney space being used as a warehouse.

Isn't the Imeson site only going to be used as a warehouse and not an office?  If it is only going to be used as a warehouse to store equipment and not act as a voting location, it really doesn't need bus service does it?

[Cheshire Cat]

I think going out an buying an existing urban core warehouse that has access to major bus routes makes the most sense long term. Since that wasn't an option, assuming everything holds up, Imeson does need better bus service because voter access to that site is about as limited as it can get.  Gateway also needs a makeover.  It's got great visibility to I-95 and basically anchors the Northside's largest commercial corridor.  If we can get it right, it could help spur the revitalization of the entire Norwood strip. Yet, I'm not sure that makeover is sustainable with the old JCPenney space being used as a warehouse.

Isn't the Imeson site only going to be used as a warehouse and not an office?  If it is only going to be used as a warehouse to store equipment and not act as a voting location, it really doesn't need bus service does it?

Yes, it will be to store the equipment but could also be used as a voting site.  Jerry Holland went on record saying that Gateway could still be an early voting site if the council provides funding for such.  Corrine is bemoaning the fact that her kingdom anchored by her office at Gateway is being disassembled. 

He told Council the center is not an economic engine for the Gateway neighborhood – a position Corrine Brown and several Council members argued – and that the Gateway site could still be an early voting site should Council approve and Terranova Corp., Gateway's owner, is reasonable in negotiating short-term rent.

Holland after the vote said the early voting site would be needed for about 16 days, require about 400 square feet and a ballpark rate should be "no more than $1,500" total for the terms.

[Dog Walker]

Corrine was definitely issuing threats of not "delivering" as much if the vote went against Gateway.  I was amazed at how open and blunt she was about it.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Isn't that about the time most people in power start to really lose their grasp?

When they actually believe that they are truly above the laws.

She's probably being so open and blunt because she probably truly believes that there won't be any repercussions from it.  Will there?  Time will tell.