politics of anti business and food truck bans

[BoldBoyOfTheSouth]

How come our Cowardly Mayor Brown has not been vocal against this issue and gives a veto threat?

Mayor Brown has to be one of the mostly indecisive and cowardly mayors in the country.

His lack of leadership and murky beliefs are hurting our city.

Councilman Brown is considering this legislation. Not Mayor Alvin Brown.

Mayor Brown could stop this legislation in its tracks with a veto threat. Then the council will need enough votes to over ride his veto.

BTW - Where does our cowardly Mayor Brown stand on this legislation?

[thelakelander]

How come our Cowardly Mayor Brown has not been vocal against this issue and gives a veto threat?

Mayor Brown has to be one of the mostly indecisive and cowardly mayors in the country.

His lack of leadership and murky beliefs are hurting our city.

Councilman Brown is considering this legislation. Not Mayor Alvin Brown.

Mayor Brown could stop this legislation in its tracks with a veto threat. Then the council will need enough votes to over ride his veto.

BTW - Where does our cowardly Mayor Brown stand on this legislation?

The Mayor's Office has bigger fish to fry at this point. This is something that the public should be able to kill well before reaching a vote by council.

[TheCat]

this is also the problem endemic to a city core where it is easier to use city policy and enforcement (and much cheaper) to destroy competition and change than it is to simply put in the work and investment yourself.

Right, we tend to think like guilds in Jacksonville. While we should be fighting to ensure there is freedom to trade we fight to ensure trade is limited to specific pathways.

Then, it seems, we call that very limiting pathway conservative and/or libertarian, even.

[urbaknight]

It's funny, every time a positive is publicly pointed out about Jax, some idiot in charge tries to pull the plug on said positivity.

Another example: remember when the Avondale trolley ran all day like a bus? The news did a story about it. They highlighted a man that was saving nearly $2,000 a year by not having to drive. But shortly after that, JTA cut that trolley. I believe it was because the GOB's friends in the auto industries were losing nearly $2,000 a year from a choice rider.

This is the kind of town we live in.

Let's do an experiment MJ. Find something that we have that works really well. Write an article about it. But don't stop there. Contact the media, first local, then national, and finally world. Let's just see how fast the city ruins that great thing that works so well.

Then we can go to international media and tell the world how incompetent our leaders really are.

Embarrass our leaders into changing.

[TheCeleryStalker]

this is also the problem endemic to a city core where it is easier to use city policy and enforcement (and much cheaper) to destroy competition and change than it is to simply put in the work and investment yourself.

Right, we tend to think like guilds in Jacksonville. While we should be fighting to ensure there is freedom to trade we fight to ensure trade is limited to specific pathways.

Then, it seems, we call that very limiting pathway conservative and/or libertarian, even.

Interesting that the "progressives" are all for big government legislating things out of existence that they are against, yet crying foul and lamenting government interference when it is something they are for.  There is a word for that.  I think it starts with the letter "H".

[icarus]

Mayor Brown could stop this legislation in its tracks with a veto threat. Then the council will need enough votes to over ride his veto.

BTW - Where does our cowardly Mayor Brown stand on this legislation?

I'm sure if you point a camera at him he will let you know. 

[TheCeleryStalker]

this is also the problem endemic to a city core where it is easier to use city policy and enforcement (and much cheaper) to destroy competition and change than it is to simply put in the work and investment yourself.

Right, we tend to think like guilds in Jacksonville. While we should be fighting to ensure there is freedom to trade we fight to ensure trade is limited to specific pathways.

Then, it seems, we call that very limiting pathway conservative and/or libertarian, even.

Interesting that the "progressives" are all for big government legislating things out of existence that they are against, yet crying foul and lamenting government interference when it is something they are for.  There is a word for that.  I think it starts with the letter "H".

dumb.  this isnt about politics, this is about trade, commerce, and whether or not younger people will be able to make an opportunity for themselves in this new economy.  You don't have to have a political opinion to decide whether or not small businesses are good for a city.

If this wasn't about politics we wouldn't be having this discussion.  If this was about trade and commerce, the councilman in question would be absolutely embarassed that he ever put this on the table. 

[Ocklawaha]

It's funny, every time a positive is publicly pointed out about Jax, some idiot in charge tries to pull the plug on said positivity.

Another example: remember when the Avondale trolley ran all day like a bus? The news did a story about it. They highlighted a man that was saving nearly $2,000 a year by not having to drive. But shortly after that, JTA cut that trolley. I believe it was because the GOB's friends in the auto industries were losing nearly $2,000 a year from a choice rider.

This is the kind of town we live in.

Let's do an experiment MJ. Find something that we have that works really well. Write an article about it. But don't stop there. Contact the media, first local, then national, and finally world. Let's just see how fast the city ruins that great thing that works so well.

Then we can go to international media and tell the world how incompetent our leaders really are.

Embarrass our leaders into changing.

I like it my friend, however this already happened once. The Skyway (the one I planned according to my colleges in the Colombian Railroad industry, LOL) made INTERNATIONAL TV! Talk about trashing a city! Oh they ALL KNOW WHERE JACKSONVILLE IS NOW!

[mtraininjax]

BTW - Where does our cowardly Mayor Brown stand on this legislation?

You should get an answer from all the "I'm with Alvin" fans out here. Or not, which would be more of the same, business as usual.

[Bridges]

If this wasn't about politics we wouldn't be having this discussion.  If this was about trade and commerce, the councilman in question would be absolutely embarassed that he ever put this on the table. 

I think you may very well see that. 

[Charles Hunter]

I don't know how embarrassed he is - didn't seem so on the news last night defending his proposal.  Maybe today's meeting will change his mind (haven't read the live blog yet).

[thelakelander]

I was at today's meeting.  It seemed like they all tried to back track away from that horrible piece of written legislation, which obviously didn't include any input from people in the industry. CM Brown's issue seems to be more about enforcement of an illegal operation in his district than food trucks in general. Redman's issue seems to be about restricting market rate competition and forcing downtown workers to eat out of places like Quinzo's and Subway. Doing that is only doing to sink DT further by reducing foot traffic and downtown's attractiveness because you can't force people to eat bland ham sandwiches a regular basis. My guess is when one of those places eventually close, a new business better prepared for today's world will probably go in.

One thing that was pretty obvious tonight is that the local food truck industry has significantly grown without the help of public handouts since the first rally we threw a few years ago. There were at least 6 or 7 people who spoke that were in the process of building trucks themselves. There were at least three more people who spoke who owned trucks and restaurants that I wasn't aware of initially. It was also cool to see many of these enterprises being started by young residents. Kind of makes one feel excited about Jax's future, as long as we don't run them out of business and out of town.

[fieldafm]

What's awesome is that a food truck owner would probably jump into Subway's space in a heartbeat. You'd replace a corporate chain with a locally owned small business that has a much more unique menu and keeps more money locally.

[thelakelander]

If that ever happened, we would still have access to the $5 foot long, since they can be found in several strip malls and Daily's gas stations all over town.

[ronchamblin]

What's awesome is that a food truck owner would probably jump into Subway's space in a heartbeat. You'd replace a corporate chain with a locally owned small business that has a much more unique menu and keeps more money locally.

We are on the same page on this fieldafm.  The food truck owner jumping into a failed brick and mortar place would be a great event, and would indeed add unique food and the benefit of a locally owned operation. 

But ...why must these food truck operators wait for Subway to fail? 

Hopefully, some of the food truck operators will actually "open" in one of the long-empty spaces in the core, without having to wait for a failure.     

Isn't this what we really want?..... Filling brick and mortar spaces with businesses... producing exciting food  .... increasing the tax base? 

"Building occupancy is king" .... and is a fundamental measure of real progress toward the goal of infill and revitalization of the core.

Food trucks alone ... in excess ..... every day? 

Nothing really good happens for the long-term goal of revitalization until residents and businesses, including food truck operators, actually "occupy" spaces and buildings in the urban core.  Therefore, we should use caution that no condition evolves to discourage potential building "occupations".