Rummell: One Spark is not a 'turning point' for Downtown Jacksonville

[simms3]

Also, *if* Rummell's primary goal is to receive public financing or funding down the road for his dream downtown project (whatever that is), ok?  Every city has governments influenced by powerful deep-pocketed interests.  Seriously?  I'd rather have the city cow-towing to a guy like Rummell than your average local SS stick subdivision developer or a guy like Toney Sleiman.  Wouldn't we all?

Okay, but if securing public funding is the goal, what is different about that?  We have poured billions into downtown over the years and not seen the desired turn around.  The strategy for downtown has got to be more than "throw money at it".  You use the word cow-towing to describe the dynamic between the city and Rummell.  For me it is rather about whose ideas we chose to empower with tax dollars and city efforts.  What is he offering that we have not heard before?  The backside of this and Rummells influence has also meant having Alvin Brown as our mayor.  While we talk about funding for downtown, the biggest elephant in the room that stands to ruin us financially is the unresolved pension issue which Brown is incapable of resolving and lacks the leadership to do so.  To my view the people of Jacksonville need to also recognize that as a factor and a result of Rummells influence on local politics.  We will be in worse shape financially after Brown than before him.  All that glitters is not gold or money in the bank.  While Rummell was able to get Brown into office with his support and see the creation of the DIA, we quickly saw that funding downtown the way he and others wanted was not going to happen with the pension issue and other funding shortfalls hanging over our heads.  When the issue of funding the DIA came before the council, they slashed the funding in a big way.  How is that ever going to be different with no resolve to our biggest financial burden. 

And again, I don't think you get it (from this latest post).  I'm moving on from this thread.

[Cheshire Cat]

Okay Simms, what is Rummells big idea for downtown? I see what he is trying to do and well know that anything that even looks like support for the revitalization for downtown is something most members of this forum are keenly focused on. I too would dearly love to see downtown alive and vital so tell me Simms, what are his new innovations?  Are we just supposed to follow the downtown pied piper?  What is the big plan?  What has the DIA brought to the mix in the way of new ideas to change the face of downtown?  I am waiting to hear an answer but am stuck in this echo chamber that would have me agree to everyone else's view of the matter.  lol   I am looking far beneath the surface here at local politics and who holds the reigns.  It would appear that you and some others just don't get that which to some degree is why folks stay stuck in an endless cycle of high hopes and disappointment when it comes to the actions taken by our city regarding downtown, not to mention other areas of great importance.   Seriously, I know there are really no new innovations or ideas offered so far by Rummell or the DIA.  We are still stuck at more money to solve the problems and I am reminded that discussion in the face of a desire to remain tied to the status quo and popular opinion is rather futile when it comes to demanding the needed awareness and changes of the hidden brokering of power and influence that is Jacksonville.  I have said all that I intend upon saying in this regard.  I know when I am wasting my time.  I had forgot how that happens more times than not in online discussions.  Either agree with the most vocal or be hounded with the reasons why you must agree with the most vocal.  I return the discussion to all of you.  Have at it. 

[CityLife]

Why on earth would Rummell or anyone with their own personal/business plans for downtown share them with the public so they can be stolen or duplicated? I have a development idea that has a maybe 25% chance of being accomplished someday, but I'm not financially ready to act on it. I'm confident that the option will still be there in 3-5 years when it is more attainable for me...but I sure as heck haven't told it to anyone and won't.

If Rummel has a big picture plan/vision, we'll find out when he's ready to tell us.

[thelakelander]

More from the Jax Daily Record:

One Spark is path to ecosystem of building startups

There they sat at the table, less than 48 hours after the close of One Spark.
The businessman. The strategist. The creator.

And they were feeling pretty good.

About 260,000 people had come Downtown to the five-day festival, double from the year before.

Success had been assisted by critical changes made after the first year — a smaller footprint, nearly quadruple the investment capital pool and crowdfunding money, and adding an education component through EdSpark.

And then there was the perfect chamber-of-commerce weather all five days.

"Somebody said that based on the weather, we have the legitimate right to say, 'One Spark presented by God,'" said Peter Rummell, a veteran businessman and major investor in One Spark.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=542718

[simms3]

More from the Jax Daily Record:

One Spark is path to ecosystem of building startups

There they sat at the table, less than 48 hours after the close of One Spark.
The businessman. The strategist. The creator.

And they were feeling pretty good.

About 260,000 people had come Downtown to the five-day festival, double from the year before.

Success had been assisted by critical changes made after the first year — a smaller footprint, nearly quadruple the investment capital pool and crowdfunding money, and adding an education component through EdSpark.

And then there was the perfect chamber-of-commerce weather all five days.

"Somebody said that based on the weather, we have the legitimate right to say, 'One Spark presented by God,'" said Peter Rummell, a veteran businessman and major investor in One Spark.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=542718

Exactly.  If there is any "ulterior  motive" or "development" motive in Rummell, his first step isn't holding his hand out asking for a handout for some grand scheme that may or may not work.  It is putting his money where his mouth is and his heart is and helping to breed and create an economy that actually has legs.  Without a basis (i.e. an economy), there is no $$$ in real estate development.  John Rood has received tons of city assistance for his projects, and it appears he has actually lost money on them.  So city help or not, a project isn't viable or profitable if there is no fundamental demand for it.

[CityLife]

meh.

I appreciate Rummel's comments and his early funding.  Without it, it would have been just another ArtWalk, in my opinion.

And I think its time we moved beyond sabotaging each other in this city from doing good things on the basis of politics elsewhere that we dont like.

I may not agree with the politics of Jim Love and Robin Lumb, but Im not going to sabotage their efforts to modify the Fuller Warren Bridge corridor for the sake of Historic Preservation.

And using politics to undercut public culture is the worst tactic of the far right in my opinion, and I certainly hope that we dont engage in it here. 

A festival is a festival, and this one was awesome.

I hope that everyone who sees Rummel thanks him as well.

Very well put

[Steve]

meh.

I appreciate Rummel's comments and his early funding.  Without it, it would have been just another ArtWalk, in my opinion.

And I think its time we moved beyond sabotaging each other in this city from doing good things on the basis of politics elsewhere that we dont like.

I may not agree with the politics of Jim Love and Robin Lumb, but Im not going to sabotage their efforts to modify the Fuller Warren Bridge corridor for the sake of Historic Preservation.

And using politics to undercut public culture is the worst tactic of the far right in my opinion, and I certainly hope that we dont engage in it here. 

A festival is a festival, and this one was awesome.

I hope that everyone who sees Rummel thanks him as well.

Dude, I don't always agree with you, but point is VERY well put.

[Steve]

BTW, I really think much of Rummell's point was that we can't stop focusing on downtown and think One Spark is going to save it. We've done that a few times, thinking that the latest pony is out ticket to full downtown revitalization, like with Toney Sleiman (Landing) or Cameron Kuhn (Barnett/Laura Trio/SunTrust building).

I think we can all agree with that.

[jaxlore]

You know his quote about "Gentrifying downtown" is a bit scary to me. I am all for new developments and projects but if the balance isn't right and you don't have the mix of culture, arts and music, the creative minds that contributed to the good things we have right now wont be able to get a foot hold because of astronomical rents.

BTW the events that are thrown at the landing do not cater to any sort of urban crowd at all. The Landing has missed the boat and I worry that throwing money at it wont change the mentality that drives it now that of course is another thread.

[DeadGirlsDontDance]

I don't think there's much danger of gentrification downtown, One Spark or no One Spark. Gentrification is an organic process that cannot be forced, because of the way it works. Here's a brief summary of how an area becomes gentrified.

Step One: People who have almost nothing but imagination and energy start moving into a run-down area, drawn by dirt-cheap rent, and lack of interference from finicky landlords, inflexible regulatory bodies, and whiny neighbors.

Step Two: Not gonna happen in downtown Jacksonville. See step one.

[Glenn OSteen]

meh.

I appreciate Rummel's comments and his early funding.  Without it, it would have been just another ArtWalk, in my opinion.

And I think its time we moved beyond sabotaging each other in this city from doing good things on the basis of politics elsewhere that we dont like.

I may not agree with the politics of Jim Love and Robin Lumb, but Im not going to sabotage their efforts to modify the Fuller Warren Bridge corridor for the sake of Historic Preservation.

And using politics to undercut public culture is the worst tactic of the far right in my opinion, and I certainly hope that we dont engage in it here. 

A festival is a festival, and this one was awesome.

I hope that everyone who sees Rummel thanks him as well.

Dude, I don't always agree with you, but point is VERY well put.

[Glenn OSteen]

Stephen Dare, Simms3, CityLife.........................you have nailed it.  The positives from OneSpark are enormous! 
Savor it; build on it, and ignore the constant voices of negativity that try to dominate some of the posted discussion on the future of Jacksonville.  To try and change the discussion to one of politics is more than counter productive, it's just plain ignorant.

[mtraininjax]

BTW the events that are thrown at the landing do not cater to any sort of urban crowd at all. The Landing has missed the boat and I worry that throwing money at it wont change the mentality that drives it now that of course is another thread.

That is the most ignorant comment I have ever heard about the Landing. As ignorant as the comments of downtown being "dangerous". Now both have good company!

One Spark is only a catalyst to show "what downtown could be like". Once a year, Christmas downtown for a week, double the event turnout in a year, going to be hard to get 500,000 down there next year, but 350-400k would be great.

My question to the masses, stephen, et al, So "Shad donates 3.5 million to One Spark, yet the entrants have to pony up $10,000 (as one did for the technology category)", where does all of Shad's money go to? Does Joe really cost that much per year? Can someone help me connect the dots as to where Shad's money goes? Where did Rummell's money go? TIA

[CityLife]

BTW the events that are thrown at the landing do not cater to any sort of urban crowd at all. The Landing has missed the boat and I worry that throwing money at it wont change the mentality that drives it now that of course is another thread.

My question to the masses, stephen, et al, So "Shad donates 3.5 million to One Spark, yet the entrants have to pony up $10,000 (as one did for the technology category)", where does all of Shad's money go to? Does Joe really cost that much per year? Can someone help me connect the dots as to where Shad's money goes? Where did Rummell's money go? TIA

Khan has never donated 3.5 million to One Spark. That's a marketing ploy to drum up more excitement for the event. It's basically money he (and partners) will invest if there are creators that interest him. The One Spark crew doesn't touch it. As for people paying a $10,000 entry fee. Huh?

I had a nice convo with one of the creators Khan invested in after last One Spark. It's a cool business and has potential, but let's just say it didn't appear they were getting the full service treatment. There was one fairly substantial and obvious business opportunity they weren't even aware of, and I pointed them in the right direction...and I'm not exactly a business development guru.

[tufsu1]

Khan (through Stache Investments) put up $1 million last year and another $1 million this year....last year's $ went to helping 6 creators move their idea forward....the incubator that was started is called KYN.

As for how much creators HAVE to spend...its closer to $50 to enter your project...once the match is made with a venue, everything else is up to the creator.