How Does your City Council fare?

[AuditoreEnterprise]

Vote up. Just looking to see what the masses think as a whole.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I voted 'no', but to be fair I think the question is unfair.

I think that the council people have the best interests in mind of their constituents with the deeper pockets and/or the least controversial ideas.

[strider]

Tough to judge the entire city council like this.  The urban core ones definitely do not as can be seen from the recent issue with the Blight Committee.  Some, like Boyer and Lumb, may be doing OK on MOST things.  We know they all will sell out one group if they think they can get something for their own special interest, whatever that may be.  Perhaps that is the way it always is and even must be to get anything done in the Jacksonville political environment.

[jcjohnpaint]

The very few... yes, but the majority, NO!

[Charles Hunter]

Reading comprehension anyone?  The question is:

Do you feel that your  current councilmen/woman accurately represent their constituents best interest?

Not asking about all 19 of them, just YOUR council representative.  Of course, with 5 at-large members, everyone has six councilcritters.  I answered on behalf of my district council guy.

[jcjohnpaint]

Jim Love/ Thumbs Down!

[strider]

Reading comprehension anyone?  The question is:

Do you feel that your  current councilmen/woman accurately represent their constituents best interest?

Not asking about all 19 of them, just YOUR council representative.  Of course, with 5 at-large members, everyone has six councilcritters.  I answered on behalf of my district council guy.

Gee, I thought they were all our councilmen/ women.  Do they not all vote on the laws that effect everyone of us in some way? Perhaps we can not vote in or out those not in our district, but once in office, what each and everyone of them do effects each and everyone of us.  It is a huge mistake to think it is otherwise.

[Intuition Ale Works]

Jacksonville has a very low voter turnout for elections and I believe we deserve the city council that we get.

Local politics have the greatest effect on our daily lives and we should all get involved.

Showing up at council meetings is important but meeting individually, with your city council member to express your concerns, is very effective too.

[Tacachale]

My council representative is Lori Boyer, and I've been very happy with her. Overall the council has it's highs and lows. I've actually been pretty impressed with how well they've contended with the sheer incompetence of the mayor and his administration.

[Bridges]

Jacksonville has a very low voter turnout for elections and I believe we deserve the city council that we get.

Local politics have the greatest effect on our daily lives and we should all get involved.

Bing-o!

It's weird to me that people get so wrapped up in national politics and totally dismiss local politics. Local politics have a much greater impact on your daily lives.  And, they're easier to actually make a difference on. 

[Jtetlak]

Thanks @Strider for pointing this out! We shouldn't be grading just the council members from our individual districts because they are all our councilmen/women. Even though they may be elected by a few of us, their jobs are to make decisions that benefit us all. Which is why we need to educate ourselves about all the candidates and support the ones that will move Jacksonville forward, even if they aren't ones we can vote for in our district.

Also, @intuition and @bridges make a great point. Local politics has a much greater impact on our daily lives than state/national elections, but in some areas of town as few as 24% of eligible voters come out to decide local elections.

That being said, if anyone has any suggestions for things that need to be done differently, I'm all ears!

[Charles Hunter]

Good points Strider and Jtetlak, all of them do serve us (or should) - maybe the poll should be recast with all 19 names.  Some are good.  Some are worthless.  Some are worse than worthless and are a detriment to the city.