Fmr. Mayor Tommy Hazouri running for Group 3 At large council seat 2015

[Cheshire Cat]

Former mayor Tommy Hazouri (D) will be running for the open at large Group 3 council seat which Stephen Joost is being termed out of.  Also vying for the seat are Geoff Youngblood (R) and Mincy Pollack (D).

Tommy Hazouri

Hazouri (D) made his greatest impact on Jacksonville when he as Mayor 1987 to 1991 successfully managed to remove tolls from our roadways.  This should be of consideration in the upcoming election because there are currently efforts to restore tolls to Jacksonville.  Clearly Hazouri would be a staunch supporter of keeping our roads toll free.  Hazouri also brings a great amount of name recognition to this race.  Besides having been our mayor, Tommy has been elected to the Florida House of Representatives and Duval county school board.  He is a well known and respected figure in the community with a long legacy of working for the citizens of Jacksonville and Florida.

Geoff Youngblood

Also in this race is Geoff Youngblood (R)who according to his Linkin profile his education is from a "Conservative Theological University".  His experience with city business seems to be serving on the "Public Service Grants Council" and the "Jacksonville Charter Revision Commission.   Geoff is also a member of the downtown First Baptist Church, the same church that gave us Councilman Clay Yarborough, Councilman Don Redman and Councilman Ray Holt.  Both Yarborough and Redman have exhibited leadership that has been heavily impacted by their personal theology and church.  First Baptist downtown some may remember publicly congratulated several members of Jacksonville city council who voted down the HRO legislation that gave civil rights protection to the GLBT community.  Whether or not Youngblood will display the same degree of religiosity in office is yet to be seen but he does have the following photo on his campaign FB page which feature Clay Yarborough, the church pastor Brunson, himself and two others.

Mincy Pollack

Finally is another candidate named Mincy Pollack (D). Pollack declares a degree from a public college but does not list which one. Mincy has worked with various outreach urban initiatives such as The Bridge of NE Florida, Young Life, Communities-N-Schools/Team-Up, YMCA, The Juvenile Justice Department, and The J-100. He was recently appointed a Board Member for the Jacksonville Job Corp., and is a member of M.A.V.A.W. (Men against violence against Women), an auxiliary of Hubbard House. He understands the merit of capital investment in our youth, young adults and their significant role and correlation to safer communities and Jacksonville's future. While he has done substantial community service and been involved in some very worthwhile public service endeavors he has never held an elected office.

REMEMBER:  All registered voters can cast a vote in the race for this group seat!

[Tacachale]

Geoff Youngblood is the son of Gene Youngblood, President of the "Conservative Theological University" and a particularly... vocal opponent of the Human Rights Ordinance. Geoff Youngblood attended his father's institution and his political positions apparently reflect that background.

In other words, if you care at all about the Human Rights Ordinance and any other issues of that nature that will crop up, support Tommy Hazouri for At Large Group 3.

[Cheshire Cat]

Tacachale.  Tommy will get my vote, based upon his experience in office, proven record and support of the HRO.   

[Wacca Pilatka]

I suspect Tommy would also be strong on mobility fee, transit, and downtown development issues.

[Jimmy]

We're all really fortunate that Tommy is in this race.

[Charles Hunter]

The guy standing next to Clay is Mike Anania, who is running for Clay's termed-out seat.

[Cheshire Cat]

^That is very worrisome to my view.  We do not need to replace one over religious legislator with another.  I honor peoples right to believe what they like and practice the religion that appeals to them, however, the FBC in downtown took their views into our city business via their elected reps and pastor.  That is never a healthy thing.  When pastor Brunson of that church further involved himself in "celebrating" city legislators in his church who opposed the HRO legislation he mixed his religion with a political message via his church in a most unfortunate manner.  That is bad business.  Our forefathers had it right when they worked to separate religion from politics.  All individuals in the country deserve to be treated equally and fairly and lawful protections to insure that need to be extended to all.  Celebrating the fact that the civil rights of one group of citizens were "not" protected is a very sad thing, not a thing to celebrate.  IMO   I hope folks take a good hard look at how membership in this church may influence elected legislators and vote accordingly.  Right now Redman and Yarborough have given us an example of the influence of that mega church and it was intrusive and obstructive on several occasions.

[southsider1015]

^That is very worrisome to my view.  We do not need to replace one over religious legislator with another.  I honor peoples right to believe what they like and practice the religion that appeals to them, however, the FBC in downtown took their views into our city business via their elected reps and pastor.  That is never a healthy thing.  When pastor Brunson of that church further involved himself in "celebrating" city legislators in his church who opposed the HRO legislation he mixed his religion with a political message via his church in a most unfortunate manner.  That is bad business.  Our forefathers had it right when they worked to separate religion from politics.  All individuals in the country deserve to be treated equally and fairly and lawful protections to insure that need to be extended to all.  Celebrating the fact that the civil rights of one group of citizens were "not" protected is a very sad thing, not a thing to celebrate.  IMO   I hope folks take a good hard look at how membership in this church may influence elected legislators and vote accordingly.  Right now Redman and Yarborough have given us an example of the influence of that mega church and it was intrusive and obstructive on several occasions.

Tolls are coming back to Jacksonville, as they are in Tampa, Miami, Orlando, and on I-75, I-95, I-295, etc.  Tommy cannot stop this from happening, period.  It's different sets of politics:  state vs. city.  The fact that he continues to play this card irritates me because it confuses voters on the issue of tolling.

[British Shoe Company]

.


I would love it if Tommy let Mac borrow his wig.

What would be better?

Mac with a wig or Tommy without a wig.

[Jax native]

  Southside, Does Tommy Hazouri mention "tolls" in any of his information?  I haven't seen any thing like that in his bio and candidate info.

I believe Diane was just mentioning it and haven't seen where Tommy has that on his platform at all.   

[Jax native]

Can someone post the link to what the financial records of all 2015 candidates?  Thanks

[southsider1015]

  Southside, Does Tommy Hazouri mention "tolls" in any of his information?  I haven't seen any thing like that in his bio and candidate info.

I believe Diane was just mentioning it and haven't seen where Tommy has that on his platform at all.

He was pretty vocal recently on the first I-295 Express Lanes project, pandering to voters about he's against tolling roads in Jacksonville. Check out his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tommyforjax][url]https://www.facebook.com/tommyforjax[/url].  Hit CTRL-F, and search for tolls.

As a City Council Member, he will not have authority over FDOT interstate's in Jacksonville.  I just wanted to make sure that voters understand that a vote for Tommy isn't a vote against toll roads.

[Charles Hunter]

WTF BSC?

Jax Native - it may not be part of Tommy's "platform" (perhaps because he knows City Council can't do anything about it), but he has made statements linking the FDOT's toll plans to the 1988 referendum.

In Jacksonville, the state is building a pair of toll lane projects that will total 29 miles. The plans come despite a referendum Jacksonville voters passed in 1988 to rid the city's highways of tolls in exchange for a half-cent sales tax. FDOT administrators say the state doesn't have to abide by the local referendum.

Tommy Hazouri, who was mayor at the time, says the state's plan to add toll lanes violates the spirit of the referendum.

Locals will continue paying the sales tax even after the addition of the toll lanes.

"It's not just distasteful. It's dishonoring what people voted for," Hazouri said. "It's an issue of honoring what you say. Voters decided to tax themselves to get rid of the tolls, and here we are adding tolls. It flies in the face of public trust."

And his campaign website certainly mentions that as Mayor he led the campaign to replace tolls with a sales tax.  (By the way, those who criticize Bill Bishop for supporting a "regressive sales tax" - shouldn't Hazouri also be criticized for replacing a user fee with a regressive sales tax?)

[Charles Hunter]

Can someone post the link to what the financial records of all 2015 candidates?  Thanks

Do you mean campaign reports? https://www.voterfocus.com/ws/WScand/candidate_pr.php?c=duval&el=15

[Tacachale]

He can still serve as a voice on the council against tolls and the ways such projects often get implemented when no one's watching out. It was nice to have several council members go to bat on the Fuller Warren Bridgebike/ped element when FDOT was trying to tell us they couldn't do it.