Arash Kamiar: Financing the 2015 Mayoral Election

[TheCat]

I never said she wasn't competent

Then what's the problem? Competency has by and large been a rare commodity these past 4 years.

Implying a host of mysterious and evil puppet masters have doomed Jacksonville to poor public policy decisions, and we are all powerless to their immortal supremacy is a pretty hackneyed narrative (even more ridiculous considering the names that just happened to be dropped).

Field, sounds like your projecting your views on mmr. Will you tell us more about this nefarious circle of god-rulers? Your descriptions are so vivid...what else do you know 

Competent or not, do you think there is a problem if appointments are made based on campaign contributions? Off the cuff, I see one major issue: 1) mistrust of the government by the public.

I don't understand how you are scoffing at the potential for corruption in government; especially, when high dollars are involved. I may have to go refresh my duval county history but we are not above corruption. If I remember correctly, corruption was a major impetus  to consolidation. 

I'm actually a bit confused, are you saying it is a hackneyed perspective that special and/or private interests can influence policy in a way that is not in the best interest of the city?

[Tacachale]

I never said she wasn't competent

Then what's the problem? Competency has by and large been a rare commodity these past 4 years.

Implying a host of mysterious and evil puppet masters have doomed Jacksonville to poor public policy decisions, and we are all powerless to their immortal supremacy is a pretty hackneyed narrative (even more ridiculous considering the names that just happened to be dropped).

Field, sounds like your projecting your views on mmr. Will you tell us more about this nefarious circle of god-rulers? Your descriptions are so vivid...what else do you know 

Competent or not, do you think there is a problem if appointments are made based on campaign contributions? Off the cuff, I see one major issue: 1) mistrust of the government by the public.

I don't understand how you are scoffing at the potential for corruption in government; especially, when high dollars are involved. I may have to go refresh my duval county history but we are not above corruption. If I remember correctly, corruption was a major impetus  to consolidation. 

I'm actually a bit confused, are you saying it is a hackneyed perspective that special and/or private interests can influence policy in a way that is not in the best interest of the city?

First, you have to accept that this is what's really happening. It's not. Any mayor is always going to pull largely or partly from the pool of their supporters, because as I say they need to be able to surround themselves with people they trust and can work well with. That's just reality. The real key is making sure those people will be good servants to the city. Curry's actually done a good job on the trust-competence balance. And he's reached across various aisles on a number of his key hires so far.

I think that Ben America's point - that we risk entering a situation where the pool of competent locals to chose from gets more insular and determined by wealth and status - is the more interesting one.

[vicupstate]

I agree with Tacachale. Anyone is going to 'dance with those that brought them' in political appointments.  In the past there were limits on how much one person could contribute. These rules were all but eliminated on the National level thanks to the Citizens United Supreme Court case. Now, one person can fund a Presidential campaign. Money has been equated to speech, in what will no doubt bring a much higher level of corruption to government than ever before.