Sam Mousa: No investments for Downtown until pension reform

[strider]

It's interesting that even when we've had three mayors in a row who were political neophytes with no prior government experience, people still think the solution to our problems is getting "new blood". No, what we need are people who know what the hell they're doing.

They may never have held an elected office here, but none of them were what I would call political neophytes prior to being elected Mayor.

Frankly, I fear that we have been getting people that "know what the hell they are doing".  It is more a matter that what they are doing is not in the best interest of the City as a whole but rather what is best for the political, moneyed power base.

[Tacachale]

It's interesting that even when we've had three mayors in a row who were political neophytes with no prior government experience, people still think the solution to our problems is getting "new blood". No, what we need are people who know what the hell they're doing.

They may never have held an elected office here, but none of them were what I would call political neophytes prior to being elected Mayor.

Frankly, I fear that we have been getting people that "know what the hell they are doing", it is more of a matter that what they are doig is not in the best interest of the City as a whole but rather what is best for the political, moneyed power base.

No experience in government=neophyte. And really, the two who had some experience in politics/politicking in general have been a lot better off than the guy who had none. I doubt anybody, let alone the "political, moneyed power base" would seriously argue that he knew what he was doing.

Of course experience in government doesn't necessarily mean a person will make a good mayor. We've had plenty of people with a lot of experience who were backward, corrupt, mediocre, or just not cut out for a higher level. But this idea that what we need are more people who've never done anything before is naive.

[marksjax]

Strider nailed it Tacachele. That is exactly what I meant by new blood. The Curry admin is reboot of the Delaney admin of 20 years ago.
Until the real power brokers give up their stranglehold on the city nothing changes except the mayors name.
I won't name the handful of wealthy guys that pick our mayors for us but most on this board will know who they are. Their interests come first as always.
This is the new version of the same theme: The 'good old boy network' runs this town.
I'm just saying that the status quo is not working anymore.

[ProjectMaximus]

The Curry admin is reboot of the Delaney admin of 20 years ago.

**munching popcorn** 

[Gunnar]

And WALLA.....

It's "voila", sorry pet peeve.

Actually, it's "et voilà" 

[CCMjax]

And WALLA.....

It's "voila", sorry pet peeve.

Actually, it's "et voilà" 

Actually, it is "Walla" . . . . in Southern.

[Charles Hunter]

Think Tommy is interested in returning?

[tufsu1]

Think Tommy is interested in returning?

in 4 years, yes.  I think he even considered running this past time and going head-to-head against Brown.

[Tacachale]

Well I think Mark hits the nail on the head actually.

With one proviso:
The blasted prairie of the downtown and the economic unviability of the core make it clear that the old way of doing things has never worked at all.

But tacachale makes a point:  Its a dilemma. The people who actually know how to do things seem to only know one way of doing them.

The neophytes don't even seem to know that much.

It needs crowd sourced pressure, I think.

There isn't a direct correlation between being "old blood" or "new blood" and knowing what the hell you're doing in properly managing a city. In fact, being "new blood" doesn't even have anything to do with whether they stand up against the "power brokers", most of whom support downtown development anyway. It's one of those things that sounds appealing, but doesn't hold up.

2011 is a case in point. We had Alvin Brown, who was "new blood" of the kind we're talking about; Mike Hogan, who had a lot of government experience but seemed to be punching above his weight and was disliked by many of the supposed "power elite"; and then Audrey Moran and Rick Mullaney, who had both experience and sensible ideas. We'd be in a much different place currently if either of them had been elected.

Not all neophytes and up being bad leaders - everyone starts somewhere - but counting on rookies means a lot of rookie mistakes. And in recent experience, when these dudes do buck the "power brokers", it's not on stuff like making Downtown better, which, again, the "power brokers" typically support. It's by doing things like opposing the HRO.

[marksjax]

How about instead of 'new blood' we call it: 'non beholding to special interests, visionary, and most of all a real Leader'?
Not someone who is complacent to go along/get along or grooming themselves for their next rung on the elected or appointed  political office ladder.
The 'old courthouse' nearly four years vacant and still no plans for it. That is one example. Why not a casino? You want a draw for downtown well there you go. A Hard Rock Hotel/Casino. The leaders in Jax would never even think of that, much less do it. (The repubs in Tall run the state so they could approve casinos quite easily if they wanted to).
Bottom line, we don't have anyone that thinks big, in my opinion.

[vicupstate]

How about instead of 'new blood' we call it: 'non beholding to special interests, visionary, and most of all a real Leader'?
Not someone who is complacent to go along/get along or grooming themselves for their next rung on the elected or appointed  political office ladder.
The 'old courthouse' nearly four years vacant and still no plans for it. That is one example. Why not a casino? You want a draw for downtown well there you go. A Hard Rock Hotel/Casino. The leaders in Jax would never even think of that, much less do it. (The repubs in Tall run the state so they could approve casinos quite easily if they wanted to).
Bottom line, we don't have anyone that thinks big, in my opinion.

I agree, except the casino part.  Term limited mayor is a real downside too. Hard to implement a broad vision in 8 years, when it takes a couple of years just to get your people in place and learn the ropes. Plus you have to campaign again in the middle of that 8 years.

[marksjax]

Yeah no need to get excited that anything will change. I'm a realist.
It was de ja vu watching the new mayor next to the new sheriff talking about the crime here.
I do recall Peyton and Rutherford doing the same thing ten years ago.
Why have a mayor really? Tradition I guess. A city manager would do.

[Tacachale]

How about instead of 'new blood' we call it: 'non beholding to special interests, visionary, and most of all a real Leader'?
Not someone who is complacent to go along/get along or grooming themselves for their next rung on the elected or appointed  political office ladder.
The 'old courthouse' nearly four years vacant and still no plans for it. That is one example. Why not a casino? You want a draw for downtown well there you go. A Hard Rock Hotel/Casino. The leaders in Jax would never even think of that, much less do it. (The repubs in Tall run the state so they could approve casinos quite easily if they wanted to).
Bottom line, we don't have anyone that thinks big, in my opinion.

I agree, except the casino part.  Term limited mayor is a real downside too. Hard to implement a broad vision in 8 years, when it takes a couple of years just to get your people in place and learn the ropes. Plus you have to campaign again in the middle of that 8 years.

You're right, the term limits mean we hit the restart button every 8 years at least, often replaced "new blood" who have to spend time learning the ropes (hopefully). It leaves the institutional knowledge in the hands of the lobbyists and "power brokers".

[02roadking]

Oh, they are trying to fix that:
http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=546972

[Noone]

Strider nailed it Tacachele. That is exactly what I meant by new blood. The Curry admin is reboot of the Delaney admin of 20 years ago.
Until the real power brokers give up their stranglehold on the city nothing changes except the mayors name.
I won't name the handful of wealthy guys that pick our mayors for us but most on this board will know who they are. Their interests come first as always.
This is the new version of the same theme: The 'good old boy network' runs this town.
I'm just saying that the status quo is not working anymore.

+1