Looking Forward: Jax '23

[marcuscnelson]

I've been thinking about this for a while, and I want to see some discussion about it. I think it's fair to say that a lot of what has happened in Jacksonville over the last few years has been the result of laughably poor leadership, and utter failure to plan for and invest in the future. So I want to start talking about after Lenny Curry. What do we want to see in a candidate for Mayor in 2023? What should they believe, what should they want to do, how could they appeal to enough of the city to win and start making decisions that actually benefit us in the short and long term?

[thelakelander]

I'm not a real project specific voter. I just hope we can find candidates that embrace true inclusive community engagement and participation into the decision making process.....even when the masses may have a complete opposite opinion on an issue.

[jaxlongtimer]

What do we want to see in a candidate for Mayor in 2023? What should they believe, what should they want to do, how could they appeal to enough of the city to win and start making decisions that actually benefit us in the short and long term?

Let's start with working for and caring about ALL the citizens of Jacksonville, not just their major campaign donors, special interests and friends.  We haven't had someone really passionate about every corner and the "every-men/women" of Jacksonville for many mayors now.

We need someone who cares about and appreciates what makes Jacksonville really special:  Our history, our river and other natural resources, our people, our diversity, our culture, etc.

We need someone who knows how to lead, i.e. can bring along the populace to support what is right for the long term, not just what is politically expedient at the moment.

We don't need an opportunist who "buys" votes with superficial actions that are not what they first appear to be and that sacrifices the future of the City for their personal short term gain.

We need a mayor who is passionate about being the mayor of Jacksonville, not seeing the job as just a stepping stone to another job or is thinking everyday about the next election and/or promoting their partisan politics.

We need a visionary who can see into, and plan and prepare for, the future and can direct investment in our community for the same.  Not a short term, knee jerk decision maker.

We need a mayor is not afraid to ask and justify to taxpayers a request for more dollars if there are severely underfunded needs not being addressed in the City.

We need a mayor who can collaborate with experts and the community, who is inquisitive and open minded, and will explore successes and best practices globally to bring back to Jacksonville.

We need a mayor who will hire or appoint persons because they are best qualified for their positions and not due to political patronage.

We need a mayor who is patient and appreciates that progress can come in smaller increments, not necessarily via long-shot, heavily subsidized over-the-top one-off projects that only enrich a few.

We need a mayor who is not vindictive, that doesn't delegate nasty deeds to an "in-house" hatchet man or is not focused on always being the "winner" on every issue they have an interest in.

We need a mayor who will operate transparently and not be two-faced or deceitful about their real intentions. 

We need a mayor who realizes there is more to our quality of life than just sporting events or teams and that values all public schools, not just charter schools.

If we find a candidate that can check off more than half of the above, it would be a great start.

[BridgeTroll]

You are talking about Delaney...

[Steve]

If John Delaney ran I'd vote for him now for 2023. But why screw it up. His approval rating was in the 80%'s.....unheard of today. To me it's a huge risk-reward.

The name I'm watching for is Matt Carlucci. He has a strong reputation reaching across the aisle and both sides like him.

[Snaketoz]

I wish for a mayor who is the polar opposite of Lenny Curry.

[Captain Zissou]

I was just thinking about this before I opened up the Jaxson.  Life will likely be a lot different by then.  The GOP may be vastly different after whatever trump tries to pull in November through February 2021 or longer.  Hopefully partisan politics is less of a thing, but in the city's current state, we need a GOP endorsed moderate who can effectively engage all areas of city government and get them to work toward a better future for our city.

[bl8jaxnative]

Let's start with working for and caring about ALL the citizens of Jacksonville, not just their major campaign donors, special interests and friends.

Caring isn't a problem.  Almost everyone cares about most everyone.  The rub is in how priorities are set.

[jaxlongtimer]

Let's start with working for and caring about ALL the citizens of Jacksonville, not just their major campaign donors, special interests and friends.

Caring isn't a problem.  Almost everyone cares about most everyone.  The rub is in how priorities are set.

OK.  Let's just say setting priorities expresses degrees of caring.  In that case, based on demonstrated "priorities," we have had leadership that doesn't "much care" for large swaths of their constituency and that "cares very much" for a few very select ones.  Caring more equally for ALL would be most welcome and appropriate.

I wish for a mayor who is the polar opposite of Lenny Curry.

I think the qualifications I posted closely follow your thinking  !

[sandyshoes]

Jacksonville needs another Jake Godbold.

[Snaketoz]

Jacksonville needs another Jake Godbold.

Agree.  We could do much worse than Jake, as we're seeing now.

[Steve]

I think the closest thing I've seen to Jake Godbold in today's local political circles is Matt Carlucci.

[Snaketoz]

I think the closest thing I've seen to Jake Godbold in today's local political circles is Matt Carlucci.

Whenever my ineffective councilman completely drops the ball on any concern I have, I call Carlucci's office.  He and his staff gets things done. 

[marcuscnelson]

Interesting that Matt Carlucci seems to be the talk of the town here. He wasn't mentioned in this article from last year. Has he shown any interest in the top job? Obviously there's plenty of time between now and then for him to start exploring the option, but I don't know.

[jaxlongtimer]

Interesting that Matt Carlucci seems to be the talk of the town here. He wasn't mentioned in this article from last year. Has he shown any interest in the top job? Obviously there's plenty of time between now and then for him to start exploring the option, but I don't know.

Matt ran for mayor once already.  Unfortunately, he lost out due to our lousy primary system that lets only the top two vote-getters move forward, even though, combined, they had less than 50% of the votes cast.  This system allows those that are political outliers to rise to the top when you have multiple moderates/middle-of-the-roaders splitting the center of the bell curve.  If we had a run off that required taking all the candidates necessary to represent over 50% of the votes cast, as we once had, at least one of the middle candidates would be in the runoff.  In all likelihood, they would win, given over 50% of the primary votes were for those in the middle.

The above scenario has played out in several of our recent mayoral elections resulting, most recently, in the elections of Peyton, Brown and Curry, all deemed long shots in the early going.  Hopefully, in our next election cycle, only someone like Matt runs from the middle.