New Councilman Meserve already seeking to Clear his Name.

[stephendare]

This can't possibly be good.

http://jacksonville.com/community/shorelines/2009-09-19/story/new_jacksonville_city_councilman_john_meserve_vows_to_clear_hi

John Meserve promised volunteers who helped him win a seat on the Jacksonville City Council this week that he would testify if necessary to clear up reports that he used his influence as a public official to help with four land sales in Mayport.

Meserve told campaign supporters Tuesday night that he won't rest until his name is cleared.

In addition to their new representative on the council, Beaches residents will get a new state senator after John Thrasher defeated three opponents in this week's Republican primary.

Saying that even though he is "fairly thick-skinned," Meserve emphasized he doesn't intend to let the allegations slide. The former mayor of Atlantic Beach and former chairman of the Mayport Waterfront Partnership said he has hired an attorney and is ready to take the next step.

"I'm going to go and say I want a full hearing in front of the state attorney," Meserve told roughly 70 supporters at Tuesday's campaign party at Fleet Landing in Atlantic Beach, where he's the executive director.

Five miles south in Jacksonville Beach, Art Graham watched election updates and his chance for the state Senate slip away to Thrasher, a former state House speaker from St. Augustine.

Graham resigned from the Jacksonville City Council, giving up two more years in office, to run for Florida Senate District 8, a seat that had been held by Sen. Jim King until his death in July. The decision opened the door for a new Beaches representative on the council. Meserve defeated Dave Smith 5,209 votes to 2,482 on Tuesday.

Graham said Wednesday that he had no regrets.

"I thought it was an opportunity to so do some big things for Northeast Florida," he said. "I think it really came to money," referring to the millions Thrasher spent on campaign advertising. "To touch people in five different counties, you really had to have the resources."

A few miles farther to the south, campaign supporters at Bogey's Grille stood and cheered when Dan Quiggle of Ponte Vedra Beach and his wife, Luanne, and children arrived to watch the state election returns.

When it became clear to Quiggle that he had come in second, the state chairman of Americans For Prosperity who has chided some Republicans for acting like Democrats, focused on what he believed he had achieved.

"Our campaign moved this election to the right," Quiggle said. "We sent a message to politicians in Tallahassee that if they want to stay in office, they need to govern like a conservative."

Immediately after his Tuesday victory, Meserve had to hit the ground running. He had to familiarize himself with the Jacksonville city budget, which the council was set to review this week.

Meanwhile, the State Attorney's Office is investigating whether Meserve used his influence as a public official in four land deals in which he helped a real estate agent buy land in Mayport for the Vestcor land development company in 2005 and 2006.

During that time, Meserve was chairman of the Mayport Waterfront Partnership, an advisory board to Jacksonville City Hall, as well as mayor. He received about $105,000 for the transactions. Meserve is also under investigation for not having a real estate license while participating in a real estate deal.

Meserve has said he acted as a liaison by keeping prospective sellers at the negotiating table and that he never used his political influence in the land sales. He said the investigation will show he has been honest and ethical.

Meserve said Tuesday that he hasn't been contacted by the State Attorney's Office but will be ready when the time comes.

"I will go down to the State Attorney's Office in an hour's notice," he said.

Smith could not be reached for comment. He has expressed concerned about Meserve's investigation and said that, if elected, Meserve would be preoccupied with this investigation for some time.

Standing under a fireplace mantle at Fleet Landing on Tuesday, Meserve thanked campaign volunteers and supporters for having faith in him. The crowd broke into applause.

"All right, let's get it on," he said.

The next day, Meserve learned he was to be sworn in Thursday afternoon and would hours later vote in a special Jacksonville City Council meeting to tentatively approve the 2010 budget.

"I will vote on the budget tomorrow and God help me if I'm the swing vote," Meserve said Wednesday as he perused a budget summary to come up to speed on the subject.

Caren Burmeister can also be reached at (904) 249-4947, ext. 6321.

[buckethead]

By the way, does Councilman Quiggle sound like a villainous buffoon from a Harry Potter book?  Or is it just me?

Wasn't Quiggle running for State Senate?

[NotNow]

Seriously, your making fun of his name?  Did you have some comment on his policy platform?  Or are we just making fun of peoples looks or name or whatever?  This passes for discussion?

[CS Foltz]

Well I did not vote for him! Since the term is for a short period, whoever won would be there long enough to make a light imprint and give the voters a picture of what their stance is. I did not vote for Mr Meserve because of the dealings with Vescor/John Rood and the fact that Mr Meserve got 105K for just being there? The coming SA probe will be interesting to watch and monitor! I meet Mr Meserve at an invited informal meeting and the first thing that struck me was the similarity to a used car salesman! Now I know that all politicians have to be an outgoing individual to connect with their voters but something just did not sit right with me! No matter what my personnel feelings are........he is the District 13 Council representative and I will be watching to see just what will take place

[DavidWilliams]

Meserve...great name for a politician.

[Dog Walker]

Maybe he should change it to "Serveme"?

[FayeforCure]

Maybe he should change it to "Serveme"?

Yeah, the words "public servant" have largely become an oxymoron.

I agree that name change would be very appropriate in Meserve's case.

[CS Foltz]

Well he can not change to Mr Honest............or Mr Public servant! I have real reservations regarding Mr Meserve and will be watching him like nobody's business. Anyone who can deal with Vescor/John Rood will have issue's that the public will not agree with! I am waiting for the DA's office to make an announcement regarding that issue...........somehow if 105K exchanged hands then the public deserves better than what Mr Meserve is willing to give, unless we are willing to pay up front in cash....no checks allowed!

[mtraininjax]

Just as the Thrasher bad news showed, there is no such thing as bad news. Meserve's bad press got him headlines, and for the 11% that voted, that proved to be enough to vote him in.

With that, John Peyton is a shoe-in for Governor!

[CS Foltz]

I would write in "Mickey Mouse" before I would vote for Johnny as Governor! Mayor Payton has done not much of anything positive for our city other than see to it that his buddies and good friends get high paying jobs without being qualified for the positions such as the 200 plus AIMO's! Those positions alone cost the taxpayers 12 Million dollars..........and the Finance Committee could not save anything other than about 24 Million. I don't think that  they tried too hard.......JEDC,JSEB,Jacksonville Journey and all of the Independent Authorities such as JTA & JEA whose budgets were passed by the Council as was presented? The Finance Committee did not really do much of anything other then cut the Veterans Day Parade.........WOW.....that sure is saving money!

[FayeforCure]

I would write in "Mickey Mouse" before I would vote for Johnny as Governor! Mayor Payton has done not much of anything positive for our city other than see to it that his buddies and good friends get high paying jobs without being qualified for the positions such as the 200 plus AIMO's! Those positions alone cost the taxpayers 12 Million dollars..........and the Finance Committee could not save anything other than about 24 Million. I don't think that  they tried too hard.......JEDC,JSEB,Jacksonville Journey and all of the Independent Authorities such as JTA & JEA whose budgets were passed by the Council as was presented? The Finance Committee did not really do much of anything other then cut the Veterans Day Parade.........WOW.....that sure is saving money!

So much for "conservativism," and aren't these the people who believe in meritocracy rather than affirmative action?

Looks like massive affirmative action for their buddies.

Where are the checks and balances when you need them? Even elections don't seem to do the trick,......as can be seen from Meserve's election to City Council.

[CS Foltz]

Faye I have to agree with your view............conservation is not in anyone's vocabulary in this Administration as they have shown time and time again! The Finance Committee did not do much of anything for anyone other than irritate the Veterans with removal of the Parade. That was simply chicken feed since the Inspector General Pam Markham makes more than the parade cost so where is the savings? By the way......she makes a 6 figure salary and her entire office is nothing but AIMO's except for the paper shufflers who are Civil Service. To quote one of the Council Members "We could have done this budget on the back of a napkin" is correct. One thing else I must point out is the Mayors Office has the authority to delete or insert items in the Budget and how in the hell did that happen? Council could and should override but won't!