Glorious Johnson: Tell me more

[tufsu1]

she voted against the mileage increase since it was not needed!

that is your opinion...but I have seen a bunch of data that strongly suggests otherwise.

[CS Foltz]

tufsu............I bow to your insider knowledge regarding transit, roads and the like but when it comes to what the various council members vote for or against............I will put my foot down. Ms Johnson has a proven and validated record of not voting  with the majority of the Council members and rightfully so! Rubber stamping the wishes of Johnny just does not hold water with me since the various Council member are SUPPOSED to  represent the wishes of their constituents and not what the so-called Mayor wishes! There has to be a tradeoff regarding outgoing and incoming revenues and the Mayor seems to think there is an unlimited source of income and that ain't so Joe! I have to work within a budget and the City needs to do so also......period or we need to change the Council! The Mayor should have been booted out 3 years ago, I did not vote for him then and there is no way in hell I would vote for him now.............yea........run the City like a business right!!!!!!!!

[Ocklawaha]

Horror or horrors! Y'all do relize you are talking about A:

AFRICAN AMERICAN

WOMAN

...do you still think you could support her?


OCKLAWAHA

[stjr]

While Ms. Johnson may be a nice person and take positions popular with some of us, I have heard from some "downtowners" that, stylistically, she might not be ready for prime time.  Of course, I have heard negatives and positives about all the prospective candidates, so far, so that is no surprise.  It's clear, like any of us, none of them will be close to perfect.

Found this Folio feature article on her for those who want to read more.  I see Ock is featured in the first paragraph also! http://www.altweeklies.com/alternative/AltWeeklies/Story?oid=oid%3A244552

We will all have a chance, in due course, to better know the candidates when they begin their campaigns, make the rounds, and, hopefully, have vigorous public debates.  Part of the campaign process, provided the voters pay close attention, is to flush out the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates who I am sure have doses of both.

Bottom line, for most of us, we should hedge our thinking until it's showtime!  

[tufsu1]

Ms Johnson has a proven and validated record of not voting  with the majority of the Council members and rightfully so! Rubber stamping the wishes of Johnny just does not hold water with me since the various Council member are SUPPOSED to  represent the wishes of their constituents and not what the so-called Mayor wishes!

CS...I understand and agree that the Mayor sholuld not get a rubber stamp...but you seem to be opposed to everything he says and does, just because it is him.

Regarding the millage rate issue...I challenge you to do some reserach on millage rates and per capita spending for government services (police, fire, parks, etc.) between Jacksonville and every other large city in Florida (Tampas, Orlando, Miami, St. Petersburg, Ft. Lauderdale)...let us know what you find.

[konstantconsumer]

strongly disagree.  i was at each of the council meetings about the milage increase.  johnson, like i said, either had no idea what she was talking about or pretended not to know for some reason.  additionally, the taxes would effect mostly the wealthy, which is not really her constituents considering her area, and the addition funds would help education, job training, and other services, which were badly needed.  while no one likes to pay more taxes, the council's attempts to cut the budget showed that it simply wasn't possible to lower the budget enough to avoid a milage increase.  there are fundamental services that must be paid for and the housing market crash required that people pay a larger percentage of the depreciated value of their homes.

if i had a litmus test for mayoral candidates, it would be that they supported a small milage tax increase over cutting services to those who can't afford to lose them.

[vicupstate]

^^
1) Johnson holds an at-large seat, so she represents the entire county. As such, everyone in all income levels are her constiuents.
2) The city does not control the budget or funding for schools, which is controlled by the Duval County School Board.
3) Job training is primarily a state or federal function, although the city may have some involvement, sponsorship, or partial funding.  

[Dan B]

the taxes would effect mostly the wealthy, which is not really her constituents considering her area

As an At-Large council member, her constituency is the entire county.

[hillary supporter]

Hear, hear, vicup state, Dan B!
Ms Johnsons the perfect candidate for mayor. A sweetheart to boot!
She is quite opposite of Mayer Peyton, but does have a conservative past.
Its my opinon she appeals to all of us concerned for a true metropolitan Jacksonville,
mush stronger than any of the other (current) candidates.
Shes proven her sincerity for MetroJacksonville directy as lakelander pointed out.
None of the other candidates come close.

[CS Foltz]

tufsu........I think you misunderstand my position, so I will use the Federal Government as an example. There is a three year freeze on Federal spending commencing shortly and I understand why! To be honest, I don't care about what other cities do or don't do..........I care about what Jacksonville does! Like any military unit or company, good or bad, whomever is the head of that unit takes either the blame or the glory and in Jacksonville, Mayor Johnny is the head. I don't believe that any CEO of any Company should get paid off when they fail or run their company into the ground and Johnny has not run the City like a business, right? We have a short fall in revenues that is already showing and at last count somewhere between 40 and 60 Million Dollars. I understand all about incentives and tax breaks to attract either commerce or commercialism but where do you draw the line? What about Vescor? Nothing I have seen says they have gotten what they asked for and if they did, then it was in some back room filled with smoke..........so I have to ask point blank......When do we hold accountable people who were voted into a job that don't do the job but continue to spend money we don't have? There has to be some accountability at some point......I could mention Ship Yards, Trail Ridge, Jax Port and lots of others but maybe you understand my animosity towards the current Administration! I wish there were a recall option, then I would be first in line! Make sense?

[uptowngirl]

Glorious Johnson for Mayor YEEESSSS!

[Springfielder]

Glorious Johnson will without a doubt, have my vote and full support. There's a Draft Glorious Johnson for mayor page on facebook...and it does look like she'll be announcing her intent to run for mayor. She's exactly what this city needs, and has been fighting for the people, and less government since she became a councilwoman.

[tufsu1]

tufsu........I think you misunderstand my position, so I will use the Federal Government as an example. There is a three year freeze on Federal spending commencing shortly and I understand why! To be honest, I don't care about what other cities do or don't do

you and I both know the Feds won't be freezing spending...what has been proposed is a freeze on spending increases...but defense, homeland security, and entitlements are exempt.

but since you don't care about what other cities do, let's just stick with Jacksonville....last year's budget was in fact less than the year before....and not including the pension issues (think of it as our version of Federal entitlement programs), spending has been been cut quite a bit.

Unfortunately, revenues also dropped...partially because of the economy and partially because of tax cuts.

So, CS, I ask you this....would you ever favor a tax increase to make up for a revenue shortfall?

[uptowngirl]

It is a fabulous idea, rasie the property taxes as property values are falling, falling, falling. People are losing their jobs, but hey raise the property taxes! I wish the city and other cities as well) would acknowledge their part in the whole foreclosure fiasco too. How does it make sense to raise peoples property taxes, add on stupid misc fees for them to pay as they watch their mortgages turn upside down and lose their jobs?! There comes a point when people will just quit stressing and struggling to make payments on a property that they owe more than it is worth. It makes no sense, what money does the city get then?

[tufsu1]

well uptown girl....I really hate the "a recession is not the right time to raise taxes" argument....for several reasons

1. Its never a good time....I didn't hear too many folks claomring for a tax increase when times were good...in fact, they said that a tax increase would just slow the economy down

2. when people lose their job, what do they often do....collect unemployment, go on food stamps, etc....much of the assistance comes from government.

In relation to the local property tax issue....the fact is, Jax. was able to lower the millage rate for 18 straight years because property values kept increasing....that's just not the case right now....but think of it this way...if the City raised the millage rate by 10% but property values were down by 20%, we would still pay less.