QuoteAbout 150 city of Jacksonville employees will be laid off this week, and another 150 demoted, as the local government gears up for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
Almost half of the 300 employees were notified of their fate as of Wednesday evening; the process began Tuesday, with the rest of the notifications planned for the next few days. The layoffs will save upwards of $4 million a year in salaries, according to a list of salaries of most of the laid-off individuals.
Those being let go are not, by and large, a highly paid group, with the average salary around $31,000. The majority of laid-off workers made less than that, with a number of library clerks, for example, being paid less than $21,000.
full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-09-05/story/jacksonville-slashes-about-150-jobs-city-workforce
In other words, if you liked the way we maintained our public spaces before, you are going to love it next year.
Are we trying to dismantle the city?
well tough decisions had to be made...and asking people to pay a few more dollars in taxes each year was apparently not an acceptable option
Be prepares to wait for things. Well, wait longer.
Quote from: tufsu1 on September 06, 2012, 01:01:18 PM
well tough decisions had to be made...and asking people to pay a few more dollars in taxes each year was apparently not an acceptable option
Wait till next year the sheriff saved a lot of police personnel this year. But next year the pink elephant that is still in the room "police and fire fighters pension still needs to be taken care of. And the city council and mayor nor the sheriff have a clue how to reduce the cost? You aren't going to raise my taxes so you guys can retire with a golden parachute?
before long the Ed Ball building will be vacant! if I were those people I would actively be seeking another job.
^Pretty sure that has already been happening. I know the planning department has lost a lot of planners in the past year or so. Many of whom have left on their own. There are still some good people there, but I'd imagine it's one of the weakest planning staffs among the top 50 cities in the country.
http://www.news4jax.com/blob/view/-/16499678/data/2/-/grxu8iz/-/Names-of-employees-pdf.pdf
Quotewell tough decisions had to be made...and asking people to pay a few more dollars in taxes each year was apparently not an acceptable option
The I'm With Alvin crowd has only themselves to blame. Brown stated he would not raise taxes, would not even raise them in areas that helped fund programs, the City Council had to do this for him. At least Peyton had the balls to force the Stormwater issue. Already one year into his term, Brown has nothing but a limp noodle of a spine.
Grow a pair Mr. Mayor and do what is best for the city, forget your campaign promises, you still have people on MJ who would follow you through hell in a gasoline suit, so why not go for it and show some leadership?
QuoteMtrain. Last time I checked, he still isnt Mike Hogan.
Can you only imagine what a Hogan Administration would have been like with the current Thundertard Roundup of a city council we have?
Stephen, you are on your game today, nope, last I checked Brown does not equal Hogan. Please educate the 150 poor bastards who had their jobs, soul, and future torn from them. I am sure your silver tongue will delight them with ecstasies which will last forever!
They might even want a hug from you.... :-\
I see Bill Killingsworth is among the "gone" from the PD. A lot of Inspectors from Public Works. A ton of Library folks.
Who knew that "the next level" was down? Agree with the posts above, to paraphrase Pres. Clinton, "grow some brass" Mr. Mayor.
Sad.
Killingsworth was in the demoted list. I noticed the planning department's transportation specialist who worked with Killingsworth on the Mobility Plan was let go. Is there anyone left in planning who spent significant time developing the mobility plan and fee now?
I saw Bill Killingsworth on there also, I thought the mayor accepted his resignation (or something) a while ago?
Quote from: thelakelander on September 06, 2012, 10:56:54 AM
QuoteAbout 150 city of Jacksonville employees will be laid off this week, and another 150 demoted, as the local government gears up for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
Almost half of the 300 employees were notified of their fate as of Wednesday evening; the process began Tuesday, with the rest of the notifications planned for the next few days. The layoffs will save upwards of $4 million a year in salaries, according to a list of salaries of most of the laid-off individuals.
Those being let go are not, by and large, a highly paid group, with the average salary around $31,000. The majority of laid-off workers made less than that, with a number of library clerks, for example, being paid less than $21,000.
full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-09-05/story/jacksonville-slashes-about-150-jobs-city-workforce
"The majority of laid-off workers made less than that, with a number of library clerks, for example, being paid less than $21,000." This really makes me sick :'( when we kill the library with less staff and shorter hours we are really killing Jacksonville Fl. Mayor Brown you do need a backbone and please stop calling yourself a democrat! :o
Quote from: mtraininjax on September 06, 2012, 05:40:20 PM
QuoteMtrain. Last time I checked, he still isnt Mike Hogan.
Can you only imagine what a Hogan Administration would have been like with the current Thundertard Roundup of a city council we have?
Stephen, you are on your game today, nope, last I checked Brown does not equal Hogan. Please educate the 150 poor bastards who had their jobs, soul, and future torn from them. I am sure your silver tongue will delight them with ecstasies which will last forever!
They might even want a hug from you.... :-\
LMHO........
Hmm, we got Brown...."at least he isn't Hogan"
Hmmm, we got Obama..."at least he isn't Bush"
we got Scott,....."at least he isn't....he isn't....ummm...."
Sounds like an unfinished rap song, Snoop Dogg, where are you?
Can someone please pull back out those Audrey Moran endorsements? Maybe she was able to produce a budget that the CC could translate without all of the mistakes. :-\
Interesting that none of the City Council or their assistants would have to accept a pay cut or termination. God forbid!
While I AM disappointed in Mayor Brown's record so far, I still remain of the opinion that he was the better of the two choices.
Cuts were going to be made regardless. I'm afraid it is far from over.
Just watch.. HPC will be one of the departments axed. You think buildings are being razed now? Look out.
QuoteHogan would have cut deeper, Mtrain. He ran on it.
Would HOGAN have inserted his foot in his mouth by pissing off the new Jaguars owner? Probably not.
Would HOGAN have shown up on the floor for Human Rights bill, instead of pulling the chains of council members? Probably so.
Would HOGAN have waited 2 years to come up with a PENSION PLAN? Probably not.
Would HOGAN have GOOFED on electing a PENSION when he said he would not take one? Probably not.
Would HOGAN have RAISED taxes IF the CITY NEEDED IT FOR ITS GENERAL FUND? Probably so, Peyton ran on the no tax increase promise, yet we received Stormwater fees and the they do help with funding for the River.
Sometimes you need to put the City's Needs ahead of your own tax pledges. Brown has yet to do so. The City gets poorer because he has a campaign pledge to uphold. Peyton was elected to 2 terms and was unpopular. Brown will be lucky to survive 1 at this rate. Hogan knew to put the City's needs, ultimately, ahead of his own.
But all we have now is to watch as Brown dismantles the City one department or laughing stock at a time.
^ With regard to your first point, I would have to agree.
- Hogan would NO WAY IN HELL , support the Human rights bill. No way.
With your other points I kind of agree to an extent.
I'm afraid we WILL have to raise taxes, and while I personally do not have a problem with it,so long as I see something appreciable coming from it, Brown stepped into a mess, M-train, and everyone knows that. If Hogan became Mayor, We still would have to have cut something.
You will get NO argument from me , that Mayor Brown COULD be a bit more thoughtful and diplomatic in how he handled these things.
I am saddened that he also obviously will never support the Human Rights bills. I also don't have a problem with him being a one-term Mayor , if this is what we get for voting him in.
Again for the last time, He was never my FIRST choice. He was the better of the two remaining. I ll stand by that, and also agree that you make some valid points. Some. not all .
Can't squeeze blood out of a turnip. Cuts will continue to be made every year until we literally overhaul the entire fiscal foundation we've been relying on and modify our growth patterns.
QuoteIf Hogan became Mayor, We still would have to have cut something.
Not really, HOGAN could have raised taxes or gone to the people and let them know they would lose X services if no tax increase. Everyone says he would not have raised taxes, but Peyton did and he ran on the same pledge, knowing full well that the CITY needed the fees to help the river. No green algae since then either....
Brown and his budget team are so clueless, we keep finding new holes in the budget for next year as no one seems to understand how to create and manage a budget. The "I'm with Alvin" crowd elected someone with ABSOLUTLEY NO BUSINESS running a city government then hiring people who have no clue, in this, their 2nd budget year. They fired all of the people Peyton left behind, after running 8 budgets through the council.
The hubris on the fourth floor only matches the smell from the City Council chambers. It is a disgusting display of leadership and stewardship of the public treasury. HOGAN, love him or hate him, he knew his way around politics in the city. I would say the Human Rights bill would have had more of a chance with him, than the leadership of Brown, or lack of it, but its water under the bridge.
Nice to know that Brown still has more City positions he can cut, I hear the security guards at the Library are next. Really, why do we need security in a public building anyway???
The current tragic job losses and budgetary difficulties in our city is a consequence of a broader picture being played out in our country. Our country, as a result of outsourcing jobs, especially manufacturing jobs, as a consequence of continuing with the “war†on drugs even though it cannot possibly be won, as a consequence of continuing our foreign wars, as a consequence of enduring and apparently accepting the theft of most of the assets in this country by a few in positions of privilege, power and access to the machinery of wealth â€" a theft causing the shift of most of the wealth in our country from the middle class to a few wealthy individuals â€" our country, the average citizen, is set to endure, in the next two decades, suffering to levels we’ve not seen since the great depression. Unless there is radical change in our leadership, unless those in positions to make the right decisions actually do so, the average citizen, during the next twenty years, stands to suffer more than their grandparents did in the great depression.
I simply cannot see any other probable consequences for what has happened, and what is happening in our country. Somehow, our political system, by way of some contagious deficiency, has cultivated a population of politicians who have no vision, who have no honesty, who have no guts to make decisions necessary to avoid the current spiral into further poverty and instability. Our elected officials, by way of some unfortunate mental inclination spread throughout all politicians, are playing politics with the future of our country. And the affliction as described apparently includes most of our local politicians who seem not to have the vision or the guts to do what must be done to solve the mounting problems in our city? Where is common sense? Where is honesty? Where is leadership? Where are the jobs? Meanwhile, we spiral down.
There are several cities across this country, many happen to be Jacksonville's peers, that are enjoying budget surpluses right now. Miami, San Diego, Oklahoma City, Portland and Lexington all are examples of cities in the black with a little extra cash to spend improving themselves. Heck, San Francisco has an insane $80 million surplus this year. Instead of continued talks about further cutting services that are already considered poor, conversation in those communities are on what to do with the extra cash? Should it be spent on the arts, more police, schools, parks, mass transit, etc.? All of those places have had to deal with the loss of manufacturing jobs, the war on drugs, etc. as well.
On a local level, I'd say our low density development pattern is a significant fiscal issue we continue to ignore. Even a manufacturing powerhouse would lose cash with the amount of subsidies we put into ever expanding infrastructure network to support development that will never return enough revenue it takes the maintain the infrastructure it relies on.
As for the jobs, if you don't invest in yourself to set your community apart from the rest of the globe, don't count on winning that battle. Competition is fierce and today's worker is more likely to choose a city to reside based on its quality of life (and open their own business) than hoping to get hired and work a lifetime at the local steel mill.
Quote from: Timkin on September 06, 2012, 11:09:55 PM
Interesting that none of the City Council or their assistants would have to accept a pay cut or termination. God forbid!
2012-202-Our council-Legislating for themselves.
Welfare- The Govt. will pay you if you don't work
Glorified Welfare- 2005-1007
Did any MJ'er participate in the JCCI study Our Money, Our City, Financing Jacksonville's Future?
The library system is not an Authority system.
The library system is not a constitutional office system.
The library is an organic cluster of diversity that touches every pocket of communication left to exist throughout Duval county for its residents and neighborhoods.
Library positions? Every constitutional officer will no longer have a personal vehicle. We are doing the budget right now aren't we.
FSCJ-Who at the top has been let go?
Is Tony Nelson JPA in Federal prison? Nobody knows.
JTA and the Board awards an unbelievable golden parachute for who and why? How much money? How many library positions would this have saved?
Palms Fish Camp- Wait and see who gets a million dollar payday for never even opening up the door.
Does anyone wish that we had that $4,000,000 back for the naming rights of the city owned stadium that we gave away?
2011-560
Sewer Water Authority? Anybody?
We are so broke. Out of control greed through legislative actions by both republicans and democrats over numerous administrations that has created an unsustainable path that is crushing the Public Trust.
So who wants to participate in a tactical urban Downtown kayaking trip that we will want to share with FIND as we attempt to transform the out of control Backroom deals that has crippled this community.
I'll take you to my favorite spot. Fishing under the brand new no new fishing signs that was never before the Jacksonville Waterways Commission.
I am Downtown with Mayor Brown.
^can you re-word that post so it makes sense?
Quote from: acme54321 on September 06, 2012, 06:41:37 PM
I saw Bill Killingsworth on there also, I thought the mayor accepted his resignation (or something) a while ago?
His resignation was as planning director, but he had civil service reversion rights since he was previously a civil service employee.
Quote from: mtraininjax on September 06, 2012, 11:48:03 PM
QuoteIf Hogan became Mayor, We still would have to have cut something.
Not really, HOGAN could have raised taxes or gone to the people and let them know they would lose X services if no tax increase. Everyone says he would not have raised taxes, but Peyton did and he ran on the same pledge, knowing full well that the CITY needed the fees to help the river. No green algae since then either....
Brown and his budget team are so clueless, we keep finding new holes in the budget for next year as no one seems to understand how to create and manage a budget. The "I'm with Alvin" crowd elected someone with ABSOLUTLEY NO BUSINESS running a city government then hiring people who have no clue, in this, their 2nd budget year. They fired all of the people Peyton left behind, after running 8 budgets through the council.
The hubris on the fourth floor only matches the smell from the City Council chambers. It is a disgusting display of leadership and stewardship of the public treasury. HOGAN, love him or hate him, he knew his way around politics in the city. I would say the Human Rights bill would have had more of a chance with him, than the leadership of Brown, or lack of it, but its water under the bridge.
Nice to know that Brown still has more City positions he can cut, I hear the security guards at the Library are next. Really, why do we need security in a public building anyway???
(Nice to know that Brown still has more City positions he can cut, I hear the security guards at the Library are next. Really, why do we need security in a public building anyway???) Maybe we don't need them in all of the library's but Downtown sure needs them with the Homeless people that come in. What are we to ask the JSO to do this on the side at $35.00 an hour?
Mtrain, you really need to get over the fact that Hogan lost.
That Brown was absent when a true leader would have stepped up during the Human Right debate, is obvious. But to even suggest that Hogan would have in any way, shape, or form, supported the Human Rights amendment is an insult to everyone's intelligence.
To further suggest that Hogan would not have cut spending at least as much as Brown, is also nonsense.
And please stop revising history to make Peyton sound like a hero. If he had done his job, the pension issues would already be resolved when he left the St. James Building. He was term-limited with no intentions of running for officce again, (and no reasonable chance of winning if he did). Yet he kicked the can down the road. Apparently Brown has learned from his bad example.
Quote from: riverside planner on September 07, 2012, 06:40:08 AM
Quote from: acme54321 on September 06, 2012, 06:41:37 PM
I saw Bill Killingsworth on there also, I thought the mayor accepted his resignation (or something) a while ago?
His resignation was as planning director, but he had civil service reversion rights since he was previously a civil service employee.
yes...and for several months he was helping Renee Finley with the P3 office
QuoteMtrain, you really need to get over the fact that Hogan lost.
I noticed, our great city has gone backward fast!
QuoteThat Brown was absent when a true leader would have stepped up during the Human Right debate, is obvious. But to even suggest that Hogan would have in any way, shape, or form, supported the Human Rights amendment is an insult to everyone's intelligence.
Really, there is intelligence on this board? Must be why the good lord gave us 1 mouth and 2 ears.....
QuoteTo further suggest that Hogan would not have cut spending at least as much as Brown, is also nonsense.
What is nonsense is that remark. When you face a shortage, as Peyton did, with green algae everywhere, you fix the problem, as the river is your jewel. All the departments and people cut did valuable city services. The Community officers who process accidents are invaluable to JSO to allow officers to crack down on crimes. I have personally been affected by these services, so unless you have walked in the shoes of the people affected by these issues, I would suggest that you do not fully know what you are talking about, out here, all due respect of course...
QuoteAnd please stop revising history to make Peyton sound like a hero. If he had done his job, the pension issues would already be resolved when he left the St. James Building. He was term-limited with no intentions of running for officce again, (and no reasonable chance of winning if he did). Yet he kicked the can down the road. Apparently Brown has learned from his bad example.
Brown has learned something? Yeah, how to FIRE PEOPLE. He shows them the HAND who does the mayor's dirty work. Peyton kicked the can, so did Delaney, so did Austin, so did Godbold, so did every mayor from the creation of these programs. But 30 years ago, this was not a hot issue. Peyton did allow the Pension group to take properties, fix them up and sell them, instead of contributing cash to the program. Brown has yet to do this, and last I saw, there were PLENTY of properties he and his staff could push.
It is my belief that Renee Finley, a great person, is working on getting all the city properties together, by the end of the year, to co-incide with the mayor's plans for pension reform. My belief is that he will give properties to Pensions to offset costs, but it will have been 1.5 years since he acted on something Peyton's group had already been doing. Again, lack of experience and the FIRING of all the people, Kerry Stewart, who could have helped with a better transition.
Mayor Brown has excessive hubris, and we all end up paying for it. The 2012-2013 budget still has yet to be completed, really? More new holes found? As bad as Peyton may have been, did he ever, EVER, have has many screwups with a budget as Brown has had?
Quote from: stephendare on September 07, 2012, 09:13:59 AM
Quote from: Noone on September 07, 2012, 04:57:07 AM
Quote from: Timkin on September 06, 2012, 11:09:55 PM
Interesting that none of the City Council or their assistants would have to accept a pay cut or termination. God forbid!
2012-202-Our council-Legislating for themselves.
Welfare- The Govt. will pay you if you don't work
Glorified Welfare- 2005-1007
Did any MJ'er participate in the JCCI study Our Money, Our City, Financing Jacksonville's Future?
The library system is not an Authority system.
The library system is not a constitutional office system.
The library is an organic cluster of diversity that touches every pocket of communication left to exist throughout Duval county for its residents and neighborhoods.
Library positions? Every constitutional officer will no longer have a personal vehicle. We are doing the budget right now aren't we.
FSCJ-Who at the top has been let go?
Is Tony Nelson JPA in Federal prison? Nobody knows.
JTA and the Board awards an unbelievable golden parachute for who and why? How much money? How many library positions would this have saved?
Palms Fish Camp- Wait and see who gets a million dollar payday for never even opening up the door.
Does anyone wish that we had that $4,000,000 back for the naming rights of the city owned stadium that we gave away?
2011-560
Sewer Water Authority? Anybody?
We are so broke. Out of control greed through legislative actions by both republicans and democrats over numerous administrations that has created an unsustainable path that is crushing the Public Trust.
So who wants to participate in a tactical urban Downtown kayaking trip that we will want to share with FIND as we attempt to transform the out of control Backroom deals that has crippled this community.
I'll take you to my favorite spot. Fishing under the brand new no new fishing signs that was never before the Jacksonville Waterways Commission.
I am Downtown with Mayor Brown.
So is publicly funding a pier welfare for fishing people and kayakers?
Sorry noone, but its really hard to make your points when you go off on rants like this.
are we going to pay people to fish in water that they shouldnt be eating the fish from?
Sounds like a terrible idea.
It's not a rant. You were there at that Urban Core CPAC meeting when the Administration (Riverkeeper) was asked during Q&A'S if a letter of support could be written and brought to the Jacksonville city council about the Shipyards III pier. The simple one word response was "Yes."
I'm sitting right next to Rosalyn Phillips, Pam Roman is there. The board and everyone in the room hears this great affirmative response.
So what has happened since. We need to transform the corruption that continues to permeate this community as it relates to economic opportunity. What's your take?
Why did Jacksonville leave $500,000 on the table with the last FIND grant cycle applications? Total crushing of the Public Trust.
So what do we have now? New legislation.
The pier is a Fantastic idea that the state of Florida will soon know about.
let's get to work.
Mtrain,
So people like Peyton and Hogan can run on a budget-cutting platform and then when elected, just do an about face once they realize they didn't know what they were talking about, and that the cuts genuinely cause damage. But hey, they already won, right, so what's the problem.
Give me a break.
Given Hogan was supported by FBC and the other most conservative elements of the political world in Jax, what solitary shread of evidence do you have that he would defy his political base to support the Human Rights Amendment?
Likewise, given his backing by the Tea Party, etc., what evidence do you have that he would raise taxes instead of cutting the budget?
Anyone can make statements about what would have happened in a hypothetical situation. It is something else to actually provide some basis for it.
I don't think mtrain said Hogan wold have supported the HRC, but that Hogan would not have been absent on the issue - as Brown was (except possibly behind the scenes). I fully believe that Hogan would have been out there speaking against it.
My Bestfriend's mom work for the city and was one of the people who got laid off. She said they didnt find out until the read it online... Thats patheic. Its also said that the people that work for the city calls Alvin "low low" brown because he just stays looked in the office.
QuoteSo people like Peyton and Hogan can run on a budget-cutting platform and then when elected, just do an about face once they realize they didn't know what they were talking about, and that the cuts genuinely cause damage. But hey, they already won, right, so what's the problem.
So Mayor Brown ran on the premise that he would be DIFFERENT for Jacksonville? He has proven that already, alienating the Jaguars, getting council members to do his dirty work for him behind the scenes, the courthouse continues to have problems, and he cannot balance a budget that is due in 2 weeks.
Yeah, Vic that sure is different from when Peyton ran the show....Sometimes you have to break pledges in order to do what is in the best interest of all the citizens. You say whatever you can to get elected, then the real job begins. Brown ran on lower taxes, new jobs, spending reductions. Exactly what Hogan and Peyton ran on, but Peyton did what was best for the City and the River, with the stormwater fees. The river has benefited. The City can benefit with leadership as well, the pension mess cannot be solved by kicking the can down the road, and I am pretty sure his plan will be to sell land to the pension group in exchange for contributions. Maybe Pension Fund people can develop the Shipyards?!
Quote from: mtraininjax on September 13, 2012, 11:36:25 PM
QuoteSo people like Peyton and Hogan can run on a budget-cutting platform and then when elected, just do an about face once they realize they didn't know what they were talking about, and that the cuts genuinely cause damage. But hey, they already won, right, so what's the problem.
So Mayor Brown ran on the premise that he would be DIFFERENT for Jacksonville? He has proven that already, alienating the Jaguars, getting council members to do his dirty work for him behind the scenes, the courthouse continues to have problems, and he cannot balance a budget that is due in 2 weeks.
Yeah, Vic that sure is different from when Peyton ran the show....Sometimes you have to break pledges in order to do what is in the best interest of all the citizens. You say whatever you can to get elected, then the real job begins. Brown ran on lower taxes, new jobs, spending reductions. Exactly what Hogan and Peyton ran on, but Peyton did what was best for the City and the River, with the stormwater fees. The river has benefited. The City can benefit with leadership as well, the pension mess cannot be solved by kicking the can down the road, and I am pretty sure his plan will be to sell land to the pension group in exchange for contributions. Maybe Pension Fund people can develop the Shipyards?!
Peyton didn't have problems with the courthouse??!!! I guess you are a newcomer to Jax.
Okay, so it is perfectly okay and even expected that any candidate will say whatever they need, even to their stauchest supporters to win, but after that, they are free to broke any and all of them. So basically it is just a contest to see who is coolest?
^I believe his point is that in at least some circumstances Peyton made the hard decision and did what was right for the city, rather than what he thought would benefit him most politically. That's something we haven't seen much of for the last 14 months.
Quote from: Tacachale on September 14, 2012, 07:26:33 AM
^I believe his point is that in at least some circumstances Peyton made the hard decision and did what was right for the city, rather than what he thought would benefit him most politically. That's something we haven't seen much of for the last 14 months.
Yeah, Peyton did,... after he was term-limited. If Peyton wanted to make a 'hard decision' he would have done something with the pension system while he was still in his last term.
^I don't think anyone's arguing that. However, Peyton did prove capable of making tough calls that weren't politically expedient for him more than zero times.
Quote from: mtraininjax on September 09, 2012, 07:09:22 AM
I noticed, our great city has gone backward fast!
Is your assertion that Jacksonville was a great city before Brown was elected and now it is not? If so, there are a few problems with your chronology (and your characterization of "great").
Quote from: PeeJayEss on September 14, 2012, 09:25:52 AM
Quote from: mtraininjax on September 09, 2012, 07:09:22 AM
I noticed, our great city has gone backward fast!
Is your assertion that Jacksonville was a great city before Brown was elected and now it is not? If so, there are a few problems with your chronology (and your characterization of "great").
Jacksonville has been in a downward spiral for decades . Mike Hogan would NOT have saved the day, despite anyone's view who favored him for Mayor. Seriously,in hindsight, I doubt he would want the headache.
Quote from: Tacachale on September 14, 2012, 09:17:53 AM
^I don't think anyone's arguing that. However, Peyton did prove capable of making tough calls that weren't politically expedient for him more than zero times.
Is his first year? I'm not arguing. I really don't remember. Did he make any hard calls when he was new on the job? Someone mentioned the storm water fees. Didn't the storm water fees come near the end of his 2nd term?
Quote from: Debbie Thompson on September 14, 2012, 01:58:14 PM
Quote from: Tacachale on September 14, 2012, 09:17:53 AM
^I don't think anyone's arguing that. However, Peyton did prove capable of making tough calls that weren't politically expedient for him more than zero times.
Is his first year? I'm not arguing. I really don't remember. Did he make any hard calls when he was new on the job? Someone mentioned the storm water fees. Didn't the storm water fees come near the end of his 2nd term?
There's no denying that Peyton certainly had a rough go of it, especially early on. At the same time, I don't recall him actively working behind the scenes to keep from having to make a decision. It's hard to imagine Peyton would have acted this way over the HRO (in fact, it's impossible to imagine that, since he supported it).
At any rate, Brown is actually in his second year now. To give it some perspective, in Ed Austin's second year, he developed the River City Renaissance plan, which raised $230 million for civic projects. While it had its share of negatives (the demolition of much of LaVilla), the bulk of the money went to such beneficial projects as rehabbing the St. James Building into City Hall (and thereby, eventually moving city hall off of valuable riverfront property), creating the Sulzbacher Center, the Times-Union Center (and expanding the Symphony), funding improvements at the Zoo, and committing money to renovating the Gator Bowl, which was key in getting us the Jaguars. Would that we were in this position now.
Quote from: Tacachale on September 15, 2012, 09:42:07 AM
At any rate, Brown is actually in his second term now.
You mean second "year"? Or the implication that he is in his "final" term?
Thanks Doug, I meant second year. I fixed my post.
So far I am not seeing much positive coming from the Brown Admin. Layoffs and a few more demolitions. awesome .
Maybe the mayor can salvage something when he announces his Pension Reform plan at the end of the year.
Morale is in the toilet to be expected, lots of outsiders coming into the City, more will be announced I am sure. Rumors abound that Brown is setting himself up to take a run at a position in DC, and just treading water until his term is up. DNC is very high on him. Go figure.