http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters-readers/2012-10-03/story/lead-letter-ceo-decides-not-move-jacksonville-after-council
Lead Letter: CEO decides not to move to Jacksonville after council vote against gay rights bill
To build a business, you need more than just land; you need a favorable environment for employees.
Let me tell you a story.
I am a member of the board of directors of a rapidly growing, multi-million dollar international company. We employ chemists and engineers, marketers/sales staff plus a full manufacturing and distribution facility.
The company is located in a landlocked city and wishes to move to a city with a port, rail and truck service.
I have strongly advocated Jacksonville as our future business home. Unfortunately, the CEO came to evaluate Jacksonville when the letters and comments of hate were in our paper opposing the proposed changes to the Jacksonville anti-discrimination ordinance.
The CEO was shocked and said any determination about Jacksonville would not occur until after the bill was voted on by the City Council.
I sent articles from city leaders supporting the bill, but that was not enough. The CEO has determined this community will not be a good a fit for our company.
Jacksonville lost this company because of the results of the anti-discrimination bill vote.
I have served as a director on other international boards, and I can promise you that those companies would also decline Jacksonville as a headquarters home in view of the way our council and some citizens responded to a call for equal rights.
This is not the result of unforeseen consequences. No, this result is highly foreseeable.
When religious beliefs and convictions are infused into the responsibility of creating public policy, the resulting sad consequences are totally predictable. Where was strong, wise and meaningful leadership when we needed it?
If I ever questioned the wisdom of separation of church and state, that doubt has been completely erased by this event. I am saddened to have my home city of Jacksonville defined in this manner.
My company is now investigating Savannah, Charleston and the ports in Virginia.
Marianna S. Smith, attorney,
Quote from: Jdog on October 04, 2012, 03:26:20 PM
My company is now investigating Savannah, Charleston and the ports in Virginia.
Marianna S. Smith, attorney
Your company might want to think twice about Virginia. Virginia is the only state where companies not large enough to underwrite their own insurance policies are prohibited from offering domestic-partner benefits. The state also bans joint adoptions by same-sex couples and refuses to list the names of same-sex couples from other states on the birth certificates of children adopted there. Their Constitution not only prohibits gay marriages, but also civil unions, partnership contracts and other "arrangements between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage." Some legal experts say the law is so vague that it could interfere with powers of attorney, wills, medical directives, child custody and property arrangements, and joint bank accounts. Legal experts call it the most restrictive anti-gay law in the nation.
Lawmakers also shot down attempts to rewrite the state's anti-sodomy law to conform with the U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas law against gay sex.
It was always amusing that some opponents of the bill claimed it would burden businesses. I guess the solution is to make sure we don't have any businesses to burden.
She's a director of Parsons Brinckerhoff and Pantheon Enterprises.
There's a lawyer named Marianna Smith on the board of Pantheon Enterprises (http://www.sustainbetterlife.com/board-of-directors.html) in Phoenix; she's a lawyer and appears to have Jacksonville connections.
^
LOL, you must have updated your post before I finished mine. Pantheon seems to be the one that fits the description.
I hope this article is sent to all city council memebers and each of the mayors inner circle.
Green jobs...requires education...Exactly the kind of company you would want.
That's a really strong statement from someone who serves on the boards of some really big time companies (Parsons Brinckerhoff especially). I'm glad she not only called out the dolls in city government, but also called out the bad behavior from the general public. Unfortunately the people of Jacksonville are probably the biggest part of the problem that sets the city back (and just look at who gets repeatedly voted into [insert office here]).
Quote from: Jdog on October 04, 2012, 06:31:36 PM
Green jobs...requires education...Exactly the kind of company you would want.
When will Jacksonville's government finally get it? A major missed opportunity because of the decisions of a few bigots. Nice.