Interesting comments from the incoming Council President.
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-05-30/story/council-leader-criticizes-jacksonville-mayor-alvin-browns-self-promotion
I agree that the Jazz fest thing was just ridiculous. I was pretty pissed off when I looked up and saw "Mayor Brown Presents Jacksonville Jazz Festival" in lights on a building last weekend. Anyone happen to take a picture of it?
Glad some finally had the stones to step up and say it.
I am stunned that a politician soon to be up for re-election is a self promoter. Why can't he be more like Governer Scott or President Obama?
because he has been a self promoter since day 1....note that emails from City staff end with the tagline "Connect with Mayor Brown" and links to COJ Facebook, twitter, etc.
he is definately over the top with some of this. always has a camera person close by.
This is the COJ's official "Featured News" page...interesting
http://www.coj.net/welcome/news.aspx?page=1
Lol, so 9 out of 10 featured stories mention "mayor" in the title. Very interesting....
10 of 10 stories on the 2nd page either have Mayor in the title or a picture of the Mayor. So 19 of 20 mentions in the first 2 pages.
Quote from: copperfiend on May 31, 2013, 09:11:00 AM
I am stunned that a politician soon to be up for re-election is a self promoter. Why can't he be more like Governer Scott or President Obama?
I wish Obama and Scott could be more like Brown. For starters.
President Obama Presents: The Super Bowl
Rick Scott Presents: Disney's Fireworks Spectacular
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/983954_10151635590753979_387451776_n.jpg)
Yes. He self-promotes...he's probably the first to really embrace the concept in Jacksonville politics...but I think it's damn smart. Calm down...there are WAY MORE IMPORTANT things to spend our time on than worrying about the self-promotions of the mayor. ::)
Quote from: Riverrat on May 31, 2013, 01:42:37 PM
Yes. He self-promotes...he's probably the first to really embrace the concept in Jacksonville politics...but I think it's damn smart. Calm down...there are WAY MORE IMPORTANT things to spend our time on than worrying about the self-promotions of the mayor. ::)
Calmer than you are Mr. Capital Letters...Calmer than you are. ;)
No its actually not smart to be a self promoter in politics, especially at the local level where everyone can very easily tell if you are doing a good job. Getting things done and being good at your job is all you need to do. What Brown is doing/has done has driven a rift between him and Council, has hurt the morale of staff because they feel they get no credit, and wasted countless hours of his time that could be better served actually doing things.
I don't know about you, but I'd rather have my Mayor working on policy and big picture items, than shaking hands and taking pictures at a 4H function.
Don't big city mayors do this kind of stuff on the regular? I can already think of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago where the mayors have been traditionally larger than life. What makes Mayor Brown look like an anomaly instead of the norm, however, is that he succeeded a relatively low-key mayor who was not known for being out in the community as much. But, if we look back to the 1970s and 1980s, we can look back to mayors like Tanzler and Godbold who were public in their promotion of Jacksonville and their respective agendas.
http://sheltonhull.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/all-up-in-it-notes-on-mayor-browns-self-promotional-streak/
Shelton Hull's take....
If you are in a business where people choose you pageant style you had better self promote. It would be dumb not to. This whole thread is petty.
http://www.youtube.com/v/_cCvDPQCdlE
Quote from: CityLife on May 31, 2013, 01:53:05 PM
Quote from: Riverrat on May 31, 2013, 01:42:37 PM
Yes. He self-promotes...he's probably the first to really embrace the concept in Jacksonville politics...but I think it's damn smart. Calm down...there are WAY MORE IMPORTANT things to spend our time on than worrying about the self-promotions of the mayor. ::)
Calmer than you are Mr. Capital Letters...Calmer than you are. ;)
No its actually not smart to be a self promoter in politics, especially at the local level where everyone can very easily tell if you are doing a good job. Getting things done and being good at your job is all you need to do. What Brown is doing/has done has driven a rift between him and Council, has hurt the morale of staff because they feel they get no credit, and wasted countless hours of his time that could be better served actually doing things.
I don't know about you, but I'd rather have my Mayor working on policy and big picture items, than shaking hands and taking pictures at a 4H function.
+1,000
As for the comparisons to other big-city mayors like Ed Koch and Michael bloomberg, and Rudy Guiliani, they may have promoted themselves, but they also had a solid list of accomplishments to back it up.
Putting his name on the jazz Festival was inappropriate and tacky. Accomplishments speak much louder than campaigning.
Quote from: jaxequality on May 31, 2013, 08:24:39 PM
http://www.youtube.com/v/_cCvDPQCdlE
That is awful. I couldn't make past 1:30 before I had to stop. :o
Quote from: vicupstate on May 31, 2013, 08:31:04 PM
Quote from: CityLife on May 31, 2013, 01:53:05 PM
Quote from: Riverrat on May 31, 2013, 01:42:37 PM
Yes. He self-promotes...he's probably the first to really embrace the concept in Jacksonville politics...but I think it's damn smart. Calm down...there are WAY MORE IMPORTANT things to spend our time on than worrying about the self-promotions of the mayor. ::)
Calmer than you are Mr. Capital Letters...Calmer than you are. ;)
No its actually not smart to be a self promoter in politics, especially at the local level where everyone can very easily tell if you are doing a good job. Getting things done and being good at your job is all you need to do. What Brown is doing/has done has driven a rift between him and Council, has hurt the morale of staff because they feel they get no credit, and wasted countless hours of his time that could be better served actually doing things.
I don't know about you, but I'd rather have my Mayor working on policy and big picture items, than shaking hands and taking pictures at a 4H function.
+1,000
As for the comparisons to other big-city mayors like Ed Koch and Michael bloomberg, and Rudy Guiliani, they may have promoted themselves, but they also had a solid list of accomplishments to back it up.
Putting his name on the jazz Festival was inappropriate and tacky. Accomplishments speak much louder than campaigning.
I agree about building a solid record, but we have not yet seen a Mayor Ray Nagin moment with Mayor Brown. I think that he has done a yeoman's job of communicating with our residents when we need communications. It helps a great deal when we are in harm's way (e.g. hurricanes, tropical storms, etc.) and we have the benefit of knowing what is going on. I give him and his administration high marks for keeping us posted. If he dropped the ball on this, there would indeed be hell to pay...
Ceremonial functions and promotion (of the city, not one's self) are all well and good, but there comes a point when a mayor can spend too much time on that instead of the actual work of the position. It can be a serious problem.
So, whether or not you believe that Mayor Brown does too much self promotion, someone needs to teach CM Gulliford about the concept of tact. Outside of Jax Beach and people who are very involved in city government, no one knows this guy, and the TU's article about his feelings on Brown's self promotion are his intro to the Jacksonville public in many ways.
What a way for Gulliford to begin his year-long working relationship with the guy. This should be a heck of a year.
Oh, and another thing...one weekend removed from images of Jax Beach looking like a violent third world country, and the district council member is in the news accusing Brown of self promotion? More and more in love with this guy by the day.
Gulliford has been working with Brown for two years already. And he's hardly the only one to feel this way.
Quote from: Steve on June 01, 2013, 12:25:33 PM
So, whether or not you believe that Mayor Brown does too much self promotion, someone needs to teach CM Gulliford about the concept of tact. Outside of Jax Beach and people who are very involved in city government, no one knows this guy, and the TU's article about his feelings on Brown's self promotion are his intro to the Jacksonville public in many ways.
What a way for Gulliford to begin his year-long working relationship with the guy. This should be a heck of a year.
You have not been paying attention if you don't think Gulliford speaks for most of the council.
I'm not talking about the perception of the council, I'm talking about the other 99% of Jacksonville who isn't engaged or on a site like this. Have I heard this from other council members? Absolutely. However none of the other 18 have a lead article about them and the other 18 aren't coming in to the council president's office.
Mayor Brown presents…homophobia and a behind-the-times city.
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Fantastic piece from Jim Bailey of the Daily Record that touches on this subject
http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=539694