When considering the momentum that Jacksonville currently has, I have been thinking a lot about future Mayoral administrations. In 2027, I hope that Donna Deegan can be re-elected so she can continue the momentum that she has with so many encouraging developments and projects. This includes a lot of downtown development, but also all kinds of other things that she brings to the table.
Looking into 2031 and 2035, we are going to need leaders who can come in and continue the great work that has been done and not throw things off track. How do we ensure things like emerald trail truly do get completed? How do we ensure that we will continue on the momentum with downtown parks and making that a destination? How do we follow through on broken promises on things like septic tanks and utilities around the city? There is so many things we still need to do to live up to our potential as a city.
It is clear to me that the type of leader needed includes things Donna does very well. Things like trying to steer clear of national politics, doing the day to day governance things well, refusing to be divisive, working together with anyone willing to work towards shared goals, etc. We also need leaders who are willing to make the case to citizens that our government services, police, fire, education, etc are worth investing in.
This is rambly, but I truly hope that we can continue with the optomism of the last couple of years and ensure that the next decade IS the decade of transformation when we never look back.
Future mayors (and councils) may have to deal with one or more of the DeSantis/Trumplican efforts to reduce (or eliminate) property taxes.
They seem to be following the philosophy of Grover Norquist
Quote
an American political activist and tax reduction advocate who is founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, an organization that opposes all tax increases. A Republican, he is the primary promoter of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a pledge signed by lawmakers who agree to oppose increases in marginal income tax rates for individuals and businesses, as well as net reductions or eliminations of deductions and credits without a matching reduced tax rate.
"I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."
I just really truly don't understand how more voters don't understand the philosophical roots of many that they are voting for.
The vast majority of voters do not want to starve public services and turn every government service into a for profit private enterprise. I think it is hard though when you are working for a living, trying to get by, and just open to anything in terms of radical change if it will make it easier for you to get by.
I do not think the society that these folks want to make will actually help these people though. I also have some hope and faith that 60% of people will not vote for abolishing property taxes. I think Mayor Deegan makes a good point that police and fire departments are some of the first to oppose that type of funding cut. You're also taking something stable and moving it over to regressive sales taxes which depend on economy
If i was in charge of strategy...I would definitely make the argument that abolishing property taxes could ACTUALLY be "defunding" the police. In the sense that in an economic downturn where the vast majority of Florida revenue comes from tourists or consumption, police and fire will be impacted.
Quote from: Jankelope on December 18, 2025, 12:06:39 PM
I just really truly don't understand how more voters don't understand the philosophical roots of many that they are voting for.
The question is why? I would suggest a number of reasons:
1. People are disenfranchised and cynical about the nastiness and superficiality of politics today. Unfortunately, that plays into a downward spiral/feedback loop as being unengaged magnifies the probabilities of getting low quality elected leaders which repeats the cycle.
2. Voters are increasingly lazy, not taking the time to investigate and understand issues. They allow themselves to be taken in by over simplified positions/platitudes when issues are actually complex. This is where the corrupt financing of campaigns today comes in as it buys endless political commercials with dumbed-down sound bites that voters rely on as their main source of campaign information.
3. Our society today is more concerned with outward personalities/charisma, than underlying character, due to our celebrity driven culture.
4. Maybe not an issue so much in local politics, but the bubbles of information that people can now live in with social media over main stream media limits their access to views that might counter the ones that they initially align with. Popping those bubbles can be difficult.
5.. Many people today are not civically educated, they don't understand how government works and how it impacts their daily lives. This leads to a lack of caring or participating in the governing process.
6.. We live in an increasingly selfish and immediate gratification culture. So, people, if they do vote, only care about issues impacting their pocketbook today, not the long term consequences for that or for other issues that may effect their finances or quality of life down the road.
7. I feel it is a poor excuse, but many will say they don't pay more attention to elections because they don't have the time. Yet, they can watch sports, movies, social media, streaming shows, etc. for many hours per week. This circles back to being interested in only one's personal gratification, misplaced priorities and/or not concerned with the welfare of society at large.
8. Some of the above reflects the influence of gerrymandering, lobbying, unlimited campaign donations, etc. which makes many feel that their vote doesn't count anyway, so why waste time thinking about it. Again, this just perpetuates the cycle of disengagement.
It's incredible the amount of mental gymnastics some people will go through to convince themselves that any sort of tax reform allowing people to keep more of their own money is a horrible idea.
Quote from: WarDamJagFan on December 19, 2025, 06:54:29 AM
It's incredible the amount of mental gymnastics some people will go through to convince themselves that any sort of tax reform allowing people to keep more of their own money is a horrible idea.
I am not opposed to tax reform, tax cuts, etc...I think that is a common misconception about "some people." I am absolutely in favor of tax relief if it does not come at the expense of essential services, public amenities, infrastructure, etc.
Jacksonville has some of the lowest property taxes in the state of Florida. If you asked me today should we have passed the local option gas tax to fund U2C...I would tell you absolutely no. Yet that was passed by the previous mayor, who wouldn't know fiscal responsibility and respect for the taxpayer if it hit him in the face.
I am all for relief, and I think that can come in many forms. You need good schools, police, fire, city services/workers. Those things contribute to quality of life but they also SAVE money in the long term. There is absolutely a such thing as excessive taxation. I am not of the opinion that we should just keep increasing taxes over and over forever.
I think we have some misallocated resources that we can do better aligning. How am I bending over backwards doing mental gymnastics? 90% of the people I am refferring to who vote for polititians with a "starve the beast" "government should be so small I can drown it in a bathtub" don't actually agree with that philosophy when you tell them what it really means.
People want trash collection frequently and on time. People want well paid teachers, police, and firefighters. People want clean public spaces, they want safe playgrounds, museums, attractions, etc. They want a vibrant downtown. Those are super majority things. The fact is that we can't just starve the beast and expect to have high quality public services that define great cities.
Do you think I'm missing something? Again I appreciate the engagement and I just want to be clear that it is complex and I am not "Pro excessive taxation"
Quote from: Jankelope on December 17, 2025, 04:18:45 PM
When considering the momentum that Jacksonville currently has, I have been thinking a lot about future Mayoral administrations. In 2027, I hope that Donna Deegan can be re-elected so she can continue the momentum that she has with so many encouraging developments and projects. This includes a lot of downtown development, but also all kinds of other things that she brings to the table.
Looking into 2031 and 2035, we are going to need leaders who can come in and continue the great work that has been done and not throw things off track. How do we ensure things like emerald trail truly do get completed? How do we ensure that we will continue on the momentum with downtown parks and making that a destination? How do we follow through on broken promises on things like septic tanks and utilities around the city? There is so many things we still need to do to live up to our potential as a city.
It is clear to me that the type of leader needed includes things Donna does very well. Things like trying to steer clear of national politics, doing the day to day governance things well, refusing to be divisive, working together with anyone willing to work towards shared goals, etc. We also need leaders who are willing to make the case to citizens that our government services, police, fire, education, etc are worth investing in.
This is rambly, but I truly hope that we can continue with the optomism of the last couple of years and ensure that the next decade IS the decade of transformation when we never look back.
Right on the money!
Quote from: jaxlongtimer on December 18, 2025, 03:55:38 PM
Quote from: Jankelope on December 18, 2025, 12:06:39 PM
I just really truly don't understand how more voters don't understand the philosophical roots of many that they are voting for.
The question is why? I would suggest a number of reasons:
5.. Many people today are not civically educated, they don't understand how government works and how it impacts their daily lives. This leads to a lack of caring or participating in the governing process.
This is definitely in play right now related to the property tax elimination movement. I'm on a board that does a lot of lobbying on state issues. We recently had a speaker come that is working on a PR campaign to oppose the elimination. His firm conducted a very reliable poll about the issue. Only 56% of Florida voters understand that the primary source of funding for police and fire services comes from property taxes.
Of course everyone wants their property tax reduced or eliminated. Who doesn't want to save money? Many Florida voters simply do not understand the implications of eliminating property taxes. I would argue many state legislators and the Governor also don't. I've seen a clip of DeSantis bragging about how Florida's budget is lower than New York City's despite having a significantly larger population. Well, yeah, that is because the State of Florida provides less public services than large cities like NYC do. NYC provides Police, Fire, Parks, Water/Sewer, Trash, Libraries, Transportation, Schools, Public Health, and so on...
The average Florida resident is FAR more reliant on their local government for essential services than their state government. And imo Floridians should not want their services to be provided at the state level where there is less accountability and oversight. Based on my experiences in the private and public sector's in Florida, I can confidently say that some of the least responsive public employees in Florida work at the state level. During Covid, it seemed like the DEP basically stopped working and reviewing environmental permits, and they dragged this out for some time. If there is ever an issue with how services are being provided or how high the millage rate is at the local level, all it takes is three new City Councilors in most cities to enact change. There is basically no path to making sweeping service changes at the state level.
Eliminating property taxes will have catastrophic effects on the state and greatly damage all of the special communities in the state. Pop quiz, can anyone name me a special community in Florida that is not an incorporated city? If property taxes are eliminated, the ability to provide elite police, parks, public works projects, special events, and placemaking in cities will be greatly reduced.
I've actually been meaning to start a separate thread on this and will do so soon, so that it does not get lost in this thread...But I will leave this last thought that a lot of people have not even considered. The wildest unintended consequence to the property tax elimination is that it will benefit new Florida residents and future residents more than long term residents, because everyone will be on the same ground with taxes. Long term Florida homeowners pay significantly less in property taxes due to Save Our Homes (my home's taxable value is less than 50% of it's market value, for instance)...but now old Floridians will have to pay the same taxes as everyone. There will be another source of taxation to offset the loss of property tax, likely increased sales taxes.
In summary: Eliminating property taxes would reduce the quality and responsiveness of local services, weaken Florida's cities and special communities, and simply shift the tax burden to other, less transparent forms of taxation that everyone will still feel and with far less local control.
Former Curry acolyte, Brian Hughes, just stepped down from his high level NASA job he just began in May with the following quote:
"A new chapter will be announced soon—
one focused on supporting entrepreneurs,
causes, and candidates I believe in, and I look forward to sharing what's next."
Given the timing, I wonder if it is just a coincidence that people are gearing up for the next Jacksonville mayoral election that he may have a desire to participate in some way. Curry's done a lot of saber rattling lately along with his City Council buddies so the political pot is heating up.
QuoteA prominent Jacksonville political figure is stepping away from his position in the Trump administration.
Former NASA Chief of Staff Brian Hughes announced his departure in a post on LinkedIn....
https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/new-chapter-jacksonville-political-figure-brian-hughes-leaves-nasa/SGIJUYZ6KNAOPNBPO4HPS4JVT4/
I think as long as Deegan stays focused, it's hard for me to imagine a Republican in this chaotic climate winning against her. Deegan's biggest strength to me is that she has just made things happen quietly, moved things along, and done so without making things partisan or wading into national politics. She has about a 60% approval rating I think. Huge uphill battle for someone.
I can't imagine anyone on the right wanting to step in and run against Donna at the moment.
On paper, Daniel Davis was significantly stronger than anyone who would step up in 2027.
She's gotten significantly more popular since with how she's running the city, and I don't know what the path is to beating her in the next election. There's too much visible progress, and city politics are the least toxic and the least crony-driven that they've been since Delaney's run as mayor. As we saw in the last cycle, going dirty isn't going to work. You could maybe point to higher local unemployment, but I think most rational people understand that those pressures are external, not policy-driven. I would avoid coming out to strongly in favor of the U2C though, as that's one boondoggle that could be weaponized against anyone who too actively championed it.
Agreed on U2C. I think it would have been a huge win for her if she came out after winning and said "We need to use the local gas option revenue to speed up completion of Emerald Trail"
I haven't met a single person who knows what U2C is that thinks it is a good idea. Not one person.