Message From Mayor John Peyton: American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan
QuoteDear Friends:
On Thursday morning, I had the tremendous honor of being one of a select few elected officials to hear President-elect Barack Obama present his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan at George Mason University. I was honored to be invited to Washington, D.C., along with 20 other metropolitan mayors, as the President-elect addressed the country on the importance of taking swift action to restore trust and confidence in our nation’s economy and provide jobs for millions of Americans. This visit is indicative of the ongoing work that the city is doing to ensure that Jacksonville’s message is being heard at the federal level.
As part of my time in D.C., the other mayors and I first attended a briefing with Robert Nabors, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, on the new administration’s economic stimulus plan. This was a great opportunity for the leaders of cities like Jacksonville to convey to the new administration how local governments are poised to put federal dollars to work in our communities, immediately.
Since discussion of a potential infrastructure plan first started, I have been working to make sure Jacksonville’s message is heard. Along with the city’s independent authorities and three beaches communities, we have developed a list of construction-ready projects that could break ground within 90-120 days and would pump more than $760 million into our local economy. With assistance from the federal government, Jacksonville could begin to address its own rising unemployment and foreclosure rates, do our part to help restore the nation’s economy and complete needed infrastructure projects.
As a city, we understand that we cannot rely solely on federal funds to jump-start our local economy or meet local infrastructure needs. However, supplemental investments from the federal government will assist us in staving off additional financial crises caused by the nationwide recession, and continue to help keep Jacksonville’s residents working.
As the national discussion continues to focus on the new administration’s economic recovery plan, know that Jacksonville has a seat at that table and is prepared to make good use of federal dollars as they become available. Despite the seemingly never-ending bad news regarding our nation’s economic stability, today, I am hopeful. Capital project funding is the quickest economic stimulus available, particularly if it is matched by additional local funding. President-elect Obama is committed to taking dramatic action to lift our nation to its feet so that our cities and communities may once again grow and prosper, and I am committed to working with his administration to do that for Jacksonville.
Respectfully yours,
John Peyton
Mayor
Great message. This is what he should do more often. Communicate with the jaxons! ;D
Keep us in the know!
Translation: "Big Brother is gonna print more money, and we're going to build more roads"
The Obama administration is looking very similar to the Bush administration in one of the few ways that I never expected nor wanted.
But that's just my opinion. I would be really interested in hearing anyone who feels that:
1) This federal spending would help anyone long term and not just prove to be an engine for more debt (which caused this recession in the first place.)
2) That Peton will spend less than 90% of Jax's money on road projects that will further spread out Jacksonville, and aid the long term spread of wealth outside city limits and into the suburban counties.
quick answer with one example....
the interstate highway system was an incredibly expensive public works program....but it became a major backbone of our economic engine over the last 50 years!
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"The Rock Island Line's is a mighty fine road..."
Quote from: tufsu1 on January 09, 2009, 06:06:15 PM
quick answer with one example....
the interstate highway system was an incredibly expensive public works program....but it became a major backbone of our economic engine over the last 50 years!
THIS IDEA IS BEASTLY!
Did it really? What industry besides trucking? It could be argued that the Interstate Highway System (built in most states with heavy taxation on the railroads in addition to well known sources) is responsible for the loss of much of our industrial output.
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A landscape only a General Motors Executive could love.
Railroads were followed where ever they built the super slabs, in many cases they couldn't survive the lean years of heavy regulation - high taxation - competition from unregulated "wildcat truckers". The Rock Island Lines, The Milwaukee Road, Penn Central etc. all fell victim to low rates on high value cargo, leaving the railroads with such winners as rocks, coal, sand, and grain. Leading to deferred maintenance the rail structure quickly dissolved into thousands of miles of 10 MPH weed infested track. Suddenly without the ability to move heavy industrial goods due to speed or track restrictions the railroads started bringing down entire industries.
(http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/los-angeles-smog-www-lg.jpg)
"We're on final approach to Los Angeles International Airport, Fasten your seatbelt and return your tray tables to the upright position..."
Passengers? Yes, them too, by investing BILLIONS in highways at their widest, the Interstates are built to handle peak volume, only they don't operate at peak volume except in rush hours. So they along with their feeder network have accounted for enough pavement to completely cover 8 Northeastern States. The surge in bus travel in the early years
finished off many commuter operations, and Interurban railroads. Auto travel became a need and no longer a luxury, millions of autos choke our cities causing many to issue "smog alerts" and "stay indoors days". Have you ever seen the top of all the supertalls in Los Angeles? Once or twice a year maybe. With autos booming, fuel reserves vanished, oil wars were started, shortages, and suddenly we're headed for disaster...
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Jacksonville - Tampa - Miami - Pensacola - Atlanta - Birmingham - St. Augustine - Fernandina Beach - Charleston - Savannah - - - How many BILLIONS will it cost to fix this? What if we run out of fuel first?
Could an Interstate system do all that? Maybe? Maybe not? But they certainly had a part in the mess we're in today.
I LOVE IT! What we need in Jacksonville is a few more lanes, so lead on Mayor Peyton, you could be the Messiah, but more likely, you could be the Anti-Christ. OCKLAWAHA
I haven't put much thought into this, but I believe the United States' exponential suburban growth led us into our current recession. Yes a lot of building has occurred in the past few decades, but now what? We became a greedy country where everything had to be bigger and newer. It seems we moved too quickly and now backtracking may be our only solution. Look at the new initiatives to buy local, more intentional mixed use, focus on neighborhoods and of course the trends back to streetcars and rail. Building more roads seems contradictory. I'm not convinced this is going to really help our current economic state.
agreed...as pointed out in another thread, this is the law of unintended consequences....the folks who planned the interstate system saw the upside from a national expansion standpoint, but never realized the disastrous effects it would have on local communities.
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The Mother Road, route 66, at the bridge in BRIDGEPORT, OK.
I saw this and you can too with a tour on Oklahoma's Heritage Highway - Old ROUTE 66. Dozens on dozens of towns, completely boarded up. Large blocks of brick buildings, like a scene from a western ghost town movie.
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Bridgeport housing improved with I-40?
All because I-40 and I-44 blew past them by a couple of miles. When 66 was decommissioned, the travelers moved to the interstate. The local stores, mills, garages, hotels and businesses died when the flow of traffic diverted. Some hung onto a tiny shred of local business, but rather then stop at Billy-Bob's store for gas and feed, now the big pick-up trucks and stock trailers zoom past at 80, looking for the next "FLYING J" discount truck stop. The tourist court is falling in on itself, because today, nothing less then BEST WESTERN will do. Even at that, with 80 MPH speeds, who needs to buy feed in Bridgeport, Oklahoma, when they can run all the way to OKC and buy it at a farm supply super-store, in an hour.
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Bridgeport Service Station-one of several out on old 66.
Take a trip to bridgeport and the truth will smack you hard - BTW, those Rock Island Shots? Got some at Bridgeport too. We're all just counting the days until the landmark little water tower topples over on the last residence or two.
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Now you want to see what the freeways get us? Go check out DAVIS STREET, MONCRIEF or RANDOLPH and learn what WAS there before the super slab passed it by. Progress be damned!
OCKLAWAHA