This next week will begin a series of politic analysis on MetroJacksonville.com.
Towards this, we are working on a serious look at history of the Peyton Administration to be printed in a few weeks..
I am looking for input from our readers. What are your thoughtful observations about John Peyton, his administration and his legacy?
What did he do right?
What was a straight up mistake.
How will he be remembered
What was the most important thing which defined his terms?
What will be his lasting effect?
Thanks! I will be building your input into the article itself!
Stephen.
Buckethead: registered republican and resident of St. Johns County. Formerly Duval resident.
An inspector general comes to mind. One who has generally inspected.... Not so much. Runs PR for Peyton?
Gate Concrete lands precast for the courthouse.
Not a peep from him regarding LRT.
Good in a radio interview. Despite lacking dynamic governmental leadership, he will likely move up the political food chain.
How'd I do?
Quote from: stephendare on October 05, 2009, 12:07:51 PM
Any accomplishments?
Some quick streaming thoughts to get the conversation going and trying to balance the pluses and minuses:
I can't say for sure where he scales out, but he has spent a lot of time and energy on the City's finances in the perfect storm of tough times: Tallahassee revenue slashing, anti-tax sentiment, a lousy economy, bloated expense obligations from prior times, dropping property values, interest income, and stock market, etc. I give him many kudos for taking on his own party in Tallahassee to fight the property tax revisions that he correctly predicted would harm Jax greatly and for showing leadership in the recent budget negotiations advocating for a small tax hike to keep up our community investment.
He has also tried to push some quality of life issues such as early childhood reading and culture. The port has done well under his watch but don't know, again, how to allocate credit.
Didn't like the Courthouse, it should have been vertical and cheaper. I wish he pushed harder on parks, recreation, and natural and historic preservation. These have been major missed opportunities. Also, a really first class master plan for downtown development with integrated mass transit of some sort is missing. He should push for the Shipyards and JEA properties Downtown to become forever public spaces. This could still be his greatest legacy (along with maybe convincing the Davis's and his Dad to create a national or super-state park for Northeast Florida ;) - see the thread under Parks and Recreation on MJ).
In between, he has reasonably walked a tight rope with public safety and race relations. Probably the toughest, is working with the always unpredictable and unmanageable City Council.
Regarding development, I agreed with his stand on Cecil. Having the Navy back would have been great, but not if locals should have to spend a billion of their own dollars to fix a federal mistake. If the Feds wanted Cecil back, they should have paid the billion.
Looks like he may have worked hard on a number of projects, including a new aircraft carrier, the port, the battery plant, Deutche Bank, etc., all in a tough economy. Now pumping to keep or get the Jags, Florida-Georgia, and maybe the Senior Bowl. Handled the Super Bowl, ACC Championships, NCAA games well.
Biggest accolade is he didn't sell out the City for every hairbrained development scheme that came along. He does need a more dependable contract writer in the General Counsel's office (we may hear more of this if Mullaney ends up running for Mayor) and some sharper people in Public Works.
I also think the Mayor represents much of what is positive about Jax and we don't have to worry about him embarrassing us by lacking polish and/or sophistication.
Being Mayor is a very tough job and you can never please everyone. Also, lots of Monday morning quarterbacks. Like most, I had some differences and approvals mixed in with him. I think Peyton, although apparently a hard worker, was in over his head at times and/or relied on the wrong people, especially early on. But, his heart is in the right place - he does love Jax - and I believe he is a truly nice guy that has shown progress in growing in the job. If he came back in 10 years, he would likely be a much savier leader and would want to fix many of the left over issues in our community. Some issues may be more than any mayor could fairly address though and I think the community itself slouches a good bit and uses the mayor's office as a crutch as a result.
I might argue that the real job of mayor is to incite the greater community to step up and take ownership of itself. On this basis, Mayor Peyton may have, at times, shifted too much on himself and not enough on expecting more of us with him as fearless leader.
Again, I have to say he was dealt a poor set of cards, inheriting or receiving many issues not of his own making. This can sap your energy pretty fast and create a lot of distractions from your hoped-for agenda. Overall, I give him between an "A-" and a "B+".
What stands out for me is his blatant mismanagement of funds...money disappeared from this project, then that other project couldn't be started - but then a few months down the road some totally new project began at a staggering cost, leaving one wondering where THAT money came from? Hmmmmmmmm.....I will also remember his very transparent "Chicken Little" tactics everytime the taxpeyers voiced anything or voted - "oh, you're not going to have adequate police protection if you vote for [insert choice here]"...it's as if everything the taxpayers wanted made him cry "the sky is falling! the sky is falling!" like Chicken Little. And that stormwater drainage fee - let's do the math on that one. The Florida Times-Union wrote a report that the "new stormwater pump was up and running in San Marco at a cost of $80 million" to the taxpayers. Mayor Chicken Little lives in San Marco...gotta keep the chicken coop dry - figured it out yet? He's like a little boy telling bad lies to try to hide his mistakes. He was Jacksonville's mistake. Someone else will have to clean up after him. Them's my 2 cents. (oh, wait, what' that after taxes?)
1) What did he do right?
I think his embrace of arts/culture during the waning months of his administration will be remembered positively. I also do not think his education initiatives have been negative. His reading advocacy has been a stellar idea. Anything that gets children reading is positive with me. I think these things have had and will have a lasting positive effect on the community.
2) What was a straight up mistake.
To me this is a tossup between the courthouse and the Trail Ridge fiasco. I think Trail Ridge takes the cake though. Also the I.T. contract was a bit of a messy blunder.
3) How will he be remembered.
Cronyism, preferential treatment to developers and "friends". Bad track record of fiscal management that will (in my opinion) leave a nasty black spot on the city budget for years to come. The Courthouse, the shipyards, Trail Ridge will inexorably be tied to him (even if he inherited 2 of them). But he has done quite a bit to spit-shine his image with progressives as of late. So I don't believe he will leave with a horribly negative image. Just not great.
4) What was the most important thing which defined his terms?
Sadly, those three negative things I think will stick with him as defining moments of his terms.
5) What will be his lasting effect?
Hopefully the positive work he has been accomplishing as of late will maintain momentum.
My two cents.
Uh when is his term over again!!! my two cents!!!
Quote from: Keith-N-Jax on October 22, 2009, 10:18:30 PM
Uh when is his term over again!!! my two cents!!!
:D I was *trying* to be kind. Not much to be kind about IMO.
he recently said that for in the remainder of his time in office that revitalizing downtown would be a priority, right?
that would be huge.
if he can come up with a even rough draft of a plan to do this, i'd grade him higher
I don't understand how anyone gives him an A- or a B+, as stjr did. I will admit he did get dealt a bad hand in many ways, but his lack of experience and leadership qualities made all of those situations worse.
The budget cuts (by way of Tallahassee tax cuts) never had to happen. Jacksonville could have opted out and should have, and most likely WOULD have, if he had supported it.
As far as DT goes, he THINKS he is another Lakelander, when in reality he is clueless as to how to bring back the city's core. That is as kind as I can say it. He single-handly ruined Sleiman's momentum with the Landing, he also squashed what little bit of momentum there was to bring about a new convention center. The millions he wants to spend on Metro Park could and should be spent on any of dozens of better projects. That park is too isolated and little-used to be a catalyst for jump starting the core. The day he unveiled the "Big Idea" is a bad memeory that is still with me. The courthouse could be completed now if he had not pulled the plug. It would have been a better courthouse, and cost no more than the one that will eventually open.
The IT scandal was at best, him being taken advantage of, and at worse, him robbing the treasury. The excellent and much needed plan to reform the Parks and Recreation department was based on his own campaign promise. He quickly ditched it at the first sign of resistance. Oceana was a fiasco that never should have seen the light of day. He clings to BRt when LRT deserves a serious look.
I honestly believe he meant well. I do. But he was not ready for the job. His legacy should be the Main Street pocket park. It should be named for him.
If he really wants to redeem himself, he needs to make the TOUGH decisions with the budget and the unions to get the city on a sound fiscal footing. Clean up the mess before his successor arrives. He would be doing that person and the city a tremendous favor. THEN, and only then would he deserve a passing grade.
Should Lake run for mayor?
DRAFT LAKELANDER?!?!?!
How could anyone give this person an A or B? We'll address in a second.
What did he do right? He looks good on TV and he speaks well on the radio. Has a nice smile for the camera.
What did he do wrong, During the rise of Jacksonville's revenue, he did little to push the business values of SAVING MONEY FOR THE RAINY day, that anyone in business knows comes. It never goes straight up or straight down, but you have reserves to help make it through the tough times. When he was smiling for the camera in 2003, he should have been doing a better job of planning for the downtimes which were coming for the city. He has seen the budget grow by 300 million in his time in office. Has the city benefitted by this bloated expansion? If your house is not foreclosed on, perhaps you are happier.
In terms of a grade, I'd give him a D, very disappointed in the people he trusted and let him down. He has 2 years left, and he hides in his office instead of getting out and leading the city during these tough times, or he goes on junkets to KC. So much for running the city like a business. If he had, we'd be out of business.