Parks, downtown and courthouse are waiting for PeytonQuoteBy RON LITTLEPAGE, The Times-Union
Let's assume Mayor John Peyton is sincere in his apology for two close friends getting lucrative, contracts with the city.
It's certainly rare for a mayor to go before the City Council, as Peyton did Tuesday evening, and talk about administration "failures" and an erosion of "public trust," for which Peyton said he was "deeply sorry."
Peyton said the same things in a column published Wednesday in The Florida Times-Union and in an open letter to the citizens of Jacksonville.
For some reason the Brenda Lee tune "I'm sorry, so sorry, that I'm such a fool" keeps running through my mind.
Peyton also outlined steps he is taking to prevent such blunders.
He's hiring an ethics officer, establishing a hot line where city employees can report on any shenanigans, tightening contract procedures and appointing an inspector general to ride herd on how city government operates. Great.
But one has to wonder why these tightening of controls come in the fifth year of his administration. Why hadn't they already been put in place?
Peyton ran as an experienced businessman who would bring sound business practices to city government.
Maybe he did. In the business world, good friends often get their backs scratched when money is passed around.
Peyton's "mea culpa" tour gets him ahead of the grand jury investigating how the contracts were awarded and the City Council's loose adherence to Florida's
Government-in-the-Sunshine Law.
Scathing criticism appears likely, and Peyton can say that he has already apologized and put corrective action in place.
I still want to hear what the grand jury has to say.
Peyton's approach of "I didn't know but the buck stops here" is fine, but I want to know who did know. And where was the General Counsel's Office?
Peyton's talk to the City Council included a point that can't be forgotten.
"We have important work to do," he said. That's true.
Peyton and the council have to finish crafting a budget that meets the needs of the city now and in the future.
In my view, that means approving the three new fees Peyton has proposed.
"Fees are not popular," Peyton told the council Tuesday. "I wish I wasn't proposing them and that you weren't having to consider them."
But diversifying the city's revenue stream is critical because as we learned last spring, the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist have no qualms about ignoring the concept of home rule and dictating to local governments how much property taxes they can collect.
Frankly, it's high time that Peyton hit a few home runs.
Get a solid budget passed. Get back to making our park system the jewel it can be. Get back to improving downtown. Get back to bettering neighborhoods. Get that darn courthouse built.
Mr. Mayor, you have four more years in office. Move on and think big.
ron.littlepage@jacksonville.com,
(904) 359-4284
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/083007/opl_195587914.shtml