Are the Weavers hedging their bets?

[Jaxson]

I would not normally quote the Rants and Raves (But mostly incoherent rants  ) from the Times-Union, but this rant made some sense to me...

WEAVERS' AGENDA

If the 1950s folk group The Weavers endorsed a candidate for Jacksonville mayor, I would consider it a selling point, but the backing of Wayne and Delores Weaver fails to impress me.

It isn't that our local Weavers are not nice people, but their personal agenda is no different than the owners of any professional sports team. All team owners operate from a business model that has the taxpayer paying a significant share of their costs.

Now that the Weavers are conveniently backing both candidates in the mayoral runoff, we can be assured that the taxpayers lose regardless of who wins the race.

Taxpayers will continue to subsidize the Jaguars even if it means closing library branches and laying off police officers.

Source: The Florida Times-Union
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-04-16/story/rants-raves-weavers-have-own-plan#ixzz1JkG2pg59

[Jimmy]

I've never been a big fan of the rants and raves section.  I think if you're going to say something worth hearing/reading, you should sign your name to it.

[Timkin]

I agree!

  X

[ChriswUfGator]

With that said, he/she is of course completely correct...

[Jimmy]

With that said, he/she is of course completely correct...

Oh, absolutely.  I think the analysis was spot-on.  Both backing Moran in the first election was less "risky" because we all knew there would be a round 2, and the ultimate winner will be thankful for support in the winning election, despite where a Weaver might have been in round 1.

[hillary supporter]

i was personally struck with Delores Weavers endorsement and her statement thereafter. She strikes me as one of the cities prominant woman, and with her involvement with the Stockton Street residential project, one who "walks the walk".
But i do admit im prejudiced towards Alvin to point that all his endorsements excite me.

[Dog Walker]

I think the Weaver's have genuine differences in the political outlook like many married couples and don't think that Ms. Weaver is cynical enough to be "hedging their bets."

Even if they had both endorsed Brown and Hogan wins, Hogan would not touch the Jags or the Weaver's.  That the third rail of politics around here.

[Wacca Pilatka]

I think the Weaver's have genuine differences in the political outlook like many married couples and don't think that Ms. Weaver is cynical enough to be "hedging their bets."

I agree - I've heard multiple anecdotes of the Weavers' respective differences in their political points of view just in Vic Ketchman's Ask Vic columns.

The Weavers also are outstanding Jacksonville citizens and charitable givers by any measure.  They are passionate about improving Jacksonville and staunch defenders of and believers in the city.  They've helped Jacksonville boost its national profile.  The lingering resentment toward them as some kind of drain on the city or takers of taxpayer resources is bizarre at best.  And the idea that if only the Jaguars didn't exist, the city would be a good steward of its financial resources and better able to fund libraries and police protection is comically off target.

[ChriswUfGator]

So Wacca, for what you said to be correct, the jags would have to not be taxpayer supported. They are.

[JeffreyS]

Yes and in many ways the Jags support the taxpayers.  By attracting industry and tourism to town. They spread the word about Jacksonville more than any other entity. The taxpayers support them also because they support QOL for most in this area.

[ChriswUfGator]

I've never understood the logic behind how getting people to come watch a football game then immediately go home does much of anything. Other than a one-day increase in traffic at gas stations hotels and some restaurants, the entire economic impact is sucked up by the team operation itself, and contained within the stadium concessions and vendors, e.g. does not go to local businesses. As far as 'promoting the city' how many people decide to open businesses here just because they watched a football game here? Come on, that is just vague language meant to give the impression of importance and a false justification to what is in reality a negative/parasitic economic impact.

The real reason everyone wants an NFL team here is ego and entertainment. And that's fine, but call it a spade.

I like the Jags, and am glad we have an NFL team. But I'm not delusional, I don't think for a minute it pays for itself.

[Dog Walker]

+1, Chris. 

There have been a lot of economic studies done on the impact of building stadiums with public money to attract professional sports teams.  At best the economic impact is neutral, but usually it is actually a negative impact on the community.

Except for the feel good factor of course.

[I-10east]

It would be kinda interesting to compare the economic impact of college games vs. pro games. Of course they are two different animals in many ways, but I have that feeling that some think that after a college game (in G-ville, Tally etc), win or lose, the whole town will still be bustling with school pride as everyone throws their money about as if they were in Las Vegas, but after a Jags game the entire city goes home down 'Expressway-like' State St never to be seen or heard from again until next week. I think that both of those logics are a lil' far fetched, and a lil' over the top, there's a 'happy medium' there somewhere in the middle. 

[Jaxson]

I think the Weaver's have genuine differences in the political outlook like many married couples and don't think that Ms. Weaver is cynical enough to be "hedging their bets."

Even if they had both endorsed Brown and Hogan wins, Hogan would not touch the Jags or the Weaver's.  That the third rail of politics around here.

I don't think that the Weavers are doing anything underhanded, they are simply wise to the ways of Jacksonville politics.  Otherwise, they would have both remained on the sidelines in this upcoming election.  Instead, they each took a stand in the race.  There is nothing unusual about taking political stands to serve one's self-interests.  Politics is a dirty game and they know what side their bread may or not be buttered on.  That is not cynicism.  That is realism.  They didn't create this weird world of politics, but they know how to function in it.

[Wacca Pilatka]

So Wacca, for what you said to be correct, the jags would have to not be taxpayer supported. They are.

Of course they are.  But I resent the notion that the city could solve all of its financial problems if only the Jaguars didn't exist.  Not that you were expressing that notion, of course, but I've heard it expressed a number of times from various segments of the community.

I'm not pretending that businesses magically decided to open in Jacksonville because of professional sports, but I do think that the frequent assertions that the Jaguars have a negative or neutral economic impact on the city are short-sighted, primarily because they overlook the Weavers' commitment to improving the city, not just with sweet words in national forums but because they give enormously to local charities, as well as financing the Gorrie School, Range of the Jaguar at the zoo, et al.  Given their dedication to Jacksonville, and the fact that they put their money where their mouths are, I resent the periodic implication that they are bloodsuckers enriching themselves at the expense of the city. 

I don't deny that the benefits of having a pro team are more psychological than tangibly economic.  But that doesn't make it right to say the Jaguars caused libraries to close.