What's with the City Council members in this town??

[Pinky]

http://jacksonville.com/business/columnists/2012-10-28/story/readers-sound-sale-jea

An interesting article regarding the possible sale of JEA.  Scroll to the bottom though and read the comments, in particular the following exchange:

"DON’T STOP WITH JEA
Can we sell the City Council, too?
Valerie Brown Saywer, Jacksonville"

followed by:

"Valerie Brown Sawyer's disrepectfiul comment is an example of the unwarranted abuse members of the council take. It s not hard to understand why more good people don't run for office with the lack of civility and respect. Add to that the overwhelming ignorance by many of the electorate and it adds up to a "not me" attitude on the part of many of those who should run for office.
I would submit the problem is not so much with the elected officials; I think many times we are just a reflection of the people who elected us.
Maybe Ms. Sawyer should run next time, get elected and show us how to do it.
Bill Gulliford
City Council, District 13
PS I am on the JEA committee and I promise you we are looking at every aspect. I don't care whether we sell it or not. I only care what direction would benefit the citizens and the city the most. In case you are unaware, we not only have a pension crisis but I believe we have a debt crisis."


A little testy, to say the least.  Does it seem as if the CC members are "lashing out" at the community more as people in the city begin lose confidence in them? 

[thelakelander]

Gulliford's reply aside, the overall topic is a pretty interesting one.  If the JEA is sold, I hope we use it to invest in the community instead of paying down debt on a broken system.

[Pinky]

Gulliford's reply aside, the overall topic is a pretty interesting one.  If the JEA is sold, I hope we use it to invest in the community instead of paying down debt on a broken system.

In Gullifords response he cites specifically the pension and budget funding problems, so it appears that paying the city's debts is at least a part of the JEA issue.  Sad really that as a city we're so poor that we're selling off our stuff.  What's next, yard sales at City Hall?