Supervisor of Elections Proposal: One Imeson.

[Metro Jacksonville]

Supervisor of Elections Proposal: One Imeson.



The future location of the Supervisor of Elections headquarters has managed to become politically charged.  MetroJacksonville explores one of several competing proposals for the location that seems to make a lot of sense.  Join us after the jump for details and the actual proposal.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-jul-supervisor-of-elections-proposal-one-imeson

[Charles Hunter]

Looks like a good proposal.  How often, and how late, does that JTA bus run?

Oh, and some of us remember that building as the Sears Catalog Warehouse/Store.  (but then, some of us are old ... )

[thelakelander]

I've never been a fan of the SOE in Gateway.  I'd rather see Gateway reconfigured for retail, even if it meant tearing down half of it for something like a Walmart or Home Depot.

My problems with this space would be access.  It's pretty difficult to get to Imeson from the rest of the city via JTA at this time.

However, I do have a question regarding leasing. How much square footage is this space and how long are the leases at the three sites?  At $2.8 - $3 million, it seems like COJ would be better off financially in the long run buying a vacant urban core warehouse (ex. Springfield Warehouse District, Talleyrand, Beaver Street area, etc.).

[mbwright]

seems like a good proposal, but with politics involved, I'm sure there won't be a good outcome.  I used to work here back in the AOL days.  If there were enough working there, maybe JTA could modify a route to include this location.

[Tacachale]

^Yeah, it sure looks like there won't be any good outcome. This should be in the urban core and it shouldn't be a lease. Unfortunately it appears we value maintaining the appearance of saving money in the short term rather than actually saving money in the long term.

[coredumped]

I thought the old KMart at beach and University would be a good candidate for this. More central to more people.

[OCD]

Great way to save $ given the large budget deficit.  This is primarily a back office operation with only 4 full time employees.  Location is strong to get voting machines in and out quickly.  It's time the politics are taken out of this and the city makes the right call for the tax payers.

[tufsu1]

^ don't kid yourself...politics will be involved regardless of the site picked

[vicupstate]

Am I correct in thinking the DT offices would still be used with either of the three options?

[FSBA]

Am I correct in thinking the DT offices would still be used with either of the three options?

Yeah the office on Monroe would still be there. The current Gateway office is a glorified warehouse for the voting machines and records at this point.

[thelakelander]

Last year Holland was trying to build something from scratch and he used the idea of saving money by owning as a major reason for his stance.  CM Yarborough even went as far as to find him a pot of money.  What was the factor to get SOE from wanting to own their own structure to only considering leases?

[frank1953]

I'm all for it. Half million $$$ saved annually. Good location with access to transportation. Safe location for voters to come w/o being harassed by Corrine Brown and her allies. Who cares what she thinks anyway I would have never went to Gateway to vote. To easy to be intimidated there. All signs and campaign workers there hassles everyone that doesn't vote their way Plus enough space for expanding. The old Sears building needs to be utilized. This could bring additional tenants and create more jobs.Gateway (the old JC Penney) should be considered for medical use or private development, That center needs major renovations so it can increase the property values which means more tax income

[Tacachale]

Last year Holland was trying to build something from scratch and he used the idea of saving money by owning as a major reason for his stance.  CM Yarborough even went as far as to find him a pot of money.  What was the factor to get SOE from wanting to own their own structure to only considering leases?

The savings from Holland's original proposal would be down the road, rather than right up front (ie, the current term). Is it surprising that option was 86ed?

A lot of the savings from Holland's proposal were in combining the two separate facilities into one to save on overhead. This is mooted if they have to keep two locations, so at this point it's just a matter of picking the least bad of several inferior options. Seems to be the best we can hope for these days.

[Cheshire Cat]

It appears this entire issue is now so confused and convoluted that the City Auditor can no longer make heads nor tails of what is on the table.  Oh Jacksonville, is this thy governing style?  lol 

From today's Daily Record:

by David Chapman, Staff Writer
Mayor Alvin Brown's administration and the Supervisor of Elections Office issued differing opinions last week regarding the best location for the elections center, an issue that has been much debated for several months.

"The process is out of control," City Council Auditor Kirk Sherman said.

Sherman's office has been reviewing the figures within the deals, as proposed through three pieces of legislation representing three proposed locations.

Since the deals have been proposed through legislation, they can be amended, making the auditor's office's work difficult — if not impossible.

"The deals keep changing, they keep evolving," Sherman said.

Some Council members have openly questioned why a Request for Proposals was not submitted for the issues, but Chris Hand, Brown's chief of staff, told members of the Council Finance Committee on June 19 that leases are not typically handled through that process and the situation has been "contaminated" by outside involvement.

He instead offered Council the option to have the administration and City Real Estate Department review the deals and corresponding pieces of legislation and return with an opinion no later than July 23, the first Council meeting of the Council year.

Through a July 23 memorandum, Brown's administration selected the Gateway Shopping Center, where the warehouse and elections center functions have been since 2006. The center is at 5200-2 Norwood Ave., north of Downtown.

In a release the same day, Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland announced One Imeson Center was his recommendation. The location is at 1 Imeson Park Blvd., a former Sears catalog distribution center, in North Jacksonville.

Both notices state the favored site would save the City more money over the length of a 10-year lease.

According to the administration memo from Jim Robinson, City Public Works director, Gateway "has offered the lowest rent rate over the lease period" at $2.8 million, less than One Imeson's $2.9 million.

It also touts a lowest early termination risk, $750,000 compared to $865,000 at One Imeson, major improvements to the facility at no cost to the City and free rent the first six months and final three months of the lease.

In its rationale for selecting One Imeson, Holland's office said that $3.3 million will be saved over a 10-year term, about $372,000 more in savings than Gateway. That includes savings of $573,000 within the first year among other benefits, it said.

Also included in the recommendations were figures for a proposal from Demetree Brothers Inc. for space at the Southgate Shopping Plaza along Beach Boulevard.

The current rent at Gateway is about $51,000 a month, or about $612,000 a year.

Sherman said his office analyzed the proposals as of 11 a.m. July 23.

The financial difference in the figures can be attributed to amended proposals.

"Something came in after 11 a.m.," Sherman said.

The auditor's office 11 a.m. July 23 side-by-side comparison shows One Imeson as financially the lowest at close to $2.9 million over the 10-year period, followed by Southgate at almost $3 million and Gateway at $3.2 million.

Gateway's proposal in the comparison appears to not include the six months of free rent at the beginning and three months free rent at the end of its lease.

Sherman said his office doesn't solely take into account the financials of a deal and reviews aspects such as overrun procedures and non-renewal payouts.

Council President Bill Gulliford deferred action on the three pieces of legislation and referred them back to the finance committee for further review. He said the matter would be taken up Aug. 13, the next Council meeting.

That left the two-week span for the deals to potentially change and the reason Sherman said he is stopping the review from his department.

"I could have someone spend a bunch of time analyzing, but I am not going to waste my people's time on constantly evolving deals," Sherman said.

Legislation to keep the site at Gateway was filed in February, followed by One Imeson legislation in March and Demetree Brothers in April.

All three bills were introduced after Council member Clay Yarborough filed legislation in December to authorize the design and construction of a consolidated elections office in LaVilla, which Brown opposed. The price was $8 million and later amended to $6 million before the measure was withdrawn.

dchapman@baileypub.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=540158

[carpnter]

There is politics all over the Gateway choice by the Mayor's office.  He should stay out of the decision and instead rely on the recommendation of the auditor based on which one saves the city the most money and also take into account the preference of the SoE and his reasoning for the choice he makes.  The SoE could have a very good reason for choosing one location over another.