Who becomes the next mayor?

[Tacachale]

because we will pay the general counsel's office extra to do this?

Yes, dedicating their time and resources to an unnecessary campaign project is, indeed, a waste. At least it's a step up from what they were doing yesterday.

[Jimmy]

You guys really get me. 

Stephen, in all seriousness, thank you for posting the letter.  I hadn't seen it anywhere else.  It makes the intent a little clearer.  If I was MAB, I'd ask Mr. Gabriel to illuminate us as to the scope of the request.  Are we talking about discrimination against gingers, bald guys, lefties, what?  General Counsel could do that spare the Mayor the... heartache?

[strider]

For those that don't want to watch the video. The cliff's notes are below:

Mayor Brown: Hello Gays, I've finally heard you. And... I will get back to you on that HRO thingy...right after I'm elected to my second and final term.

Thanks

Perfect explanation.  This is obviously nothing but a political move - someone on his staff finally got through to him that it was a good idea.  I particularly like the fact that even though other studies have been done, we need another one.  Just a way to delay actually doing anything about the HRO at this time.  Of course, he may not have to worry about how to get out of this later because he could end up not our Mayor.

Sometimes not doing anything is better than making such obvious moves.

[Tacachale]

^Totally. What happened is that  yesterday, one of the city's most well known HRO supporters endorsed the other guy. When the campaign's tepid statements and 5-year-old Twitter memes didn't bury the story, this is what they came up with. It's political damage control, period.

[strider]

^Totally. What happened is that  yesterday, one of the city's most well known HRO supporters endorsed the other guy. When the campaign's tepid statements and 5-year-old Twitter memes didn't bury the story, this is what they came up with. It's political damage control, period.

meh.  whatever.  Im glad the process is moving towards an HRO again. Seems like the right thing to do, no matter what.

Must have been embarrassing for a smart, reasonable HRO supporter to endorse the guy the day before he sends out an "OH SHIT! Hillary Clinton will take over Jville if you don't vote for ME!" email out.

Doesn't seem like his class of people.

Hey, I don't think Curry is very good either.  Just about the same as Brown actually.  But at least Curry means some amount of change. As to Hillary Clinton taking over Jacksonville, while worst things could happen (like perhaps things remaining as they are for another four years), but I have my doubts that she really cares much what happens here. 

[Cheshire Cat]

The thread asks "Who will be out next Mayor"?  That being the parameter of the opening question to this discussion all of us who comment with the name of a candidate have a 50/50 percent chance of being right in our choice.   

Right now we are down to two candidates, neither of which answers direct questions about important issues. Both resort to political double talk by answering queries with no real information, just open ended statements. Basically they tell us nothing while using a lot of words.  What puzzles me at this juncture is why there is so much jockeying at this point in the attempt to try and frame one man as a superior choice to the other.  From where I stand, neither is even close to ideal and "they are more similar than different".

Both love to hear themselves talk and standing in the spotlight.  Both have sizable ego's dressed in a badly fitting suit of I am just another average guy. Both can excite listeners by pushing well worn political rhetoric and big promises. Both have people who they have totally seduced with their salesmanship of themselves and their vision and each man is looking forward politically.  Jacksonville is a stepping stone for them, pure and simple.

I said this in another thread but will repeat it here, it is not about the men as individuals but rather the experience, skills or lack there of that they would bring to the office.  Both speak in platitudes, some well worn in print and voice so far like the 36,000 new jobs, blah, blah, blah of Alvin Brown, the result of organic economic growth.  I want everyone in Jacksonville to have a chance at success at the hands of a real conservative Lenny Curry line followed by I have always voted Republican blah, blah, blah.  One offering a pension plan with fatal flaws and the other magically producing one, un reviewed and without specifics after the first election cycle.  I mean come on guys.  Neither man will give a simple yes to the HRO protection for the civil rights of all of Jacksonville's citizens which surprise, does include the GLBT members of our community.  They give us layers of words that simply talk around the issue rather than showing leadership and saying what they are thinking.  Instead we get Brown announcing he will let the general council resolve the question legally, which is just another way of saying he will not make a decision himself and take a pass on leadership by simply passing the buck, to John Delaney saying Curry knows in his heart what is right cause they talked.  Guess what, I don't care what Curry told John in private, I care what Curry says on the record to the public himself about what is right and the HRO.  Both of these guys are dodging a serious issue, not facing it down in an fashion that shows leadership. Neither man says they will raise taxes but both will have to come up with money to fix a broken budget and that will not come via audits or no tax promises. We need revenue to function with basic services, where the heck is that going to come from?  Neither man can say because frankly they haven't a clue where they will get the money beyond borrowing it and indebting the taxpayers even further.
All they know is that a no tax pledge sounds good and they are gonna go with it.  Neither man is more conservative on this issue than the other and neither man is more liberal on the civil rights of the GLBT community than the other.  Both men see stars when dealing with Shad Khan and his wild visions for our future.  This does not bode well for the taxpayers because a leader indebted to or dazzled by a billionaire's dreams quickly loses sight of the fact that the ultra rich get richer by spending other peoples money and using their assets, not their own. In this case we have Khan, the big money dude followed by Sleiman and Rummell both with agendas that will require public assets to make real.  Brown is on board with Sleiman and Curry is on board with Rummell.  Both men have no real answer for our crime issues and neither has an adequate answer to solving the problem without extra funding, but neither can say where the money for better protection and more officers will come from.  Then there is the evangelical aspect of the candidates which has both quoting scripture and working the Christian crowd, forgetting that we are a diverse community of various beliefs who all deserve equal representation in our government free of the religious overtones of one group or another.  Religion should be a personal commitment, not a political tool.  The truth is that Jacksonville is now facing a choice between two candidates backed by opposing political parties and private interests that have put the average person outside of the political circle of all that is Jacksonville save the need for their vote.  The question now becomes are we voting for a representative for our city or for a political player for one party or the other?  Curry is clearly GOP material and has brought the political mindset of that party's top players to Jacksonville while Brown, claiming to represent all is being backed by the Dem machine and has readily accepted the support and endorsements of the top echelon of personalities at the highest levels of that party.  For me this all comes down to one thing.  Both men have already shown us who they are, how they operate and what they will say or do to get into office.  The voters have to look past the packaging and see what they are really buying with their vote.  In my view this comes down to one simple question which is, what is better for Jacksonville, four more years of Alvin Brown in the hopes that he finally shows some leadership and understanding of all things financial or eight years of Lenny Curry whose backers are far right GOP hardliner/evangelicals who have too long held power over the hearts and minds of too many citizens of Jacksonville?  The voters foolishly looked past the real moderate candidate and we are left to decide between two men whose actions over the next few years can make us, break us or keep us running in circles.  Which will it be? 

Brown has shown us who he is already.  A guy ready for the spotlight, never missing a photo op while able to leap a tall building while claiming personal responsibility for all local job growth and successes whether he was incremental to those or not.  He has shown us that he claims to keep promises but in reality doesn't quite come through as in the no tax increase yet the truth being our taxes went up on his watch by 14%.  He told the GLBT community that he would support their efforts to ensure equal rights via the HRO but he did nothing to promote the legislation.  A promise unkept becomes a lie.  Sure, we get that all the time in politics so we know he will spin a story to suit a need.  Brown has shown us who he is.  A guy who is very likable and able to stir people with his words and promises and very short on leadership qualities.   

Curry has show us who he really is.  A guy who follows the GOP party line. A man who walks  in lock step with party thinking at all levels.  Can tell us what is wrong with the other candidate but not what he can do better, while showing us that he will willingly set the bar of negative politics very, very low using fear and party positioning to do so but he ran a business for 10 years.  These are our choices.   

[mtraininjax]

A guy who is very likable and able to stir people with his words and promises and very short on leadership qualities.   

Pretty much sums up the last 4 years of Brown.

Anyone catch the latest stump speech? Brown wants to raise the minimum wage from $8.05 to $10.10 / hr

http://www.news4jax.com/news/mayor-calls-for-minimum-wage-increase/32553458

The LGBT issue, now this, the raise of minimum wage, they are 100% pure politics pointed at Curry, as Brown tries to carry the votes vacated by Bishop. Brown trying to capture the Riverside Avondale crowds. Pure politics.

So as Mayor, LGBT was not important for him, nor was a higher minimum wage, but now, days apart, the man that the camera cannot stop loving, has found new ways to get out in front of the camera.

Some minimum wage humor....

[JeffreyS]

This is a reoccurring theme on this thread as its some new phenomenon that a politician would try to find political positions that people like just before an election.

That is in fact why we have elections so the populace can maneuver leadership into doing what the people want.

[Cheshire Cat]

This is a reoccurring theme on this thread as its some new phenomenon that a politician would try to find political positions that people like just before an election.

That is in fact why we have elections so the populace can maneuver leadership into doing what the people want.

Not exactly.  lol  That is just one facet of what the election process is about and our process has been changed by big money, even in Jacksonville. 

[ronchamblin]

Diane .... you are right on with your #131 post ... and with most of your others.

Repeat from my post # 49.

"Shame on all who voted for Curry ... and to some degree .. shame on all who voted for Brown and not for Bishop -- because you ruined the path to the ideal.  Seems sorta like a chess game.  You massage the field so as to achieve a win, but the path is not necessarily direct and straight.  Voters should have destroyed Curry in the first round, but NOT given either Brown or Bishop a win, thereby giving the whole process the positive energy and gain which only debates and good sense can produce over time."


The ideal ...  Having as an objective .... that of improving the lot of the average citizen ... which means 90% of the citizens .. thus avoiding focusing on projects and spending revenue on assets improving the lot of the few ... perhaps those who dump funds and supporting rhetoric onto a candidate's campaign.

Can big projects, as those offered by Kahn and others, improve the standard of living for most citizens?  Certainly ...  the measured positive impact on the city of large projects such as the shipyards, the dredging, and the landing cannot be denied.  However, to focus on, and proceed with, only the large temporarily "exciting" projects while avoiding critical goals such as education and jobs for the large majority in need of these things is unacceptable.   

Improving, in a serious and viable way, the standard of living for the majority requires leadership, on the form of a mayor, who is concerned about the majority .. who perceives the nature of the predicaments obstructing progress to building a fundamental economic structure that allows the majority to use their energy and determination to improve their lot by their own initiative and actions.

From my view ... admittedly limited by ignorance and a good measure of the stupid ... ... the mayor must be "for" the majority ... must be 'free" from excessive influence from moneyed supporters, oligarchic control, and political parties .... he or she must be determined ... perceiving the realities surrounding the needs and objectives affecting the majority so as to garner the eloquence to convince others of the best path to goals.  These characteristics will provide the strength of leadership, without which all is lost ... without which the city will continue in mediocrity, shining only occasionally.   

[ronchamblin]

Let's be honest.  We've a city shaped and controlled by the pressure of a theocratic ... oligarchic ... power base ... which alone provides pressure against the passing of the HRO.  We've a growing city debt placing our bond rating in jeopardy .... and a runaway police/firemen pension plan obligation of $2.7 billion ... with a $156,000,000  or so obligation every year.

And we are set to elect either Brown or Curry, both of whom are totally ambiguous on the HRO, and somehow believe we can recover .... survive .. without raising taxes?  These politicians are telling gullible, and somewhat ignorant, people what they want to hear ... not the truth .... and not what they must hear if they are to support actions to resolve our most pressing financial problems.

If I remember correctly, Bill Bishop stated that the city is in default on both our pension plans and other debt obligations.  These are massive obligations that somebody must worry about, and take actions on.

How can voters give a serious invite to a mediocre politician such as Curry ... an obviously bought pawn of the GOP machine ... who's real deficiencies emerged for all to see during the debates ... and who's debate appearance maxed out with such profound statements as "no new taxes" .. and "we must have a safe city". 

[mtraininjax]

Four years ago, people voted for change. They thought Brown, the former deli counter worked at Winn Dixie with loads of experience in DC would change the Jacksonville landscape. He changed it all right, he failed to show any sort of leadership in working with city council, in 4 years. Not just one budget was redone by city council, all 4 had to be redone, due to is inability to balance the city budget. If the City Council had allowed his budgets to pass, just think of all the DEBT that they city would have added, and then people would be whistling dixie out of their rear end, because the Kool-aid tastes so great, but we'll pass the debt onto our kids and let them figure it out.

Leadership is what is lacking in City Hall, but Brown seems to have found a friend in Sleiman and Khan, both of whom appear to have growing businesses under the Brown administration. Brown is a nice guy, the kind you may want to have as a friend, but he is not a leader and he has yet to show that he can work with people to get the job/task done. HRO, Budget, Pension, he approaches everything as if its his way or the highway, and this hurts all of Jacksonville. The man would rather work with outsiders of Jacksonville, GE, ATT, GOOGLE, than work with the people inside of Jacksonville. His record shows this over the last 4 years. We cannot afford to have a mayor who cannot work with the people and citizens of Jacksonville. This man will make a great foreign diplomat for Hillary, but he has not proven he can lead at home.

[Tacachale]

^Very true. Brown does have a lot of good qualities, but management and leadership are unfortunately just not among them. I think he could serve us well in another capacity, but he's not cut out for being mayor.

[tufsu1]

I didn't vote for change 4 years ago.  Both candidates were a change from Peyton.  I voted for lesser of two evils.  And I'm doing that again by supporting Brown over Curry.

[Tacachale]

I voted for Brown too, thinking he was the lesser of two evils. As it turned out, the gamble didn't pay off. I'm not making the same bad bet twice.