Urban Jacksonville

Tomorrow is a huge day for the future of our city. No matter what side of the budget debate you fall on, you have to be a bit apprehensive. If City Council votes against the Mayor’s tax increase, will the outcome be as dire as the mayor forecasts? Will cuts to cultural institutions, the shuttering of the LaVilla Theater, the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission and more set our city back culturally for years to come?

Today the 16 member 19 member City Council will vote on the issue of raising property taxes to avoid cutting Public Safety, City Services and Social/Cultural/Events. It’s going to be a real nail biter too. Tia Mitchell reports the council is literally divided on the issue:

Nine of the 16 council members reached last week told the Times-Union they’re leaning toward supporting Mayor John Peyton’s proposal for now, setting the tax rate at 9.5 mills – a 12 percent increase.

Regardless of the outcome there are those in the city who will carry on the fight for cultural enhancement, despite (or in spite of) those who would trade culture in our city for lower or no taxes.

Let’s say after all is said and done, Council does not approve the tax increase, what next? Peyton can veto the bill or refuse to sign, but so far he hasn’t indicated what his plans are if the hike is rejected.

Some more links on the topic

City Council divided on property tax (Jacksonville.com)
Has the budget crisis spawned a ‘new’ Mayor Peyton? (Jacksonville.com)
Yarborough: cut arts and social service funding (Folio Blog)
Pension Tensions (Shelton Hull)
More links on the budget

Jonathan and Joey in the Urban Jacksonville Weekly Studio. Photo compliments of Renee Brust.

Listen and Subscribe

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Subscribe with iTunes

You can now listen right now, click the play button above or watch it by clicking the play button below.

Special Guest: The Mayor – Topic: Millage Increase

A lot happening so these are gonna be rough! Better just listen. – Jack

Mayor – for the increase
City Council – cut spending instead
Residents – siding with council
voting next week (July 28th)
Mayor is optimistic
3-part plan
“we are at a crossroads”
lowest millage rate in FL
Clark’s influence?
Peyton is up for the fight!
Mayor v. Council – is that healthy?
? – shouldn’t fund arts, culture, social etc.
arts and culture will lose
T- people are evenly split on the issue
arts/culture = less than 1/2 of 1% of budget
@hiddentrack: “if we’re guilty of anything, it’s under-investing.” well said, mr. mayor. #ujw
T – Ritz Theatre will not be able to come back if we don’t protect it
government destroyed LaVilla, Ritz is all that’s left
J – fire/police budget always comes up
Peyton – does not support cutting fire/police budget
“violence epidemic in Jax”
“moving from being cheap to being irresponsible”
Sheriff’s Dept largest budget at City Hall
Abel (@jaxpolitics)
Ask Mayor how much faith he has in Council (running for re-election) to support true pension reform? #ujw
Public remains cynical b/c there has been no reform to AMIO positions. They’ve almost doubled in last few years. Nearly $15m. But, yet, emphasis has been placed on social services/cultural cuts. Why not move AMIO’s to civil service and trim to build trust? #ujw
Was there an attempt to bring Council members in on the budget planning process?
Legislature allowed “out” for Duval in statutory tax cuts, why didn’t Mayor ask Council to override that cap last year?
Does the Mayor support combining elections w/ state? What are the downsides?
T – wants the World Cup (Mayor’s for it!)
T- QOL first thing a big business asks about when they come to town
The mayor just said “critical mass.” No that critical mass, but still…
T – Kiplinger named Jax #6 Tax-Friendliest City
fixitnow.cc – website
Last ?: Does Mayor think public wld be more likely to support increase if it was dedicated mil to fund capital improvements/maintenance?
Jags/stadium

Music from Jack Diablo

Tuesday, July 21
Warehouse Show (1850 Wambolt 8B)
Panzram (Ft. Meyers)
Ripper (Jax)
Tourist Trap (Jax)

Wednesday, July 22
Indie-folk at TSI
Kevin Lee Newberry (Jax)
Little High Little Low (Gainesville)
Zeke (Jax)

Friday, July 24
Hip Hop at TSI
Shunda K (from Yo Majesty)
Heavy Flow (Jax)
Tough Junkie (Jax)

Sunday, July 26
College Street House Show
The Daytonas
Matrix Infinity
Erzulie
Omebi
Wudun
Royal Chord (Australia)
Psychic Reality (San Francisco)

Monday, July 27
Shantytown
Psychic Reality
Royal Chord
Bright Orange

Tuesday, July 28
Metal/Hardcore/Prog/Other Stuff at Doozers
Republicorpse (Orlando)
Time To Die (Orlando)
Buff Clout (Jax)
National Dairy (Jax)
Chicken & Whiskey (Jax)

Recommendations

Jonathan – Sulzbacher petition
Joey – budget links
Tony – RAM, duh – Justin Roberts (Paul McCartney of kid music)
Renee – Mayor’s appearances
Mayor – fixitnow.cc GET SMART!

Recently City Council has taken the line of looking for ways to tighten it’s belt. The Mayor calls this a slogan for a bumper sticker, implying Council is only paying lip service to reducing government spending. While Ron Littlepage has an interesting take on this who knows how everything will shake out. One thing’s for sure, there will be lots of budget talk between now and late September when City Council votes on the issue.

What follows is a note I sent to city council and the local news media. It was inspired by Tony Allegretti’s message to council last week titled “Quality of Life at Stake”, hence my title. It’s not pro millage increase or anti-waste reduction, but it is pro-Jacksonville.

Dear Council members and local news media

After reading Tony Allegretti’s message I felt compelled to write and weigh in on this issue myself.

Our city is uniquely positioned to lead the Southeast region into the 20th century by embracing arts and culture. To get there we need retain our smart, artistic people and attract new, innovative thinkers to our city.

We can do this by increasing or maintaining (at a minimum) current levels of arts, culture and historic preservation funding. We should take a step back and look at the long view for our city. What do we want our city to be for ourselves and our children? Personally I would like a city that is seen as innovative, arts and culture forward and architecturally significant. A place where people want to move to, not move away from.

When I moved back to Jacksonville from Minneapolis in 2005 I was distraught to see our city had barely progressed culturally in my 3 year absence. In order to move the city forward I started the Urban Jacksonville blog to show people, through technology, not only what our city had to offer, but what it could be.

What did I focus on? The arts, culture and developing historic neighborhoods. I feel these three items are an important barometer to gauge the health and future of a city. All major metropolitan cities have a history of embracing and supporting the arts. Minneapolis is a vibrant city who focuses on their arts and culture. Because of this, they are a major talent draw in the Midwest region. Attracting the best artists, chefs, designers, architects and musicians from small (Madison, WI) and large (Chicago IL) cities in the Midwest.

Jacksonville would be wise to position itself as an arts and culture leader in the Southeast. Imagine attracting the most talented from Atlanta, Orlando and Tampa instead of losing our best and brightest to those cities on a weekly basis.

We have a chance not only with this budget decision, but in every decision we make to position ourselves as an innovative city. Vision and leadership require tough and sometimes unpopular decisions. Please consider the future of our City and not just the present when making your decisions over the coming weeks.

Thanks for your time,

Joey Marchy

Mayor Peyton on Urban Jacksonville Weekly

This Tuesday at 5:30 Mayor Peyton will be out guest on a special budget issue of Urban Jacksonville Weekly. We’ll discuss how potential cuts to balance the budget could affect the arts and historic preservation in the Urban Core. We’ll also be joined remotely by our political correspondent Abel Harding from JaxPoliticsOnline.com.

Please leave any questions you have for the Mayor regarding the how cuts might effect the arts and historic preservation in the Urban Core on this post, on Facebook or on Twitter with the #ujw hashtag.

I would say new media is already shaping the Jacksonville budget conversation. If you read this weeks post from Metro Jacksonville, First Official Blogger Conference at City Hall, you can see how.

This was one of those moments where the City was well served and represented. Both by an Administration opening up to the new times, and by the representatives of those New Times themselves.

It was an unprecedented move by the city to solicit feedback from new media influencers and tastemakers in Jacksonville. I have no doubt many of our recommendations were noted and will be implemented.

While I won’t go into detail on what was said I will express my own opinion on the budget debate. I am for the millage increase. To me this sums it up.

We haven’t had a property tax increase in many years, even while inflation and the cost of city services continued to rise. Do opponents of the budget increase really think taxes will and should stay at their current levels? Should Jacksonville alway have some of the lowest tax rates in the state even while we are pushing the development boundaries of the largest landmass city in the U.S.? If not now then when? We can’t sustain the city without increasing taxes. Period. If anyone has a counter argument, I’d love to hear it.

Yesterday the city launched a massive public conversation campaign or maybe it started earlier with JaxObserver’s first show featuring Mayor Peyton.

You’re likely to hear the words budget, millage, increase, stupid and tea bag ad-nauseam for the next couple of weeks, so let’s get started. Here a selection of events and conversation circling the announcement today:

Tracking Budget News

I’ve created an RSS feed to track budget news, stories and info. You can get the budget RSS feed here.

Important Upcoming Budget Events

July 13, 2009 Mayor Peyton presents his proposed budget to City Council. 10 a.m., Council Chambers, City Hall (117 W. Duval Street)

July 21st, 2009 the Mayor will appear on Urban Jacksonville Weekly. Tune in live July 21st. Start sending your questions in now!

1. Tweet your question using the #ujw hashtag or mention Urban Jacksonville Weekly in your tweet
2. Leave a question on the Urban Jacksonville Facebook page
3. Leave a comment on Urban Jacksonville or email urbanjacksonvilleweekly@gmail.com

In addition to appearing on UJW, the Mayor will participate in a series of live video webcast and chats, hosted by UJW broadcasting partner Jacksonville.com. These will live blogged by the talented Tia Mitchell and moderated by someone, not sure who yet. There are also plans for users to submit YouTube questions prior to the webcasts.

July 28, 2009 City Council votes on maximum millage 5 p.m., Council Chambers City Hall (117 W. Duval Street)

Budget Tweets (newest to oldest)

polkadotz: Coming in tomorrow’s TU: The urgency of audience. Mayor Peyton’s drive to convince a divided public on taxes.

coj_tweeters: @urbanjax AMIOs are special appointed employees paid on avg about $70,000/yr. Jaxpolitics did recent post on them: http://tiny.cc/DfXFM

urbanjax: COJ should remove Media and FAQ main nav until they have content. Media FAQ

polkadotz: Wondering if it would be more effective for cops to not boycott Gate, but break into mayor’s office and decorate it with Hess toys.

JacksonvillNews: Sulzbacher Center Fears Proposed City Budget Cuts – First Coast News: http://bit.ly/1mIJFy (Note: I love the way FCN allows people to share their videos, FAIL) and How Budget Cuts Would Impact Sulzbacher Center

coj_tweeters: Budget savings? Cut 166 AMIOs making over $11 million in salary. Mayor promised to reform AMIOs when elected, but hasn’t kept promise.

gotv63: Mayor Peyton speaking to Dalton Agency staff meeting about his FixItNow campaign.

Trending on: happn_in_jacks: mayor peyton’s

thewayhome: Email city council president Richard Clark at RClark@coj.net and tell him you oppose the city’s proposed Sulzbacher Center budget cuts.

jax_just_in: Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton invites residents to discuss city budget http://tinyurl.com/nuaxr7

Jacksonville’s Budget Shaping Debates around Town and with JCCI

Lunch with the Mayor

Beginning next week, the mayor will host five lunch meetings from noon-1p.m. at area libraries. Residents are invited to bring their own lunch. Locations across the city have been selected for proximity to some of
the community’s larger business parks/complexes and residential areas to allow for easier access. The schedule is as follows:

Thursday, July 16
Brown-Eastside Branch Library, 1390 Harrison St. call (904) 630-5466

Monday, July 27
Jacksonville Main Library, conference center multi-purpose room, 303 N. Laura St. call at (904) 630-2665

Thursday, Aug. 6
Pablo Creek Regional Library, 13295 Beach Blvd. call at (904) 992-7101

Tuesday, Aug. 11
Southeast Regional Library, 10599 Deerwood Park Blvd. call at (904) 996-0325

Wednesday, Aug. 26
Mandarin Regional Library, 3330 Kori Road call at (904) 262-5201

Town Halls with the Mayor

Also beginning next week, the mayor will host three town hall meetings in various locations across the community. All residents are invited to attend. All meetings will be held in the evening from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Thursday, July 16
Ed White High School cafeteria, 1700 Old Middleburg Road call at (904) 693-7620

Monday, July 20
Edward Ball Building, 1st floor training room, 214 N. Hogan St. call at (904) 630-CITY (2489)

Monday, Aug. 3
Ribault High School media center, 3701 Winton Drive call at (904) 924-3092

A timely lunchtime conversation on Our Money, Our City: Financing Jacksonville’s Future with Study Chair, J.F. Bryan IV

What kind of city do you want to live and work in? JCCI’s City Finance Study has become central to this year’s city budget debates, getting to the core question of just what quality of life our community wants. You will have unprecedented opportunities to contribute to answering that question in the coming weeks. Please join us for JCCI’s:

Wednesday, July 29th from 12:00 to 1:00 pm @ JCCI- 2434 Atlantic Blvd. Please feel free to bring your lunch. Drinks and desserts will be provided. RSVP to Earlene at earlene@jcci.org by Monday, July 27 or call 396-3052.

Listen to episode 13 now or subscribe with iTunes.

Listen this week as I fumble through moderating a political discussion with Abel Harding of JaxPoliticsOnline.com. Abel talks political circles around me, it’s awesome. Tune in next week when our guest is Matt Urigh of BikeJax.org

Topics

• Trail Ridge Council Meeting
• Courthouse could begin construction this week
• Mayor’s lame duck status (and how he can leave a lasting impact)

Recommendations

• Joey: Diplo this Saturday at TSI
• Jonathan: SMCJax
• Tony: JaxBeard
• Abel Harding from JaxPolitics: Dottie Dorian Art Show

BidTheLandfill.org. Read more about this issue at Something Stinks with the Mayors Waste Management Deal with even more articles below:

Other Companies Say They Want to Bid Too
So This is How the City Work — Mayor’s Lobbying Team on the Waste Management Contract
Mayor Challenged on No-Bid Contract
CBS 47 Investigation Info Mayor’s No-Bid Contract Proposal
Mayor Pushes Lucrative No-Bid Contract for Landfill Operations
Company Says it Can Save City Millions on Landfill Contract

I’ve also created a quick copy and paste ready, comma delimited list of all the city council members. You can easily copy and paste these into the To: field of your email and send a message to all council members at once. I just did.

JPeyton@coj.net, RonnieF@coj.net, JRC@coj.net, Joost@coj.net, KHyde@coj.net, GloriousJ@coj.net, Clay@coj.net, WBishop@coj.net, RClark@coj.net, Redman@coj.net, AShad@coj.net, Webb@coj.net, Gaffney@coj.net, EDLee@coj.net, WAJones@coj.net, RBrown@coj.net, Holt@coj.net, DDavis@coj.net, ArtG@coj.net, Corrigan@coj.net

photo credit: alex_lee2001

Updated: 12:39

It appears there is no bigger issue in the city at this moment than the Mayor’s proposal to grant Waste Management a 35-year $750,000,000 (yes that’s million!) contract without an open bidding process, despite City Council rules against no bid contracts. Even more, there’s an expressed interest from other groups who could take over the landfill in question for significantly less money.

Ron Littlepage rips into the Mayor’s proposal with a list of simple facts in his article City Council won’t be steamrolled on landfill, including these gems:

1. There are valid reasons the state and the city have rules about bidding contracts. One is that the bid process, while not perfect, helps ensure that taxpayers get the best deal possible. Another reason is the bid process provides transparency, helping to eliminate the suspicion that back room deals are being made with favored friends and political supporters.
2. Peyton says the deal his team negotiated with Waste Management behind closed doors will save taxpayers $200 million over the 35-year life of the contract. The fact is others with expertise in the landfill business say that number is inflated. They also say that opening the contract to other bidders could save taxpayers millions of dollars.

What Can You Do?

E-mail cityc@coj.net. Let them know, briefly, that you’d like the Trail Ridge bid to be open, competitive, transparent, and fair. Ask them to vote “no” on the mayor’s contract proposal. The e-mail can be as short as a couple of sentences.

You can also sign this petition ignore the part about donating.

My friend Max alerted me to this issue and we discussed it a little last night on Urban Jacksonville Weekly. Max is trying to generate a flood of emails to the City Council with commentary the tax payers (You). Max feels that bringing this contract down would establish a mighty precedent: Jacksonville residents will not tolerate any more no-bid contracts.

So please just shoot a quick e-mail to cityc@coj.net, addressed to the City Council, and leave a comment on this post when you’ve done that. As Max says: The more people interacting with democracy, the better it is for all of us.

More Info

Fussell vs. Peyton (on the landfill issue)
City Council won’t be steamrolled on landfill
Waste management plan makes no sense, long term
Mayor’s no-bid contract has more than one flaw
Jacksonville City Council balks at waste contract