A.G. Gancarski
“You can count on me to show up, to read legislation before I vote, to represent every part of Duval County.”
Those words, from At Large Group 1 Council Candidate Anna Brosche, were a purposeful jab at her opponent, Kim Daniels, who no-showed the Beaches Watch forum. It was unsurprising, given that Daniels has been at loggerheads of late with Beaches Councilman Bill Gulliford who got so many shout-outs from the five candidates who did show up that he probably should have gotten top billing in the forum.
Luckily for Beaches voters, both runoff candidates from both remaining at large runoff races showed up, and though they clearly were not able to address the issues with the pinpoint specificity of a Beaches elected leader, all of them clearly had at least been briefed on the importance of Interlocal Agreements and issues relevant to the beaches. Their approaches to the issues may have differed, yet each of the five candidates offered a good-faith effort and impressed even the elected officials on hand from the beaches communities.
The most lively debate, as ever, was between Group 3 candidates Geoff Youngblood and Tommy Hazouri, both of whom have had to step up their games in response to each other’s spirited challenges.
Youngblood clearly took the time to get briefed on Beaches issues, talking with pinpoint specificity about the evolution of interlocal agreements over the decades, though he wasn’t quite able to integrate his Beaches-specific messaging with his standard tropes about budgetary accountability, creating fertile ground for small business growth (which he contends would bring big businesses here without the kind of sweetheart deals that are de rigueur in Jacksonville) and increasing the tax base through economic development. He did speak with authority about the Beaches not getting the ROI they deserve given their tax contributions, which was a popular theme.
Hazouri, meanwhile, spoke with the authority of a former mayor and state legislator on issues relevant to the Beaches, including pier development. He argued that to restore the Jacksonville Beach pier is not enough; the real goal would be to create an “entertainment center” such as the piers are in Cocoa Beach and St. Petersburg. Hazouri, with more elected experience than anyone in any Jacksonville race, has a credibility that is hard to dislodge.
Hazouri is noted for getting riled up in debates, but he kept his cool until the end when the fundamentalist Youngblood alluded to his own opposition to the Human Rights Ordinance being extended to the LGBT community. Hazouri fired back, saying that it’s a “human rights issue for all of us.”
The Group 5 debate, between Republican Sam Newby and Democrat Ju’Coby Pittman, was effectively a mismatch. Newby spent most of the event piggybacking on statements that previous speakers made, reinforcing generalist tropes about being a Christian conservative, a youth football coach, and establishing that he’s a nice guy with a good heart, but who seems to lack the depth to be an effective councilman. Pittman, the CEO of the Clara White Mission, has run for office before, and she spoke with specificity about citywide issues, while making the case that she would have an “open door policy” to Beaches residents and effective leaders, and that she would not be a stranger to their communities.
A telling exchange. Newby said that if he were elected, he and other councilmen would be “mentors” to underprivileged kids in the community.Pittman countered that she, in running the Clara White Mission, has trained more than 900 people to get jobs and become productive members of the community.
Brosche, debating an empty chair, was solid as ever, talking about her experience as a CPA, which she “knew [she] wanted to be since the 11th grade,” and establishing herself as a credible, moderate Republican voice who wants to bring her “auditing skills” to addressing the city’s financial issues.
Showing up is obviously a big part of the game when it comes to forums. Demonstrating specific knowledge is another big part. Most of these candidates did both.
