A.G. Gancarski
On Friday, Jacksonville mayoral candidate Lenny Curry addressed what he called a “full house” of CEOs and leaders from many of Jacksonville’s leading nonprofit organizations at WJCT in what he described as a “very important meeting” with “leaders of serious organizations that do good work under the radar.”
Being on the radio at the same time, I didn’t cover the event. However, I had a conversation with Curry, where he spoke at length about the importance of nonprofits, their importance and role in the community, and about how his own religious convictions inform his commitment to the nonprofit sector.
Over the course of the campaign, Curry has learned more about the “importance of nonprofits in Jacksonville” and the “critical services” that they provide, many of which they “do better than government” could.
His goal as mayor, with regard to the city’s nonprofit sector, would be to facilitate an ongoing “dialogue,” intended to discern “how government can be an asset, not an obstacle” in helping such organizations fulfill their critical goals.
As mayor, Curry would be “committed to future conversations” with the nonprofits in Jacksonville, with a special focus on breaking the conversations down into smaller groups, with the goal of a personal, focused dialogue that could address each nonprofit’s specific needs, determining “action items” that he could act upon in an executive capacity.
For Curry, it’s critical, as “smaller groups” allow a “deep dive” into issues. Curry does not discount the singular missions of these groups, describing them as “serious organizations with leaders doing serious work.”
“Nonprofits serve the underserved, and everyone deserves a good quality of life,” Curry said, relating that mission to his own deeply held Christian faith, which is a singularly important component of his personal philosophy.
The “deeper I go in faith, the more I realize that I am my brother’s keeper.”
A key component of that faith is “prayer in the morning,” he said, a meditation that centers him and gives him focus.
“The discipline to pray has an impact.”
One of the interesting differences between the two mayoral candidates is their approach to the spiritual and their relationships with God.
Mayor Alvin Brown has been very vocal in acknowledging God at press conferences and in stump speeches alike. Curry’s relationship with God is every bit as heartfelt and passionate as that of his opponent in the mayoral race. The acts of meditation, of quiet reflection, of theological study and living his faith are not campaign themes that he aggressively messages, yet they are central to his approach to life itself, and would be central to his approach to governing.
